Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- I Have Enlightened to the Principle of "Looking Inward"
- Removing Resentment Towards Fellow Practitioners
- Tribulations Continue When We Fail to Look Inward
- Lesson Learned from Not Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
- A Discussion Regarding the Issue of Practicing the Exercises
- We Should Look Inward When Our Faith Wavers
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the January 2014 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
Happy New Year and Wish we all do better in our cultivation and live upto the vows that we have made to Master. Let our resolve to do better not be hollow but we should treasure and cherish what we have got in this lifetime and work towards improving ourselves.
Hope in the New Year we will work harder to gain a better understanding of the Fa and be more steadfast in our cultivation and carry out our assigned responsibilities.
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?
Practitioners ffrom Bangalore made a presentation to different colleges focusing on Human Rights related to Falun Dafa Persecution on 10 December, World Human Rights Day. The response and the Q &A sessions were good
Practitioners from Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon visited Chandigarh for a follow up session with people who had shown keen interest during the Chandigarh Book Fair.
Practitioners from Hyderabad had a stall at the NBT Book Fair and the exercises were demonstrated and flyers were given to people who visited the week long Book Fair. People were visibly moved to learn about the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners and many signed the petitions.
Practitioners from Hyderabad are preparing for the 45 days Numaish All India Industrial Exhibition, starting on Jan 1 where again a Stall has been allotted for free by the kind courtesy of the organizers.
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- 3. I Have Enlightened to the Principle of "Looking Inward"
By a Falun Dafa practitioner
(Minghui.org)
I have been practicing Falun Dafa for 12 years. I have memorized much of Master's Fa and know the principle of looking inward. However, my looking inward has only been shallow, without any depth. When I encountered a problem or was criticized, I tried to look inward for my inadequacies and strengths, but I also tended to find inadequacies in others in order to balance my mind. In the end, I became confused.
In May 2004, a local practitioner told me that another practitioner had mentioned that I had a great attachment to fear. She said that I feared this and that and that the only thing I didn't fear was that Master wouldn't want me. I felt very sad after hearing this. Master has required us to look inward when we encounter problems, so I did, and indeed found a great attachment of fear. I realized that the practitioner was right about this, and that Master had used his mouth to remind me to quickly abandon my attachment.
Nevertheless, because of my attachment to "ego," I was quite indignant. I thought, "That practitioner didn't know the actual situation I was dealing with, and it seems he only saw my failings. He didn't seem to know that I had done quite well in Fa-rectification projects, and since we haven't seen each other for many years, how did he know that I had the attachment of fear? He was also talking behind my back, so was he really living up to the xinxing standard of a practitioner? His righteous thoughts must not be very strong." These negative thoughts began to overwhelm my mind, and interference came from thought karma, deviated notions, and the old forces elements.
The next day, a practitioner said that a coordinator had asked him to tell me that, while I looked okay on the surface, during critical times, I was devoid of righteous thoughts. On the third day, another practitioner came to my house and told me that someone had said I had a strong attachment of jealousy and I was petty-minded. I took her words sincerely to heart. My first thought was, "Good things are coming. Thank you, my fellow practitioners." Then, I used my righteous thoughts, calmed myself down, and looked inward according to the principles of the Fa. In the end, I found the deep-rooted attachments that I had formed over decades of journeying in this human life. I negated them and purged them.
Master's recent lecture to Australian practitioners has awakened me from the maze. I now sincerely promise that, beginning now, I will undergo a great change. No matter what kind of problems I encounter, I will hold onto this thought: "I will search inside for my failings and dig deep to uproot my attachments." I will hold onto this golden thought and purge all my thought karma, deviated notions, and the old force elements.
I now feel more levelheaded and clear-minded. I can pay better attention to Fa study and understand more. Whenever a thought comes up, I immediately know whether it is good or bad. If it is negative, I immediately eliminate it and clean it out. I truly feel that whatever I encounter in my daily life is good. Whether the situation is positive or negative, I can make use of it to upgrade my xinxing. I feel that every thought I have is capable of validating the Fa, disintegrating the evil, and saving sentient beings. No matter where I am--be it at home, on the street, or at work--I feel I am surrounded by a compassionate and calm energy field. I have now enlightened to the principles of looking inward.
This is just my understanding that I wish to share with my fellow practitioners.
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- 4. Removing Resentment Towards Fellow Practitioners
By a practitioner from Europe
(Minghui.org)
Before I started to cultivate Falun Dafa, I was one of those typical people who are extremely serious about being right or wrong. When I noticed that I had made a mistake, I would admit it, but when I felt that somebody else made a mistake, I would feel extremely uncomfortable and hold a prejudice toward that person and moreover, I never wanted to talk to that person again.
After practicing cultivation, although I have taken this issue lightly and gotten rid of my human notion of hating people as if they were my foes, I would still keep my distance from anyone who had a conflict with me. This distance was very obvious and made me uncomfortable. I wanted to remove this attachment, but it was not that easy because the people who had conflicts with me often were fellow practitioners.
After studying the Fa today, I suddenly realized why I was unable to break through my attachment before. When I used to see a fellow practitioner doing things without considering others first, my heart could not remain calm. When a fellow practitioner didn't point out my shortcomings in time, as I wished, and because of this omission I strengthened my attachment. I was then unable to do Dafa work well. Especially afterward when I realized my mistakes, I would even hold more resentment towards the fellow practitioner. I thought: "How can I regard you as my fellow practitioner? When you see that I, your fellow practitioner, have an attachment, why don't you sincerely help me and point it out? Instead, you let my attachment arbitrarily interfere with me, thus wasting my precious time and making it impossible for me to do Dafa work, as well as the three things well that Teacher requested. "
Now while calmly thinking about these thoughts, I realized that they were still based on selfishness. I didn't truly look inward to find my shortcomings and let go of self. Teacher said:
"So what is character? Character includes virtue (which is a type of matter), it includes enduring, it includes awakening to things, it includes giving up things-- giving up all the desires and all the attachments that are found in an ordinary person--and you also have to endure hardship, to name just a few things. So it includes a lot of different things. You need to improve every aspect of your character, and only when you do that will you really improve. That's one of the key factors in improving your potency." ("Lecture One" in Zhuan Falun, 2003 translation version)
In fact, my resentments were still based on personal cultivation and that was why I felt I did not improve in my cultivation. Actually, during the period of Fa-rectification, we Dafa practitioners are one body and each one of us is a particle of Dafa, and the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." If a person is interfered with, it not only affects his or her personal cultivation but also affects saving sentient beings. Doesn't this actually affect and interfere with Fa-rectification? How can I resent fellow practitioners for not pointing out my shortcomings? I now realize this and am able to rationally think about this issue. This is not only about loss or gain or for individual improvement in one's cultivation, but rather it relates to the evil interfering with a practitioner and taking advantage of the practitioner's existing attachment. Therefore, the evil was able to achieve its purpose of interfering with the practitioner doing the three things. That is the fundamental issue!
When I truly understand the Fa from the Fa, when I am truly devoted to Fa-rectification, when I truly realize the value of the benevolence of the intrinsic lives in the universe, when I realize how much Teacher has sacrificed in order to save people, I find the volume of my heart has unconsciously increased. While I clearly started to understand the difference between individual cultivation and cultivation during Fa-rectification, my resentment toward fellow practitioners also disappeared.
Above is my individual understanding. Please point out any mistakes I made.
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- 5. Tribulations Continue When We Fail to Look Inward
By a Falun Dafa practitioner from Heilongjiang Province
(Minghui.org)
Although I do the three things daily, I often forget the Fa principle of looking inward and cultivating inward. Whenever I encountered a tribulation and I needed to pass a test, I did not validate Falun Dafa with my true self, but used my human notions to distinguish right from wrong. I felt wronged.
Several months ago, I suffered serious sickness. My hands were numb and my arms ached. I could not finish the second exercise, and also could not hold the hand gesture of 'large lotus flower' for five minutes during righteous thoughts. I made a promise to Master while crying, "Whether it is eliminating karma, or the persecution of the old forces, neither should affect my sending forth righteous thoughts. I will deny this state totally, and just do what I should do and firmly hold my righteous thoughts to deny all of this." Afterwards, I could do the second exercise, but I still had some resistance in sending forth righteous thoughts. My arms and hands ached and were numb. This was more evident during the Olympic Games, when I was sending forth righteous thoughts with fellow practitioners for forty minutes at a time. After I had finished, my hands would be completely numb. I still kept on sending forth righteous thoughts every hour, eliminating evil beings and factors that persecute Falun Dafa and its practitioners. I maintained the thought that since my cultivation path is arranged by Teacher, nothing could change me or my mind. Thus the symptoms lessened, and I could finish sending forth righteous thoughts each time.
Teacher gave me hints in my dream. The place where I grew onions two years ago became a road, but the onions kept growing with light green leaves and in a line. I realized that Teacher was giving me hints and encouraging me to pass another test.
A while back, I had a conflict with my husband, who is also a practitioner. On my way home one day, I bought two pastries. Since I was hungry, I started to eat when I got back home. I knew my husband would be hungry, so I left a pastry for him. After a while, he came back. When he saw that I had eaten without him, he was upset. He uttered some unpleasant words. At that time, another fellow practitioner was also at my home and witnessed the scene. I thought I had cultivated well since I did not argue back.
I was not holding myself to the high requirements of a cultivator. Although I was not fighting back, I could not let it go in my mind. I did not upgrade at all. As a cultivator, one should have "no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy." ("Realms", Essentials for Further Advancement) I did not pass this test well. Another incident happened the next night. My daughter's room has a door that is equipped to have double layers. Since it was getting cold, my daughter asked her father to put the second layer on. Since there was a lot of dust on the door, he held the door and asked me to clean it. I said, "Let's do it tomorrow and do it thoroughly." He got angry and started shouting. Reacting to him I said, "Why should I do everything as you say?"However, I went ahead and cleaned the door. He kept on complaining and got very angry. Seeing his behavior, I laughed. However, he became angrier and insulted me. I thought, "Why does he behave like this, getting angry at such a trivial thing? I should look inward."
When I failed a test, another one would follow. I thought about why I was laughing at him when he was angry. It was not compassion, but bad human notions. As my righteous thoughts came out, his anger went away immediately as if nothing had happened. What happened in the past two days was related to my xinxing. I had to look inward and cultivate myself. Whatever happens to me is related to me.
The next morning during breakfast, I remembered again the unfair things which happened between my husband and me. Since I had not completely given up various emotions like attachments to competition, hatred, anger, jealousy and selfishness, they came to test me again. I had cultivated for six years, but still had a tendency of protecting my self-interest. I sent forth righteous thoughts, rejecting and disintegrating it. It was not my true self, but various notions and a false sense of self. After distinguishing right from wrong, I was clear again. I "poured the dirty things out of the bottle", and upgraded my xinxing. The distance between me and my fellow practitioners has been eliminated. I felt very happy.
Encountering conflicts is a good opportunity to upgrade our xinxing. We should cultivate our own minds solidly. Cultivators should consider things in reverse of what ordinary society does. Misfortunes are good things. The laws inside the three realms are the opposite of the universal truths.
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- 6. Lesson Learned from Not Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
By Qingshi, a practitioner in Qingdao City, Shandong Province
(Minghui.org)
Usually, I send forth righteous thoughts once every two hours. Doing so helps me have righteous thoughts every day. However, not long ago our company took a big order and wanted me to work continuously. I even needed to work overtime. Just like that, I unknowingly let up on sending forth righteous thoughts. Other than occasionally sending righteous thoughts four times a day, I did not do so at any other time. I was busy with work. In about four or five days, I started to feel uncomfortable, and this feeling became worse and worse. My body was in a state of unbearable fatigue. In order to eliminate this state, I insisted on standing up to do a Dafa exercise. My body started shaking uncontrollably and I got too tired. I thought that it was due to working long hours. After I finished the exercise, my body felt clear and transparent, but that did not solve my "fatigue." As time passed, this fatigue became stronger and stronger. I was in extreme pain and was fearful. I also felt I could not bear such an ordeal. It seemed I would lose my life at any moment.
I felt desperate and I did not know why. I recalled that such a situation had happened twice before in the past four or five years. The first time, I took some days off. I blamed the feeling of fatigue on work. The second time, I suffered so much that I had tears. I just could not believe I lived through it. Later, I discovered it was partly caused by my attachment to an easy life. But what was the reason this time? I didn't have a clue. I sat down and sent forth righteous thoughts for two hours, then quietly fell asleep. When I woke up, I was clear and I knew the cause: I was not sending righteous thoughts on time. Master said in Righteous Thoughts: "in a timely manner purge the evil and your own problems so that you won't be taken advantage of by the evil." I had not been sending righteous thoughts "in a timely manner" and was being taken advantage of.
This terrible feeling of fatigue did not go away all at once and actually appeared a few times again. However, it did get weaker and weaker. As I continuously added more righteous thoughts, it finally disappeared. I recovered my previous happiness.
Through this lesson, I completely understand that my three bouts with the "fatigue state" were caused by the fact that I did not send righteous thoughts on time. I learned a profound lesson from this. It taught me that I should not neglect sending righteous thoughts no matter how busy my work is.
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- 7. A Discussion Regarding the Issue of Practicing the Exercises
By a practitioner in Hebei Province, China
(Minghui.org)
A few days ago when our small Fa study group was exercising together, I discovered that a lot of the practitioners' exercise movements were not accurate. They did the exercises in the easiest way, the hand movements were not correct, and they didn't stretch far enough. This reminds me of what Master mentioned in 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.”
If our exercise movements are not accurate, then it means that we still haven't learned them, and have not met the standard of Master's requirement for the exercises. At the same time, it is also disrespectful toward Master and the Fa, as we have not genuinely placed importance on the exercises.
In Zhuan Falun, Master has mentioned, “On the one hand, the exercises are used to strengthen supernormal abilities. What is 'strengthening?' It is the reinforcement of your supernormal abilities by your powerful gong potency, thus making them progressively stronger. On the other hand, many living beings need to be developed in your body. In high-level cultivation practice, the Tao School requires the birth of the Immortal Infant (yuanying), while the Buddha School requires the Vajra’s indestructible body. Furthermore, many supernatural abilities must be developed. These things need to be developed through the physical exercises, and they are what our exercises cultivate. A complete cultivation practice of mind and body requires both cultivation and practice.”
Doing the exercises accurately is an important issue. Some people do both the standing and sitting exercises everyday, but their movements are not accurate. How can your supernormal abilities and mechanisms be strengthened by the gong? According to my own personal experience, if one's exercise movements are accurate, then the energy is extremely strong. So, we really ought to take each and every exercise movement seriously. We should move according to the exercise music, and listen carefully to Master's formula, as well as all of the instructions.
I didn't have time to write down my thoughts before, but with the encouragement from fellow practitioners and with Master's hints, I decided to do so. In China, all of the practitioners do the exercises at home. It is very likely that some people have slacked off because of that. This is the final leg of the Fa-rectification, and we really should pay high attention to this issue.
Some of us practitioners don't feel that our energy is strong when we exercise or send forth righteous thoughts. Some practitioners even think about whether their righteous thoughts have any effect. Actually, we have all cultivated for so many years, and each person has extremely powerful energy. I think that those practitioners with such a thought are probably those who don't have correct exercise movements, so their energy has not reached its full potential.
Additionally, our hand positions while we send forth righteous thoughts should also be accurate. Recently, I specifically made sure of the correct hand position when sending forth righteous thoughts. The emitted gong was truly extremely powerful. Otherwise, when the palm falls slightly or when the two palms come together when doing the great lotus flower hand position, from my level of understanding, the gong will immediately weaken. When I lowered my palm, it was as if I wasn't sending forth righteous thoughts.
Recently, practitioners in our small Fa study group have been correcting their exercise movements so that their movements are accurate, thereby experiencing the extraordinarily powerful energy that comes with performing the correct movements. So I think that if we can all, as a one body of Dafa disciples, follow what Master has said, “The five sets of exercises will be taught to you all at once, and you will learn them all.” (Zhuan Falun) Then when we exercise, the energy will be extremely powerful. Then, with us Dafa disciples gathering together as one body, the thorough dissolving of the evil will be around the corner, spelling the end of them.
In our hearts we all are appreciative of Master's merciful and arduous salvation. And we deeply understand that we all must fulfill our prehistoric vows. Accordingly, each and every aspect of our cultivation should be improved. Shouldn't we also correct our exercise movements? Let us do our best so that Master will not be so worried for us.
The above is what I have enlightened to at my own level. Please point out anything inadequate with compassion.
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- 8. We Should Look Inward When Our Faith Wavers
(Minghui.org)
At this critical juncture in Fa-rectification (I don’t want to say end, but critical in this particular sharing for reasons that will become apparent later), I’ve seen a number of practitioners who are wavering severely in their faith in Dafa. It’s become widespread enough that I feel it may be part of a greater phenomenon that goes beyond the practitioners in my area.
From what I’ve seen, there are two major reasons for practitioners wavering in their faith. One is an attachment to personal gain. The other is failing to look within.
1. Self Interest and Personal Gain
“What everyday people want is personal gain and how to live well and comfortably. Our practitioners are not this way, but exactly the opposite. We do not seek what everyday people want. Instead, what we get is something everyday people cannot obtain—even though they want to—except through cultivation practice.” (, Lecture 4, “Loss and Gain”)
As practitioners, we know we’re supposed to take material interests lightly. Yet we also must cultivate in ordinary human society, where we are constantly confronted by temptation from material benefits that surround us.
In the course of Fa-rectification, many practitioners have given up a lot to devote themselves to saving sentient beings. Many are involved in media projects that were started by practitioners, but still have not yet become financially sound. And after so many years, some practitioners can develop the notion that they somehow deserve some things in ordinary human society. They gradually begin to resent a lack of money, or fame, or family, or even sex, and feel that they are being denied these things because they practice Dafa. Thus, the temptation to give up Dafa cultivation develops and the wish to pursue material things grows. “Some people who are here listening find what Teacher says reasonable. Upon returning to ordinary human society, they will still think that those immediate gains are more practical and real.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 9, “A Clean and Clear Mind”)
But think about it. We know that attachments to these things is what we need to give up, so why resent not having things that we shouldn’t want anyway? After all that we have experienced in cultivation, can you really think that Dafa is a lie, and that you’d be happier endlessly struggling and pursuing material things until death comes to nullify your existence? Even if you were to give up Dafa, does that guarantee you’ll get the things you pursue?
But this thinking can give rise to another error. One instead exchanges the pursuit of selfish personal gain of impermanent things for the pursuit of selfish personal gain of permanent supernatural things, like supernormal abilities, godhood, and a heavenly paradise where everything is blissful beyond imagination. But the attachment to personal gain has still not been given up. And so you might think, “I can hold off for just a bit longer. Everything’s going to end soon, right? And then I’ll have even better things!” As time goes by, and things don’t end, those otherworldly gains will gradually seem less real than the ones that are right in front of your eyes. Your faith will again waver. “As a truly-determined practitioner, one is able to endure everything and give up or care less for any attachment in the face of various self-interests. As long as one can do this, it will not be difficult. Those people find it difficult because they cannot let go of these things. Cultivation practice itself is not difficult, and neither is upgrading one’s level itself difficult. It is because they cannot give up the human mind that they call it difficult. This is because it is very difficult to relinquish something in the face of practical gain. The benefits are right here, so how can you abandon these attachments? It is actually because of this that one will find it difficult.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 9, "Closing Statements")
Have you ever had this thought? “I really need something so I can continue to clarify the truth and practice cultivation.” But that thing you really need doesn’t come. “Why hasn’t Master arranged this for me? Maybe Dafa isn’t real…” But don’t you realize that Master has arranged everything?
2. Failing to Look Inward
I have been involved in a Dafa project for several years. Over that time, I’ve seen practitioners come and go, some leaving with their faith shaken. And more often than not, the excuse given is that practitioners in that project aren’t compassionate, “They’re even worse than everyday people!”
Compassion is not something that happens to you. It’s something that rises out of your heart and is given to all sentient beings, regardless of how they treat you, based on a genuine understanding of the Truth of the universe. With that understanding comes the Forbearance to endure anything. We understand from the Fa that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, Zhen-Shan-Ren, is inseparable. “Our Falun Dafa is based upon the highest standard of the universe, Zhen, Shan, and Ren, all of which we cultivate simultaneously. The system that we cultivate is enormous.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 1, “Zhen-Shan-Ren is the Sole Criterion to Discern Good and Bad People”)
So much has changed in the world this year alone. Shen Yun has had a string of sold-out shows in New York City, one of the cultural centers of the world. A political war is being waged between the highest-ranking members of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Committee, and Dafa media has been the leader in these reports. And now your faith wavers? Can that really be a coincidence? Why have you had faith all these years, only to now call it into question?
Don’t let the old forces ruin the cultivation you’ve been awaiting for an unimaginable number of lifetimes. Don’t worry about some final reward or when things will end. Dafa is the Truth, and its principles can be seen at all levels. Transformation of gong is done by the Master. We just need to do the well.
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