Persist in Studying the Fa Well; Fulfill the Responsibilities of a Dafa Particle

By a Dafa practitioner from Toronto

(Clearwisdom.net) I obtained the Fa in 1997. When I opened Zhuan Falun for the first time, I felt a powerful force in the book; I couldn't put the book down. At the same time, I saw that each and every character in the book is a Buddha whose hands are pressed together in front of the chest (heshi). Every time when I read the book I would wash my hands first and hold the book by the edges without touching the characters. I can't express the awe and excitement I had. Knowing this is a heavenly book, I bought all of the other books related to Zhuan Falun.

Master says in The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa that, "Falun Buddha Fa also includes cultivation of the body, which is accomplished by performing the exercise movements of the Great Consummation Way--a great high-level practice of the Buddha School. One purpose of the exercises is to strengthen a practitioner's supernormal abilities and energy mechanisms using his or her powerful gong potency (gongli), thus achieving 'the Fa refines the practitioner.' Another purpose is to evolve many living beings in a practitioner's body. In high-level cultivation practice, the Immortal Infant or Buddha-Body will be born, and many abilities will be developed. The exercise movements are necessary for transforming and cultivating these things. The exercises are part of the harmonization and perfection in our Dafa. So Dafa is a comprehensive mind-body cultivation system. It is also called 'The Great Consummation Way.' This Dafa thus requires both cultivation and exercises, with cultivation taking priority over the exercises. A person's gong will not increase if he merely does the exercises and fails to cultivate his xinxing. A person who only cultivates his xinxing and does not perform the exercises of the Great Consummation Way will find the growth of his gong potency impeded and his original-body (benti) unchanged." At that time, I did not fully understand it; neither did I know what cultivation is. I also didn't know how to spread the Fa, nor did I have the concept. I simply thought it is such a great book, and that more people should read it. I told people that Zhuan Falun is the best book in the world.

I was very puzzled about life before I obtained the Fa. When I was young, my mother told me the principles of being a person. When I attended school, ever since primary school my teachers talked about the future, and my classmates all longed for it?However, when I started to work and truly got a taste of life, I saw duplicity and callousness everywhere in the human world. What is the real meaning of life? I became more and more confused and puzzled. My relatives told me that, "We know you are a nice person, but you feel you are different than others. Can't you change yourself?" When hearing something too many times, even wrong things may sound right. I told myself to make some changes. However, I couldn't change at all. Thus, I thought of going to temples. I looked into Buddhism and Taoism, but found temples are not quiet, and monasteries not tranquil. I left China in 1994. I even looked into western religions. The conclusion I drew was that though languages and skin colors are different, there is no fundamental difference between the east and the west in the principles of how to be a human. Churches are merely decorations. I became totally disappointed with life. I isolated myself from the world. At work I performed my duty negligently. At home I unplugged my phone to avoid having contact with anyone. I became a totally reclusive mental prisoner.

Finally I obtained Zhuan Falun. I understood I could get rid of all worldly misunderstandings (including from fellow practitioners). I read the book over and over again, bringing the book with me wherever I went, even though I didn't understand the true meaning of Zhuan Falun at that time. It's because I had waited for tens of thousands of years; this is the real home of my life. I don't have curiosity while studying the Fa. I don't dwell on items that I don't understand.

After we entered the phase of Fa-rectification cultivation, we did more and more Dafa work, and the time seemed very tight and insufficient. However, no matter how busy I was, everyday I would take three hours to do the five sets of exercises and read one chapter of Zhuan Falun. Normally I do this in the morning because there is less interference in this time period. I feel very good after every busy day. If I have more time, I use the time to read the Fa. Group study is an addition to my individual study plan. Once I open the book my mind becomes calm no matter how busy it was. Upgrading the understanding of Fa principles is like breaking through layers upon layers of heaven. I lamented upon enlightening to a new layer of Fa principle or letting go of an attachment. After I lamented a few times, I enlightened to a principle that the Fa is boundless, heaven has no boundary, and the principles are unlimited. Only by studying the Fa well can we assimilate to the Fa more, and play a better role in assisting Master to rectify the Fa. I no longer lament, instead I become more rational.

I realized that breaking through the old forces' arrangement is not just a wish; it is a test of our cultivation. If we don't study the Fa well, we won't be able to look at things from the Fa's perspective. On the contrary, we would conform to the old forces' arrangement, and that itself would become an obstacle of Fa-rectification. Righteous thoughts absolutely do not just emerge the moment when we hold our hands erect. Studying the Fa well and assimilating to the Fa at all times is truly the foundation for shocking the evil. Every single thought and every single idea is the manifestation of righteous belief, righteous thoughts, and righteous actions. "However strong the righteous thoughts are, that's how great the power is." ("Also in a Few Words" from Essentials For Further Advancement II) The pure field we cultivate from Dafa is a powerful shock to the evil forces.

Gong and Fa are one body. For a cultivator, studying the Fa and doing exercises is as important as the needs of food and water. Without food and water, life will cease to exist. As human life is tangible, people treat the food and water that maintain their lives as extremely important. Cultivation is not so tangible, so people tend to neglect it. But this is the principle at a human level. We are cultivators. When we chose to cultivate, we were already lives transcending human beings. Thus we should be clear that studying the Fa and doing exercises are the basic form of cultivation. If we cannot even guarantee the most basic form, it would be too far from talking about virtual cultivation. This is because, if we don't study the Fa, we would be unable to know the Fa of high levels, "Without knowing the Fa at high levels, one cannot practice cultivation." (Lecture One of Zhuan Falun)

Through studying the Fa, I came to better understand the responsibilities of a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. In the process of assisting Master to rectify the Fa, the outside interference is easy to identify, and easy to break through as well. However, if we don't study the Fa well, the interference caused by different understandings among fellow practitioners is difficult to break through. In my mind, the choice is whatever Fa-rectification needs. There is no concept of different project teams, and there is no concept of different countries and regions. It's nothing but Dafa disciples' responsibilities. I receive telephone calls from everywhere asking for help. The telephone is a useful tool I use in participating Fa-rectification, it's easy and convenient. My voice can be used wherever it is needed.

I use the telephone to communicate with disciples from all districts, to call the "610 Offices" of all levels, the police, prosecutor, and court systems in Mainland China, and to effectively suffocate the evil forces from department level down to police stations. I use the telephone to help fellow practitioners who are in tribulations to walk out of the evil's den, and to help fellow practitioners who lost their way go back to cultivation. I have called thousands of families in China, from government officials and intellectuals, to workers and farmers. I spread the sound of Dafa to all the sentient beings waiting for salvation.

When I make phone calls to policemen and personnel from the "610 Office" in China using righteous thoughts, they do whatever I ask them to do. Policeman will drive their car to investigate the case I ask them to investigate. Personnel from the "610 Office" said to me that, "we report to you that? they even read me files about practitioners being persecuted. When I told them that the country is going to be ruled by law, and the country will reconsider the Falun Gong issue, and that they should put in order all the death cases and investigate and report all cases in time, they didn't know how to reply but replied with a trembling voice, "Yes, yes, yes? Some of them repeatedly said, "Falun Dafa Hao."

Fellow practitioners in China are in a very difficult cultivation environment and are sometimes unable to communicate with each other. To strengthen their belief and righteous thoughts I passed on to them facts of the inspiring Fa-rectification situation outside of China using a non-practitioner's tone, in order to ensure their safety. A practitioner attached to time said, "Spring is gone, the evil persecution is still going on; 42 months are also gone, yet the evil is still running rampant." While not being detained, she gave up cultivation and walked over to the other side. I told her of the grand Fa-rectification feats by practitioners inside and outside of China in a non-practitioner's tone. She cried, choked with sobs, and said, "I know you are a Dafa disciple, I felt your field. It's Master who arranged you to save me." After sharing, she made the best use of her time to study the Fa. Later, when she truly faced the evil, she spoke strongly, on just grounds, and looked directly at the vicious personnel. She came through in a noble and dignified manner. Her upright behavior also inspired her local fellow practitioners.

For several years, I have persevered in making phone calls to China. I know I am needed there. Some operators who work at the police, prosecutors, and court systems are familiar with my voice and they take the initiative to say, "I'll transfer you to the '610 Office'." They didn't transfer the call for me at the beginning. Through clarifying the truth, we became friends with each other. Sometimes, I jokingly say, "Remember if you don't transfer for me, you will become very ugly." This joke can achieve a good effect when their righteous thoughts are not strong, because this is the best choice a being can make.

The telephone enabled me to participate in Fa-rectification work in Canada, China, the U.S., Australia, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other countries. Of course, there were fellow practitioners' misunderstandings in the process. In the past, I would simply find excuses for myself, sometimes I would tell fellow practitioners, "Take it as a xinxing test I had for you." Later in studying the Fa, I came to understand harmony. We should not only do Fa-rectification work well, but also care about fellow practitioners' feelings. In the process of participating in Fa-rectification, I found that the attachments I had intentionally tried to get rid of in my personal cultivation disappeared naturally. It is because my Dafa responsibilities diverted my attention from my personal feelings. When time passed, it became natural. When there are no more feelings, the attachment disappears. I heard that humans don't have hearts when first created by gods; it is the friction of the cosmos that gradually forms the heart. When we truly have no attachments at all, probably this is the time for us to return to the original true self.

One day I received an email from a practitioner. She said, "Do you think everybody has to cultivate the way you cultivate? Don't you feel you are leading a boring life? How dreadful life would be if everybody cultivated like you? In order to not hurt her, I called her several days later, and invited her to participate in a project. She was very nervous, not knowing my real purpose for calling. I didn't mention the email, instead I sincerely told her, "I'm sorry, I neglected your feelings and only emphasized the importance of Fa-rectification one-sidedly, and thought I should not share with you. Master said that some overseas practitioners are not compassionate enough. I also know I didn't cultivate well. I also truly asked myself to be more compassionate, however I became worried when I encountered problems, felt something uncomfortable in my heart, and didn't want to share individual cultivation issues with others because I feel that affects the Fa-rectification process. One day, I finally understood the sentence Master says in 'A Brief Explanation of Shan' from Essentials For Further Advancement, 'Dafa is in perfect harmony: If one separates the three characters of "Zhen-Shan-Ren," each still fully contains Zhen-Shan-Ren. This is because matter is composed of microscopic matter, which is in turn made up of even more microscopic matter--this goes on and on until the end. Therefore, Zhen consists of Zhen-Shan-Ren, Shan consists of Zhen-Shan-Ren, and Ren also consists of Zhen-Shan-Ren. Isn't the Dao School's cultivating Zhen the cultivation of Zhen-Shan-Ren? Isn't the Buddha School's cultivating Shan also the cultivation of Zhen-Shan-Ren? In fact, they only differ in their superficial forms.' I understand the principle that Zhen, Shan, Ren exist simultaneously. It's the manifestation of a cultivator's realm. It is absolutely not emphasizing any one word in it. I am not compassionate if I haven't reached that realm. So it's useless to emphasize any one word. When you understand this principle, you no longer painstakingly seek the meaning of any one word. At the same time, I feel I understand everything. The thing that worried me doesn't exist any more, and I feel that I truly have some compassion. I think that as long as we can read the Fa with a calm mind instead of seeking something one-sidedly from the Fa, the Fa will surely show us. I hope you can join the group in Fa-rectification. We should all use the part of us that has cultivated well to harmonize others' uncultivated part. It's neither criticizing nor avoiding, instead it is harmonizing from the standpoint of being responsible for the Fa. It can not only offer salvation to more sentient beings, but can also strengthen our idea of being one body. At the same time, we will benefit a lot from it personally. This is my real experience. Hence I hope you don't over emphasize your individual ability to fulfill tasks by yourself, instead you should put your ability in the group and let it benefit us all and do Fa-rectification works better." We talked for one hour. The problem in her heart was solved.

The evil forces are becoming more and more rampant in this final period of time. They take advantage of everything they can, and find every loophole they can find, hoping they can destroy our cultivation. I also felt discouraged because the attachments I thought I didn't have or had already let go of resurfaced. I asked myself if I could still cultivate. Every time I told myself, "I have obtained the Fa, what is there to fear?" Pride and despair don't belong in Dafa disciples. Suppressing them according to Master's teachings is itself cultivation. I sometimes felt that some strange idea would suddenly emerge. In order to prevent myself from being interfered with, I used all my spare time, including while walking and cooking, to send righteous thoughts to clean myself. As we cultivate "tranquility" of the mind, even though we are moving on the surface, we can clean ourselves and suffocate the evil in our minds, so as to leave no loophole for the evil to persecute us. The content of our brain is fixed; if there is one more element of righteousness, there is one less element of evil. This is a principle I have enlightened to. So I suppress all human desires and feelings, and don't let them develop. We are cultivators who give up all human attachments. We cannot let karma succeed during the final stage.

Whether we can do Fa-rectification well fundamentally depends on whether we study the Fa well. When I feel I am not in the right state, I put down everything I'm doing and study the Fa more. Through studying the Fa, we can not only calm ourselves down, but also find the reason behind our problem and remove it. As a Dafa disciple, we have no reason not to study the Fa and do the exercises, no matter how busy we are. The surface difference between us and ordinary people is: we study the Fa and do the exercises. Think about practitioners in China, they are persecuted because they insist on studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. They sacrificed a lot for this. We have such a great environment here; if we give up we should feel heart-struck and shameful.

When I assimilate myself into Fa-rectification, the responsibilities and missions of Dafa disciples make me look at things from the perspective of Dafa, from the perspective of a whole body, from the perspective of not letting the evil old forces take advantage of Dafa disciples. It is a natural transition from forcing myself to be tolerant to naturally changing myself. The elevation in understanding the Fa principles and the expansion of breadth of mind are manifestations of Dafa disciples assimilating to the Fa. The steadfast righteous thoughts become more and more rational and unshakable. They are always in order, no matter how busy we are. I truly experienced the intricacy and splendor of boarding the Fa boat. Sometimes, in one night I need to investigate and verify six to seven practitioners' persecution cases plus some urgent issues. Seeing a full mailbox, I asked myself, "Are you annoyed? Are you feeling unable to handle this?" I found myself extremely tranquil, so tranquil that I was surprised myself. I solved everything smoothly. Sometimes I need to work late into the night or stay up the whole night but I don't feel tired at all. It can be described as: humans and gods exist simultaneously, beautifully and wonderfully. The longer we cultivate the more natural it becomes. The longer we cultivate the more supernormal we become. Everything comes from the Fa. Let's remember Master's teaching, "Your righteous thoughts and everything you accomplish come from the Fa, so no matter how busy you are, don't neglect Fa-study." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A")

 Yearly Archive   Printer Version