(Minghui.org) I have recently read many cultivation articles on the Minghui website, which have helped me to improve a great deal in my cultivation. I would like to share what I've learned.
Learning to Focus When Studying the Fa
In a Falun Dafa practitioner's article, “Ridding Ourselves of Postnatal Notions and Attachments,” the author wrote about his realization when he saw the illustration for Master's poem “The Cosmos Remade” in Hong Yin III. The illustration (only available in the Chinese version) shows a cultivator holding a book in one hand and a lamp in the other. His eyes are focused on the text, which is illuminated by the lamp's bright light.
The author happened to have a flashlight, so when he studied the Fa he used the flashlight to help him focus. He said that the experience was remarkable, as he experienced how people in ancient times studied sacred scriptures and he was able to take in every word.
When I began to memorize and recite the Fa recently, I was pleased that I could recite Lecture One. Then I stopped for a long time due to laziness. I wanted to overcome this, so I started to memorize Lecture Two and then the other lectures.
I had recited the entire book Zhuan Falun years ago, so this time it wasn't that difficult to do, and I felt that it was easier to take in the Fa principles.
Correcting My Exercise Movements
Last year, thanks to some practitioners' reminders in their sharing articles, I noticed that I needed to improve my exercise movements. I didn't do them as slowly or smoothly as I should.
Some practitioners talked about the need to focus. If our exercise movements are done too quickly or sloppily, it is being disrespectful to Master and the Fa.
Master says our movements should be “unhurried, slow and smooth.” I decided to pay more attention to the way I moved with the exercise music.
My body felt very light when I did the movements correctly.
Browsing the Internet
Many practitioners have talked about the dangers of browsing the Internet. After I was able to eliminate this attachment years ago, my thoughts became calm and focused.
Although I can't see anything in other dimensions, I usually felt uncomfortable after browsing the Internet and watching the news. Even my brain felt numb.
Evaluating Every Thought
After I read articles relating to the attachments to comfort and fear, I realized that I had the same attachments. They almost seemed to be part of me, and I hadn't realized that many of my negative thoughts were generated from them.
By reading these articles, I learned that we should try to view our attachments from a different perspective. For example, when the thought that “I'm quite good” appears, we should immediately realize that this thought comes from our ego, and we should immediately negate it.
We should not acknowledge our negative thoughts as they don't come from our true selves but rather from our attachments, notions, and interference.
Disintegrating Communist Party Culture
Some practitioners suggested that we re-read the book, “Disintegrating Communist Party Culture.” I read it over ten years ago, but at that time I only understood its superficial meaning and felt that it was a book written for non-practitioners. I didn't realize that I had many notions derived from the Chinese Communist Party culture that needed to be cleaned out.
When I read it again this time, many parts seemed so new. I figured that my understanding of the Fa had elevated and that I needed to eliminate the remaining parts of the Party culture that I still had.
I would like to talk about a few points in the book.
Like many Chinese, when I was young, I watched movies that portrayed communist leaders as heroes. It was only when I became a practitioner that I realized that some of these false “positive images” were engraved in my mind. Any remaining remnants, however, were dissolved after I finished reading the book.
I realized that these movies were created to brainwash people. From the standards of traditional culture, one would see that they are bad people and that their “positive images” in the movies are designed to deceive people.
In Party culture, the standards of “good” are very extreme. The good people are perfect, and the bad ones are extremely bad. Isn't this the way we Chinese practitioners sometimes look at other practitioners or everyday people? For example, when we are impressed with a person, we may feel that everything they say is true, and we like to listen to them. Conversely, when we have prejudice against another practitioner, we can easily not want to listen to them.
There is a common problem among practitioners in China. That is, when there are conflicts, they don't usually look inside. I think this has something to do with Party culture. The fighting mentality developed from Party culture makes people say things without realizing that it's wrong to blame others.
Paying attention to a tone of blame in our speech can also be attributed to Party culture. Our tone of voice should be peaceful. Almost everyone in China is like this, so it's difficult to notice it.
Another manifestation of Party culture is having a negative view of traditional values and regarding them as unnecessary in today's society. There were rules and standards for conduct within traditional culture, but in modern times, under the influence of the Party's atheist culture, when Chinese people uphold our traditional rituals or ceremonies, some consider these things to be empty and meaningless. Today's people aren't concerned about acknowledging the Divine.
I used to have a negative opinion about how some veteran practitioners show their respect to Teacher by burning incense. I didn't realize its true meaning, which is rooted in traditional culture. That was the direct effect of an atheist education after the Party broke with China's traditional culture.
I feel that it's very important for us to eliminate the toxins of Party culture. I'd like to suggest that we read the book “Disintegrating Communist Party Culture” so that we can completely clean out all its residual influence from our thoughts and actions.
These are my understandings. Please point out anything inappropriate.
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Category: Improving Oneself
