Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- My View of Righteous Understanding
- Looking Within and Seeing Things Take a Turn for the Better
- Reminding Fellow Practitioners Not to Neglect Doing the Exercises
- It Is Really Wonderful to Look Inward
- Maintaining Righteous Thoughts to Eliminate Internal and External Interference
- Searching Inward Is Real Cultivation
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the September 2011 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
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 from Bangalore held a week long Art Exhibition at an international school in Mysore. On one weekend more than 1000 students from different schools attended the exhibition.
The Bangalore practitioners also organized the Art Exhibition at one of the colleges in Bangalore. This was to be followed by the Art Exhibition at a large Media House in Bangalore.
Practitioners from Hyderabad introduced the practice to 350 NCC students from different schools surrounding the twin cities for about one week.
The practice was also introduced to the businessmen of a town called TANDUR 125 km from Hyderabad. The meeting presided by Deputy Superintendent of Police, Tandur was covered by The Press and TV.
The Hyderabad practitioners also introduced the practice to the Asst. General Manager and his staff of a large Bank’s Somajiguda branch, Hyderabad.
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- 3. My View of Righteous Understanding
By a practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net)
For a long time I felt uneasy while reading the articles written by fellow practitioners, and I thought this feeling was caused by the contents of the articles. For example, I felt that the author didn't show enough compassion, was always looking for others' weaknesses, and was using the Fa to judge others, etc. There were times when I thought, "Why can't fellow practitioners express greater compassion toward each other? Let me write an article about this." Then, it dawned on me that such an article would be no different from the ones had I criticized, and would be addressing the weaknesses of others!
I recently read an article in which Master emphasized the importance of looking inward. I realized that my uneasiness was a reflection of my own attachments. It was because I was using human judgment to look at the problem, rather than using the standard of the Fa. This revealed to me that I was being judgmental. Nothing happens by chance in cultivation. I had such feelings because there was an attachment for me to let go. Self-examination, rather than critiquing others is a basic requirement in our cultivation, and I had overlooked this point.
Whenever an incident occurs, it happens for a reason. It doesn't matter what it is. It isn't an isolated affair. Our environment always reflects the state of our cultivation, pointing out our attachments, as well as the correct path that we should have taken. When it comes to exchanging our understanding of the Fa with fellow practitioners, I used to think that we should just follow what Master said, like examining what I have understood from Fa study, my weaknesses, and how I should improve myself, etc. However, I didn't use "looking inward" to learn how to improve myself. Instead, I habitually applied my own understandings of the Fa to judge others.
I now understand that regardless of what problems appear, I must look inward and find out what changes I should make. This is the way to remove my attachments and advance rationally. To advance rationally and move up in levels of enlightenment does not depend on appearance or human judgment. The way I see it is this... Every practitioner is likely to have a different background and a different set of problems to overcome. As long as a practitioner is focusing on supporting Fa-ratification, the salvation of sentient beings, and removing personal attachments, he is on the right path, even though his understanding of Fa may not be as thorough or as complete as some others. On the other hand, a practitioner may be thorough and complete in his discussion of Fa, but he is doing so to impress others and validate himself. In appearance, such a person is doing well in his Fa study, but he is actually not a cultivator.
Practitioners should form a unified body and advance together. The levels of understanding are likely to be different for different practitioners, so exchanging ideas to help one another is a beneficial and needed activity. This is not the same as helping one another in the human society however, because Master is looking after all practitioners. The practitioner being helped may be at a higher or lower level than his helper, which isn't relevant. What is important is exposing the attachments of the practitioners involved, thus offering an opportunity for these practitioners to advance. Whoever can hold on to "looking inward" and self-examination, instead of focusing on outer appearances has the opportunity to change, purify himself and advance under different circumstances.
My personal understanding is that to make real changes, one must assimilate the Fa, because human thoughts and notions cannot advance one's character.
This is my current understanding. Please point out anything improper.
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- 4. Looking Within and Seeing Things Take a Turn for the Better
By a practitioner in Heilongjiang Province
(PureInsight.org)
I have been practicing cultivation for more than 10 years. It is because Teacher has always lifted me up at critical moments that I am here today. I would like to share my understanding of looking within.
Looking within is a magical tool for cultivating ourselves during the process of cultivation, and is something Teacher has been emphasizing. Every Dafa practitioner should do it. However, when it comes to specific issues, there are different ways of handling them. When encountering a problem, some people unwittingly look outward first before looking within. Looking within to cultivate oneself is unconditional. When the coordination of fellow practitioners is not very good when we validate the Fa, and we cannot let go of our attachments or make a breakthrough, that's the best time to look within. We will then discover that it is attachments that are blocking us from making a breakthrough. When we are free of attachments, our minds will be instantly broadened and brightened. We will really feel as if "after passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead."
In my experience of doing the three things, I have come to realize that looking within can eliminate the gaps among fellow practitioners. Here in our area, two practitioners and I often get together to discuss things. I'm the one who joined the group last, while the other two have been practitioners for a very long time. Usually they get along very well. Sometimes they have differences and handle things differently because they have a different understanding of the or different issues. This is actually normal. Because of my attachments, I often felt awkward. If I agreed with one, I feared the other would be irritated. I therefore did not express my opinions or sacrificed my principles when I mediated their differences. I feared that it would affect our validating the Fa and improving our . However, the more I handled things that way, the more they behaved like that in front of me. My mind was unsettled, and I experienced interference when I studied the Fa.
Through studying the Fa, I reflected on myself and saw that I also had some problems. I was afraid to offend others, and I had a selfish mindset of protecting myself from being hurt. I did not try to harmonize things based on the standpoint of the Fa. I did not check to see who was in accordance with the Fa or was doing whatever was good for validating the Fa. Instead, I was trying to be a peacemaker. When I found my attachment, the phenomenon gradually diminished. It turned out that it was my attachment that was making it happen. Thereafter, we became more steadfast on the path of doing the three things.
I have a son and a daughter, as well as a grandson and granddaughter. When they visit me every Sunday, I cook for them, and I am busy for half the day. I also have to clean up after they leave. I am happy to do this, of course, but one day when guests visited our home, my granddaughter said in front of everyone, "In my family, my grandpa is good. My grandmother is not so good." This statement made me feel very bad. I thought to myself that I had made sacrifices and did a lot of work, yet I was not good in her eyes. I felt that she had made me lose face and I felt uneasy because she had said it in front of others.
Why did it happen? Whatever a cultivator encounters is not accidental or without reason. Was it because I had attachments that I had not relinquished? It turned out that it was, because I was so attached to my children and grandchildren. Plus, I had the vanity of saving face, which is an attachment that I had not gotten rid of.
Teacher said,
"Those who are attached to affection for family will definitely be burned, entangled, and tormented by it. Pulled by the threads of affection and plagued by them throughout their lives, they will find it too late to regret at the end of their lives." ("Cultivators' Avoidance" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
When I thought about it, my mind instantly opened up. I felt happy about finding and eliminating this attachment. Then I heard my son reprimanding my granddaughter because he worried that I would be mad. I smiled and said, "That's okay. My granddaughter is helping me eliminate my attachments." After I said that, everyone laughed and the tension was gone.
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- 5. Reminding Fellow Practitioners Not to Neglect Doing the Exercises
By a Falun Dafa practitioner from China
(PureInsight.org)
Recently, I suddenly started to feel very tired and was often sleepy. I slept much more than before but I was still lethargic during the day. This directly impacted my doing the three things. Once when I went to to distribute truth-clarification materials, I felt tired and had difficulty breathing after climbing a few stairs.
My first reaction was to consider how to eliminate all interferences from outside factors. Therefore, in addition to eliminating my unjust thoughts and notions, I increased the frequency and duration of sending forth righteous thoughts. However, the situation did not improve. Did I lack righteous thoughts or were my righteous thoughts not effective any more? This shouldn't be. Teacher has said many times in the Fa, that whenever we run into a problem, we should look inward, find our own gaps and get rid of attachments; then we can truly and completely resolve the issue of our cultivation.
So I calmed down and looked at myself. I rarely did the exercises these days. Sometimes I couldn't complete a whole set of exercises for many days. Even when I stood there doing the exercises, I couldn't calm down and concentrate. How could I meet the Fa's standards and requirements by doing it like this?" Teacher said,
"A complete cultivation practice of mind and body requires both cultivation and practice. " (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun).
In The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa, Teacher also clearly points out, "a person who only cultivates his character and doesn't perform the exercises of the Great Way of Spiritual Perfection will find the growth of his gong strength impeded and his innate body (ben-ti) unchanged."
Studying the Fa and cultivating oneself is most important, but we should not neglect exercise either. Because we have the sacred mission of assisting Teacher to rectify the Fa, we need to use our physical body to validate the Fa and save sentient beings. Sometimes I felt that I was very busy and had no time to do the exercises. But was this really the case? Looking back, it was an excuse to not do the exercises. I claimed to be busy to cover up my pursuit of comfort and ease. In essence, I still have a gap and am not diligent enough.
Teacher said,
"You claim that you're too busy and don't have the time. Actually, you are afraid that you don't get enough rest. Have you ever thought of the fact that practicing cultivation is the best form of rest? You can obtain the kind of rest that can't be obtained through sleeping. Nobody would say: 'The exercises are making me so tired that I can't do anything today.' One would only say: 'The exercises are making my whole body relaxed and at ease. I don't feel sleepy after a sleepless night. I feel full of energy. It doesn't seem to bother me at all after a day's work.' Isn't this the case?" ("Lecture at the First Conference in North America").
Teacher also said in "Touring North America to Teach the Fa,"
"I think that a cultivator can't go without doing the exercises. Although doing the exercises is only supplemental to your improvement, it, too, is part of the Fa, and it's connected to all the changes in your body."
Believing in Teacher and the Fa, in cultivation means that we need to follow Teacher's words one hundred percent. After I rectified myself on the Fa, I resumed exercising every day. I quickly overcame my bad state . I felt my body get lighter and I was energetic again. I resumed my previous good state. Also my righteous thoughts became more powerful and lasted longer.
Keeping a good exercise state is very important to eliminating our body's metabolic waste, rotten stuff, and all the bad things. We can maintain abundant energy and do the "three things"well.
I wrote my experience here, wanting to remind our fellow practitioners, while we keep studying the Fa every day, don't forget the exercises. Because behind every exercise and movement, there is the unimaginable rotating mechanism and connotation that Teacher gave to us.
"The exercise movements are necessary for transforming and cultivating these things." (The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa).
Especially when Teacher talks about the fifth exercise, "Reinforcing Supernatural Powers," he tells us patiently,
"It's something of high-level cultivation that I used to do on my own. I'm now making it public without any modifications. Because I don't have any more time... it's going to be hard for me to have another opportunity to teach you in person. I now teach you everything at once so that later on you will have a way to practice at high levels."
Today, the changing of our innate body and the strengthening of our power, cannot happen without assimilating and exercising the Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa. Teacher also tells us in "What Has Teacher Given to Practitioners?" Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun),
"The five sets of exercises will be taught to you all at once, and you will learn them all. In the time to come, you will be able to reach a very high level--one which is so high that it is beyond your imagination. As long as you practice cultivation, it will not be a problem for you to achieve the Right Fruit in cultivation. "
Therefore, we have no reason not to do the exercises, or not to do the exercises well. We should remain clear and diligent all times.
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- 6. Searching Inward Is Joyful
Written by a Dafa disciple from Northern China
(Clearwisdom.net)
A fellow practitioner once said: "Searching
inwards is joyful." At that time, I was unable to understand or realize
what kind of realm that was. In the past, I also talked about searching inwards
and looking within myself, but in fact I always searched outwards and looked at
others' problems.
Last year, I frequently pondered over doing this or that and badly wanted to
make more money. A fellow practitioner pointed out my problem. At that time, I
was not happy and even became flush with anger and argued, "You have houses
and a retirement pension, and do not worry about life. Who would pay the rent
next year if I didn't make more money?"
At the time, although I studied the Fa every day, I was frequently distracted
when I studied. When I sent forth righteous thoughts, I went off into wild
flights of fancy and was unable to calm down. On the surface, I did the three
things well, but I did not truly cultivate myself. I had a pile of attachments.
I did not give them up. Instead I used all kinds of excuses to cover them up,
which only fostered them.
Sometimes, when I encountered a difficulty, I knew I must search within
myself. However, I did not know how to search. I searched and searched again,
but it was done only at the surface. I did not find my attachment, so I was
disheartened. Finally, I stopped looking for them. Year after year, day after
day I was muddleheaded like this until last spring, when I advanced by leaps and
bounds in upgrading xinxing and searching inwards when encountering
difficulties. Through truly searching inwards, I saw that I have the attachment
of jealousy, the mentality of showing-off, the competitive mentality, the
attachment to selfishness and so on! Along with being able to search inwards, my
temperament gradually became gentle. I no longer have the impetuous nature I had
before. I now have more understanding and tolerance towards non-practitioners
and my fellow practitioners. My capacity to endure is also greater.
I made a big change in studying the Fa this year. When studying the Fa I can
now calm down, and it is much better when I recite the Fa now. I understood many
principles that I did not know before when I read through Zhuan Falun.
Although there are all kinds of attachments coming out, because of having the
Fa in my heart, sometimes I can immediately recognize the attachment and give it
up quickly.
Several days ago, a fellow practitioner told me that I should mind my speech.
In the past, I would have considered this to be an attack on my reputation and
found a lot of excuses to argue for myself. Instead, this time I seriously
listened to the fellow practitioner's words and searched within myself. Although
what I did was for helping fellow practitioners, when I talked like this with
another fellow practitioner, it had unintended consequences. There exist gaps
among fellow practitioners in my area. In the past my actions would have
enlarged the conflict. From this matter, I saw that cultivation practice is
truly serious. Only by following the Fa's requirements can we walk the right
way. Otherwise we are easily taken advantage of by the old forces.
Even when we share experiences with fellow practitioners, we must also search
within ourselves. The things that fellow practitioners react to and the words
they speak are a mirror. When we run into a difficulty, we should ask ourselves,
"Why is this happening?". Because we have lived decades in this maze
of conflicts that is the human world, we have formed many notions. These are
stumbling blocks that prevent us from moving forward. Only after searching
inwards and cultivating inwards, can we give them up. The less the bad matter
is, the closer we are to the universe's characteristics. Only then are we able
to ascend, do the three things better and truly reach believing in Teacher and
Dafa. If all of us can search inwards, not look at our fellow practitioners'
problems, and discuss with good intentions from the Fa when we find other
practitioners' problems, this will help fellow practitioners and purify
ourselves. Will the gaps still exist then? Will there then be any space for the
evil to survive?
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- 7. Maintaining Righteous Thoughts to Eliminate Internal and External Interference
By a Falun Gong practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net)
Many recent experiences have made me recognize one of the old forces' cunning tactics. When I think of a new way or project to save more people, if I've gotten to a key spot when sending righteous thoughts, or when I look inside myself to find critical issues hindering me from further advancement in cultivation and am about to resolve it, the evil forces project intimidating thoughts to my mind. They want me to think that the thoughts are my own, and thereby cause me to negate my righteous thoughts and weaken my belief in Dafa and myself.
For example, I was planning how I would clarify the truth to a friend who was coming to visit me. Right at that moment, various scenarios of potential danger and persecution formed in my thoughts.
However, as long as we practitioners keep our main consciousnesses strong and maintain righteous thoughts, those intimidating thoughts can be easily discerned. You can feel clearly that those thoughts are not yours at all, and that they have suddenly jumped into your mind.
Besides interfering with our minds, our bodies may feel attacks from the evil when we are sending righteous thoughts. Once we strengthen our righteous thoughts, the evil will be quickly destroyed. Master said, "one good can overcome a hundred evils," () and "just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" in Essentials for Further Advancement II ) From another perspective, what the evil forces are doing shows that they are approaching the end. They know there is not much they can do to sabotage practitioners' cultivation and truth-clarification activities. Therefore, they blatantly do their evil deeds, knowing that they will be eliminated anyway. At the same time, it means we are doing the right things, which makes the evil forces afraid and desperate. We should strengthen our sending righteous thoughts even more when encountering such situations.
I would like to remind fellow practitioners of another point. Illness karma and imprisonment are obvious forms of persecution. Sometimes, the evil interference takes on other forms that are not so easy to discern. They take advantage of our existing attachments to disturb our moods and feelings, which in turn may slow down and lower the quality of our assisting Teacher in the Fa-rectification. This is also a form of persecution.
"As a Dafa disciple, your steadfast, righteous thoughts are absolutely unshakable, because your renewed being is formed precisely amidst the Fa-rectification." ("Dafa is Indestructible" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Being able to maintain a good and steady cultivation state indicates we are mature in our cultivation. I have gradually realized how important it is to stay clear-headed, keep up a firm belief in Teacher, and study the Fa a lot. We should clearly discern the source of each and every one of our thoughts. As for those bad ones, we should destroy them with utmost seriousness and steadiness, and also eliminate the source to completely eliminate such interference.
This is my understanding at the current level. Fellow practitioners, please point out anything inappropriate. Heshi.
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- 8. Eliminating the Attachment to Sleep and Becoming More Diligent
(Clearwisdom.net)
Master says,
"Right now every minute and every second is crucial. If you
miss out during this period of time, you miss out on everything. History won't
recur. The history of the cosmos and the Three Realms have gone through so
many, long, long years--what have all the beings been waiting for? What are
they all here for? For exactly these few years! Yet there are [Dafa] students
who are squandering their lives during these few years, not seizing the time.
And yet you are shouldering such huge responsibilities for all beings and for
history!" ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference")
For a long time, due to studying the Fa and doing the three
things, I have not practiced the exercises. I even tried to find excuses
for myself in Master's Fa. I sleep for eight hours every day. During this
critical historical moment of saving sentient beings in the universe, I was
obviously being irresponsible in for sentient beings and myself. Continuing in
this behavior was damaging to myself and sentient beings.
Until one day, when I read a fellow practitioner's article on the Minghui
website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom), in which she mentioned that she only
sleeps for two hours every day and she still feels that there isn't enough time.
I was suddenly awakened. I absolutely believe the fellow practitioner's state.
But how could she do it and I could not? I shared my thoughts with my mother
(also a practitioner). Her direct answer was that I was not diligent enough in
practicing the exercises, so my body could not be fully refined.
Later I read this:
"Question: Is it that as you cultivate to higher levels, you sleep
less?
Teacher: That's not the case. It's related to the changes and elevation
of the particles intrinsic to your thoughts. But it does happen periodically.
The matter I just talked about also involves this factor. At the surface you
will return to the normal state when the well-cultivated part of you is
separated from you. That's what you will experience all the way until you
Consummate. All of this allows you to live like regular people. Yet your human
side will become weaker and weaker. And if you hold yourself to high
standards, perhaps you will conduct yourself among ordinary people better and
better. That's the way it is." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference
in Switzerland," 1998)
I tried to understand what Master meant by "related to the changes and
elevation of the particles intrinsic to your thoughts." I recalled my
deeply rooted human notion that one has to sleep for eight hours per day. But
even after I tried to eliminate this attachment, I still was not able to reach a
perfect state in doing the exercises. Continuing to examine myself, I found that
I have too many things on my mind when practicing the exercises. I cannot reach
the state of "Shenshen Heyi" (Join the Mind and Body Together)
as Master requires. My thought was that: as long as I practice the exercises, it
should be good enough.
Master says, "Gong is the Law, and the Law is gong, for
mind itself is matter." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in
Houston") It's just like when we study the Fa: if we have other thoughts on
our minds, how can we study the Fa well? How would the Fa manifest its greatness
to us and help us improve? After I realized this, every time I practice the
exercises now, I strictly follow Master's requirement of "Shenshen Heyi"
(Join the Mind and Body Together), eliminate human notions and thoughts
and stay focused. After doing this for two days, my state improved greatly!
In this process, I also clearly realized that in fact, sleeping is also a
desire and an attachment. Sleep makes a person's body relax, and also can help
people escape the troublesome things in the human world. But laziness can
destroy sentient beings and ourselves. Therefore, we should cherish this
greatest opportunity and this historical moment that will never come again, to
successfully fulfill our prehistoric vows.
Now, I have arranged my time this way to practice the exercises. In the
morning, at 4:50 to 5:50 I practice the first four exercises; at 5:55, I send
forth righteous thoughts for 35 minutes and wash up. At night, at 10:50 to
11:50, I practice the fifth exercise; at 11:55, I send forth righteous thoughts
for 35 minutes and I then go to bed. I only sleep for about four hours per day
and I feel great. I will continue to be more diligent and spend more time and
effort on validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. I will cherish this
great historic moment--every minute and every second of it! I will do well the
"three things" Dafa practitioners are supposed to do so I can be
worthy of the title of "Fa-rectification Period Dafa Disciple."
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