(Minghui.org) It was at the 2007 New York Fa Conference that I had the privilege of meeting Master Li in person, although I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. That was when I promised Master that I would memorize the Fa.
However, when I first started memorizing Zhuan Falun, I could not get past the first section of the first lecture. It took me a couple of hours to remember one paragraph. Because of the time spent on memorizing the Fa, I had no time to read the book from beginning to end. I was torn and regretted making the promise.
At the end of 2010, I had a sickness karma test. Overnight, one of my legs swelled up making it impossible to walk or stand. I looked inward and found that studying the Fa had become a routine and I often did not focus on what I was reading. Also, I had not kept my promise to memorize the Fa. So in front of Master’s portrait, I reflected on my shortcomings and promised to rectify them all and to memorize the Fa no matter how difficult it was.
As soon as I had these thoughts, I heard a voice saying: “Learn the text sentence by sentence.” Why hadn't I thought of that? I could learn the individual sentences first and then connect all of them in the paragraph later. This method immediately made the task easier.
Within 18 months I was able to memorize all of Zhuan Falun. Although I didn’t memorize certain paragraphs as a whole, I did learn the individual sentences.
The memorizing process eliminated much of my karma, decadent substances, and things that interfered with my will to learn the Fa by heart. My main consciousness was strengthened as a result. I immediately started to memorize the book for the second time. I was more confident this time and had a stronger desire to do so—it was much easier.
I have come a long way, from feeling obliged to do it to loving it. From then on, memorizing the Fa became the way to study the Fa for me.
The third time around, I memorized Zhuan Falun with my wife. The good thing was that we could help each other if either of us became stuck. It proved to be a faster way and we memorized the Fa better. We could also share experiences about doing it. After the third time, I no longer felt it was difficult to learn the Fa by heart.
What I find amazing is that as I commit the Fa to memory, I enlighten to new understandings of the Fa principles at different levels, which is a cultivation process itself. As the Fa principles become clearer to me, I see my shortcomings in cultivation, which forces me to look inward. Not only do I look inward, I also look deeper until I find the root of a problem or attachment. It has become second nature for me to do so.
When I couldn't focus on the task or it was slow and I could not enlighten to the Fa principles, I would pause and look inward. As I continued to look inward, I would become more focused, which enabled me to continue memorizing.
Another takeaway was that as I memorized the Fa, I constantly looked inward and assimilated to Dafa. This process eliminated my karma and the bad substances in my body. I have gotten rid of many human notions and my mind has been purified. Not only do I not dread memorizing the Fa, I embrace it and enjoy the process.
Once, at the end of a local group study session, some practitioner pointed out that our environment was rather negative. I suggested that we all look inward. The coordinator proposed that I take the lead in doing it at the next meeting. I happily agreed as I believed this would be good for the one body and it would also be an opportunity for me to improve.
At the next meeting, I talked about how I found my resentment, my fear, and my tendency to talk about others' shortcomings behind their back. I didn't finish talking before the meeting ended; so the coordinator said that I could continue at the next meeting. Although I thought that I had found all of my attachments, I took the time to look just a bit deeper.
When I was not sure how to go deeper, Master’s words came to mind: “These problems have already become very serious. It would be good if they could manage to search within themselves for the things that they have been able to find in others.” (“A Dialogue with Time” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
All of a sudden, I realized what to do. I spent 5 minutes listing 24 bad things that I found in fellow practitioners and then checked myself against them—I realized that I had all of the same shortcomings. Finally, I moved one step forward in looking inward. I found that the root of all my attachments originated from self and selfishness.
When I memorized the book for the fourth time, I worked with another practitioner online. At first, I could not keep my eyes open and I also had a hard time sitting still. Then, I found that I didn't feel sleepy if I maintained a calm mind. To have a calm mind, I needed to understand the Fa and measure myself against it. Once, neither of us could continue memorizing Zhuan Falun. We almost wanted to find an excuse to call it a day, but decided to look inward instead. The more we looked, the deeper we went. Soon, we were no longer sleepy.
I feel the power of memorizing the Fa and looking inward. One day after sending righteous thoughts after working on memorizing the principles, I saw a pink wheel fly out of my body and fall into the hand of a higher being of the old forces that was standing on a mountain covered with dust. He said to me, “I have no more tricks now that you can memorize the Fa and look inward at the same time.”
The purpose of memorizing the Fa is not only to memorize it but to assimilate to it as well. Learning the Fa with a calm mind and no pursuit is the best way to succeed. Sometimes, I’d like to rush through the process and that is when it becomes a routine and I become restless. Although I am able to go through many paragraphs, there is no manifestation of the Fa principles.
As a result of memorizing the Fa, looking inward has become second nature and my main consciousness and righteous thoughts have become very strong. I am more focused now with a purer mind.
I am a computer technician. In the past, I would be reading the Fa and trying to solve computer issues at the same time. That is no longer the case. Now I focus only on the task at hand.