Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Learning to Look Inward While Reciting the Fa to Eliminate Imperceptible Attachments
- Fundamentally Change Human Notions
- Only by Cultivating Well Can We Validate the Fa Well
- Become More Selfless by Not Always Putting the Word "I" First
- Break Through Loneliness and Forge Ahead
- On Studying the Fa with Our Hearts
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the August 2012 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
In this issue, we have 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?
We would like to inform all practitioners that we have got the approval of Master on the Kannada version of Zhuan Falun and it has been posted on the Website. All practitioners who can read Kannada are requested to check out the Kannada version on www.falundafaindia.org
Practitioners from Hyderabad introduced the practice in Oasis School of Excellence to 300 students for a week in July12. They clarified the truth and presented the books to the Principal at the end of the session. The teachers and the students liked the practice very much. The school principal gave an appreciation certificate.
Practitioners also got permission from two other schools in Hyderabad to introduce the practice next month.
On July 20, practitioners put up a display of the paintings and clarified the truth to many walkers in Chacha Nehru park, Hyderabad.
Practitioners from Bangalore on 6 July made a 20 min. presentation on Falun Dafa, the persecution and Ancient Tales of Wisdom to 60 Secretaries of Schools from across Karnataka.
Bangalore practitioners on16 July made an audio visual presentation of Falun Dafa, Demonstrated the Exercises and did some truth clarification using Human Rights as a medium at St. Ann's School, Gauribindur. A few teachers and students from class V onwards attended the all day program and were very moved by the presentation.
On 21 July an Introduction to Falun Dafa, exercises and truth clarification using Human Rights as a medium was conducted at Mount Carmel College. Two teachers and about thirty students attended. This was conducted in 2 sessions in the PU and Degree colleges on the campus. The teachers said they would like to have a presentation again for a larger group of students.
On 25 July practitioners from Bangalore introduced Falun Dafa to the primary students of the Church School, Peenya.
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- 3. Learning to Look Inward While Reciting the Fa to Eliminate Imperceptible Attachments
By a practitioner from China
(Minghui.org)
Master has taught us the two reasons for the inability to increase gong, "Without knowing the Fa at high levels, one cannot practice cultivation. Without cultivating one's inner self and one's xinxing, one cannot increase gong." (Lecture One, , 2000 translation version)
Master has handed the higher-level Fa to us, and according to that, cultivating one's inner self and looking inward is our cultivation path.
I have spoken about looking inward ever since I began Falun Gong practice. My personal improvement is a result of my cultivation. During the Fa-rectification period, looking inward becomes broader and deeper because it is closely tied to personal improvement, Fa validation, rescuing sentient beings, completely negating the old forces, and overcoming the old forces' persecution. It requires a lot to become a genuine practitioner--constantly looking inward, cultivating one's mind, and understanding the Fa principles clearly. Master said, "To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
On the road from a karma-laden human being full of karma to a great deity, one has to eliminate many attachments and transform much karma. This should be a process of cultivating one's mind, but I treated it as a task. Because of an erroneous starting point, I often felt that I had not improved even after cultivating for a long time.
I knew how to cultivate once I began reciting the and studying Master's lectures daily. As I recited more, I gradually melted into the Fa and truly felt holistically the harmony of the entire Fa and principles Master explained. I truly felt the joy of looking inward.
While validating the Fa and rescuing sentient beings, when facing conflicts, the first thought is to look inward and examine oneself. Do not try to shirk responsibilities. Do not try to avoid the issues. It has to amount to unconditionally examining one's mindset. It is a process of gradually maturing. Oftentimes my first thought was not to examine myself; it was usually the second thought. I was frustrated with myself because on that account. After a while I was able to look inward right away. It is a battle between Buddha nature and demonic nature,, and sometimes it really is a heart-wrenching struggle. Master said, "if it does not irritate a person psychologically, it does not count or is useless and cannot make him or her improve." (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
Once I remembered this Fa principle I calmed down and used righteous thoughts to strengthen myself. When I look back I find that "after passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!" (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I now put more emphasis on examining my every single thought. As soon as one emerges I immediately look inward and ask myself, "Where is this coming from? Why do I have this thought? Is this what Fa-rectification needs?" If this is not a righteous thought, I look to find and eliminate my attachments, even when I am doing household chores. I do not let my mind relax, even though sometimes I might be unable to differentiate which one comes from the true self because I have been controlled by long-formed human notions and mistakenly thought it was my main consciousness. When I examine every single thought and look for my fundamental attachments, I correct myself, thus having formed an inward-looking process. When I truly identify my fundamental attachments and eliminate them, Master helps me during my Fa-study, and my reciting the Fa rectifies me.
With Master's hints I feel enlightened. Here are my current understandings:
1. I better understand Master's teaching "Different levels have different Fa" in Zhuan Falun. I can let go of my own personal Fa understandings, as there is no way for one person's understandings to cover the great Fa. Be tolerant and understanding of others' level of Fa-comprehension and their ways of eliminating attachments without selfish intent, kindly pointing out their attachments with an intention of truly being good to others.
2. I can think from the one-body perspective and the angle of rescuing sentient beings. Consider regarding the concept of the one body and sentient beings' salvation as one's responsibilities. Examine oneself more often: will this be beneficial to the validation of the Fa? Is this what's needed for rescuing sentient beings? Is this what Master asked for? Don't just eliminate an attachment for the sake of elimination or solve conflicts merely for the sake of solving them.
3. Completely negate the old forces and eliminate the old forces' persecution. Recognize the evilness of the old forces and how they take advantage of our human notions to create conflicts among us, which eventually become their excuses for the persecution.
I first exchanged the recognition of my attachments with fellow practitioners and shared experiences with them in the above-mentioned three areas. After sharing for one morning, we felt we had reached a clear understanding. We felt we had overcome our egos. We felt the responsibilities we have as practitioners during the Fa-rectification period. At that moment I felt I had gotten rid of a thick shell. I felt Master's infinite grace and also the endless power of Master's teaching, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Oftentimes when an issue appears it is not one or two attachments, but many. I usually take a pen and write them down, one by one. I go from the surface and then dig deeper to find the root cause. It is a very effective way to find my problems and rectify them.
The inward-looking process has eliminated more and more karma and notions. When encountering conflicts I was able to think from the standpoint of Dafa practitioners' being one body and the Fa-rectification. Master said:
"According to one who sees with supernatural capabilities, wherever there is black qi, that place is considered to have pathogenic qi. A doctor of Chinese medicine will find the energy channels blocked in that place, as the qi and blood are not circulating and the energy channels are congested. To a doctor of Western medicine, that place may present the symptom of an ulcer, tumor, osteophytosis, or inflammation, etc. When it manifests in this dimension, it is in this form. After you remove that being, you will find that there is nothing wrong with the body in this dimension. Whether it is protrusion of the lumbar intervertebral discs or osteophytosis, after you remove that thing and clear out that field, you will find it instantly healed. You can take another x-ray and find that the osteophytosis has disappeared. The fundamental reason is that this being was producing an effect." (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)
Once realizing the importance of eliminating attachments, I constantly work hard to eliminate and correct them. I am thus able to change human notions into righteous thoughts.
This is my personal experience. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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- 4. Fundamentally Change Human Notions
By Da Qi, a Falun Dafa disciple in China
(Minghui.org)
For a long time, my stomach felt bloated and I couldn't eat a lot. Sometimes I felt good; other times not so good. This did not affect my work or daily life too much, but I just didn't feel good. I knew this was because I had an attachment to food. Because I didn't have a clear understanding from the perspective of the Fa, and was only looking on the surface, the old forces continued to reinforce my attachment and continued to exploit my gap. It affected my ability to do well the I should do as a Dafa practitioner.
I told myself that if I had an attachment to the quantity, then I should eat less; if I was attached to the quality, then I should eat simpler foods. However, I didn't realize that I was still looking at the issue from within the issue. Recently, as I tried to memorize the section "The Issue of the Celestial Eye" in Zhuan Falun, I noticed my progress was slow. I knew that my xinxing was not high enough and it formed a barrier. In other words, I took illusions in the human world too seriously. I didn't understand "...every phenomenon in human society is illusory and unreal." (Zhuan Falun)
This morning, I woke up and felt that my stomach was heavy and filled with filth. I have been practicing for over a decade, yet I felt that this part of my body had not been transformed into high-energy matter. On the issue of food, I was full of human notions, even deviated human notions. I cared about what vegetables were nutritious, what food had higher levels of iron, what food could improve one's appearance, and what had high calcium content so my son could grow taller, etc. When I dug deeper, I found a more serious problem: Although I had eliminated a lot of attachments over the last ten years, I had not given up the attachment to food. I often joked with my husband, "Nothing in the human world can give me joy, except for food. If I eat well, I feel very satisfied." What a strong attachment!
We have come to the human world to harmonize with the Fa and assist Master in the Fa-rectification. In the human world, food is just for maintaining our ability to live. There should be no distinction between good and bad food. As long as we are full, we are fine. Some practitioners with supernormal abilities have seen that rich dishes such as fish and meat are actually filthy in another dimension. After I changed my notion, I didn't feel my stomach was either heavy or filthy. It must be that Master saw that I recognized my problem, so he removed the impure matter in me. Thank you Master!
I hope my article can be helpful to others. Please point out anything incorrect in my understanding.
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- 5. Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts for Extended Periods of Time
By a practitioner from Hanzhong city, China
(Minghui.org)
Many practitioners have not put much emphasis on sending forth righteous thoughts. As a result, they have failed to rectify themselves, which also causes interference to others. Today, I would like to share my experience of rectifying myself.
In addition to sending righteous thoughts at the four set times, I have also been sending forth righteous thoughts to rectify myself at other times in the day for the past two years. Initially, I did it to eliminate strong thought karma. I would spend one or two hours daily to eliminate the thought karma. The effect was good after doing it for over a month and the thought karma lessened. I continued to send righteous thoughts for extended periods of time to eliminate other attachments I still have.
The purpose of sending forth righteous thoughts is to rectify oneself and the universe that one represents, and rectify other areas of the universe. Some practitioners don't have a clear understanding of why we send righteous thoughts. They think that doing it can't eliminate attachments since they need to be eliminated through tribulations. Regarding sending righteous thoughts, Master said:
"When Dafa disciples send forth righteous thoughts, pure and righteous thoughts, to clean out the evil's persecution of them, that's allowed--the old Fa-principles include principles like that as well. This is the same idea as approaching cultivation with righteous thoughts, or as saving sentient beings with righteous thoughts." ("Touring North America to Teach the Fa")
In fact, sending forth righteous thoughts is as important as eliminating attachments through tribulations. The only difference is that sending righteous thoughts is actively eliminating demon nature that exists in oneself and externally. I would like to share my experiences in this regard.
To eliminate the bad factors from myself, I focused on eliminating and disintegrating the strongest thought karma or attachment immediately. Once when I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the attachment of fear, I found that the tightness in my chest disappeared. In the past, I had a strong attachment of fear. When I distributed materials, I was always on the look out for the police. After sending forth righteous thoughts for 20 days, I was no longer fearful when I went out to distribute materials. Another example is eliminating the attachment to lust. I immediately eliminated this attachment when it surfaced until it completely disappeared.
Sometimes when the evil took advantage of my loopholes, I took it as a good opportunity to eliminate it. My gong had to search all over for them when I sent righteous thoughts. When our loopholes are taken advantage of by the old forces, we can't hide and use everyday people's methods to solve the issue. Instead, we need to calm down and disintegrate the evil. If we do this every time, can the evil still persecute us? At times when I feel that sending forth righteous thought wasn't effective, I would adjust my heart and immerse myself in the . Regardless of whether my righteous thought is targeted toward myself or the outside world, I need to look at it from the aspect of the whole universe. As a result, the effect would be good. Rectifying oneself is rectifying the whole universe.
Since I have been sending righteous thoughts like this, I do not fall asleep any more or have a difficult time keeping my palm erect during sending righteous thought. On the contrary, I can quickly enter into tranquility, and my palms feel like they are floating and don't feel tired no matter how long I take to send righteous thoughts.
I suggest to practitioners who have a difficult time keeping their palms up straight or fall asleep during sending forth righteous thoughts to find time and eliminate one's demon nature and attachments. For practitioners whose cultivation status isn't good, please send righteous thoughts more frequently because it is hard to study the Fa when in this state. If one's heart is not righteous when doing Dafa work, one will easily be taken advantage of by the old forces. Therefore, it is best to send forth righteous thoughts before this happens.
This is my personal understanding. Please point out anything that is inappropriate.
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- 6. Become More Selfless by Not Always Putting the Word "I" First
By a practitioner from Anhui
(Minghui.org)
I began practicing Falun Gong much later than
most others in China, and I feel that I do not yet study the
well. I do not have a solid foundation in my individual cultivation
either. I have been persecuted several times for . My family has also suffered a lot, and ended up with
misunderstandings of my cultivation. Recently, with Master's help,
I got out of a forced labor camp with righteous thoughts. When I
arrived home, I found out to my surprise that my husband, who had
been faithful to me, was having an affair with my best friend.
I did not have as strong a response as a non-practitioner, but
it still hurt deeply. Some bad thoughts kept bothering me, and I
even had the thought of leaving him. This had very bad impact on me
when I studied the Fa. However, I know if I want to save him and
his family and friends, as a Dafa cultivator, I shouldn't divorce
him. So I endured, and with the arrival of any bad thoughts, I
tried my very best to expel them.
When I elevated my , I discovered that the
roots of my painful feelings grew from selfishness. My true nature
is unselfish and selfless, conforming to
Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It won't be changed by the
exterior conditions, and it won't have pain and worries. All the
worries and pain I feel, including all bad thoughts, I will take as
not belonging to my true self, and I won't have them. Gradually my
compassion came out, and my true nature came out time and time
again. When I faced my husband, my heart became more and more pure,
without sentimentality. With a pure mind, I took care of him,
telling him that having an affair is not right, as it harms not
only others, but also himself.
As I changed my mindset, my husband also gradually changed his
attitude towards me. Eventually he apologized to me sincerely and
promised to rectify his behavior.
Thanks to Master's compassionate care, my attachments were
exposed in this incident and I was elevated in the process of
getting rid of the attachments. I won't get stuck because of
sentimentality, harming myself or others. I realized that in the
past, I had not treated my family with compassion since I did not
achieve the state of being unselfish and selfless. I treated them
with human sentimentality, and that is why I did not have a good
effect in clarifying the truth to them. Only when I get rid of
sentimentality will compassion surface. Only when I treat my family
with compassion will I clarify the truth well.
Today when I look at myself, I find that although I know I need
to cultivate selflessness, selfishness sometimes hides very deep
down in the darkness. If I do not pay attention, I can hardly find
it. For example, I think that "I" need to study the Fa, "I" need to
do the exercises, "I" need to clarify the truth, "I" need to save
the sentient beings. The word "I" is always out at the very front,
and I was unaware that I had put myself in front of others. Even
shopping, I thought about buying whichever was cheaper, or buying
more of something on sale. Clarifying the truth, the very first
thought I had was that of my personal safety instead of the urgency
of saving others. It is the word "I" that played the role. When the
word "I" gets weaker and weaker, my true nature, my true self, will
get stronger and stronger, and it will assimilate more to
Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
From now on I should do more for the Fa, the universe and the
sentient beings. I should do more of what I am supposed to do. I
should listen to Master. I will put the word "I" at the very back
until there is no such word "I." This article is written in the
hope that fellow practitioners who have the same problem will also
check every single thought and see whether they are placing the
word "I" out front. Please point out anything improper in what I
have written.
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- 7. Break Through Loneliness and Forge Ahead
By a Practitioner from Heilongjiang Province
(Minghui.org)
Today, I studied Master Li's lecture, "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference". Master said,
"When I teach the Fa infrequently though, what worries me most is not the hardships or ordeals you face, which you know to be plenty hard. They are not the hardest thing; after all, however trying hardship may be, it's over after you get through it, and at that point things are clear to you. Rather, to quietly cultivate in bleak loneliness, unable to see hope, is the hardest of all. Doing any form of cultivation entails undergoing a trial such as this and a path with such features. Only if one can persevere and continually forge ahead does it amount to true diligence."
While reading this part, I cried. I recalled my past cultivation experience in which I had really struggled with my loneliness. Sometimes I overcame it successfully but sometimes I lost. There were no other practitioners in my area and I basically had to cultivate all by myself. After daily work and study, I studied the Fa, practiced the exercises, sent forth righteous thoughts, read the Minghui website, printed truth-clarifying materials and posted them.
In the beginning, I was very diligent. However, gradually, the loneliness started to interfere with me. I became unwilling to study the Fa, do the exercises or send forth righteous thoughts. Even when printing or posting truth-clarifying materials, I had the attachments of completing the tasks and the attachment of pursuit.
While on the Minghui (Clearwisdom.net) website, I only looked for the articles I thought were interesting. Sometimes, when there were no new articles from Master, I didn't want to continue reading anything.
I knew this was not right, and felt sad. But I could not lift up my spirit and forge ahead diligently. After reading Master's lecture, I realized that I was not able to overcome loneliness and didn't believe in the Fa firmly enough. Because my thoughts on cultivating diligently were not strong enough, I was too lax.
Master told us the Fa on loneliness at his "Lecture at the First Conference in North America".
"Unendurable loneliness is most dangerous to humans, and it's also the greatest tribulation in practicing cultivation."
And,
"You have no idea that loneliness can ruin everything for a person. In the past, what did monks depend on in their practice of cultivation? Why were they able to succeed in cultivation? Their greatest hardship was loneliness. What hardship did they have to endure? It was the hard-to-endure loneliness. Why could a person who went up to a mountain to practice the Dao succeed in attaining the Dao? Worldly people were enjoying glory, splendor, wealth, and rank. Even poor people, who weren't enjoying glory, splendor, wealth, and rank, also had kith and kin, and enjoyed earthly pleasures. The monks cultivated hard in the mountains by themselves. Without any contact with other people, that loneliness, which is hard to endure, can wear away a person's many attachments and various desires."
This lecture was given during the period of personal cultivation, before the persecution began. In those years, I could go to the exercise site every day and join group study. There were practitioners around all the time. Thus I did not pay attention on cultivating away this attachment and did not fully understand Master's words at that time.
I understand now that since everyone's path and situation is different, the trouble each of us runs into is different, and each person's difficulties are also different. Relatively speaking, everyone will face the test of loneliness. When it comes, it will test whether we have a strong will, if we can hold up our and righteous thoughts, if we can walk our cultivation path well, and if we can diligently do the .
In fact, as long as we practice, Master is always beside us. But there will be tests of loneliness along our cultivation paths nevertheless.
I hope all practitioners can enjoy the fruits of "always cultivating as if you were just starting will surely result in achieving your ultimate rank." ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference")
My understanding is limited, please point out anything inappropriate.
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- 8. On Studying the Fa with Our Hearts
By a practitioner in mainland China
(Minghui.org)
After reading the article "Studying the Fa with Our Hearts," I was immersed in deep thought. In almost every lecture, Master has told us to "study the Fa more" and "study the Fa well." From my understanding, Master's repeated talking about studying the Fa well indicates that practitioners have serious problems in this regard. In addition, I think failing to truly study the Fa wholeheartedly has become a widespread phenomenon.
As far as I know, some practitioners study the Fa every day and manage to finish the dedicated amount they set for themselves daily. They also tell others how much they read. Nonetheless, very often they cannot handle things from the Fa's perspective when they are faced with problems. They feel uneasy and upset when they are in conflict with others. Some practitioners encounter one conflict after another, and they are surrounded by interference and trouble, creating difficulties in their cultivation. When told to study the Fa more, they claim that they study the Fa every day. In fact, although they know the importance of Fa study, they read the Fa every day like they are doing a mundane task, instead of really studying the Fa wholeheartedly. I think the main reason for this is that they are unable to attain tranquility. With many attachments to the everyday world, one cannot concentrate on studying the Fa. I also feel that after reading the Fa many times, practitioners are very familiar with the surface wording of the Fa and can read very quickly. When reading one sentence, we know what the next sentence is and can read even without having to concentrate. Without a tranquil mind, we will not know what we are reading and the effect of Fa study cannot be achieved. Under this circumstance, I think reciting the Fa is a good idea. Reciting only a few paragraphs a day, inscribing it into our hearts, has a much better effect than reading several lectures a day without truly concentrating. Then I realized that when I can recite very fluently, sometimes I also lose concentration. As a result, I'd finish reciting a whole lecture very quickly without knowing what I was reciting. Under this circumstance, we need to keep a clear mind and recite sentence by sentence, so that every word will be displayed in front of our eyes, thus fusing our entire mind and body into the Fa. This feeling is so mysterious and profound that it's beyond description. If we study the Fa more and do so with every particle of the Fa entering our hearts, our minds will be filled with Dafa and we will naturally do the well, thus encountering less interference. In the past several years I have been studying the Fa in such a way. Since my mind is always filled with the Fa, I have kept a very good cultivation state.
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