(Minghui.org) Master has told us disciples again and again to study the Fa. Before the persecution, Master said,
“I’ll tell you all, you should read the book more, read the book more, and read the book more—you must read the book repeatedly.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)
After the persecution started, Master reminded us,
“I've told you to study the Fa a lot, to study the Fa, study the Fa, study the Fa...” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference”)
We have to truly calm our minds when studying the Fa. Only by studying the Fa with a calm mind, are we truly obtaining the Fa. And when we do, it really is a wonderful thing; I have experienced it many times myself.
Studying Zhuan Falun
I have seen many beautiful scenes when studying Zhuan Falun, as I have recounted below:
Once, when I was studying the Fa, I saw divine beings are behind every character. As I continued to look at the words, I realized each stroke was made up of divine beings and they are holding various Fa-implements.
As my mind became calmer, I saw a few paragraphs displaying images of Buddhas and another few paragraphs showing images of Daos. Another time, I saw an entire page filled with an immeasurable amount of Buddhas, Daos, and Gods.
A Falun sometimes appears when I study the Fa and expands instantly to become as large as a universe. Once, I suddenly found that the spacing between each character has widened, and it took me a while to get from one letter to the next. I felt that I was not reading each word, but looking at one universe after another and the structure and beings inside it.
Another time, I saw a magnificent sight – majestic and towering palaces and leisurely divine beings. A little boy has just placed fruits on a table and a Dao saluted me, inviting me to taste the fruits. He sat down to eat after I shook my head slightly to decline.
There is another time when I saw that the words gradually turned into transparent energy clusters. These energy clusters combined to become an energy current. The rays from the currents soothed my eyes as I read.
The currents would sometimes form into little streams, lined with trees on either side.
Once, a monk flew down from a tree and greeted me while a phoenix flew out of the stream to play the xiao (a Chinese flute). I also saw a golden pegasus and a golden elephant smiling at me. Fellow practitioners told me that I may be looking at scenes within my heavenly paradise.
When I studied the Fa, sometimes the book itself would appear in different colors. When I looked at other practitioners, I noticed that their books were also different colors. The colors changed every time we studied the Fa.
Once, the individual pages of Zhuan Falun began changing colors as I read. The colors changed five or six times by the time I finished one lecture.
Another time, I saw a young monk walking out of the words of the book and stretching, like “Buddha Maitreya Stretching His Back” from the first exercise. The innocence of his gesture really left a lasting impression on me.
Other times, I felt that I was sitting in an eggshell and everything around me has stopped. When I am able to calm my mind to study the Fa, the divine beings and miracles behind the words are displayed.
Studying the Fa also gives me different physical sensations. Once, as I read, I realized that the words had lined up and walked into my ear – I was using my ears to study the Fa. Other times, the words went into my body from my hand and heart. Another time, I felt that my head was empty, as though it had disappeared.
Studying Hong Yin - Drawings Come to Life
I often study Hong Yin. I will take a look at the drawings after reading the poem and see wonderful scenes within them. I saw enlightened beings holding Fa-implements, and I innately knew the names of these beings and the purpose of the Fa-implements.
There is a drawing of a flower in the book. As I studied, the flower came alive and shed its corolla to reveal an even more beautiful flower.
The flower smiled and said to me, “Look again!”
It then released another whorl of petals. After repeating this three or four times, I saw a heavenly paradise.
In Hong Yin Vol. II, an enlightened being was eliminating the evil as I sent forth righteous thoughts.
One drawing in Hong Yin III showed a big golden lotus flower after the enlightened being who was sitting on it suddenly disappeared. The huge flower turned into thousands of small flowers. They were flying out in incredible speed and vanished as well. After that, the heavenly paradise of a Buddha's world appeared.
Golden water flowed from a mountain, and golden fish leapt from the water. Falun of various sizes were spinning in the air. I saw a vacant, splendorous throne surrounded by guards of the Fa.
They looked at me with sparkling eyes. One guard sent a thought, “We've waited a long time for you!” Tears almost rolled down my face when I heard this.
After Hong Yin IV (Master's latest poetry collection) was published, each person in every drawing appeared to be dancing with many people. It seems as though I was watching a show when reading it.
When I read the poems written by Master to the Shen Yun dance class, these practitioners appeared in front of me. I saw their pure, beautiful smiles. For those lyrics without a drawing, a divine being stands behind the lyric and sings.
When I study other lectures and read the greetings sent by practitioners worldwide, I saw these practitioners' human images. As I look further, their images morph into those of different divine beings – appearances of Asian and Western gods, and the true forms of the practitioners.
I saw that when practitioners get distracted or fall asleep during Fa-study, divine beings are taking notes. This is not a small matter.
Master said,
“You all know what state of mind a person must be in to see the Fa's principles. You know it without my having to say much. When your eyes read the Fa and yet your mind isn't on the Fa, think about it, aren't you reading in vain? Who are you reading for? You yourself aren't really studying the Fa, then. Haven't I told you to make sure that you yourself truly obtain gong? Then if your mind isn't on the Fa when you're studying the Fa, who are you studying it for? This isn't to criticize you--I'm just telling you that this is a really critical situation. So, no matter how busy you get, when you study the Fa you have to set aside all other thoughts--don't think about other things at all, just study the Fa. Maybe as you study the Fa the issues you've been thinking about will be resolved, since behind every word are Buddhas, Daos, and Gods. How could they not know exactly what you want to resolve and what you're anxious to get done at that time? Then how could they not tell you? But there's one thing: you must achieve the state of studying the Fa without any pursuit. You understood this a long time ago--you can't read the Fa with an attachment to solving your problems. Just read calmly, and the effect is sure to be excellent. So when you study the Fa, don't just go through the motions. You have to calm your mind when you read it, and truly study it. Don't let your mind sneak away from you. Once your mind wanders off, you'll be studying in vain. If we look at it from another angle, when you study the Fa and your mind isn't on the Fa, it's not only a problem of just going through the motions, but also that the person studying the Fa is actually not being very respectful of the Fa. How could the Fa reveal itself, then? So from this angle, I think that you have to calm your mind when you study the Fa, and remember to keep your mind steady during Fa-study when you're busy.” (“Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.”)
When I went to my Fa-study group, I noticed that some practitioners' minds are not on the Fa: some read the Fa quickly, some are thinking of their housework, and some others are thinking of which groceries to buy.
There are others who are hoping to finish Fa-study quickly so that they can take their leave. These practitioners became anxious when other practitioners read slowly and refuse to let them read.
Some practitioners are thinking of how to argue with people when they think of their conflicts. Other practitioners read with exaggerated accents or inflections, as they want to show off that they read the Fa well.
There are also practitioners who think, “This paragraph is talking about that practitioner.” But studying the Fa and cultivating should help us look within, and not compare with others.
Fellow practitioners, we should cherish Dafa and listen to Master's words – calm our minds and study the Fa more diligently.