(Clearwisdom.net) I have studied the Fa for more than two years now, but I always feel that I am not progressing diligently enough. I know it is because I haven't studied the Fa righteously enough. So at the beginning of last year, I started memorizing Zhuan Falun, paragraph by paragraph. I got through chapter eight in the first year.
I now have some new understandings about memorizing the Fa, and I would like to share with fellow practitioners. Please point out any shortcomings that you may see.
1. Respect Master and the Fa
My phone can display a Chinese word processing file. In order to memorize the Fa anywhere at anytime, I divided every chapter of Zhuan Falun into separate files and worked on memorizing them whenever I could.
I wasn't really enlightening however. Instead, it seemed that I stayed at the same level for a long time. I now realize that I shouldn't have changed the format of Dafa's file. It is even more wrong to split up a file. It is just like tearing out a page from the book! Although it is a file on the computer, in other dimensions, the power is the same as the book. We are not allowed to change it. I have an attachment to using shortcuts, so that I didn't respect Master and the Fa. How does the higher level Fa help me to enlighten doing that? After I understood this point, I deleted all the Fa files in my computer and phone, and downloaded the all them all over again. I keep them in a folder and changed nothing.
Fellow practitioners said we should wash our hands first when we want to study the Fa, and should sit in the lotus position and upright with no drink or food. What we are wearing also matters when studying the Fa. I usually use a computer or phone to study the Fa instead of using books, so I ignored those details. Master said in "Seeking Discipleship with Teacher" in Essentials for Further Advancement,
"A person who truly cultivates will gain things naturally without pursuing them. All of the gong and Fa lie in the book, and one will naturally obtain them by reading Dafa. Those who learn it will change automatically, and they will already be in the Dao when they read the book over and over again. Teacher will certainly have Law Bodies (fashen) safeguarding them quietly. With perseverance, they will certainly achieve Righteous Attainment in the future."
My understanding is that Master's fashen is watching every practitioner all the time. Even a new practitioner, when he/she studies the Fa, is with Master. I have decided that, whenever I study the Fa, I will imagine that it is Master giving me the lecture in person, so I should present myself appropriately.
2. Seriously Reciting the Fa
Master said in "Learning the Fa" in Essentials for Further Advancement,
"When learning Dafa, intellectuals should be aware of a most prominent problem: They study Dafa in the same way that everyday people study theoretical writings, such as selecting relevant quotations from renowned people to examine their own conduct. This will hinder a cultivator's progress."
Although I was memorizing the Fa, I wasn't serious enough about some of the chapters. For example, because of a silly notion of mine, I thought the parts about prehistoric culture, the dragon pot plant, and Western medicine, etc., were not important, so I just needed to know the superficial information. I had even selected a sentence to memorize instead of the entire paragraph. I have to respectfully study the Fa. How dare I judge the Fa by a paragraph? Every word, punctuation mark, and stroke is supreme. What I did showed my attachments to rushing things and pursuing comfort. I needed to figure those out and give them up.
Master also said in "Learning the Fa" in Essentials for Further Advancement,
"Furthermore, upon learning that Dafa has profound, inner meaning and high-level things that can guide cultivation practice at different levels, some people even attempt to examine it word by word, but find nothing in the end."
From the time I was in elementary school up until I became Master's student and now while I am working, I have had the habit of dissecting what I am reading. This was already so natural for me to do that I didn't notice it. So, although I only read Zhuan Falun, I always pursued more profound meaning and I thought too much about the book while I read. Thus, my mind was not clear. This is an obstacle to studying and memorizing the Fa. The other day I was memorizing "Hospital Treatment and Qigong Treatment." The third paragraph says,
"Because they're doing ordinary people's things, it has to be on par with the Law for ordinary people, it has to be at the same level as the normal human condition, and the effectiveness of treatments has to be the same as that of hospitals. So their treatments go downhill, and they start talking about how their treatments need several sessions. That's usually how it goes."(Zhuan Falun)
I could not memorize those sentences no matter what I did. When I looked inside, I found that I was treating memorizing the Fa as an everyday person's activity. I had tried to study the Fa according to my ordinary experiences and tried to find deep meaning in the Fa. In the end I gained nothing.
From now on, my requirement will be to memorize the Fa while pursuing nothing. No matter how long I spend memorizing the Fa, I will keep my mind clear, and I will not measure how much I gain. I will let go of my stubborn thinking style and memorize the Fa with a respectful and grateful mind, to truly reach,
"Calm, but without strain of thought--
The truly wondrous can be seen."
("Abiding in the Dao " from Hong Yin)
February 26, 2010
