(Clearwisdom.net) A fellow practitioner raised two questions in his article, "Discussing Two Universal Questions with Fellow Practitioners" (published on Minghui, the Chinese version of Clearwisdom, on July 6). One of the questions was about how to study the Fa. I also want to talk about studying the Fa, from my own experience. I don't think that it's important that we adhere to a strict method, or to a set length of study time. But our behavior reflects our xinxing. Only by specially arranging time for study and studying attentively, can we show our dedication in studying the Fa.
When the evil persecution first started, I was very diligent and spent most of my spare time studying the Fa: in the morning, before my noon nap, and before going to bed. Sometimes I would read through the book Zhuan Falun in only two days, and other articles in a short time.
One day I got up early to study the Fa. I was reading the pocket-sized Zhuan Falun. But as I read and read, the book in my hand turned into a normal-sized book and the print became larger too. At first I thought that I wasn't seeing clearly so I blinked my eyes and shook my head, but the book I saw was still a normal-sized book and the font was still a large font. It was real. I understood that this was Teacher encouraging me in studying the Fa diligently! During that period of time, I also felt my xinxing improve very rapidly. I had the confidence that can move mountains, empty oceans or quash evil.
Gradually, I started to spend more time studying the Fa at work and spending more time after work on things in my daily life. I thought that this was alright, because after all, the total time I spent on studying the Fa remained the same. Soon however, my cultivation state started to decline.
The righteous thoughts and the power I formerly had were gone. I discussed it with the practice site coordinator. Before, I studied the Fa during and after work, but all I had in my mind was to make more time to study and understand the Fa in a deeper way. My mind was all on the Fa. Later, I still studied the Fa during and after work, and the total time I had for Fa study was the same as before. However I was using more time at work to study the Fa so that I could have more time after work to spend on things in my everyday life. My purpose in studying the Fa had changed. I regarded Fa study as a task, which is disrespectful to the Fa. Thus, my xinxing dropped, of course the Fa would not manifest for me and of course my cultivation state was not as good as before.
Whether we can listen to the Fa lectures using MP3 players while we do other things is also an issue of the manner and method we adopt in studying the Fa. I think we don't have to rigidly adhere to a specific form, and the length of study time is not important either. But our behavior reflects our xinxing. Only by specially arranging time for study and studying attentively can we show our dedication to studying the Fa. If you listen to the Fa lectures and do other things at the same time, only you know whether you study the Fa wholeheartedly. If one's Fa study is not going well or if one encounters other troubles, one should look inside oneself. As each individual has his or her own situation, so we cannot say whether it is okay or not okay to do other things while listening to the Fa. Everyone should make a judgment for oneself and take the Fa as Teacher.
Cultivation is to cultivate one's heart. Nothing happens without a reason during cultivation. What we need to work hard on is looking inside ourselves.
This is purely my personal understanding. Please point out any errors. Let us all take the Fa as Teacher.