(Minghui.org) Many practitioners, including myself, have encountered problems in cultivation. For example, some are tormented by various sickness tribulations or even lose their lives, some are entangled in attachments and can't break through, and some suffer passively in long-term difficulties without being able to find the root cause.
Some of them rarely or don't study the Fa, while some read the books but can't understand the Fa in their heart. If one can't study the Fa with a peaceful mind, one can't really absorb the meaning of each sentence or gain insight into the Fa principles. One won't be able to experience the wonderfulness, pleasure and power of the Fa and will lose motivation. Gradually, Fa study becomes a formality without gaining anything, and if one loses the support and changes from the Fa, there is no improvement in cultivation.
Master has repeatedly told us to do the three things well. The first thing is to study the Fa, and this is the foundation. For practitioners, Dafa is the “ladder” that we keep climbing toward heaven, so if we stop climbing or even detach from the “ladder,” the result is obvious.
All the tribulations and interference the evil arranged are aimed at preventing us from practicing Dafa, and their main approach is to disconnect us from Dafa. For all the former practitioners who left the Fa because of tribulations, the evil attempted to prevent them from learning the Fa and contacting Dafa again. Therefore, practitioners around them should take the initiative to help them out.
There is no identical path for everyone in cultivation practice, nor is there a model to follow. The tribulations we encounter are ever-changing, but they are inseparable from the essence. There is only one evil purpose and method, which is to break the will of practitioners. Whenever you can't find what the problem is, the first thing to look at is whether you have absorbed the Fa in your heart and are not slacking off, which is caused by not learning the Fa by heart.
I had been entangled in attachments for a long time. I began to slack off in Fa study until I stopped studying the Fa for a long time. My attachments worsened, and sometimes I did worse than ordinary people. When fellow practitioners helped me restrain my attachments, I looked for all kinds of excuses not to listen. Eventually I started studying the Fa again by restraining my desires through strengthening my main consciousness, and I gradually became more sober and aware.
The greatest characteristic of diligent practitioners is that they have overcome all kinds of interference, have a strong will, and never slack off. The more they melt into the Fa, the more reward and enlightenment they obtain. Whether by memorizing the Fa or other ways, they are more and more inseparable from the Fa, and the more they visualize from the Fa, the more they realize that the Fa contains everything and is all-inclusive and omnipotent. They actively do the three things every day with more confidence and motivation.
Memorization is a very good way to study the Fa because it is impossible to memorize if the mind is not focused, and one has to force oneself to eliminate the interference. If one can persevere, one will surely experience the joy of Fa study. The only things that regard studying the Fa as suffering are karma, human notions and evil interference. The true self regards studying the Fa as the greatest happiness. Looking back on the time when I acted more in line with the requirements of the Fa, it was when I studied the Fa diligently and worked to memorize it.
When amid various interference I can't study the Fa attentively or even don't want to read, I’d read Essentials for Further Advancement and Master’s other writings, and soon I would return to a good cultivation state.
Zhuan Falun covers everything, but in order to explain Zhuan Falun from various aspects and under different circumstances, Master has given a lot of lectures and written many scriptures that provide guidance for our practice. Because we are limited by our levels and it’s hard for us to enlighten to everything from Zhuan Falun at once, we need to read Master’s other teachings. At the same time, we need to pay attention to opinions on some major issues posted on the Minghui website, as well as practitioners’ cultivation sharing. We have to be consistent with Master's requirements, and we can never be wrong in our fundamentals. Harmonizing what Master wants is the whole meaning of our existence.
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Category: Improving Oneself
