Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- A True Story of Reincarnation: Sramana on Ganges River
- On Our Mission of Assisting Teacher and the Effects of Practicing the Exercises
- Reading
- Remaining Unaffected, Becoming Calmer, More Mature and Clearheaded While Striving Forward Together
- An Understanding of “Obtaining the Fa”
- Studying the Fa with Attachments is not True Cultivation
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the June 2009 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
Please help save Gao Zhisheng. We would request you to visit http://www.freegao.com/ and sign the petition. Please do it if you haven’t already done it.
This issue has a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites. We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don’t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.
Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!
Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."
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- 2. What’s Happening?
The Bangalore practitioners participated in a 2 day College-fest organized by the Viswesaraya University College. Several students learnt the exercises and they asked for more sessions in the college.
The Mumbai practitioners had booked a stall in the Seminar on Alternative Healing held in the city during a weekend. Several people visited the stall and took Flyers and learnt the exercises. Many people shown the interest to attend the workshop to be held in next month.
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- 3. A True Story of Reincarnation: Sramana on Ganges River
Xiao Lian
[PureInsight.org] Preface: At present, Falun Dafa is being persecuted in Mainland China. Dafa practitioners have withstood enormous pressure under this unprecedented tribulation and made it through several years. There are many heroic and inspiring stories of Dafa practitioners. This article is a review from the historical perspective and discovers how we had steadfastly cultivated ourselves in our past lives. The story may clean out some dust and dirt in our hearts and minds, enable us to cultivate diligently, make further advancements during the final moments of the Fa-rectification, and make us truly treasure this hard-won opportunity of Fa-rectification cultivation!
* * * * * * * * * *
When someone mentions the Ganges River, ancient India may come into our mind. Sakyamuni started to spread the Dharma of Buddhism in ancient India about twenty five hundred years ago. After Sakyamuni reached Parinirvana and departed from the earth, Sakyamuni's Dharma of Buddhism was spread widely, with the support and promotion of the Ashoka and Mauryan Empires. Hundreds years later, because the then-rulers of India began to ban Buddhism, and also because Sakyamuni's disciples mixed principle of Brahmanism and other religions from primeval ages into the Dharma of Buddhism, Sakyamuni's Dharma of Buddhism gradually declined.
Around that time, there was a gentleman who lived in the upstream region of the Ganges River. He owned a manor and made a living planting fruit trees. He advocated Sakyamuni's Dharma in Buddhism firmly and cultivated by strictly following Sakyamuni's Dharma. One day his wife delivered a baby boy. Because persons in the Buddha school like the lotus very much, they gave the baby the name Ailianduo, which, in Chinese, means someone who loves the lotus very much.
Soon after the child was born, his father held him in his arms and took him to a statue of Sakyamuni. He pressed the hands together in front of his chest, and said, "Today, I consecrate my son to Buddha, I do wish Buddha will strengthen his future cultivation on a good path, make him leave the Three Realms, and obtain his cultivation Fruition!" At this moment, Ailianduo opened his blinking and bright eyes, and suddenly said: "I will firmly follow Buddha's will and cultivate with my whole-heart! My life would be in vain if I couldn't leave the Three Realms!" His father became so shocked that he lost his grasp and almost dropped the baby to the ground. His father then realized that Ailianduo had just spoken and taken on his own vows of cultivation. He immediately knelt down in front of the statue of Sakyamuni and kept touching his head to the ground to show his respect to the Buddha.
Ailianduo was raised under an environment of Buddha Fa cultivation. He had a clear understanding on Buddha Fa even in his youth, and he had many supernormal capabilities. At age of twelve, his father sent him to a nearby temple, where he became the youngest Sramana there. In the temple, he learned to chant scriptures and go to scripture study in the morning and evening. In his spare time, he also chopped firewood and prepared meals for the monks in the temple. He became a genuine "little Buddhist monk."
Because it was South Asia, the weather was sometimes extremely hot. During the rainy season, heavy rain was continuous. When Ailianduo was eighteen, the entire temple collapsed in a violent storm, except for the house in which he and the abbot were living. Fortunately all the other monks in the temple were out at that time, and only Ailianduo and the abbot, who was close to eighty, were in the temple. After the rainstorm passed, the other monks returned and saw the temple had been severely damaged. They became worried. What a big project it would be to rebuild the temple! How much money they would need to raise for the rebuilding effort! How many times they would have to go out to beg for food and alms! Therefore, all the other monks left one after another. Soon after, the old abbot died, and Ailianduo was the only one left in the temple.
Looking at the ruined temple, a strong feeling came up in his heart. No words could describe how he felt. He thought to himself, "How transient and uncertain the human world is! In front of the power of Nature, humankind and all things built by humans are so tiny and lowly. On the other hand, the Buddha Fa cultivation is extremely serious. The ruined temple is a test for us and has exposed so many human thoughts. I shouldn't leave by any means. Perhaps this is the trial given by Buddha to test how much I respect the Buddha and how much I believe in the Buddha." From then on, he started to go out and wander about and beg for food and alms. Wherever he went, he would preach the Dharma of Buddhism to people while raising funds to rebuild the temple and repair the statue of Buddha.
During the next four or five years, he covered most parts of the Deccan Highland. Dangers always followed him. Peopled ridiculed, mocked and even cursed him. But nothing could touch his heart. When the capacity of his heart was not big enough, Buddha would manifest Himself and gave him hints and guidance, which strengthened his determination to persist in carrying on with his mission. When he finally gathered enough material and money to rebuild the temple, Ailianduo found that the temple had become very spectacular and majestic (but its appearance was still dilapidated). Then he thought to himself, "It must be encouragement from the Buddha."
In a few days, a flood took place nearby and the houses of villagers in the vicinity were all destroyed. However the ruined temple not only did not continue to fall down, instead it really became splendid. The large walls and rooms became better than that when Ailianduo first came to the temple, as if they had been freshly built. Ailianduo realized that this is the power of the Buddha. So he knelt down and said: "Thank you, Buddha, I will live up to the hopes of Buddha and cultivate well and become more diligent on the path of cultivation!"
Afterwards, he went outside of the temple and saw the sufferings of the villagers. He wept. He thought, "Why don't I take the material and money that I had begged to rebuild the temple and give them to the villagers so they can rebuild their homes?" So he called on the surrounding villagers and said, "All these materials and money are supposed to be used to rebuild the temple, however Buddha is benevolent and has already used Buddha's power for rebuilding the temple. I want to give these materials and money to you so that you can use them to rebuild your homes. Let's share the benevolence of Buddha!" Everybody was very moved and later all of them became believers in Buddhism.
Later on, one of the monarch's top ministers somehow heard about the benevolent manifestation of the Buddha. The minister had a Brahman monk as one of his advisors. The monk was wicked, catty and prone to jealousy. When the minister told him the benevolent manifestation of the Buddha, the Brahman monk immediately suggested that the minister go to the king, asking the king to promote Brahmanism in a large scale, eliminate Sakyamuni's Buddhism, and force Ailianduo to convert to Brahmanism. As expected, the muddle-headed monarch accepted the minister's suggestions. So he publicized a manuscript in which the monarch forbade all the people in his country from believing in Buddhism, forced all his people to convert to Brahmanism, ordered people to offer virgins as living sacrifices to the God of Brahman during the Brahman festivals. Anyone who dared to violate the order would be beheaded immediately. The complaints from all people in his country were heard everywhere as soon as the order was given. Most believers of Buddhism gave up their beliefs. Only Ailianduo and several dozen monks refused to follow the order. They still firmly believed in the Sakyamuni's Dharma. This offended the monk under the ruling of that minister, so he himself led some people to kill Ailianduo and others. Ailianduo was not afraid of their despotic power, instead he benevolently tried to persuade them not to destroy Buddha Fa. He told them that if they continued to carry on their evil deeds, they would fall into the Avici hell. They closed their ears to Ailianduo. Ailianduo offered his hands to them. They cut off all Ailianduo's ten fingers, along with his head, and also dismembered his body. When they finished, they swaggered off. Soon Ailianduo's body appeared again and he sat on a cushion. The body that had been dismembered by the bad people was a "fake body" evolved by him. This miracle caused a huge stir to villagers far and near, and more and more people believed in Sakyamuni's Dharma in Buddhism.
When the news was passed to those evil persons, they were so angry that they even got mad at him. In an evening with a bright moon and sparse stars, they sneaked into Ailianduo's room. At the time Ailianduo was sitting in trance and he did not have any impure thoughts in his mind. He knew that they had already come inside but he did not pay attention to them. Besides, he saw Buddha emerging in front of him and looking at him very seriously, which made him feel more confident in his cultivation. So he went on with his meditation. These evil persons thought it was an opportunity they could take advantage of. So they carried weapons and came up behind him. They dismembered Ailianduo's body. Just as they were celebrating their success, they found that their bodies were rapidly descending down to the Avici hell. Many of them are still suffering there today. Although some of them reincarnated, they have done many things to destroy Dafa in this life. Their bodies and primordial spirits have already been completely destroyed. However, because their life expectancies haven't ended and the Fa-rectification isn't completed, they haven't been cleaned out yet.
In face of the test of life and death, Ailianduo chose the righteous belief and steadfastness so he ascended to a lotus throne, flew out of the Three Realms, and went to the Pure Land Paradise of the Buddha!
This is right about:
All say that cultivation is difficult and bitter
Human and selfish thoughts severely block the path
To live or die has to be decided in front of the test
Step on lotus and Fly up into the heaven!
Postscript:
The purpose of this article is not to advocate anything, but only to recount how we persisted in the righteous faith in the Buddha Fa while conducting ordinary cultivation in previous periods of history.
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- 4. On Our Mission of Assisting Teacher and the Effects of Practicing the Exercises
By Zhuyun, a Practitioner from China
(Clearwisdom.net) I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in January of 2000, and was sentenced to two years of forced labor. After walking out of a forced labor camp in February of 2002, I had the honor of getting acquainted with some Dafa practitioners. Among them were a lot of college students and new practitioners. They indeed have done a substantial amount of work to save sentient beings. However, because only a few of them had participated in group study and practice before July 20, 1999, they failed to calm their minds when studying the Fa. Also, while they have been busy doing Dafa work for the past three years, they have neglected practicing the exercises. Some of them even look for excuses not to practice. This may result in affecting their improvement and elevation together as Fa-rectification Dafa disciples. I'm worried for these practitioners; therefore I have written out in this article what I've enlightened to and have put into actual practice. I'm hoping that this will help all practitioners to make improvements.
1. Study the Fa and Cultivate the Mind; Do Not Fail to Complete Our Historic Mission
Study the Fa deeply. Make solid progress one step at a time. Solidly cultivate inwardly. In addition, remove the various attachments we have developed among ordinary people through arduous cultivation practice, so that we can meet the standard of different realms, and so that every single word, every single action, every single thought and even every single cell of ours will melt into the characteristic of the cosmos: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Meanwhile, follow the Fa-rectification's progress closely. Rectify yourself both physically and mentally while assimilating to the Fa, validating the Fa and safeguarding the Fa. Lay a solid foundation for assisting Teacher in rectifying the colossal firmament. Only by doing so can we succeed in our historic mission, and accomplish what Teacher has bestowed upon us when he said,
"...in history's future, everything of yours that is pure and righteous will be what ensures that the colossal firmament has formation and stasis, but not destruction" (from "Congratulatory Statement to the New York Fa Conference"),
"Dafa disciples' performance in the human world is to be left for history. In different historic times of the future, if in the cosmos damage to Dafa occurs or when beings perform differently, how Dafa will rectify the Fa and make everything perfect and indestructible is extremely important" (from "What Are Supernormal Abilities").
In regard to the aforementioned earnest expectations Teacher has for the Fa-rectification Dafa disciples, we must do even better.
2. Practice the Exercises Vigorously; Transform the Body
Teacher installs a Falun for every Dafa disciple, which enables us to cultivate, with emphasis on xinxing [mind nature; moral character] cultivation, following the principles of cosmic evolution, quickly correct any incorrect state in the human body and make it quickly return to its origin - the most primary state.
In "Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference," Teacher clearly states,
"So why, when it comes to cultivators, can a person leave his body? And why can he levitate? It's exactly because your body's matter, which is related to the Earth and is composed of surface-matter particles, has undergone changes. It has severed its connection to the particles in this environment, so you're no longer subject to its cohesive force, and are no longer subject to its restraining and drawing power. That's when you can levitate. So whichever realm you have cultivated to, the composition of your being at the microcosmic level is connected to that realm. When you cultivate to higher levels you will be connected to higher levels and will sever the connections to all levels below."
Therefore, the standard of each realm every Dafa disciple is at has to be met truly and solidly. This is of ultimate importance. This is crucial.
3. Enlighten to the Dao and Practice the Exercises Diligently and the Effect of the Righteous Fa Will Display Its Mighty Power
"Dafa disciples are now sentient beings' only, sole hope for salvation" (from "Righteous Thoughts"). In order to fulfill this important, historic mission, we need to cultivate ourselves so that our bodies display great righteousness, as if our bodies are as strong and sturdy as steel or iron. Therefore, this requires every Dafa disciple, while solidly enlightening to the Dao and cultivating the mind, to also strictly follow the principles and practice methods addressed in The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa: namely, to study the Fa and practice the exercises diligently. With a foundation of an improved xinxing and an elevated level, supernormal abilities can be quickly formed and sustained by strong gong potency. This will enable a practitioner to display at will the divine power of the Buddha Fa, which is incomparably powerful and which is capable of restraining any dimension and eventually achieving the best effect in eradicating evil, repressing the evil and assisting Teacher in the Fa-rectification.
In terms of this, in "What Are Supernormal Abilities" Teacher teaches us,
"As for a cultivator, the higher the level he cultivates to, the greater his abilities. This is because the more levels of cosmos he breaks through, the less and lighter matter's weight on his being is, the stronger his innate abilities (supernormal abilities) are, and the greater the number and the more comprehensive are his abilities that are freed. I have taught in the Fa that in Dafa cultivation one's supernormal abilities are developed the most comprehensively because Dafa disciples are to cultivate to higher levels--the higher the level one breaks through, the more he is freed from matter, and he will thus fully demonstrate his innate abilities (supernormal abilities). Dafa disciples have already been bringing their supernormal abilities into full play in Fa-rectification. For instance, while doing Fa-rectification, when the righteous thoughts are very pure, their supernormal abilities are comprehensively utilized. Moreover, with righteous thoughts many disciples are able to use them at will--whatever they want to use, they almost always have it."
Fa-rectification cultivation is extremely precious, magnificent, incomparably spectacular and great. In addition, Dafa's solemn, serious and strict nature is displayed everywhere. Meanwhile, during my several years of cultivation, I have deeply enlightened to the following: Falun Dafa is fair to every genuine practitioner. Cultivation of Dafa doesn't favor one over another. How high one wants to cultivate to and how high a realm one wants to reach all depends on a cultivator's true thoughts. However great your enlightening, endurance and ability to suffer hardships are, that's how high you'll cultivate to.
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- 5. Reading
A Western Practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net) During the first year after I obtained the Fa, reading formed the foundation upon which my cultivation, and indeed, my life was based. The most precious time of my day, and the time of day I most looked forward to was the evening when I could sit down to read.
I would typically read through one lecture in Zhuan Falun, and then try to read something additional, such as a part of a lecture or learn some of Master's Fa in Chinese. I remember how incredible it was that such a simple act could completely change and uplift me in such a short time. As I would study the Fa, understandings and profound changes to my being would unfold. I could truly feel that Zhuan Falun was a ladder to heaven and I was climbing higher and higher the more I studied and assimilated its contents into my heart.
On some occasions, as I would put the book down and look out over the city lights from my apartment window, I felt I was not even part of this Earth. I could clearly see the realities of this dimension, the meaning of human life and the purpose of my being here at this time during the Fa-rectification.
Many months ago, however, things began to slowly change for me. More and more responsibilities for Dafa work arose, and the local practice environments began to fade as practitioners became busy with their work.
I still knew the importance of reading, and so remained diligent in studying the Fa everyday, but looking back now, I see that my concept of studying the Fa had, ever so slowly, become more mundane and shrouded with human concepts of "studying" and "reading enough." At times it would be better, at times it would be worse, but overall, my sense of reading shifted; whereas before, it had been the most important and sacred task I could do and in my heart it was a truly precious gift. More recently, however, studying the Fa has taken on a growing sense of human "responsibility," as if it were just something I had to do each day, like a household chore. Additionally, a notion of studying the Fa merely as a necessary support to my other Dafa work, rather than as a sacred and necessary endeavor in and of itself began to form in my mind. My conscious mind still saw studying the Fa as "necessary," but the sacredness and the sense of studying the Fa being a precious gift had faded, being replaced more and more with an obligation to a common task.
My cultivation and Dafa work progressed fairly well. As a cultivator, I would stumble at times, look within, enlighten to a problem and then move forward, having rid myself of another attachment. Still, I've had a sense for many months that there is a larger step I needed to take in order to keep pace with the Fa-rectification and to fully and completely play my role as a Dafa particle. But I just didn't seem to be able to take this step...or worse, see what step it is that I needed to take.
Additionally, I'd found that I'd been having trouble doing the basic things, such as getting up in the morning for practice, reading through at least a complete chapter of Zhuan Falun each night, rectifying the environments around me with a righteous mind/field, etc. In my mind, I tell myself "I need to read more," but time and time again, being eager to tackle Dafa work, and ensure it all progresses well and gets done, I've continued to study more as a chore than as precious time that I should treasure. Although, there are times when I study Fa well and break through barriers, more and more I get a sense that I am stumbling through my cultivation rather than progressing diligently in a righteous manner and in accordance with the requirements of Fa-rectification at this time.
Recently, we had an intensive reading session in our area. We read three chapters of Zhuan Falun on the first day. During the first chapter, I was very sleepy and had to struggle through the reading. During the second chapter I continued to be a little sleepy, but my mind became more and more clear. As we read the third chapter, my mind became very sharp. I could once again sense the preciousness of this opportunity to study Fa and the profound ways in which this simple act truly changes my being in profound ways.
After that first day, my life completely changed. I felt my being was automatically in the Tao. My thinking was clear and I knew what I needed to be doing. My energy was strong and I did not waver. My mind was calm and clear enough to see each moment as it arose and approach it from the standpoint of a cultivator, rather than just stumbling through the moments of the day, sometimes cultivating, sometimes not, and not terribly clear.
We finished reading Zhuan Falun by the early afternoon of the third day. This intensive reading reminded me of how sacred and precious the opportunity to study the Fa is. It is truly a ladder to heaven and the foundation upon which our cultivation and all Dafa work should be built. As Master said in the Washington DC Conference: "Under any circumstance, in any period, and no matter how busy you are with your work, you can't stray from your Fa-study, as this is what fundamentally ensures that you'll continue to improve and reach Consummation. You can't do Dafa work without studying the Fa, or it would be an everyday person doing Dafa work. It has to be Dafa disciples who do Dafa work--this is something required of all of you"
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- 6. Remaining Unaffected, Becoming Calmer, More Mature and Clearheaded While Striving Forward Together
By Yiyan
(Clearwisdom.net)
"Under any difficult circumstance, everyone, remain calm in your hearts. Just by staying unaffected, you will be able to handle all situations." ["Lecture on the Fa at the U.S. Midwest Conference" June 26, 1999, Provisional translation]
Many practitioners have remembered this well by heart. Teacher told us about this at the Fa conference in Chicago when July 20, 1999, was approaching. Over the past five years of this persecution, we have all known not to compromise when faced with the evil and that under increasingly grueling environments we will still remain steadfast in our cultivation of Dafa to the very end. During this time many of our Dafa practitioners have handled these situations successfully, with a firm and strong convictions.
Recently I came to the sudden realization that the fact that I am "still cultivating in Dafa" does not mean that I have been cultivating everyday and that doing large amounts of Dafa work everyday does not mean that I have been "cultivating steadfastly." In addition to staying unaffected when faced with the test of cultivating or not cultivating, the Fa also measures and guides our day-to-day cultivation.
For example, many practitioners become quickly irritated when they see someone strongly attached to something or when they see someone's improper behavior. Even when the incident is over, their minds still remain uncomfortable and unsettled when they think about it. When you do this you are behaving like an everyday person, because at that moment your mind is greatly provoked by what you perceive as others' shortcomings, and you completely overlook the fact that you, yourself, are provoked. Even less do you think about looking inward to see why you are so disturbed in your heart. At that moment, your thoughts are not about treasuring this opportunity to cultivate yourself by eradicating your attachments created by this particular situation and thereby elevating your character. Instead, you are complying with everyday people's notions and thinking, seeing the situation as a problem or an obstacle to achieving your goal. You also forget what it means to be truly good or how to be truly benevolent to someone.
If you think it over calmly, others' attachments are not an excuse for not cultivating ourselves. Teacher told us that anything a cultivator encounters is not accidental and is, on the contrary, an opportunity for us to improve ourselves. It does not really matter whether it is the old forces taking advantage of our loopholes or self-imposed troubles arising from holding on to our attachments, these can all become stepping stones to elevating our character.
As a cultivator, there are so many areas to watch and be careful not to be affected by. For example, when your plans for Dafa work are disrupted; when you cannot meet a deadline; when you are criticized, reprimanded, wronged, or scorned by someone; when your mistakes are exposed before everyone; when you feel that others do not support or understand your work; when the temptations of everyday people's fame, gain and affection come along; when fellow practitioners, family members or friends praise you or do not understand you; when you clarify the truth and are met with people's rejection or unkind words; and so on. At moments like these, if you can truly consider yourself a Dafa disciple, then these are all stepping stones to improving ourselves in cultivation. In other words, cultivating oneself well and remaining truly unprovoked should be unconditional--it does not matter whether it is something big or trivial, whether it is an overwhelming, external evil pressure or a temptation or shockwave in your daily life that appears to be accidental. I don't know if this counts as one of the basics of cultivation, but it can clearly reveal a cultivator's demeanor.
Through cultivation I have come to understand that, before our cultivation is complete, because we still have human thoughts, there will still be moments when we will be provoked. However, the overall tendency is toward becoming more and more tranquil, peaceful, stable, and serene, and this should be the ideal state. Besides, in Fa-rectification cultivation, as soon as we are provoked we realize it, and as soon as we realize it we search within ourselves without reservation, and when we find our attachments, we send righteous thoughts to eliminate them. This means that our cultivation practice will be a rapid one. Historically we could not find any cultivation method as easy as this one, for Teacher has truly and surely given us everything and has done everything that can be done for us. What is left for us relies on a personal mentality that always remembers to cultivate, that wants to cultivate, and that genuinely cultivates with determination and righteous thoughts.
Meanwhile, it is only when we continue to improve our character and to cultivate to the high levels that Teacher intends for us to reach that we completely eliminate all the old forces' arrangements. It is only when we pay attention to cultivating our character that we can do the "three things" well: studying the Fa, clarifying the truth, and sending forth righteous thoughts. Otherwise, these activities turn into a routine formality or become a matter of "taking care of business" or something to "handle." Also, we may feel inadequate to accomplish what we want, that we have reached our limit, or that we want to indulge in an easy and comfortable life. After being provoked by fame, gain or affection we may even behave in ways that are not in line with the Fa-rectification's requirements. Any of these mindsets will definitely prevent us from accomplishing Dafa practitioners' historical mission. If we have a solid cultivation foundation, we will be calm and rational in the face of any grueling environment or conflict, and we definitely will not have any doubt or uncertainty about Dafa, because every moment we are cultivating in and are assimilated to Dafa. It is only by studying the Fa and cultivating our character that we are able to fundamentally break through all interference and obstacles in the course of doing the three things.
Of course, a Dafa practitioner's ability to stay unaffected and not be provoked by external factors is only achieved through cultivation and not by simply pretending to be undisturbed. You cannot just appear unaffected on the surface while your mind is in turmoil. Neither is it simply staying unaffected like a piece of wood without thoughts or personality; instead, it is true tolerance, open-mindedness and rationality. When a cultivator reaches such a state, he or she will truly be responsible to others and treat others benevolently from the bottom of his or her heart, possessing true calmness, rationality and wisdom, for this is the natural manifestation of a cultivator's nature, a manifestation of a god's nature.
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- 7. An Understanding of “Obtaining the Fa”
A Dafa Disciple
(Clearwisdom.net) “Obtaining the Fa” has been one of the most frequently used phrases in discussions among Dafa disciples. However, on being asked what the exact meaning of “obtaining the Fa” is, practitioners are usually only able to give a general description of it. "When you obtain the Fa, Master will then take care of you; Master provides you with many Ji [mechanisms or machines] and you will increase your Gong by practicing ..."
However, I felt this explanation was still very vague. It was just like the junior monk’s explanation of consecration, "The Buddha statue will work after consecration." (From "Consecration" in Lecture 5 of Zhuan Falun) But it was not clear why the Buddha statue would work. The explanation is only superficial. I often thought about some questions that I was unable to answer. For example, for some phrases containing “Fa,” such as obtaining the Fa, studying the Fa, rectifying the Fa, assimilating into the Fa and Fa particles, how do they relate to each other?
Of course, I could come up with many superficial relations among them. But I always thought there should be a simple, essential relation. “A great way is extremely simple and easy.” (from Chapter One, "5. Five Exercises that are Easy and Simple to Learn," of The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa) and should be interpreted in a few words.
One day when I shared an experience with a fellow practitioner, a sentence she said raised my understanding at once. At least I obtained some enlightenment at my current level.
She said, “The reason why I am able to persist in practicing Falun Dafa during this difficult period is that I saw the ‘Fa’ when I practiced for the first time.” Of course, I understood what she said was that she saw certain manifestations of the Fa. But when I heard her say of “seeing the Fa,” I immediately understood many Fa principles.
In fact, the reason that I did not understand “obtaining the Fa” very deeply before is that I thought “obtaining the Fa” was obtaining the high level “instruction” and Master’s protection, things like that. What I thought was not real and what I saw was not clear. My level limited my understanding.
Now I understand that the “obtaining” is neither getting something in everyday language, nor gaining or accepting something like a gift. In fact, it is the Fa’s thorough transformation of a life, a whole preparing process through which the life can enter into a new universe, and formation of a whole set of mechanisms from the most microscopic to the most macroscopic.
After enduring tens of thousands of hardships and difficulties, a practitioner is finally able to obtain the Dafa of the cosmos at the time when the entire cosmos is being renewed. What is that? It is Master giving you a complete set of essentials of Dafa used to build the new cosmos of your life. In other words, it is your cosmic system obtaining a set of mechanisms of the new cosmic Fa.
It is a real, concrete system. Obtaining the Fa is just like having a set of purification equipment installed in your body according to the standard of the new cosmos (the analogy here is imprecise). It is like a portable purification factory. That is why Gods do not regard a person who has obtained the Fa as a human being anymore.
When a practitioner studies the Fa with a peaceful mind, he will enhance the mechanisms of Fa on his body. At the same time, he would make clear the cultivation principles of Fa in the human world and regulate his own behavior.
So our every single thought, idea or action that is based on the Fa would become an energy source for the purification factory. That is how our lives are cultivated by the Fa. Layer after layer of our bodies are purified from the microscopic to the macroscopic, which is the process of assimilating to the Fa (along the way, all beings in the cosmic system in our microscopic bodies would also be saved by assimilating to the Fa). Finally we will meet the requirements of lives in the new cosmos.
However, since our lives were created in the old cosmos and we had warped notions, we originally carried a set of degenerated Fa-principles from the old cosmos. The old forces tried to improve such a system and tried to purify the old cosmos by having Dafa disciples follow their arrangements. But did they realize parts of their equipment were already contaminated? How could it produce [something like] “pure water?”
The systems from both the Fa of the new cosmos and the Fa of the old cosmos simultaneously exist in Dafa disciples’ bodies. Therefore, whether Dafa disciples carry themselves in a righteous manner or not is of critical importance. If we can persist with righteous thoughts and righteous actions according to Master’s teaching, we will be cultivated in the mechanism of the new cosmic Fa that Master has installed in us. On the contrary, if our thoughts are not righteous, we will be interfered with and exploited by the mechanisms of the old forces.
The new cosmos will be in perfect harmony after Fa-rectification. That is because it experienced a lengthy development process as the colossal firmament was turned from new to old as it aged, and now a reverse transformation process from old to new is taking place by cultivating the old lives. The colossal firmament will finally complete a process from being born, death and followed by rebirth. After Fa-rectification, the new cosmos has a self-repairing mechanism. After that, the colossal firmament will not degenerate. “Heaven and earth will be stable, and the Fa will exist forever.” (“When the Fa is Right” in Essentials for Further Advancement)
Disciples in the Fa-rectification period are lives closely associated with the Fa, lives closely associated with the cosmos going through the process of formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction and finally becoming indestructible. Wherever such a life is, he will reflect the brilliance of the Fa of the new cosmos.
With this understanding, I recalled that in his lectures Master Li often reminded Dafa disciples to treasure this cultivation opportunity in the Fa-rectification. My mind is filled with all sorts of feelings.
Beings who have obtained the Fa should understand that all transformations are due to obtaining the Fa and originate from obtaining the Fa. The meaning of “obtaining the Fa” is so solemn and splendid that it is really hard to describe it in human language.
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- 8. Studying the Fa with Attachments is not True Cultivation
By a Dafa disciple in China
(Clearwisdom.net) In "Towards Consummation," Master said:
"Studying the Fa with attachments is not true cultivation. Yet during the course of cultivation a person may gradually become aware of his fundamental attachments, rid himself of them, and thus meet the standard for a cultivator."
For a long time, I still have had my fundamental attachments, and I studied the Fa with those attachments. I have now realized this situation, and wanted to share my experiences.
At the beginning of my cultivation, I started to have a problem: my hair began to fall out. Some non-practitioners claimed that I might have a renal weakness. I believed that I was a practitioner, and that it definitely would be cured. Still, I was very worried and believed that I had a problem. The problem always came to my mind even though I tried to forget about it and tried to cultivate Dafa with a pure mind. Whenever I studied the Fa and held myself to the xinxing requirements well, I believed that my situation would improve somewhat. I believed that I cultivated well when I felt better. When I didn't feel very well, I believed that I had too much karma in that respect. Consequently I fell badly. When I fell [in terms of requirements], I thought more about the problem. It formed a knot that I couldn't untie, and I didn't realize it. I was still studying the Fa, but the "disease" was in my mind frequently, and I was wondering when it would get better. After the persecution began in 1999, there was a time when I was persecuted by the evil and forgot about the hair loss. Amazingly, my hair began to grow back slowly. It stopped growing when the environment became better, and I began to worry about it again. Last year, I felt that my health was deteriorating, and I worried more about it. The knot was getting larger.
Recently, I suddenly noticed the attachments that I still have while studying the Fa; I realized that I wanted to cure my "illness" via studying the Fa. It was an attachment. I asked myself: Why do I practice? What is the Fa? Is the Fa to be used to cure diseases? The Fa is solemn, and it should be used to save people. The way I studied the Fa was to study the Fa with attachments. I suddenly understood the reason why I was circling around and understood why Master didn't allow people in critical condition to participate in his class. If a patient who is a non-practitioner is in a critical condition, how could he let go of the illness? Master cannot help him if he is not a practitioner and cannot let go of his illness, and the patient might put himself in danger. At the same time, I also understood why some people who were seriously sick recovered by studying the Fa. They did not think about their illness at all and forgot themselves; they were studying the Fa wholeheartedly. It's that simple, but we have to truly understand it.
In reality, there are practitioners around us who are in the "illness" state and in that particular tribulation for a long time. I felt that those practitioners should think about it deeply and ask themselves the fundamental question: Why do I practice Dafa? Is my intention pure? Am I seeking anything? Even if your cultivation progresses well, you may still have fundamental attachments. Of course, the key is to study the Fa more. When we study the Fa and enter the state where there is nothing else in our minds but the Fa, then many problems will be resolved easily.
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