Studying the Fa is for Guiding Our Cultivation
By a Dafa Practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, some local practitioners have manifested
serious illnesses. This has occurred mostly among elderly practitioners. Some
went to a hospital for a check up but no illnesses were found. However, doctors
still seemed to find some excuse to give out prescriptions. Some practitioners
felt well when they left the hospital but sick again when they arrived home.
Some practitioners have shared their experiences with me and here I present my
understandings and hope other practitioners will add their understandings. For a long time some practitioners have been satisfied with the fact that
Dafa can heal illnesses, especially those elderly practitioners. Some used to
have very serious illnesses, which were cured after practicing Falun Gong. The
practitioners would tell everyone that Falun Gong is good. However, whenever a
xinxing [mind or heart nature, moral character] test came along,
it was hard for them to pass. Sometimes they would even react like ordinary
people, and if they really couldn't pass the test they would share their
experiences with practitioners and ask for help. I am not against practitioners
sharing experiences. I am just saying that the Fa that Teacher taught is for us
to use in cultivation. If we study the Fa but don't apply the Fa, are we not
studying the Fa just for the sake of studying? If this occurs for a long time,
are we still cultivating within Dafa? Teacher said, "Why do I tell you to study,
read, and memorize Zhuan Falun? To guide your cultivation!" ("What is
Cultivation Practice?" Falun Dafa Essentials for Further Advancement) When this drags on for a long time and the hardships increase, it is even
harder to enlighten to the problem. Teacher said in Teaching and Explaining
the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference: "For a long time now some students just haven't gotten rid of their
fundamental attachments! And as things have piled up, at the end they aren't
able to overcome them and their tribulations get big. When problems occur,
instead of searching for problems in their xinxing, fundamentally
improving themselves, or truly letting go of the matter and coming through
in an open and dignified manner by another route, they focus on the thing at
hand--"Goodness? why is it that I still can't overcome this thing? I've done
better today, so it should have improved a little. Tomorrow I'll do even
better and it should improve some more." He can never let go of that thing.
On the surface it appears that he's letting it go--"Look, I'm doing well
now." You're doing well now but you are doing well now for its sake.
You aren't doing that for the purpose of doing what a true Dafa disciple
should do!... As a matter of fact, for many students it's been so long now,
and especially after going through July 20, 1999, you should really take a
good look at a lot of things on a fundamental level. You should calm down
and truly think things over. Don't think, "now that I'm a Dafa disciple I
should have nothing bad happen to me. If anything happens then it's not
right." And don't think that you should go through whatever other people go
through. Each person's situation is different. The key is how well you
yourself really do. What you're attached to in your mind all day long are
all ordinary people's things, you're even befuddled head-over-heels by
feelings, and yet when tribulations come you say, "I'm a Dafa disciple who's
suffered from tribulations for a long time."" Fa rectification has nearly reached its end yet practitioners still have not
broken through the self-cultivation circle. Even though we are clarifying the
truth and sending forth righteous thoughts, we have not realized our real duties
in our hearts. Some practitioners are still at the eliminating disease karma
stage. If practitioners are burdened by such attachments for long periods of
time, the evil will take advantage of them. When Teacher gives hints, even if
some practitioners enlighten to it, they still do not follow them, but continue
to ask Teacher for help. I truly hope these practitioners can look within
themselves, eliminate all ordinary people's attachments, and not just talk about
letting go, but really do it. Cultivation is a very serious matter. "No human
attachment can be taken to heaven." ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa
Conference") How can we consummate when we hold on to our attachments and refuse
to let go? Some practitioners are burdened by sentimentality. If others are good to him,
he is happy. If others are not good to him, he is very upset. Teacher taught us,
"When some people say that you're good, you might not really be good, and when
some people say that you're bad, you might not really be bad." (Zhuan Falun).
The only standard for measuring good and bad is "Truthfulness, Compassion, and
Tolerance." Even though we are practicing within the ordinary people's society,
we cannot look at ourselves as ordinary people. We must treat ourselves as
practitioners every minute of the day. Under any circumstances we must not be
moved by ordinary people's attachments and must keep a compassionate and
peaceful mind. I hope that we can all study the Fa well, and at the same time we should
follow Dafa and do well the three things that Teacher asks us to do. Only in
this way can we keep up with Teacher's Fa rectification process.
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/1/31/66264.html
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