Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Interference in Fa Study
- Some Thoughts On Reading Articles on Clearwisdom
- Do Not Accept the Notion That a Situation is Unchangeable
- A Brief Discussion of the Need for More Tolerance
- Three Types of Notions
- A Heart as Tranquil as Still Water
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the September 2008 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
The Beijing Olympics is over and the world was impressed with the sound and light spectacle. As many practitioners had shared on Clearwisdom that they feel that the Old forces will use the Olympics to further the persecution which was done in covert ways. Although, they managed to keep the persecution and the Human rights violations under wraps, a lot of people went back with the feeling that something was amiss. Two glaring examples of their falsehood were the little pretty girl lip syncing the song and the fireworks display done digitally. This was exposed by the media and the CCP had to admit when they came under the scanner! Let us come above our human emotions and keep our righteous thoughts for the persecution to play out soon. It is important for us to keep our righteous thoughts and clarify the truth to the world.
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?
Practitioners in Bengaluru held a Press Conference to announce the Million signature collection before the Olympics. This was done simultaneously by 11 other countries. The press wanted to know more about Falun Dafa and the exercise practice.
Some practitioners from overseas visited Bengaluru to follow up on the schools they had visited on their previous trips. They have promised to send more books for the schools and discussed their future plans about other activities.
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- 3. Interference in Fa Study
By a practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net) During one experience-sharing session, a practitioner mentioned wanting to study the Fa well and to improve based on the Fa. However, this practitioner felt that he/she could not enlighten to anything or have new understandings. This practitioner had been like this for a long time and it was especially obvious when he/she was studying Zhuan Falun. This practitioner was very disturbed at not being able to figure out why he/she could not learn anything. In this article I would like to discuss some factors which cause this interference in studying the Fa, for everyone's reference. Please correct me if there are any improper points.
When I had just started practicing Falun Dafa, I subconsciously studied the Fa like a theory. I was taught in school to emphasize things such as, "central thoughts," "points in each paragraph," "concise and accurate" and "famous quotes and warnings," etc. While I was studying the Fa, I was judging the Fa based on these restricted thoughts. For example, I often thought, "This paragraph is really significant and that paragraph is plain," "This paragraph is very logical," "How good this title is," "This paragraph is related to the topic and that one is not," "This sentence is so good that it can become a famous quote, and that one is just giving an example," or "This sentence is grammatically correct and that one is not."
Sometimes I took knowledge that I had previously learned from textbooks as the absolute truth. For example, textbooks talk about molecules and atoms in a certain way, which prevented me from understanding the Fa when Teacher talked about this concept. The textbook defines, "light year" as a unit of length, however, in the "Practicing Evil Cultivation" section in Zhuan Falun, it talks about "light years" as a unit of time. This is an example of how in the learning process, using everyday people's knowledge restricts the mind. It severely affects Fa study if we use those standards to measure the Fa.
Initially when I studied the Fa, I often looked for further meaning. I read the words literally and tried to figure out the deeper meaning of a phrase, a term, or a word, and I was never able to understand anything. Sometimes I was enlightened to a little something from a sentence or a paragraph and I thought that I had seen the real meaning and I would become attached to it. I was afraid that I would forget it and I tried hard to remember it. The next time I read the same sentence, I immediately thought of what I had enlightened to last time and still wanted to think about it when I read. Hence after studying the same section many times, I still couldn't get any new understandings. The pursuit and attachment to further meanings severely interfered with my learning the Fa.
Sometimes I studied the Fa with attachments. I liked to read parts that fit my attachments and I would just glance through the parts that pointed out my attachments. Sometimes, in order to cover up my attachments, I tended to look for a basis to defend my attachment while I studied the Fa. For example, I didn't want to admit that I like to snack frequently. When I read "If one does not have any attachment, it is fine to eat just about anything to fill the stomach" in Zhuan Falun, I memorized it. The next time practitioners would talk about the subject, I would reply with that sentence to whomever mentioned my attachment. Sometimes I had differing opinions with another practitioner.
When I studied the Fa and saw a sentence that I thought might be able to persuade this practitioner, I would memorize this sentence so I could be ready to "give him/her a lesson" next time. Sometimes I saw a practitioner's attachment and told it to this practitioner and he/she would not accept it. I couldn't let go of it. Next time when I studied the Fa and read a sentence related to the issue, I subconsciously thought, "This is exactly talking about him/her!" Studying the Fa with all these strong attachments also severely interferes with study.
Sometimes I used human notions to study the Fa. For example, I would think, "How come this topic is taught in this chapter and not that chapter?" or, "How come the topics in this chapter are organized in this way and not that way?" When I read the topics on "Bigu," "Stealing Qi," "Collecting Qi," or "Zhuyou Ke," I felt that those topics had nothing to do with me since I didn't do any of them. My human notions considered these topics to be not important or not as important as topics like "Upgrading Xinxing" . I considered the paragraphs which talked about cultivating Xinxing to be the most important and those that talk about supernormal abilities or gave examples were not important, and I would quickly flip through them. When I read the topic regarding "unknowingly practicing an evil cultivation way," I thought that this was a problem for those who practice regular qigong. Since I practiced Falun Dafa, this topic has little to do with me. When I read a paragraph that I could understand or feel, I considered it meaningful; and if the paragraph made me feel nothing or was just giving an example, I considered it meaningless. I also considered paragraphs that I could accept as making sense and I would not try to understand a paragraph that had a different point of view from mine. A lot of the time we use human notions to look at the Fa subconsciously. These notions exists deep inside our thoughts and are not easily detectable. However, they do affect our Fa-study to a great extent.
When I studied the Fa, I did not position myself as being inside the practice. Teacher says in Zhuan Falun that what he is teaching, "...are all principles for cultivation practice at high levels." However I often divided the Fa into two parts when I studied it; one part was relevant to my practice and the other not. For example, the paragraph which pointed out my shortcomings looked to me like it was talking about a practitioner in charge of our group. In one lecture Teacher talked about the old forces wanting to change others and not themselves, and I thought Teacher was talking about the old forces. In another lecture Teacher mentioned that the Communist Party would not admit its faults to people and likes to say it was "always correct," I thought Teacher was talking about the Communist Party, and that he was absolutely right! When Teacher mentioned that some practitioners couldn't stand being corrected, I thought Teacher was talking about the person in charge of our group, the coordinator, and the practitioners who worked in the area of computer technology. Now that I think of it in a more clearheaded way, when I thought of others being wrong in a conflict, when I argued with practitioners, when I insisted on my point of view or my proposal and would not give up, and when I refused to listen to other people's criticism and suggestions, wasn't I protecting that self? Was I looking inside myself based on the Fa? Was I truly cultivating myself and taking the Fa as Teacher? Or did I have the thoughts of being "always correct" hidden deep inside of me?
Every word in the Fa is for guiding us practitioners to improve ourselves, and nothing is irrelevant to the practice. The things Teacher mentioned that need to be eliminated in our practice and all kinds of shortcomings that exist in all of us; some are visible in our behavior, some in our thoughts, and some in our understandings. However, some are not easily visible and are hidden deep inside of us. If we can't treat ourselves as genuine practitioners, we can't position ourselves inside the practice. If we feel a certain sentence or paragraph irrelevant to ourselves, then our human notions are interfering with our Fa-study and our improvement based on the Fa.
There is a lot of interference, many obstacles and factors that hinder our studying the Fa. For example; fatigue, sleepiness, daydreaming, and random thoughts can easily be detected. We can try to eliminate them and clear them out with our righteous thoughts and a strong main consciousness. After some time we will be able to eliminate those kinds of interference. However, the interference which comes from our human notions is not easily detectable. Only when we can truly calm down and study the Fa, can the Fa break through all obstacles, attachments, and human notions.
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- 4. Some Thoughts On Reading Articles on Clearwisdom
By A Practitioner from China
(Clearwisdom.net) As Dafa Disciples, we know the role played by Minghui website (Clearwisdom is the English version) in the Fa-rectification period. Master said, "on important matters, practitioners must pay attention to the attitude of Minghui Net." During this special period of the Fa-rectification, Minghui net has played an irreplaceable role for practitioners to communicate their experiences and share their understandings so as to improve together as a whole and keep up with the Fa-rectification progress.
Since the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, I have been detained and sentenced to a forced labor camp for some time and couldn't visit Minghui or download articles from it. It was not until I got out of the forced labor camp when I was able to visit the website and witness the great tide of the Fa-rectification. The articles written by other practitioners help me to deepen my understanding of Dafa. Through reading the articles, I discover my own shortcomings and rectify the path I am taking.
Meanwhile, I have noticed that some practitioners do not pay much attention to Minghui. Some never read the articles on the website, saying that there is no point in reading them, for they are not the Fa. Some think that the practitioners who wrote those articles have attachments, and one might be interfered with after reading them. There are also some people who have gone astray and attack Minghui along with the evil, saying that it is telling false stories.
I think that whoever has those thoughts has strong attachments, to think of Minghui in the same way as the world's media. They look at cultivation in the Fa-rectification period from the perspective of cultivation from the past.
I learned from my own cultivation that Master has put everything which can help us improve and everything we can attain into the book Zhuan Falun. In different periods of our cultivation, Master writes articles and gives lectures to point out problems and rectify the path. That is because he wants us to study Zhuan Falun better and spread Dafa to the sentient beings in order to save them. Minghui is the website of Dafa during this special historic period which delivers Master's voice to practitioners and sentient beings, and coordinates the work of practitioners around the world to help us improve as a whole. It is also the most powerful weapon to expose the evil, suffocate the evil, fight against the persecution, clarify the truth, and save sentient beings. Jiang Zemin and his regime spend a huge amount of money trying to destroy Minghui, reflecting their extreme hatred and fear of Falun Dafa and its principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance.
Of course, not every article on Minghui is outstanding, but they are the understandings and enlightenment attained by practitioners at different levels of their cultivation. Some articles might reveal a lack of deep understanding of Dafa or the attachments of the writer. On the other hand, we can also see our own problems from reading those articles. Master has repeatedly asked us to look within ourselves. When we see other people's attachments and shortcomings, why don't we just look within ourselves and realize why we were made to see those problems? Why don't we just look at ourselves to see if we have the same problems? Dafa disciples ought to have boundless compassion and forbearance. When we see other people's shortcomings, we can point them out, try to eliminate them, and improve the situation. This, I think, is a way Master has worked out for us practitioners to upgrade our levels in Dafa cultivation.
Some people read the articles on Minghui in the same way an everyday person would read. They criticize and comment, feeling superior and full of themselves. Actually, on different levels, people have different understandings of the Fa, and different levels have different laws. There cannot be only one single right answer. Dafa is harmonious. We should see if the articles are written from the standpoint of the Fa, and how we can maintain righteous thoughts and behaviors in a tribulation, meeting the requirements of different Fa principles on different levels. We can also learn how to walk our path of Fa-rectification and get rid of our fundamental attachments.
Some people do not read the articles on Minghui. On the contrary, they spread slander about the website. Although they might not be demons, they are doing what the demons want them to do. Some people use their deviated understandings to explain Master's boundless Dafa, taking words out of context to prove their points. They think they have enlightened to the highest Fa principles. Aren't they misinterpreting and damaging the Fa? Some people even claim that they have reached consummation. They have been taken advantage of to damage and interfere with practitioners, preventing them from doing the three things well. If these practitioners are unable to turn away from the old force arrangements, "Everything and that millions upon millions of years' wait will be fulfilled according to the vows made before history." ("Dafa is Indestructible") Isn't it dangerous? We are certainly improving and becoming enlightened to the Fa principles from constantly studying the Fa. Yet we are Dafa disciples of the Fa-rectification period. The old forces have a systematic arrangement for each and every one of us. If we can't turn away from the state of individual cultivation to melt into the great tide of Fa-rectification, then how can we follow Master's Fa-rectification process?
Master has imparted upon us the great law of the cosmos and created a future for all sentient beings. His immense mercy is saving sentient beings, taking care of practitioners, and arranging everything for our consummation. Falun Dafa disciples have the historic mission of clarifying the truth, saving sentient beings, and "assisting Teacher in his journey in this world;" (from Hong Yin) Master too, reads articles on Minghui and comments on quite a few articles written by practitioners. What is it that we can't abandon? Why can't we read other practitioners' experience sharing articles? Why can't we get a whole picture of the great tide of the Fa-rectification in China and around the world?
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- 5. Do Not Accept the Notion That a Situation is Unchangeable
From a US practitioner
During my cultivation I passed several tests related to my health. I had symptoms that seemed to be of illnesses, but with the wisdom of the Fa I could let go of them and recognize them as acts of cleansing. It was even more difficult for me, because as a physician, my work is based on medical studies and I am aware of what various symptoms can mean from a medical point of view. But without regard to the location or the pain--be it on the skin or in the internal organs--I was able overcome the temptation to accept the symptoms as a disease. I had let go of the thought that it could be a disease.
But some months ago I had a toothache and the pain kept going on for some weeks. Thus, I went to the dentist and he said that I had an abscess in one tooth. After some time without relief from pain, I agreed that the tooth should be pulled. I agreed because from a medical point of view, I knew that an abscess can spread bacteria and it can affect other organs such as the heart.
Some days afterwards I thought about it: From the point of view of the Fa, isn't it the same whether I have an infection-like cleansing, a cough, skin discharge, high-blood pressure or an abscess in a tooth? Yes, indeed, there is no difference between these types of conditions. So why could I handle all the other disease-like symptoms but not the one with the tooth?
Looking within, I found out that I had a specific, but hidden understanding about the physical body. I thought that the body is built of living cells, which have a turnover; after some days or weeks, other cells replace them and this is the how the Fa can cure the physical body. I presumed subconsciously that the Fa cures conditions by replacing the old cells and supporting the growth of new cells.
But with this understanding, which is based on some notions from my medical studies, I thought that the teeth, once they are developed, don't change anymore. There is no turnover of cells in the teeth, so they cannot be replaced by healthy cells. In my mind the teeth were fixed, and my understanding about them was also fixed. And this was the reason that I couldn't break through the notion that an abscess in a tooth is a disease rather than just a symptom and a cleansing. Afterwards I had another tooth that started to ache, but this time I immediately rejected it as a disease, and from the beginning I said to myself: this is just a cleansing of the tooth. Later on, I didn't have any problems with this tooth anymore.
What did I learn from this incident?1. As Master said in Zhuan Falun, "... a good or bad outcome comes from one thought." If one thinks it is or might be an illness, it will probably become one. The same situations exist with other tribulations or evil arrangements. If we accept an evil arrangement from the beginning onwards, it will be very difficult later to escape. We have to deny each evil arrangement from the beginning, whatever it may be.
2. During cultivation we might pass different tribulations and tests. Some of them are easy to pass and some are not. But if they are not easy to pass and overcome, it doesn't mean that they are insurmountable. Actually, we are able to overcome all of the tribulations, as Master said in Zhuan Falun, "It's hard to endure, but you can endure it. It's hard to do, but you can do it." As long as we are in the Fa, we can overcome all of the tribulations. With regard to the Fa there is no difference between a small or big tribulation. I understand that whether it's a harmless or severe evil arrangement, we should deal with it using righteous thoughts. Every kind of evil arrangement and persecution has to be denied because its intention is targeting the Fa.
3. Another benefit of this experience with my tooth is even more important. I understood that especially in the time of Fa-rectification, we might come up against hidden borders and limits in our knowledge and human notions. Actually the evil used my hidden and unconscious notions and attachments to guide me into a dead-end understanding that something cannot be changed. This is typical of such notions: We accept something as fixed and unchangeable, and this is a deception caused by the evil on the basis of our knowledge. I accepted the tooth abscess as something unchangeable, but with the help of the Fa it was changeable. The same principle can be applied to Dafa activities. Even if we are arrested in China, our minds may accept the belief that the walls and the police are something that we cannot change. Don't we tend to think that a wall is similar to a tooth, which is solid, and there is no way out? But if our minds stay in the Fa, we can change the situation. If there is a practitioner in prison for many years, it doesn't mean that we cannot change the situation. If we accept that he is in prison for such a long time and every effort to get him out was in vain, then we have accepted the evil arrangement and further efforts will be weak. If we totally deny the captivity and insist on his release, then we will rescue the fellow practitioners. And we have experienced this in some cases in the past. In my understanding, the absolute denial and rejection of the evil arrangements will strengthen the righteous thoughts and supernormal abilities. And Master taught us in the article, "What Are Supernormal Abilities" what is possible if our thoughts are righteous. Now I understand that I have to deny every evil arrangement, especially if it seems to be unchangeable.
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- 6. A Brief Discussion of the Need for More Tolerance
Written by Mainland Dafa practitioner Qingshui
(Clearwisdom.net)
If there were more tolerance in the human world, there would be fewer tragedies. If there were more tolerance among practitioners, more losses could be avoided. If practitioners cannot tolerate others, then it is meaningless to talk about compassion. I remember reading an article on Minghui.net, about two practitioners who were forced into homelessness together and later had conflicts with each other over the issue of whether or not to eat green onions. In the end they had to part company. If they could have had more tolerance, such an incident might not have happened.
Recently, an incident happened that helped me see the importance of tolerance. Practitioners A and B (a man and a woman who were not married) lived together, developed an emotional relationship and behaved inappropriately as practitioners. But both of them realized that they were wrong and made up for it in a timely manner. At that time, Master published his lecture "Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference," in which He pointed out,"Let me put it this way, what I said just now is for all of those who have done things that are undeserving of the status of Dafa disciples. You'd better tell people about those things openly. That way, many things of yours will be eliminated, and at the same time it will make you really strengthen your resolve [to correct your behavior]." Practitioner A followed Master Li's words and told his local practitioners about his affair. Unexpectedly, it was like a stone generating a thousand ripples. Most practitioners' responses included accusations, spitefulness, complaints and repulsion and only a few practitioners said that as long as these two practitioners realized what they had done was wrong and tried to make up for it as soon as possible, they could still do well in the future. Practitioner A had a difficult time with regret and the complaints from fellow practitioners, and in the end he felt there was too much pressure and left his hometown. Later when he saw me again, he told me about what had happened. He asked me, "Was it wrong for me to tell them?" Even everyday people have a saying that those who realize their mistake and correct it are good people. Why couldn't these practitioners have given this practitioner a chance to correct his mistake?
There were also many practitioners who didn't care about rescuing their fellow practitioners who had been arrested. Instead, they talked about their many shortcomings and attachments, and that they didn't do well in this or that aspect, etc. They didn't have tolerance and compassion.
We should have tolerance, whether it is among practitioners or between practitioners and everyday people. It is just like when you see a person about to fall into a river: will you pull him back or push him one step further. We should discard our human notions and look at questions from the perspective of Dafa. Don't dwell on others' past misconduct, but instead give them a chance to correct their mistakes. This also gives us an opportunity to develop our tolerance and compassion.
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- 7. Three Types of Notions
By a Falun Dafa practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net) I have recently observed some notions in fellow Falun Dafa practitioners, and I would like to share my observations. Please kindly point out anything you find inappropriate.
Comparing and Criticizing Two Fellow Practitioners behind Their Backs
When Teacher said, "compare how you have studied and cultivated" in "To the Taiwan Fa Conference," I believe he meant us to prompt ourselves to learn from the merits of fellow practitioners and to remind ourselves to cultivate diligently like other diligent cultivators. I believe Teacher meant that we ought to seek inward when we compare how we have studied and cultivated. I don't believe Teacher meant that we, as genuine cultivators, ought to compare two fellow practitioners and critique their cultivation practices because such behavior is the opposite of seeking inward.
It makes no sense to do line-by-line comparison of two cultivators because no two cultivators share the same inborn quality, origin, cultivation path or determination to remove his respective attachments. Moreover, I find it lacking respect towards fellow practitioners to compare practitioners and critique them behind their backs. Those who engage in such uncharitable discussions might have neglected to cultivate their tolerance of other practitioners and compromised the solemnity of cultivation. Such discussions might also amplify certain attachments in those cultivators who engage themselves in such discussions or who have eventually heard the contents, such as feelings of injustice, misunderstandings, jealousy, vanities, etc. Belligerence, doubt, and distrust among cultivators thus breed from such discussions. We are now in the Fa-rectification period, a critical period for us to offer Teacher's salvation to the world's people. This is the very period of time when we Falun Dafa practitioners need to cooperate with each other more than ever. It follows that we ought to try even harder not to create feelings of distrust or opportunities for conflicts among us. Instead of comparing and criticizing fellow practitioners, I think we should directly and kindly give them our advice on their cultivation practice on the premises of being responsible for Falun Dafa and for our fellow practitioners.
Envying Those Who We Think Cultivate Better and Praising Them before Others
I believe the true purpose of sharing our own or fellow practitioners' achievements should be to compare how we have studied and cultivated so that we would have opportunities to enhance our understandings of the Fa together and to do the three things better, including studying Falun Dafa books, sending righteous thoughts, and sharing the facts about Falun Dafa and the persecution of Falun Dafa with other people. In my opinion, envy originates from selfishness because behind an envious heart lies an attachment to own that desirable merit and an attachment to self.
When we envy or keep praising a fellow practitioner's merits or accomplishments, we may have already formed a strong attachment and begun to regard cultivation practice as a competition. In addition, we might even have induced or amplified those praised practitioners' attachments and caused them to slack off in their cultivation practice.
Teacher said,
"You will do him harm, as he will develop the attachment of zealotry and end up losing everything and having them switched off. In the end, he will stumble." (From "The Mentality of Showing Off" in Lecture Six of Zhuan Falun.)
Think about it. The old forces will be merciless in their persecution when they find many of our loopholes.
There is a Trend Among Practitioners to Discuss Which Practitioners Did What Task
We, Falun Dafa practitioners are now trying our best to share the facts about Falun Dafa and the persecution with the world's people because we feel compelled to do so. I believe that everyone is trying to clarify the facts about Falun Dafa from his own perspective and with the most acceptable approach. I think it's meaningless to discuss, find out, or surmise which Dafa practitioners did what truth-clarification work. I think that, when a Dafa practitioner regards himself as a particle in Dafa, he will feel compelled to clarify the Dafa and think it is part of his responsibility to do so.
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- 8. A Heart as Tranquil as Still Water
(Clearwisdom.net) Falling to this secular world and deluded, people have had their true nature covered with warped notions that developed postnatally. How many people have forgotten the true meaning of life!
Having reincarnated for millions of years, we are fortunate enough to have a compassionate Teacher come to save us. Having obtained the Fa, we cultivate our hearts and abandon our attachments. Countless evil beings have been eliminated, and our righteous actions and righteous thoughts have created a new cosmos.
However, the seriousness of the Fa-rectification is unprecedented. The Fa has higher standards and requirements of us.
I gradually find out that whenever our heart is moved by something, there is something wrong within our selves. What moves our heart is the thing that is related to our personal gains and losses or postnatal notions. What we lack at that time is our righteous faith to cultivate ourselves and save sentient beings with a great compassionate heart.
If our heart is moved by criticism or praise, aren't we attaching too much weight to the so-called "good and bad" in the human world? It may be very difficult for us to remain unmoved in our hearts at all times, but we must set high standards for ourselves.
Gods will not have their hearts moved when faced with tribulations or praises. They can see through everything and know what is best to do. Teacher said in his poem "In the Dao" (Hongyin, a collection of Teacher's poems):Do but pursue not-----
Often stay in the Dao.
Tranquil but think not-----
Mystical wonders will come out. One of the fundamental purposes of our cultivation is to break away from being humans. No matter what we encounter, we shall always maintain a heart as tranquil as still water; only by doing so can we fulfill our mission to eliminate the evil and save sentient beings. The tranquil state of mind can only be achieved through our constant Fa study; it is not something that is simply acted out or done to show others.
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