(Minghui.org) I obtained Dafa almost two years ago and immediately recognized that this was the path that I had been waiting for. I overcame many obstacles and persevered through difficult times, ultimately coming to a deeper and brighter understanding of the Fa after each tribulation. After about a year of cultivation, however, some serious loopholes began to appear. I did not take care of them quickly enough, and they began to cause serious problems in my cultivation.
Waking Up
The biggest loophole was my lack of Fa study. When I began cultivation I studied the Fa for hours every day, but gradually, as I became busier with school, Dafa projects, or ordinary people's entertainment, I spent less and less time on Fa study and only did the exercises occasionally. I always felt guilty about not studying Zhuan Falun every day, and I always did very poorly in my cultivation when I neglected Fa study. I easily got depressed or felt interference. Old and degenerate attachments that I thought would never be a problem again started to come back to interfere with me, like video games.
Master said,
“Only those Dafa disciples who fall behind in Fa-study will display a lack of diligence and feel dejected during this period of time, even to the extent that they don't know how precious this time is and don't seize the time to do what Dafa disciples should do.”
“Being able to study the Fa well is the fundamental guarantee that you can head towards Consummation, it's the fundamental guarantee that you can emerge from here.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference”)
Master enlightened me to the seriousness of my problem with a stick warning. In the Fall of 2016, I got into a small car accident, which shocked me. I am a very careful driver, but for some reason I ran into a parked car soon after starting to drive. I could have easily avoided it, but I was so distracted that I carelessly ran into it. It also cost my family over one thousand dollars, which was a huge loss for us.
In fact, this accident reflected my cultivation state. Driving a car is similar to cultivation in several ways. If one is diligent and focused, it is smooth sailing. However, if one is careless while driving, the consequences can be severe. One can easily lose one's life and endanger the lives of others. I was not enlightened to the seriousness of cultivation, and this incident brought me back to reality.
I immediately took action. I called another new practitioner that I had met at last year’s New York Fa Conference, and we agreed to improve ourselves together by studying one lecture of Zhuan Falun every morning after sending forth righteous thoughts. Even though we were not completely diligent during the first several weeks of our commitment, we both rapidly improved our cultivation states. It was especially helpful that we could share about our shortcomings and encourage each other to do better. After about a month, we had improved to the point that we were both able to wake up early and study one lecture of Zhuan Falun almost every morning.
This improvement changed everything. After studying a lecture of Zhuan Falun in the morning, I often felt like my day went by very smoothly. Even very challenging things became simple and easy to overcome. I also gained more courage and willpower. I truly understood the power and sacredness of Dafa after improving my Fa study.
The Importance of Fa Study
One experience I had while promoting Shen Yun especially shows the absolute necessity of daily Fa study in my cultivation. After about a month of consistent Fa study with the other practitioner, I felt confident enough to help with Shen Yun promotion in my area. We had a lot of areas to cover with posters and flyers, and not enough practitioners. After I agreed to help, I was immediately put into a team that drove around to big office buildings and skyscrapers. We would just walk into these buildings and directly deliver Shen Yun promotional materials to the businesses.
Originally, I felt some fear about this assignment. After all, an ordinary promotion team should not be able to walk into any office building and give materials to people, since there is security and such. However, I realized that I was not an ordinary person and decided to trust Master’s arrangement and do my best to help promote Shen Yun.
The result was miraculous. We were able to walk into big skyscrapers with lots of security and deliver Shen Yun materials to so many offices every day without any interference. Sometimes I would need to get through a door, but it would be locked. Almost every time this happened, someone would come by and open the door for me. People also seemed to be waiting for me whenever I walked in, and everyone was excited to hear about Shen Yun.
However, one time I slept in and missed my morning Fa study. I only had time to read about ten pages of Zhuan Falun before heading out. When I started to promote Shen Yun that day, nothing seemed to go right. Even though I was saying the same words and doing the same things as before, people were suspicious and unwelcoming when I would deliver Shen Yun materials to them. I tried sending righteous thoughts, but it didn’t help much, and the results were still bad. Then, I realized that the only difference between that day and other days was my lack of Fa study.
I got back in the car and told the other practitioners that I had to finish reading my lecture, or else I would jeopardize our team’s efforts. They understood, and I was able to calmly read Zhuan Falun for an hour and a half. Once I finished the lecture, I felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my heart. Compassionate energy flowed into me again, and I was so thankful to Master. I went back to helping with promoting Shen Yun that day, and everything was back to normal, like nothing had ever been wrong.
This was a huge lesson for me. From this experience, I enlightened that Fa study is the most important thing in my life. Everything that I have in my life comes from Fa study, including my willpower to continue cultivating diligently. The ability to save sentient beings comes from Fa study. Even my ability to study the Fa well comes from consistent Fa study. Therefore, Fa study is my number one priority every day, without exception.
I will continue to diligently study the Fa every day, clarify the truth about Dafa, and send forth righteous thoughts. I would also like to encourage my fellow practitioners who may be struggling like I was to make Fa study your number one priority. In my understanding, the old forces' goal is to separate practitioners from the Fa, since they cannot interfere with the Fa itself. I’m grateful to all the diligent practitioners who helped me on my cultivation path, and I’m eternally grateful to Master for allowing me to become a Dafa disciple and cultivate during the Fa-rectification period. Thank you, Master.
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Category: Improving Oneself
