(Minghui.org) I would like to talk about some of my understandings regarding Fa study.
I began to practice Falun Dafa in the spring of 1998 while I was in college. My excitement was beyond words. After I graduated other practitioners came to my home to read the teachings. As I read the Fa I understood some of the principles of Falun Dafa. When that happened, my body sometimes felt a sudden shock and my mindset instantly broadened. My body seemed to transform layer by layer, like flowers unfolding. Thus, as soon as I began practicing I realized the importance of studying the Fa.
That summer, I went to a university in the provincial capital to prepare for the graduate school entrance exams. I still put Fa study first and I read the teachings every day before I reviewed for my exams. I joined the local exercise site in the morning. I also attended a Fa conference at a provincial university, which strengthened my determination to cultivate.
When the exam results were released in 1999, I was invited to be interviewed by a top research institute. Several students from Tsinghua University were also being interviewed so I felt extremely honored. We were told that all the students invited for interviews were outstanding and that nearly all of us would be admitted. But in the end, what I received was an apologetic phone call from a teacher, who told me that a twelve students were not admitted because of policy-related reasons.
My emotions plunged from joy to deep despair. This was the first major tribulation in my cultivation. I did not want to eat or drink. I felt hopeless. Then I remembered to study the Fa. I picked up Zhuan Falun and began reading attentively. Gradually, my body and mind melted into the Fa, and I forgot about failing the exam. Master then removed a huge substance from my body—it was my attachment to fame and gain. I felt indescribably wonderful. This experience made me deeply realize the power of Fa study. It also enabled me, in later cultivation, to never fail tests that involved fame or gain.
I was admitted to another university for graduate studies. After I graduated in 2005, I found a job. I clarified the truth about Dafa at my company, and I was reported and dismissed. My parents, who were also practitioners, hadn’t clarified the truth about the persecution to anyone and could not understand why I did, so they wouldn’t let me come home. I lived in a rented room, and my money was nearly gone. I sent out resumes, but only one company invited me for an interview. They preferred hiring people with lower educational backgrounds so they did not hire me.
This abnormal situation made me realize I could no longer rely on ordinary human methods to solve my situation. I needed to study the Fa more. After I studied the Fa for about two weeks, I saw a great black curtain open, and the vast universe was revealed. This became an important turning point in my cultivation. I understood that previously I cultivated within a human understanding. Now, the human layer receded, and I stepped out of human notions to cultivate within Dafa.
It felt like I was surrounded by warm sunlight. Looking up, I saw Master smiling kindly at me. I realized Master’s Buddha-light was illuminating me. When I looked down, in another dimension I was sitting in the palm of Master’s hand. Master was holding me with immeasurable care and cherishing me deeply.
The next day, I received acceptance letters from three companies. From that point on, my understanding of cultivation underwent a fundamental breakthrough.
In 2004, a practitioner mentioned the importance of memorizing the Fa, so I began memorizing Zhuan Falun.
The first round of memorizing was extremely difficult and it took me three years. My thoughts were restless and chaotic, and it took me hours to memorize the first paragraph. Sometimes I could not memorize even a single paragraph after several days. But then I would overcome a major xinxing tribulation, and discover the issue addressed in that paragraph was precisely the issue I just overcame. Then the paragraph was easy to memorize.
No matter how hard it was, I never considered giving up. After I memorized lecture one, I felt the root issue in my cultivation was resolved. After I memorized the Fa I felt I truly obtained the Fa.
I went to a materials production site in northeast China in 2006. While making materials, I also memorized the Fa. I just reached lecture four in my first round of memorization. A practitioner at the materials site encouraged me to speed up and memorize more. Many miraculous things occurred during this time. Sometimes a sentence of the Fa would reveal the principles behind it. I sometimes saw Master teaching me the Fa. I dreamed that my unhealthy looking hair was replaced with beautiful new hair. Once I dreamed I attended three of Master’s lecture series, and Master even spoke with me. Sometimes I dreamed that I was walking ahead of other practitioners. I usually dreamed that I always lagged behind. I finished memorizing the first round of Zhuan Falun very quickly, and the other practitioner said my changes were tremendous.
One day, I felt as though three ropes bound me. Master just published a new article. I devoted all my effort to studying the Fa, reading every word with my heart. Then I felt one of the ropes was suddenly removed.
The following day, people from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee took me to the local police station after tricking me into believing that they were issuing me a temporary residence permit. I clarified the truth to them. I silently recited the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts.
Because I studied the Fa well, the Fa was deeply imprinted in my mind, and surpassed my ordinary human notions. Whatever the police did to me, I immediately recalled Master’s teachings and acted accordingly.
I felt my body becoming larger and larger, while the police station seemed beneath my feet. The guard watching me stepped out, leaving the door slightly open. I took off my green down jacket, and wearing only a sweater, I walked out of the police station past four or five officers. It was -30°C outside, yet wearing only a sweater, I didn’t feel cold at all.
After many twists and turns, I arrived at a practitioner’s home. To protect me, she brought me to her non-practitioner friend Lin. But as soon as the practitioner left, Lin said, “You must be a fugitive. I’m calling the police.” No matter how I explained, she would not listen. So I stopped explaining and concentrated on silently reciting the Fa. Then I realized that I could not rely on ordinary people to protect me, because they are the ones we are supposed to save.
Lin said, “I was only trying to scare you. It’s fine, you can stay here.”
Two days later, I heard police cars arrive outside. Without giving it much thought, I calmly continued memorizing the Fa. The cars soon drove away. Later, fellow practitioners told me that the police searched every house, including ordinary people’s homes. Yet because I focused on studying the Fa, the police merely circled around Lin’s home and left.
I was safe. I also felt that after breaking through this tribulation with righteous thoughts, my cultivation underwent a huge improvement.
Looking back on that experience, my conclusion is that during that period I studied the Fa well. A cultivator whose heart is completely within the Fa can steadily pass tribulations.
Tribulations involving illness karma trouble many practitioners. Through studying the Fa, I overcame many severe illness karma tribulations.
Once, my feet began rotting, and later every pore of my body oozed pus. The itching was unbearable, my body swelled severely, and the condition progressed so rapidly that it felt life-threatening. The old forces even said in my ear, “You’ll rot to death on this bed within two days.”
I stayed in a quiet room so I could study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts. At first I could not identify my attachment, but I knew that if I kept studying the Fa, I would definitely find it. Other than going out every day to clarify the truth, I spent all my time memorizing the Fa.
After a few days I realized my problem was lust. At that moment, I saw Master standing beside me, drawing the swelling out of my body. I completely recovered.
I should explain here that I feel our realizations through studying the Fa are accurate. One can even clearly see the root and the form of the attachment. The moment a practitioner truly recognizes this, they separate themselves from it. This is not like the state where one merely finds human attachments on the surface.
Another time, I had a shattered knee joint, a major artery in my leg became blocked, and the muscles in my hips and thigh atrophied. This happened during the first COVID lockdown. There were no practitioners with whom I could discuss the situation.
From morning until night, I memorized the Fa and sent righteous thoughts. I simply believed in Dafa, and gradually the Fa entered my heart. Every morning the old forces created the illusion that another organ failed. I would simply focus on studying the Fa and sending righteous thoughts, and by evening I was fine. This kept happening until I suddenly identified a deeply buried fundamental issue I had. The artery reopened, the atrophied muscles recovered, and I could walk again.
If one solely relies on sharing with fellow practitioners, hearing all kinds of different opinions can actually create confusion, making it difficult to discover one’s deeply hidden attachments. But when one thoroughly studies the Fa, those attachments have nowhere to hide.
After my husband’s family used to oppose Falun Dafa, but after they saw how quickly I recovered they were speechless.
Another time, I experienced the illusion of severe heart disease. At that time I was working alone away from home and could not calm my mind enough to study the Fa. So every day I copied the Fa by hand. Three months later, I realized my problem. A fellow practitioner told me not to associate myself with another practitioner, saying she would drag me down. So I stopped interacting with that second practitioner. I realized my thoughts were negative. Through studying the Fa, I also realized that my idolization of the first practitioner was wrong and harmed him. Once everything became clear, the illusion of heart disease disappeared.
There were many more illness karma tribulations that I broke through. Every time, it was because I had major loopholes that the old forces exploited to persecute me. Usually those loopholes were long-standing issues I failed to recognize. At these times, I remember Master told us, “The Fa can break all attachments …” (“Drive Out Interference” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II). So I let go of everything, studied the Fa more, and sent righteous thoughts more. During the process of studying the Fa, I was able to recognize the attachment and dissolve the persecution. I also discarded ordinary notions of birth, aging, illness, and death, and looked younger.
When I copy the Fa from memory, I feel the whole world disappears. There remains only my mind continuously assimilating to Dafa. Then when I raise my head, I realize, “Oh, I’m actually in my apartment.” When I’m in this state, I elevate very quickly.
Some practitioners say they cannot focus when they study the Fa, or experience no changes from studying the Fa. That is because their hearts are not truly absorbing the Fa. For example, after studying Lecture Two, someone asks a practitioner, “What are human eyes used for?” A practitioner who was not absorbing the Fa might say, “To see things, of course!” But a practitioner who was paying great attention and absorbing the Fa would say, “To create illusions for humans and keep them deluded here.” Therefore, when encountering illness karma tribulations, practitioners who did not absorb the Fa during Fa studies would believe they are truly ill, whereas practitioners who have studied the Fa well understand that it is merely an illusion of illness karma—either for karma elimination or persecution by the old forces.
Sometimes during group Fa study, I see fellow practitioners being very dull and blank. Some read for a while, then sleep for a while, and when they put down the book they do not even know which passage they were studying.
When I read the Fa myself, I go very slowly. I must understand what a sentence is talking about before moving to the next one. Sometimes a single lecture takes me four hours to read.
Sometimes I ask fellow practitioners, “What Fa did you study yesterday?” They answer, “Lecture Four.” I then discover that aside from knowing the words “Lecture Four,” the Fa did not enter their hearts. And this is actually a common phenomenon. The Fa is not easy to obtain. Because if one does not concentrate one’s thoughts while studying, it is indeed difficult to truly obtain the Fa.
I have seen many practitioners who are unable to get out from tribulations, unable to improve, had difficulty helping Master save people, or were heavily burdened by illness karma, or unknowingly played a role in disrupting the Fa. I feel this stems from studying the Fa too little or not studying the Fa well.
I have also seen people around us who originally could have been saved but could not accept the truth about Dafa. I feel this reflects practitioners’ cultivation states because they did not study the Fa well. If this continues, we will not have the ability to save these ordinary people.
I have also met practitioners whose enlightenment quality is far better than mine, but they spend time on other things. Some practitioners are trapped in tribulations, and after reading one lecture of the Fa, they spend the rest of the day pacing around at home. They cannot break through the tribulation. Some practitioners can recite the Fa fluently from memory yet see only the surface words and do not even understand the meaning of what they recite, so they remain at the same level of understanding for years without improving. Some practitioners contribute a lot and harmonize their environments very well, yet because their Fa study is insufficient, the old forces exploit their loopholes and cause trouble in their families.
Master emphasizes studying the Fa more in almost every lecture. But after hearing it repeatedly, some practitioners treat it like passing wind and do not take it to heart. That’s why I wanted to carefully to you about my experiences. We should truly absorb the Fa when we read it. I hope fellow practitioners study the Fa attentively and from the heart, and truly value Fa study. I hope we can guard against a wavering heart, quiet our minds, let our “true selves” study the Fa, truly cultivate, and fulfill the great mission of helping Master save people.
These are only my understandings. If anything is not in accord with the Fa, please kindly point it out.