Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Looking Inward Is the Only Means to Resolve Problems
- My Understanding of "Understanding the Fa from Within the Fa"
- Understanding the Elements Behind Pursuing a Peaceful and Stress-Free Environment
- The Guiding Light of My Life
- Let Go of Attachments and Walk the Final Steps of the Journey
- Learning to Look Inward
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the December 2011 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
We come to the end of the year and it is a time for renewals, making new resolves—a good time to take stock of our cultivation and do better.
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 Bangalore introduced the practice to two more colleges.
Practitioners also met the person from the Human Rights group to participate on World Human Rights Day in December.
Practitioners from Hyderabad conducted Art Exhibitions in Hyderabad, Waranagal, Rajhamundry and in the Faculty club of Andhra University in Vishakapatnam. Many people came and signed on the petition and were shocked to know the truth. Practitioners explained about the practice and showed them the exercises. This was reported in the press also.
Practitioners from Hyderabad organized The Truth-Compassion-Tolerance Art exhibition in Shantingar club. Many came from nearby places and were shocked to know the truth by watching the paintings. Flyers were distributed to all. News reporters too came and reported this in their newspapers the following day.
Shankerji Memorial School in Hyderabad with 600 girl students has been practicing the exercises. They have included it in their time table from 9 am to 9.40 am daily.
The Practice was also introduced in a government school in Vijaya nagar colony, Hyderabad. Flyers were distributed to the students.
Practitioners in Pune introduced the practice in the IT company where they work.
There was an introductory session of an hour and exercise demo on the first day, attended by about 30 staff members. Exercises were taught to the interested people on subsequent 3 days.
They also introduced the practice to NSS camp in Karanja, Maharashtra. All the NSS participants learned the exercises. Other Schools & Colleges teachers and principals invited to introduce Falun Dafa practice to their students.
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- 3. Looking Inward Is the Only Means to Resolve Problems
(Clearwisdom.net)
When I study Master's lectures, I am most impressed by
a principle that Master has often talked about and has stressed again and
again--cultivation is about looking inward. In other words, I think, not looking
inward means not cultivating.
However, many practitioners tend to look outward and search for external
causes when they run into problems. They even get angry, just as Master points
out in the "Fa:
"Yet when we run into problems, we often look outwards--'Why are you
treating me like that?'--and feel that we've been treated unfairly, instead of
examining ourselves. That's the greatest and most fatal obstacle for all living
beings." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore")
For instance, some practitioners went to the hospital to seek temporary
comfort. Instead, they suffered from long-term discomfort. Isn't cultivation
about eliminating karma and enduring hardship? If we don't measure things
against the Fa, we are restricted by human laws. We will not be able to regard
problems as tests of our faith in Master and Fa or as tests of our firmness in
the Fa. If we don't hold ourselves to the standard of the Fa, the evil will take
advantage of our gaps and even Master cannot help us under such circumstances.
So we will suffer ordeals until someday we understand the Fa.
Some practitioners complain about their family situations, such as their
family members creating problems in their cultivation and not allowing them to
do this or that, or even destroying Dafa books. They didn't look inward to see
whether they have behaved as cultivators, whether they have created positive
images for Dafa practitioners in their environment, or whether they have truly
been validating Dafa. When we do not cultivate ourselves well, our gaps may be
taken advantage of by the old evil forces. We may get arrested, causing our
family members to suffer mentally and physically, and thus they may become more
fearful. Have we thought about our family members as sentient beings to be
saved? Although the CCP is evil, Master told us:
"if you don't have those thoughts they can't do anything."
("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")
Why can't we look inward to search for our fundamental attachments and stand
up from where we fall?
I think the only way to solve these problems and overcome these ordeals is to
study the Fa more. We should study the Fa with our hearts and recite the Fa, so
that we can truly assimilate to Dafa and transcend the selfishness of the old
cosmos. We should break away from human notions, hold ourselves to the standard
of selflessness and altruism, always consider others first, and consider issues
from others' points of view. I realize the process of searching inside is a
process of enduring, a process of eliminating karma, a process of cultivating,
and a process of improving ourselves. Isn't cultivation about enduring hardship?
Getting rid of all human notions is the hardest process.
Finally, I would like to suggest that every practitioner recite this quote
from Master's "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe:"
"Whenever you encounter problems you should each look inward to search
for the cause within, regardless of whether you're to blame or not. Remember
my words: Regardless of whether the problem is your fault or not, you should
look inside yourself, and you will find a problem. If the matter has
absolutely nothing to do with you or doesn't involve any of the attachments
you should break, then that thing would rarely happen to you. If you didn't
have an attachment the problem wouldn't have come about. I have to be
responsible for your cultivation. Any problem that happens to you, around you,
or among you is most likely related to you, and there is something for you to
get rid of. No matter whether it's your fault or not, when my Law Bodies are
having you remove your attachment, they don't care whether it's your fault or
another person's."
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- 4. My Understanding of "Understanding the Fa from Within the Fa"
(Clearwisdom.net)
Some time ago, I tried to clarify the truth to some officials of the 610 Office. Surprisingly, one of them said to me, "I consider the two to be separate issues. Dafa is Dafa, and you are you." Pondering over the comment quietly, I discovered that for the past ten years, I still hadn't fully understood the meaning of "Understanding the Fa from within the Fa."
The following is my understanding. The analogy may not necessarily be correct.
If we take the human body as Dafa, then every practitioner is a part of this body. So, when a practitioner, who genuinely treats himself as a part of Dafa, carries out the three things stipulated by Master, the power delivered from the body comes from Dafa itself, and the amount of power delivered also corresponds to the level of the practitioner, as "Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master." ("Lecture One," Zhuan Falun) Since Dafa is impeccably righteous and has infinite power, it has a solution to everything.
Take the persecution of Falun Gong as an example. If one genuinely treats oneself as part of the Dafa body, when the evil persecutes a practitioner, it actually persecutes Dafa. Are there any living beings in this universe who would dare to put Dafa, the factor behind the creation of everything, to the test? Looking at it from this perspective, who would dare to touch you? I remember a fellow practitioner once said to an officer, "You dare do harm to Dafa?" The man immediately released him. If we think about it, hadn't this practitioner integrated himself into Dafa and acted from within the Fa? The infinite power of Buddha Fa was manifested in this practitioner.
Coming to this point in my cultivation, I notice that often in the past, I put myself first when clarifying the truth – I was actually validating myself, not the Fa. For example, I often told myself, "I must speak the truth even if I am persecuted;" "I must tell the truth when I appeal;" "Even if I don't go to work, I will tell the truth;" "I have to save sentient beings," etc. Hence, most of the time, I wanted the world to know about how unfairly Falun Gong had been treated since being banned. The anxiety that built up from within made me argue with people and forget my righteous thoughts. I was validating myself and not Dafa. Of course, the power of the Fa was not there and the result was not good either.
Now, I will often say this first when clarifying the truth: "Dafa teaches us to be good by following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Our Master teaches us to consider others first in everything we do. For your good, I'll tell you about the truth of the persecution..." Thus, in subsequent truth-clarification work, I have been much calmer, and in doing so, I have also put validating the Fa as the priority.
The above is my personal understanding.
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- 5. Understanding the Elements Behind Pursuing a Peaceful and Stress-Free Environment
By a practitioner from China
(Clearwisdom.net)
The old elements in my life, including the pursuit of peace and quiet,
must be very strong. It is actually the attachment of trying to avoid conflicts,
not being willing to take responsibility, and being selfish. As a result, before
I obtained the Fa, though I was quite serious in doing detailed jobs at my
workplace, I was not very happy being promoted to team leader, as I was afraid
that I might offend others. I seldom had conflicts with anyone and enjoyed
helping others, so everyone regarded me as a good person. In fact, sometimes
when I encountered conflicts or troubles, I intentionally tried to avoid them,
rather than calmly facing them and remaining unperturbed. My reasoning for
willingly trying to avoid these conflicts and troubles was because I was very
concerned about them.
Since I obtained the Fa in 1996, I always wanted to cultivate in a peaceful
and quiet environment, because I had read books about practicing cultivation in
the Dao school. I once had the intention of living in the mountains to
cultivate. After obtaining the Fa, I learned that one improves fastest by
cultivating in everyday life, so I no longer wanted to go into the mountains to
cultivate. Actually, that was due to my strong selfishness and pursuit of my own
improvement. My notion of wanting to cultivate in a stress "cultivate while
maximally conforming to the ordinary human society." ("Dafa Is
All-Encompassing" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Although I still worked very hard after obtaining the Fa, I distanced myself
more and more from my friends, and spent most of my time in isolated
cultivation. As long as I could cultivate in this environment, I would disregard
everything else. I regarded the conflicts and troubles in my life as obstacles
on my cultivation path, rather than seeking within according to the standard of
the Fa and finding why I fear conflicts and troubles. In everyday life, I was no
longer as warm-hearted as before when helping others. This behavior caused
obstacles for other people to obtain the Fa.
After the Chinese Communist Party started to persecute Dafa, I was also
persecuted and arrested many times by my workplace and police. Further, I was
agitated and had the notion to cultivate in a stress-free environment. As a
result, at the end of 2000, I took the initiative to ask for time off in order
to get away from them. But soon I realized that it was not possible for me not
to have a job. Not only did my family members not understand me, but my friends
and colleagues did not understand me either. I noticed that my behavior caused
difficulties when clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings.
Master has taught in "Teaching the Fa at a New York Meeting",
"Since there aren't even many people in mainland China who go to
temples--let alone Caucasians and other ethnicities--if I were to become a
monk and teach this Fa in temples, it would be impossible to enable those
among the public at large who can truly obtain the Fa to obtain the Fa."
Master also taught in "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern
Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference",
"Except for newer students, from July 20 of 1999 on, Master hasn't
created any personal cultivation tests for you, and that's because overall your
personal cultivation has changed in every respect so that it's in the direction
of saving sentient beings and validating Dafa. "
Only by facing the population, facing the conflicts, can we cultivate, save
the sentient beings and validate Dafa.
My attachment of pursuing a peaceful and quiet environment has led to the
attachment of being afraid to endure hardships. I often did not discipline
myself well. The past few years, I've been running my own business, and have
also been looking for full-time jobs, but didn't do any of these well. The
reason is still related to my pursuit of being stress-free. It is actually the
pursuit of comfort without being responsible for sentient beings. Now I have
enlightened that one of the objectives in cultivation is to develop a
compassionate heart and to be responsible for sentient beings.
Fundamentally, the pursuit of being stress-free is an issue about practicing
only one cultivation way in one school. Master mentioned many times in his
lectures,
"One must be single-minded in only one practice, and even ideas from
other practices should not be intermingled."
"One must conduct oneself well and truly practice cultivation in a
righteous way. Do not mix it with anything else in cultivation, not even with
any mind intention." ("Lecture Three" in Zhuan Falun)
I have enlightened to the fact that if one holds on to his or her selfish
mind intention and does not let it go, that is not practicing only one
cultivation way.
My personal understanding is that cultivation in Dafa will rectify everything
that is not righteous, and allow us to eliminate those notions that were formed
at different levels in the old cosmos, and that do not comply and harmonize with
the Fa.
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- 6. The Guiding Light of My Life
By Wu Cun
(Clearwisdom.net)
I learned about in March 1996. I understood the meaning of life and many things that I did not know after I read the book . The questions I had about life were answered, my health improved, and my spirituality was enhanced.
Before I became a practitioner, I was very lost. None of the books that I read could answer my questions. It wasn't until after I read Zhuan Falun that my view widened, my thoughts expanded, and my view of the world, life, and values fundamentally changed. I knew what I should do in the future, which was to be responsible for my life, not to be confused by people's notions and not to get attached to the vanities of the world. I understood that I had to reposition myself in the new universe and stop fighting for fame, personal gain, desire and affection.
My mind and physical body improved tremendously because of my practice. I used to have gastritis, hepatitis, and cholecystitis before I learned Falun Dafa. I often visited hospitals and took numerous medicines. I couldn't eat very well, was underweight and had no energy. After I finished listening to Teacher's 6th lecture in Jinan city, I began to have blood in my stool that lasted two weeks. Afterward, all my illnesses were gone and never came back. That was the first time I knew how it felt to not be sick. Teacher purified my body.
A true practitioner's body gets better and better because of the improvement in his mind and character. The practice requires us to be good people by following the standards in the teaching. Teacher said in Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe,
"What's meant by being a good person? What does emphasizing virtue mean? It means that you should conduct yourself better and better. How good should you be? You should be better than all everyday people--then you're someone who transcends everyday people. Since you are a cultivator your body will develop gong and your gong will grow as high as your realm of mind. The higher your realm of mind, the higher the level of your gong."
To practice Falun Dafa is an action that is beyond space and time. It is a process whereby a human turns into a divine being. First we must learn the teachings well and understand the principles in the higher realms in order to be guided toward higher levels. We need to eliminate our attachments and human notions. If our minds are attached to things of this world, we are beings of this world. To enter the realm of divine beings, we must get rid our notions. Teacher said in Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference,
"as no human attachment can be taken to heaven."
We, being a part of the universe, must conform to the standard of what the universe wants for its beings. People who no longer have Dafa, the Great Law, in their hearts are certain to do bad things, which is not allowed in the universe, and are thus in a dangerous position.
"The human moral standard is declining tremendously, and human moral values are deteriorating daily. People only pursue self-interest and will harm others for a tiny bit of personal gain. They compete and struggle against each other by resorting to all means. Think about it, everyone: Will this be allowed to continue?"
Lecture One in Zhuan Falun.
Teacher told us that Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is the characteristic of the universe , and that every being will be judged by this principle. Only those who have assimilated to this principle or at least be able to see it as good will enter the future. Those who choose to defame and persecute Truth-Compassion-Forbearance and the practice are bound to be weeded out by the future.
Practicing Falun Dafa became a way for me to find my roots. The teaching shows me where I truly came from.
"The vast cosmic body was born of the universe's nature, Zhen-Shan-Ren. Dafa's being taught in public demonstrates again the original nature of the universe's living beings." "A Brief Explanation of Shan," Essentials for Further Advancement.
Every being in the universe is made of Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truth-Compassion-Forbearance). It is our root and our fundamental nature. Practicing Falun Dafa is the process of returning to our true selves by assimilating to Truth-Compassion-Forbearance.
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- 7. Let Go of Attachments and Walk the Final Steps of the Journey
By a practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net)
Our local practitioners studied Teacher's new lecture
together and then had a group sharing. Two key points brought up. I think some
practitioners were biased.
First, some practitioners think that the Fa-rectification period is
indefinite and may last several more years. Some practitioners feel helpless
because of this.
Teacher said:
"As I just said, this kind of cultivation setting, where one cannot
see what lies ahead and one is immersed in prolonged loneliness, is the
hardest to endure, and it is most apt to lead a person to slack off. This is
the greatest test in cultivation." (Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater
New York International Fa Conference)
This is the first time Teacher has said this. Some practitioners feel that
Teacher has pointed out the suffering in our hearts. We did not dare to say this
before. In the cruel persecution, some practitioners in China are looking
forward to an early end to the persecution. Just like last year, the local 610
office agents are monitoring practitioners and applying high pressure to ensure
that the sixtieth anniversary of the CCP runs smoothly.
The second point was about the great final judgment mentioned in Teacher's
new lecture. Teacher mentioned in the lecture that all sentient beings in the
cosmos, including those who play negative roles, will face the final judgment in
the end. Some practitioners don't dare think about the consequences of not
having fulfilled the promise that he or she made long ago.
I would like to briefly state my point of view about these two topics. About
the first topic, although it is a reality, it reflects our attachment to time.
Teacher said very clearly:
"And as for the Chinese people, who suffer the most severe
persecution, they are persecuted to that extent only on account of the old
forces' trying to interfere with you. So there is even more reason for you to
save them." ((Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International
Fa Conference)
Regardless of our personal feelings, we should make every effort to save more
sentient beings. This is the difference between selfishness and selflessness.
This is the important measure that verifies whether you are selfless.
Practitioners need strong righteous thoughts to meet the standard of the Fa.
Everyone knows that the final judgment is also talked about in the Christian
Bible. Buddha and Tao schools do not mention it, however, though it is believed
that everybody will go through the cycle of reincarnation based on karma. We
should look inward to see how we are doing during the Fa-rectification period.
If we have not done well, we should improve immediately. This is the righteous
attitude we should have.
We cannot relax. We should remember every moment that we are here to help
Teacher with the Fa-rectification. Our mission is to save sentient beings. We
should not feel depressed or helpless, and we cannot continue to waste valuable
time. The time is given by Teacher for saving sentient beings.
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- 8. Learning to Look Inward
By Xia Yixin from China
(Clearwisdom.net)
Master told us on many occasions that as cultivators we should look inward whenever we meet with conflicts. But as a practitioner who has cultivated for the past ten years, I didn't fully understand the meaning of looking inward until today.
I am someone who likes to show off, and I get jealous easily. I tend to compete with others and I have many other attachments. I am in my forties, and before becoming a practitioner, I had many illnesses. I started practicing Falun Gong in 1998. Master purified my body and all my illnesses disappeared. From that moment, I vowed that I would be steadfast in my cultivation to the end, and have faith in Master and the Fa. I thought I had been very diligent for the past ten years, but I felt that however hard I tried, every three to five days Master would enlighten me to various loopholes in my cultivation.
Last night, a few words from my husband suddenly shook me awake. I had sternly told my husband, "For the past few days you have been slacking off again. You read very few pages of the Fa each day, and you only do one set of the exercises each day. How can you go on like this?"
My husband replied, "You think that because you spend more time studying the Fa and doing the exercises that you are better than me, but a practitioner should not act like that. You are focusing on the shortcomings of others. You should also try to see the virtues in others. I have not seen you observing the virtues in others and recognizing those who are better than you. I have never felt that I am better than you. I always felt that you were better than me. How about you? Do you always feel that you are better than others?"
After hearing these words, I reflected upon myself solemnly. Yes it is true. When have I admitted that others are better than I? Even if I were wrong, I looked for the flaws in others to cover up my own shortcomings, and I didn't allow others to criticize me. The moment I heard criticism I would lose my temper. I was like this before I started cultivation, but after taking up cultivation, how much have I really changed? For the past ten years I have always felt that my cultivation state was better than other practitioners. When I performed well, I exhibited a show-off mentality in front of my fellow practitioners. When I did badly, I found excuses for myself, and I feared that others would look down on me. When the situation was good, I would be gregarious and not watch what I said. When the situation was bad, I would have fear and slacken off in my truth clarifying efforts and efforts to persuade people to renounce their CCP membership.
Looking inward this time gave me a big shock. I have always felt that I was cultivating very well, so why do I still have so many bad elements? Why do I still argue with others over what is right and wrong? I believe it's because I haven't cultivated away the fundamental attachment to "self," and I am still selfish. When I meet with tribulations I think of myself first and am not compassionate in dealing with sentient beings, and thus there are conflicts.
I want to totally eliminate the element of selfishness from my dimensional field. From today on I must study the Fa more and learn to truly look inward. I will learn from other practitioners. I am very grateful for my husband's help during the past ten years. I am also grateful to those practitioners who maintain the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. I will listen to Master, try hard to keep up with the pace of Fa rectification and do the three things well.
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