April 2, 2003

(Clearwisdom.net) Several months ago, because of being busy in doing Fa-rectification work and a lack of clearly understanding the importance in studying the Fa, my pace of Fa-study had become very sluggish. I couldn't study the Fa with a calm mind. Sometimes I even couldn't finish one lecture a day, not to mention practicing the exercises. Therefore, I was in very poor state. I felt tired. I felt unsatisfied in doing ordinary work as well as Dafa work, and sometimes I encountered troubles. The worst was that many human notions that I thought I had gone through during my cultivation came back again. Although righteous thoughts could play a certain role, I still felt I couldn't root out all the interference I encountered and the attachments that appeared again.

In the past, when I was in a better state, I would study two lectures of the Fa in the morning with fellow practitioners at one study group and one lecture in the evening at another study group. At that time, I read Zhuan Falun so fluently that my mouth could read faster than my eyes. It seemed that I had merged together with the Fa. It was also very easy to do Dafa work as well. I didn't realize it was because of my intensive Fa-study that the Dafa work could be done so smoothly. Moving to a new area, in the new environment, since I was the only practitioner in that area, I had been doing both spreading the Fa and clarifying the truth to Chinese people. I studied the Fa much less, and as a result, the state I mentioned above developed. Thinking it over thoroughly, I finally realized the reason behind it was that I did not devote enough time to study the Fa. I immediately had the thought to resume reading three lectures every day, and was eager to begin.

After sharing with a fellow practitioner from a neighboring state, we decided to study two lectures of the Fa together in the morning and one lecture in the evening on our own. His company was very close to my home. Everything seemed so natural and was arranged that way. We started our daily schedule of studying three lectures. Since the Fa-rectification work couldn't be held up, we slept less in order to study the Fa more.

On the first day, my fellow practitioner had a hard time waking me up at 6:00 a.m. I felt very sleepy when we started to read the Fa since I'd gone to sleep late the previous day. After the second page, I began to wake up and became more clearheaded. I became more invigorated as the reading continued. That day when I was at work, I felt very serene and compassionate, and felt the Fa inside of me. My relations with fellow colleagues became more harmonious. The wonder and sacredness of the Fa often made me silently recite Master's poem "Falun Dafa is Good." It's hard to describe how wonderful and serene I felt in my mind. I had a deeper understanding to Master's poem "Mighty Virtue," "Dafa never leaves the body, Heart contains Zhen-Shan-Ren; A great Arhat in the world, Spirits and ghosts fear the most." (HongYin, unofficial translation)

At the 2003 Los Angeles Conference, it was an honor for me to listen to Master again. As soon as Master appeared on the stage, I began crying. There are no words to describe the mighty benevolence of our respected Master, the mighty wonder of Dafa and how fortunate we are to be "under the greatest mercy since the beginning of Heaven and Earth and under Buddha's infinite grace" ("Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples" from Essentials for Further Advancement II) I never felt so moved like this before. It was the period of intensive Fa-study that made me deeply understand the sacredness and the solemnness of the Fa, and the might and benevolence of the Fa. My belief and respect of Master and the Fa deepened.

It seemed that my manager at work had not been satisfied with my work performance. The reason on the surface seemed that my new work field was not what I had studied in school, and I couldn't quickly figure it out. In fact it was the old forces taking advantage. Looking inward, I found a notion of irresponsibility toward my work. I always tried to avoid more work and was anxious to go home to do Fa-rectification work. It seemed I was diligent in cultivation, but that was an omission. Although I found one of my omissions, the environment at the work remained the same. Although it improved a little after exchanging experiences with fellow practitioners, I still felt it was difficult. Until one day, about two weeks later when starting the intensive Fa-study, just after finishing the reading, I suddenly recalled Master's words, "Work is work. Cultivation is cultivation. But your xinxing improvement through cultivation will be reflected in [your handling of] specific issues at work" (Fa-Lecture at the Assistants' Fa Conference in Changchun) Thinking of myself, I realized I mixed up work and cultivation and therefore was not clear what was the job responsibility. I tried never to offend anybody at work, so therefore some of the work was delayed. My state of mind changed after I enlightened to the principle. And with more Fa study, the work environment around me became more harmonious and purified. My manager's attitude changed for the better.

My wife worked in another state. She is involved in much Dafa work and often works very late. With a bit of a mentality of the pursuit of comfort, she couldn't study the Fa and practice the exercises regularly. She felt exhausted for a long time. We all felt we should have a breakthrough and helped to motivate each other after we decided to strengthen the Fa-study, "Share in learning and share in cultivation"("Solid Cultivation," Hong Yin) At the beginning, my wife had a hard time waking up even with two alarms. So I called her to wake her up. She started to study three lectures of the Fa per day also. My wife told me that she treated the Fa study as homework before and often felt sleepy while reading the book. It would take her one and half hours to read one lecture. After strengthening her study, she is now able to calm down easily and read three lectures in two and a half hours. Fa study is no longer treated as a job, but is done out of a desire from deep in her heart.

Soon another practitioner began to join her in the mornings. Together they send forth righteous thoughts at 5:00 a.m., read two lectures of the Fa, practice for one hour and then go to work. In the evening, they read one more lecture together again. Both of them feel very energized. My wife only sleeps two or three hours every night but is full of energy. She also feels it is easier to do things than before. The other practitioner and I also felt we should strengthen our exercises as well. Otherwise, with an ordinary body, it would be hard to persist in our study and study the Fa with a calm mind. Therefore one week ago, we started to practice the exercises for an hour and study two lectures of the Fa after we send forth righteous thoughts at 5:00 a.m. If every Dafa disciple can study the Fa more and study with a calm mind, what state would the Fa-rectification be in as a whole?

Let us remember Master's words, "No matter how difficult your environment is, no matter how busy you get, you cannot forget to study the Fa. You must study the Fa, because it is the absolute, most fundamental guarantee of your improvement... As long as you study, any problem can be solved. As long as you cultivate and as long as you're able to understand the Fa from the Fa, there's nothing you can't achieve." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.")