(Minghui.org) I began to recite the Fa back in 2015, but I gave up when I reached Lecture Four of Zhuan Falun because it was hard and time-consuming. Simply put, I was not determined and wanted to have it easy.
However, after reading Zhuan Falun from cover to cover, I felt that I remembered very little. I spent a lot of time every day on Fa-study, sometimes reading one or two lectures, sometimes three or four. I studied the Fa whenever I had time. My reading speed also increased. Nevertheless, after I went back to work, I quickly reverted to an ordinary person. I could not remember that I was a Dafa practitioner when problems arose. I didn’t know how to cultivate myself. I didn’t know how to find my attachments, let alone how to get rid of them. So for a long time, I just looked outward whenever there was an issue. The more I looked, the more confused, puzzled, and pained I became. Sometimes, I felt that I could not cultivate anymore.
I was in this state for a long time, and I didn’t know where I was going wrong. I had been doing the three things all along. I did my best, especially when it came to clarifying the truth to save people. I went out every day, sometimes twice or even three times. I persuaded people to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. I also distributed truth-clarification materials.
One day, a fellow practitioner told me earnestly, “You have to cultivate. Cultivate yourself!” I was not convinced and rationalized to myself, “Haven’t I cultivated? Others provoke and bully me, but I don’t lower myself to their level or take it seriously. Isn’t that enough? Isn’t this what it means to be a good person? A better person?” I could not remember the Fa, let alone its inner meanings.
Of course, while studying the Fa, I learned and came to understand a lot. However, I could not use the Fa to guide my daily life. What was I to do? I decided I should recite the Fa.
I started to recite the Fa in the second half of 2016. Once I started this time, I didn’t stop. I gained a lot of understandings during this period.
By reciting the Fa, I truly experienced what Master said about the 3,000 boundless universes, the magical cosmos, the prosperity of the universe, and that the human body is a small universe. Master said:
“Human bodies correspond to external dimensions, and they all have forms of being like that.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
I used to wonder how a tiny human body corresponded to the boundless cosmos. By reciting the Fa, I came to understand that, in the process of cultivating, the body (in another dimension) can be amplified; by understanding the Fa, eliminating attachments, and improving xinxing, one can elevate his or her level. Master said:
“However high your character is, that’s how high your gong is. That’s a Truth, and it’s absolute.” (Lecture One,Zhuan Falun)
The level and realm determine the degree of one’s attainment. The internal organs and every cell in the body are individual lives. Every cell is a world. Every world has countless lives within it. How many cells are there in the body? How many lives will meet with success if one completes cultivation!
Everything in the world corresponds to what is in the universe. They coexist and communicate among the dimensional levels of the universe. How complex and prosperous this universe is! I don’t think that I could ever hope to experience a billionth of it; it’s unimaginable. And all of these beings live in the environment created by Dafa.
“Dafa is the wisdom of the Creator. It is the bedrock of creation, what the heavens, earth, and universe are built upon. It encompasses all things, from the utmost minuscule to the vastest of the vast, while manifesting differently at each of the cosmic body’s planes of existence.” (“On Dafa,” Zhuan Falun)
I realized and experienced this. At that moment, it was hard to describe the appreciation I had for Master’s grandeur!
Frankly speaking, after studying the Fa for so many years, what have I learned and how much have I understood? Did I really obtain the Fa? I was lucky to finally finish memorizing the Fa in 2016. It would be great if I had done it sooner! However, Master didn’t give up on me, a disciple who failed to live up to his expectations and was slow to comprehend things. Master always helped me enlighten to things and encouraged me. I was honored to have all this.
I remember that on the night when I recited the entire Fa for the first time, I had a very vivid dream. I dreamed that I got a big red apple. After I recited the entire Fa for a second time, I had the same dream and got a big purplish-red apple. After I recited the entire Fa for the third time, I had the same dream. I knew that Master was encouraging me, so I persisted in reciting the Fa.
Reciting the Fa helped me understand a lot of principles that many ordinary people don’t know or understand. In the process of reciting the Fa, I found many attachments and they gradually disappeared. Reciting the Fa showed me how to cultivate and dig out attachments. I could catch attachments in their earlier stage and eliminate them. Gradually, I came to know the meaning of cultivation! I feel that I am so lucky. I cannot imagine how much effort Master made; it is beyond my comprehension. All I can do is be grateful, cultivate, listen to Master, and do the three things well.
When I recited the section “Transforming Karma” in Lecture Four of Zhuan Falun, I felt that I had melted into the Fa and suddenly realized that my fundamental attachment was my attachment to self! I suddenly realized that the most important thing I should cultivate is forbearance.
As I continued reciting the Fa, I suddenly understood, “How can I cultivate when there are no tribulations?” The meaning of this sentence is so deep! I was in a flowing state of sorts for the whole afternoon where I’d keep reciting, keep understanding, and keep finding out how to cultivate.
The following two or three days I also experienced this state: I came to know that studying the Fa is the true study, letting my body and mind melt into the Fa, using Dafa’s principles to guide my cultivation, and cultivating every thought at every moment according to Master’s words.
I remember when I first started to recite the Fa, I felt that Master instructed me three times: recite the “text,” recite the “content,” and recite the “Fa.” This is really the case. At first, I just memorized the text, then I understood each paragraph, and then I recited the Fa. Now I am truly practicing in accordance with the Fa, cultivating myself and my tolerance according to Master’s words.
Master said:
“True cultivation is about cultivating the human mind...” (“Teaching the Fa at the Founding Ceremony of the Singaporean Falun Dafa Association,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. I)
I know that the course of my life has been changed by the Fa. I am on the path of cultivation, though there are many bumps and roadblocks. Each bump and roadblock is an attachment that has an energy field behind it that strengthens the negative substances. Cultivation is about eliminating the attachment to self. There are many attachments derived from the attachment to self, such as jealousy, competitiveness, showing off, curiosity, self-righteousness, etc. Master said:
“The whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
At each level, many attachments must be removed, and in the end our selfish self is completely dissolved. This is true at every level, until the true self is revealed and dominates the body and mind. Of course, when eliminating every attachment, one should endure and cultivate endurance. For example, when trying to compete, one should try to restrain oneself; when trying to show off, try to not talk too much; when jealous, try to not complain, don’t be sarcastic, and so on. Throughout our journey of cultivation, we must cultivate forbearance constantly. Of course, “The cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
In practice, I realized that the personalities of cultivators are different, and the focus of cultivation is also different, but in the end they all have to be rectified and assimilated to Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance!
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Category: Improving Oneself
