Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Eliminating Human Attachments
- Strengthen Righteous Thoughts and the Main Consciousness
- Some Thoughts after Reading Zhuan Falun
- Enlightening to the Connotations of Reading the Book Over and Over Again
- Reaching the Standard
- Science Can Never Validate Dafa
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the October 2007 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
The Human Rights Torch Relay started sometime last month and will be traveling through 35 cities all over the world. We in India should also make an effort to host the Human Rights Torch Relay.
Please visit this site and fill in the Support the Relay Form. http://www.humanrightstorch.org/join.php
Please forward it to as many people possible to create awareness.
In this issue, we have a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom and Pureinsight 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?
Some more schools in Bangalore want to introduce Falun Dafa exercises to their students. The participants found the exercises very good and requested for a follow up.
Some practitioners from Taiwan visited Bangalore and they were taken to the schools to meet the teachers and to correct the exercise movements of the children.
Practitioners from Pune met the Education officer and made a presentation and gave an introduction of the practice.
Practitioners from Mumbai introduced Dafa to some nuns in a convent and taught the exercises to the nuns and their support staff.
A practitioner from Mumbai visited the capital city to attend a talk related to Indo-China policies and also explore the possibilities of hosting the HR Torch Relay.
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- 3. Eliminating Human Attachments
Jieshi
[PureInsight.org] "Without 'nothing,' it is a human feeling. If it is a human feeling, then it's not bei (compassion)." [1] (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference”) After reading Master’s lecture in Los Angeles regarding the explanation of bei (compassion), I felt that it contains a deep meaning. But what does it really mean? I didn’t think too much about it until I received an email from a fellow practitioner regarding his understandings of these two sentences. The Chinese Character for bei (compassion) is made up of two characters, the upper half of it means “nothing” and the lower half of it means “a human feeling.” If you take away the upper half of the character “nothing,” the character becomes “a human feeling.” With “a human feeling”, it can no longer be bei (compassion).
We all know that compassion comes from cultivation and is not something that we can achieve through physical efforts. As attachments are eliminated, compassion will naturally emerge. That is a part of cultivation. Some western friends of my husband and me asked us several times, “What is the purpose of cultivating yourself?” At first we tried to explain it to them using many words, but the effect was not good. At the end, we simply told them, “While cultivating oneself, one is constantly getting rid of many bad human feelings such as jealousy, zealotry and so on.” They understood what it meant right away.
To explain the purpose of cultivation is so easy, but the process of cultivation is quite difficult. One’s life from birth is saturated in sentimentality. All human feelings come from sentimentality. When people tell me that I am capable and good, I become happy, self-satisfied and irrational in my zealotry. If people tell me that I am not so good, I feel pain, resentment, and jealousy. If people tell me that I am helpful, compassionate and better than others and have cultivated well, I become so happy. Why do I not realize that it shows that I still have a lot of attachments? Wanting to hear praise from others is a human feeling. As long as there is a human feeling, there is a human attachment. If practitioners cannot get rid of deeply rooted sentimentalities, they can only be human beings with human feelings, not enlightened beings.
Cultivation has been difficult since ancient times. Many people throughout history had tried very hard to find the meaning of life. While attending college, I often recited words from famous ancient sages such as “one shouldn’t be happy for possessing material possessions and one shouldn’t feel sad when something bad happens” or “show concern for the world ahead of everyone and enjoy happiness after everyone.” When I read those famous words, I felt my realm was elevating. But then I felt insignificant and helpless because I didn’t know how to truly change myself so I could be like the ancient sages. It wasn’t until I obtained the Fa many years later that I discovered the meanings of cultivation, compassion, returning to one’s original, true self, cultivating one’s heart, getting rid of attachments, and upgrading levels.
Although I understand how I should cultivate in principle, it is not easy to do. I feel pained when I am unable to completely get rid of my human feelings. However, the pain that I experience is completely different from the helplessness I felt before because I practice Falun Dafa and Falun Dafa has a clear standard for its practitioners. Practitioners have righteous thoughts and righteous beliefs. That is the huge difference between practitioners and everyday people. Moreover, just because we feel pain, it doesn’t mean that we are improving ourselves, and the only way we can improve ourselves is to be more diligent cultivators. I once heard a very touching story: when a practitioner encountered a xinxing tribulation with a fellow practitioner, he clearly saw his own strong jealousy. In order to get rid of this mentality, he copied the section “Jealousy” from Zhuan Falun. The jealousy gradually diminished as he continued to copy this section. Eventually he was filled with righteous thoughts. He felt deep compassion for his fellow practitioner and in his heart there was no longer any room for jealousy.
I recall Master’s Hongyin Volume II: “Take a short break to reflect on yourself and strengthen righteous thoughts; analyze your shortcomings and advance with more diligence.” (Unofficial translation) As practitioners, we shouldn’t be afraid of having human feelings. As long as we strive forward in our cultivation, we will be able to achieve the state where we have no sense of self or selfishness and we are genuinely compassionate.
1. Translator's note: These two sentences are a sort of play on words. The Chinese character "bei" consists of two parts, one that can be understood as "nothing" and the other as "feeling."
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- 4. Strengthen Righteous Thoughts and the Main Consciousness
By A Dafa Practitioner from Australia
We often talk about the old forces arrangements. When we see other practitioners going through disease karma or other tribulations, we clearly realize where the practitioners have gaps in their cultivation which leave loopholes for the evil to exploit. However, when the tribulations happen to ourselves, we may not soberly realize that they are actually persecution arranged by the old forces, and we follow these arrangements unknowingly. I think the reason for this is that our main consciousness and righteous thoughts are not strong enough.
Recently, a lot of thought karma surfaced in my mind. Sometimes I even followed these bad thoughts for a while before I suddenly woke up and realized what it was. I was very surprised: how could these bad thoughts appear for no reason? When I carefully examined the issue, I realized that it was because my main consciousness was not strong enough. When the bad thoughts appeared in my mind, I did not fight them with my righteous thoughts. Instead, I tolerated them and thus allowed them to become stronger. This is another form of persecution arranged by the old evil forces. They want the thought karma and bad thoughts to take control over our righteous thoughts. The only way to break these arrangements is to study the Fa well and leave no loopholes for the old evil forces to exploit. When we study the Fa well, thought karma rarely appears in our minds, and even when it does surface we can soberly eliminate it with our strong main consciousness. If we do not study the Fa well, the bad thoughts can appear frequently, and it is very hard to deal with using an ordinary human being's will power.
We all know the importance of studying the Fa, yet many of us make excuses for ourselves and do not study the Fa with a calm mind. I know some practitioners who have not read the book, practiced the exercises, or sent forth righteous thoughts for a long time. The three things that Teacher asked us to do apply to every Dafa practitioner. In "To All Students at the Nordic Fa Conference" (Essentials for Further Advancement II), Teacher said, "Pay attention: no matter how busy you are, you cannot neglect Fa-study. This is what fundamentally assures that you move toward Consummation and do Dafa work well." Through studying the Fa, I realized that the environment around me is a reflection of my cultivation state. The reason I encountered these problems is that I was not diligent in my cultivation and I had not studied the Fa for a long time.
In my cultivation, I used to divide fellow practitioners into categories, and base my judgment of situations on their words or deeds. Sometimes when I saw other practitioners' improper deeds, I followed them instead of correcting these improper deeds with my righteous thoughts. When my main consciousness was not strong enough, I was easily controlled by the old forces and even by ordinary human sentiments and notions. I think the basic reason for this is that I did not use Dafa to judge everything. When I lacked righteous thinking based on Dafa, I naturally wanted to see what other practitioners' words or deeds were.
There was another big obstacle in my cultivation: I often thought that I had not cultivated well. On the surface, it seemed like I was looking inward and trying to find my shortcomings. In fact, I was making up excuses for not being diligent and responsible in my cultivation: "See, I have not cultivated well. If I make any mistakes it is because of that and the mistakes SHOULD happen." When conflicts and interference occurred, I did not truly look in my heart for the reason, let alone clearly realize the persecution by the old forces. I depended on others in my cultivation. Now I realize that cultivation is up to oneself. When I study the Fa a lot, treat the Fa as teacher, follow the Fa in every thought and deed, and clearly differentiate Fa rectification cultivation from personal cultivation, I can strengthen my main consciousness and righteous thoughts, and do the three things well as a Dafa disciple, clearly recognizing all the manifestations of the old forces and breaking their arrangements. I should not wait or rely on others, but should soberly walk on my path of Fa rectification.
My own level is limited, so please kindly point out anything improper.
(Clearwisdom.net)
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- 5. Some Thoughts after Reading Zhuan Falun
A Dafa Practitioner from Taiwan
My first contact with Dafa seemed like a coincidence. I saw the book Zhuan Falun in a bookstore. At that time, I was curious as to why the book wasn't called Falun Gong or Falun Dafa, but Zhuan Falun (Turning the Law-Wheel).
Recently I have come to a better understanding of this question. In The Great Perfection Way of Falun Buddha Law, the Teacher said, "The fourth exercise is called 'Falun Heavenly Circulation.' Here we've used two terms from the Buddha School and the Dao School so that everyone understands it. This exercise used to be called 'Turning the Great Falun'." This made me think that turning the Falun itself is a form of Heavenly Circulation. When the flow of energy travels through this small universe called the human body, it corrects everything that is not right. In order to rectify the entire universe and firmament, the Great Falun has to turn.
The Teacher said in the poem "Assisting the Fa,"
"Making a wish to save sentient beings,
Assisting Teacher in his journey in this world;
Aiding me to turn the Fa wheel,
The Fa succeeds and free in heaven and earth."
And in the poem "Clear Mind," the Teacher said,
"Teacher widely spreads the Fa, saving all sentient beings,
Seeking scriptures all over the world, aboard the Fa boat,
Dafa is being taught when ten evils poison the world,
Turning the Falun and the heaven and earth rectified." (from Teacher's book of poems, Hong Yin, unofficial translation)
These poems are further indications to practitioners that assisting the Teacher in his journey in this world is assisting the Teacher in turning the Falun (Law Wheel), and helping with Fa-rectification.
I have thus realized that the title of the book, Zhuan Falun, is actually giving us the concept of Fa-rectification. It follows then that the content of the book is to guide practitioners to cultivate through Fa-rectification. Because practitioners have different enlightenment levels, some people understood it when they read the book Zhuan Falun, but others did not understand it until they read the Teacher's recent articles. Some people still have human notions that impede their understanding, and they use the excuse that Teacher did not mention Fa-rectification in Zhuan Falun to justify it. Whether Fa-rectification was mentioned in the book is actually a matter of enlightenment. Zhuan Falun includes the highest laws and principles of the universe; it certainly includes everything and leaves out nothing. How can it not include the Fa-rectification, which is happening right now? If we completely give up human notions when studying the Fa, then we can realize this matter of Fa-rectification from studying Zhuan Falun, and will earnestly hold ourselves to the requirements of the Fa principles at our own levels and do well.
(Clearwisdom.net)
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- 6. Enlightening to the Connotations of Reading the Book Over and Over Again
By a Dafa Practitioner in the Western U.S.A.
A fellow practitioner mentions in his article that reading Zhuan Falun over and over again is like a big falun automatically changing our bodies and improving us. Upon reading this, Master's article "Seeking Discipleship with Teacher" from Essentials for Further Advancement came to my mind. "A person who truly cultivates will gain things naturally without pursuing them. All of the gong (cultivation energy) and Fa lie in the book, and one will naturally obtain them by reading Dafa. Those who learn it will change automatically, and they will already be in the Tao when they read the book over and over again." Master suggests we "read the book over and over again," which not only lets us obtain gong in terms of changing our bodies, but has the connotation that the Fa in the book can also guide us to get rid of attachments and notions, thus enabling us to improve our xinxing.
Our true nature is covered by layers upon layers of notions, just like a rusty steel ball. With thick layers of rust covered outside, the shining essence cannot be seen any more. During the first two years of my cultivation, I always focused on certain points of the Fa and ignored the others when I was reading the book. I tended to comprehend one side of Master's words and to become estranged from society, friends and family. On the surface I still harmonized with everyone but my heart drifted apart. I thought I was very diligent, but actually my cultivation was not within Fa. I cultivated on a deviant path.
Master said in Lecture at the Conference in Switzerland, "These attachments are precisely like a big, sturdy padlock that locks you in. You have to open every padlock as you progress on your path. If you don't, they will lock you in and delude you, and you will be unable to see the truth." After I read this paragraph of Fa given by Master and recalled my cultivation experience, I realize that these attachments are associated with each other, as if the padlocks were interlocked, layer by layer, shielding and covering each other. It is impossible for us to cut off these attachments, which are like twisted roots and gnarled branches, from the top to the end once and for all. We can only crush them one by one and get rid of them layer by layer by reading the book over and over again.
Our individual cultivation is this way. Cultivation during the Fa-Rectification period also requires our continuing understanding of the Fa from within the Fa.
Sometimes we notice that some practitioners only comprehend the Fa from one perspective. They tend to go to extremes when they clarify the truth and send forth righteous thoughts with intention. The results turn out to be opposite to their intentions that brought a loss to Dafa. This is due to the lack of studying Fa in depth and as a whole. Not only do we need to tell people that Falun Dafa is good, but we also need to show that Falun Dafa is good through our words, behavior, and actions.
The mistakes we have made all have their costs. Master has quietly endured a lot for us that we do not know, helping us to truly understand the Fa and to assimilate to the Fa gradually during our Fa-Rectification cultivation. Master said in Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference (July 22, 2002), "To do well is to not walk down the path arranged by the old forces; the goal is to not allow the old forces to take advantage of your gaps. Despite all of this, our Dafa disciples as a whole have become more and more mature, and they're handling all of this with greater and greater rationality, composure, steadfastness, and seriousness." It is time for us to be able to study the Fa correctly and to do all of the necessary things well.
The above is my personal understanding, for my fellow practitioners' reference.
(Clearwisdom.net)
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- 7. Reaching the Standard
A Dafa Disciple in England
(Pureinsight)
Introduction: A Dafa disciple profoundly impacts all other practitioners and sentient beings by whether he or she can clarify personal successes or failures with regards to practicing the Fa principles in his or her daily life. As we are reminded, our journey is not just for our own personal enlightenment.
Prior to beginning cultivation in Dafa, I spent time reading books on ancient and modern cultivation methods. I was astonished by the cultivation methods used in some of the Taoist practices. For example, the new disciples are bound to a stool for several hours in a sitting meditation position. In other cases, the disciples were ordered to practice the sitting meditation on a balancing board above a manure pit. This was to help improve their ability to achieve tranquility. After reading these accounts, I developed a great respect for the determination of these cultivators. Indeed it appears one has to endure hardships regardless of the cultivation practice. There is a famous Chinese saying stating that when the heaven bestows special responsibility on a person, the person is made to “mentally overcome tribulations, and suffer physically, and from hunger.” I came to the understanding that this statement summarizes an absolute requirement for cultivators to achieve consummation as it is a standard for consummation.
Since learning about the Fa, it has been easy for me to practice the exercises with other practitioners, even in the early morning or late at night. One time when I went out to practice at 3:30 in the morning, upon my arrival, I even found some practitioners had already started the sitting meditation. During the past several years, especially since I left China, my environment has been filled with tribulations although on the surface my life would appear to be peaceful. When the persecution of Dafa began, the interference by the evil in the human world and other dimensions were rampant. However, I was not discouraged because I always thought that a practitioner would have to pass the test of life and death sooner or later. This is a requirement in all modern or ancient cultivation practices. Furthermore, I am fortunate enough to cultivate Dafa, and Master continues to endure so much for his disciples. Compared to the side-path practices, the hardships we suffer on the surface are very little. Anytime I think about this, my heart is filled with gratitude towards Master and I am more steadfast to Dafa. I should try my best to reach the standard of a cultivator, and I should not use the compassion and magnanimity of Master as an excuse to slow down. When I read the touching stories of the righteous thoughts and acts of the practitioners in China, posted on the Clearwisdom or Clearharmony websites, besides respect, I also have a feeling of shame. We have more freedom outside China, so there is no reason for us not to do better. A cultivator should meet the standard no matter where he or she lives.
Many of the recent articles written by our disciples discuss the lessons learned from the trips to Germany and Iceland. I personally feel sorrow that the Dafa disciples as a group did not meet the standard. In many of Master’s lectures, he tells us that the evil forces persecute Dafa disciples by creating situations that test disciples. Also, Master will take advantage of the actions of the old forces in this test to evaluate disciples. However, Master will not allow the old forces to test disciples endlessly. The important thing is that practitioners must keep righteous thoughts during all situations and always meet the requirements of a Dafa disciple. Remember, Master has offered compassionate salvation and borne immeasurable suffering in order to save as many sentient beings as possible. Therefore, the righteous thoughts and acts of Dafa disciples as a group become very important because if there are any loopholes in Dafa disciples as a whole, the evil has an excuse to continue to persecute Dafa. Hence, every Dafa disciple should purify every word and act so that as a whole we can meet the requirement as soon as possible in order to save more sentient beings.
Master is capable of doing anything, however in order to save even more sentient beings, Master still has to wait for disciples to enlighten and to upgrade their levels by practicing Fa principles in all situations. Master has boundless compassion and tolerance but we should try hard to deserve the title of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. This is not only for ourselves, but also for those countless beings that have immeasurable expectations of us. Thus, purifying our every thought, word, and act is the best way to thoroughly deny the arrangements of the old forces. This is also the standard we ought to set for ourselves and meet.
“As you know, the persecution endured by the mainland Chinese Dafa disciples is severe enough, so each practitioner must truly and clearheadedly recognize his own responsibility, and truly be able to, when sending forth righteous thoughts calm his heart and genuinely produce the effect of righteous thoughts. Therefore this is an extremely crucial matter, an extremely important matter. If every practitioner could accomplish this, let me tell you, in those five minutes of simultaneously sending forth righteous thoughts, the evil within the Three Realms will cease to exist forever (from ”Fa Lecture at the Florida Conference in the US”).”
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- 8. Science Can Never Validate Dafa
By Zhangdong
Dafa created everything in the universe, including all lives. No matter which level sentient lives are at, they can only know the cosmos' truth at and below their levels. They are not able to get to know the cosmos' truth beyond their levels. For example, at the level of human beings, hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms combine to form water. Water turns into ice at zero degrees Celsius [32 ºF], and turns into steam at 100 degrees Celsius [212 ºF]. This is the physical characteristic of water, and reflective of the Fa at this level. Also, mammals know how to suckle their mother's bosom to feed themselves at birth. Who taught them? This is also the manifestation of the Fa at this level. How does one validate it? Roots grow into the ground, and flowers bloom upward. This is also the manifestation of the Fa at this level. There are hidden reasons that humans don't know.
The wisdom of all lives is tiny in the vast universe. What we would know would be extremely limited and restricted if we try to explore the universe using the modern scientific techniques of humans. Only when we have understood this clearly, can we not "dig into the bull's horn" [ancient Chinese saying implying a situation that leads to a dead end]; can we avoid detours and get out of the situation of "not being able to see the forest for the trees."
Then, how do we validate Dafa as disciples? Even we have only a rough understanding of the cosmos' truth from the macroscopic view. Compared with others, our thinking is sharper, wiser, and broader. Sometimes our thoughts are simple but deep. When we do something, design something, or do some research, we should be able to do better than others. We can understand and grasp a problem better, and this is our validating Dafa. Then, by combining pre-historic cultures, scientific explorations, medical reports, Chinese culture, cultivation legends, etc, with the principles of Dafa, we can explain profound theories in simple terms and explain it to others, thus helping them change their blind belief in modern science and narrow-minded notions. This would be validating Dafa further. It is also good if we can make some scientific breakthroughs, and use them to validate Dafa. But we should be careful not to be attached to that. We should also know that even if we make some breakthroughs, they might not validate Dafa, but might just validate the truth about cultivation.
The direction of science's development could be something for Dafa disciples to think about, which is, what kind of scientific direction will be left for future human beings. Personally, I think it is necessary to re-establish the scientific direction of the Chinese culture. Why? Chinese culture was brought to humans by gods, and was created by Dafa disciples under Teacher's guidance. It followed the principles of the Fa, developed in a perfectly harmonious way, and was centered on the theory that man is an integral part of nature. For example, there weren't things such as garbage pollution or environmental damage in the ancient times. Its science was developing in a deeper and broader way, and considered the connection and relationship among dimensions. Everything was balanced and developed via the handling of the relationship of the five elements, and the growth and decline between Yin and Yang. Nobody used to force anything. More importantly, ancient science could maintain humankind's morality. For example, the ancient people would always pick a good date and time for sending troops to battle, for beginning a construction project by digging the foundation, or for weddings and funerals. They had their reason, which was to consider whether a certain act was feasible in other dimensions, in a certain condition, and at a certain moment.
Modern science is only developing on the surface dimension. It is isolated, and not perfectly harmonious. The development of modern science has caused many side effects, such as environmental pollution and damage to nature. I believe that the chemical products were created after changing the arrangement of molecules and atoms in other dimensions. But humans are not able to recover the original state and reuse them. Thus, they become the pollution in this dimension. As for opening the other dimensions through modern science, at the very least this thinking has to change. It won't work if we merely follow modern science. Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"The flying saucers of extraterrestrials can travel back and forth at an inconceivable speed and become large or small. They have taken another alternative method of development, which is another scientific approach." Teacher also said at the Falun Dafa Lecture at the Conference in Europe (draft translation),
"Therefore, if you want to perceive other dimensions, you must conform to the ways of thinking and the conditions of other dimensions before you can comprehend them."
In fact, ancient science had already opened other dimensions. But this was only for those who had high xinxing [moral principles, heart nature]. For common people, it was still a dimension of illusion. This really conforms to the principle of the Fa. From Teacher's Fa lectures, I enlightened that mankind should return to the ancient Chinese culture. Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"After the Celestial Eye is open, one can see from one side, simultaneously, four sides of a human body. One can see the rear, the left and the right from the front. One can see one layer after another or see beyond this dimension the fundamental cause of an illness. Are modern medical means able to do that? Far from it. It will take another thousand years!"
"Without television sets, people would have them in their foreheads, and they could watch anything they want to see. They would also have supernormal abilities. Without trains and planes, people would be able to levitate into the air from where they sit, without using an elevator. It would bring about a different state of societal development, and it would not necessarily be confined to this framework."
I believe that Teacher has pointed out the direction for the future development of mankind.
This is just a little rough understanding that I would like to share with practitioners.
(Clearwisdom.net)
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