(Clearwisdom.net) In this article I share my experiences of negating the old forces' persecution and assisting Master in Fa-rectification.
I. Study the Fa well
Master requires us to do the three things well, the very first one of which is to study the Fa. My understanding is that studying the Fa well is the only way that can enable the sentient beings in our own universe and numerous others in even broader universes to assimilate to the Fa and thus be saved. Sending forth righteous thoughts is to remove the beings that have committed sins against Dafa and are no longer savable. Clarifying the truth is to save those deceived by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from lies. Doing the three things is in itself assisting Master with Fa-rectification. Studying the Fa well is the foundation for doing the other two things. Only by studying the Fa well can we know what to do when we encounter tribulations, and it helps to achieve better results in sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth.
Dafa disciples are still cultivating among everyday people and we still carry our innate characteristics and personalities. Our different backgrounds and life experiences also result in different notions. The side of us that hasn't assimilated to the Fa still bears the marks of selfishness from the old universe and is entangled in all kinds of karmic relationships from different levels and previous lives. The old forces have made vicious arrangements for us and the evil is sparing no effort trying to find loopholes through which they can interfere. Only by studying the Fa well can we reduce the influence of these factors and better assimilate into the Fa and assist Master in Fa-rectification.
We've been cultivating for so many years and Master has reminded us about the importance of Fa study time and again. Many experience-sharing articles also addressed the issue of studying the Fa well. A lot of practitioners are fully aware they should study the Fa well. However, do we truly realize the importance of Fa study?
Oftentimes we fail to study the Fa well due to various attachments we have. We are burdened by our pursuit of fame, material interests and emotion, moved by our tendency to seek comfort and distracted by our eagerness to do things. We are easily interfered with by the evil and affected by any changes in the political and societal environment. During Fa study, our eyes are fixed on the books yet our minds wander far away. Worse yet, we may even fall asleep and fail to study the Fa clearheadedly. When cultivators can't maintain a calm mind, we are no different from everyday people and the evil will magnify any conflicts among practitioners. As a result, sometimes we don't even want to see each other, let alone work together to harmonize the whole body. Only by studying the Fa can we possess the wisdom to see the nature of conflicts, look within and harmonize each other.
I remember a lesson learned three years ago when I took a detour due to the lack of Fa study. At that time, it was recommended that the production of truth-clarification materials be switched from large-scale sites to family-based sites. The Minghui/Clearwisdom website published numerous articles discussing how to do this. Apparently, a lot of people with proficient computer knowledge were needed, so I started to learn computer skills. With Master's help, I was able to install operating systems and upload and download materials in just one month. Soon I began to run between different places to help fellow practitioners set up family-based material sites. Back then I had been doing coordination for a few years and every week I organized everyone to study the Fa and share experiences together. Considering all these activities, I was extremely busy every day. Sometimes, it was well past eleven when I returned home at night. I felt exhausted, so I slacked off in my Fa study. At times, I couldn't even finish reading one lecture of Zhuan Falun daily. A lot of my attachments such as showing off, jealousy and the competitive mentality also surfaced. The evil then exploited my loopholes, leading to my arrest and sentence to a forced labor camp. I caused unnecessary losses to local Fa-validation activities and myself. It was a hard lesson.
At present, in many places, practitioners have realized the importance of group Fa study, which Master affirmed in "Fa-Teaching Given to the Australian Practitioners." We noticed that in places where local practitioners do the three things well, they take group Fa study very seriously. They spend a lot of time systematically studying Master's teachings. During their group study, they send forth righteous thoughts on top of every hour and save some time towards the end for experience sharing and discussion of local Fa-validation activities.
II. Believe in Master and the Fa; Escape from persecution
Because of my lack of Fa study and poor cultivation state, I was taken advantage of by the evil. The police found my whereabouts. Every day they had two people follow me, one on a bike and the other on an electric scooter. After over 20 days like this, one morning, I went out to buy some equipment for Fa validation activities. I rode my bike in front and the person following me couldn't even catch me even though he had an electric scooter. After I returned home, I packed up my Dafa materials, computer and other important things in my luggage and walked away right in front of the two men monitoring me. This was the result of believing in Master and the Fa and having the protection of Master.
Sending forth righteous thoughts can eliminate the beings that commit sins against Dafa and are no longer savable, and help purify our internal and external environments. We can then better assist Master in Fa-rectification and save more sentient beings, which is what we must do as Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples.
After we send forth righteous thoughts to clear our own field, we are free from interferences of warped thoughts and our Fa study will be more effective. When we purify our external environment, we will also do better in terms of saving sentient beings and improving our own safety. With so many benefits, why don't we send forth righteous thoughts wholeheartedly?
III. Validate the Fa; Let Go of Self
Master said in Zhuan Falun,
"To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments."
I have been working on getting rid of my attachments over these years. There are three major ones I'd like to mention here.
First, I tended to do everything on my own. As a coordinator, I didn't have enough trust in other practitioners. As a result, I was busy doing everything myself while encouraging fellow practitioners' attachments of relying on others. I didn't offer the chance for other practitioners to walk their own paths of validating the Fa. Occasionally, I even considered the material sites I helped establish my own sites and I didn't communicate with other coordinators. Thus, we couldn't form an indestructible whole body, which caused some negative impact. I realized this was in fact a manifestation of my attachments to fame, showing off and jealousy. I had the selfish thought to establish my own mighty virtue while overlooking the wellbeing of the whole body. I knew this is something I must let go of.
Second, I was inclined to form close circles with practitioners I felt comfortable with while unknowingly alienating others. A lot of human notions surfaced in such a clique and we didn't want to point out each other's shortcomings. I now know this was a very strong attachment to emotion. Master would not be happy about this. We must get rid of such things.
Lastly, I was arrogant, judgmental and overbearing at times. Since I'd been cultivating for a long time and had done a great amount of Fa-validation activities, I became content with myself and feeling superior to others. I always felt I was right and insisted on doing things my way. After watching "Fa-Teaching Given to the Australian Practitioners," I was deeply moved. Wasn't Master pinpointing my problem? Why did I always want to prove my point and point out other people's omissions? Only by eliminating human notions can one become a divine being.
IV. Clarifying the truth and getting rid of fear
Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples should validate the Fa and save sentient beings. Master said,
"So in other words, clarifying the truth is extremely important, and every student must take this seriously. Let me tell you this: next to your own cultivation, currently the most important thing is clarifying the truth, because this is directly saving sentient beings, it's directly saving the people of the future, and it also demonstrates the magnificence of Dafa and Dafa disciples--in such a difficult environment you're still managing to save sentient beings." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.")
From passing out truth-clarification materials to circulating bills with truth-clarification words on them and from clarifying the facts face to face to compiling phone numbers for overseas practitioners to call, there are many ways to validate the Fa. Regardless of the method used to clarify the truth, there is the issue of getting rid of fear. I've come to realize that the process of clarifying the truth is a process of constantly removing our fear and collecting beings to go to our own paradises. If we send forth righteous thoughts to clear our own field and external environment beforehand, the effect of clarifying the truth will be much better and our own safety will also be improved. The more we clarify the truth, the more people we come to talk to, the easier it is to abandon our fear and improve our xinxing.
V. Getting rid of the sleep demon
For a period of time, I always felt sleepy the moment I picked up Dafa books to read. Even during group Fa study, sometimes I was so absent-minded and sleepy that I skipped words or a whole line when reading the Fa. Occasionally, I couldn't help but close my eyes and doze off.
Through constant Fa study, I realized that my righteous thoughts were not strong enough and my main consciousness was not determined enough. Because I wasn't very serious during Fa study, I fell asleep. Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Houston,"
"Crossing your legs when you are reading the book will, for one, enable you to practice crossing the legs more; and secondly, it will amount to doing the [meditation] exercise. This is very good."
I've found that if I keep my legs crossed during Fa study and read slowly every word, I don't feel sleepy at all.
VI. Look within and harmonizing each other
Because we are cultivating in everyday people's society, we still harbor human notions. Sometimes we are not compassionate enough when helping fellow practitioners. We tend to become anxious and upset upon seeing other people's weaknesses. We are obsessed with fellow practitioners' problems, unknowingly putting ourselves above them. We often complain, "Why don't you look within to find your root cause? Why can't you pass the test now that I've offered so much help to you?" As a matter of fact, we are acknowledging the old forces' arrangements, that is, our fellow practitioners are persecuted because they have omissions. We have forgotten to look within to cultivate ourselves.
During my Fa study, I was able to identify my fundamental attachments. I also found that I had very strong attachments to lust and desire, things cultivators are supposed to abandon. However, I was just like what Master said,
"you don't let go of those filthy things that you cling to in this filthy world, and you even agonize over the most trivial losses." ("True Cultivation," Essentials For Further Advancement)
Later, I came to understand that I should pay no attention to the karmic relationships that may lead to my lust and desire towards certain people. Instead, I just need to remember that what Master has given us is the best, which makes it much easier to remove my attachments to lust and desire.
Having come through all these years, I realize that the foundation of the process is to solidly cultivate ourselves in accordance with the requirements of the Fa and Fa-rectification. During our cultivation, we must study the Fa well and look within when encountering conflicts. When we let go of our attachments, we can harmonize each other and form a whole body. How can we relinquish our attachments? We have to make sure we study the Fa well, maintain a calm mind and compassionate heart. In this way, the characteristics of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance will manifest in Dafa disciples and we will be able to see the nature of conflicts and look within to find our own problems. The conflicts are only there for Dafa disciples to get rid of human notions and establish virtue.
A whole body is where Dafa disciples connect to each other wholeheartedly. We harmonize and strengthen each other. We communicate with each other without any gaps. We are considerate of each other and we don't insist on our own opinions. In various truth-clarification projects, we work well together and demonstrate the great Fa power. Any plots by the evil can be disintegrated quickly by strong righteous thoughts of the whole body. Any attempt to persecute a single practitioner will be cleared away by the whole body.
Before the Olympics, the CCP launched a mass arrest of practitioners. Over ten practitioners in our area were seized and sent to a brainwashing center. In response to this, some practitioners posted information on-line for overseas practitioners to call to clarify the truth. At the same time, some practitioners stayed near the brainwashing center to send forth righteous thoughts, while others went together with arrested practitioners' families to request their release. Soon near the end of September, all of the detained practitioners were unconditionally released one after another and the brainwashing center was closed. This incident shows the power of the whole body.
Only by studying the Fa well, looking within, harmonizing each other and forming a whole body can we keep up with Master's Fa-rectification process. All the mighty virtue we are entitled to has to be established during the process of assisting Master in Fa rectification. Let us cherish the once in a million year opportunity and fulfill our mission. Let us be more diligent so that we can save more sentient beings. I know clearly that I still have great gaps compared to other practitioners, but I am confident that I will do well the three things and return home with Master.
Thank you Master and fellow practitioners!
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Category: Clarifying the Truth
