(Minghui.org) A few thoughts expressed in recent Minghui articles have really resonated with me.
For instance, a practitioner wrote in the article “Studying the Fa Well Is Key”:
“I have benefited a lot from reading Falun Dafa practitioners' sharing articles on the Minghui website. Reading them helps us to find our own shortcomings so that we can improve. The old forces arranged a set of things for practitioners in an attempt to make us fail in our cultivation. So how do we walk well on the path that Master has arranged for us? The answer is very simple: We must study the Falun Dafa teachings well.”
When I read this passage, it really emphasized the importance of Fa study to me and reminded me of how Master answered a practitioner's question.
“Question: Listening to others’ experiences inspires and enlightens me, but I find it not as solid as enlightening to things on my own.
Teacher: That is right. Of course that’s how it is. What you enlighten to yourself, which is mainly through your own cultivation, is the most solid. On the other hand, you can indeed draw lessons from what others say. That can facilitate your progress too, so it is beneficial. Fa conferences won’t be held often. Our conferences do have benefits. But don’t share experiences too often. You should focus your energy on studying the Fa and reading the book.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland”)
The issues raised in the experience-sharing articles “Sharing with Veteran Practitioners Who Are Advancing Slowly”, “Fellow Practitioners, Are You Acting According to the Fa?”, and “Studying the Fa Teachings with All Due Seriousness” have all existed in my local group.
Missing Out on Early Lectures
Many veteran practitioners who started practicing before 1999 have not read the Fa teachings of the early years. Some don't own those Dafa books with early Fa teachings; yet, they don't try to look for those missing books. Some of them may have the books but find it difficult to read them. But isn't difficulty – no matter what form it may take – something we should overcome? Some practitioners read the Fa teachings from various conferences a couple of times when they were initially published but then put them down and soon forget the content. While sharing with these practitioners, they would keep bringing up questions that had been explained in Master's previous teachings.
Due to the lack of diligent Fa study, these practitioners are most interested in certain social trends and political events. They seek shortcuts in cultivation, other practitioners' understandings, and stories from people with an open celestial eye. They cannot cultivate their speech, they keep watching ordinary people's TV programs, and they apply a very low standard in doing the exercises, slacking off on doing the morning exercises and telling other people to skip it if they feel tired. They also often skip the midnight session when sending righteous thoughts.
These practitioners have forgotten what Master told us, that “......practicing cultivation is the best form of rest......” (“Lecture at the First Conference in North America”)
Using Party Culture to Coordinate a Group
Some coordinators tried to apply methods from the Chinese communist party's culture to the local Fa study group. They would treat the local group as an environment to wield their power and asked fellow practitioners with computer skills to do things that were against Fa teachings.
Fortunately, most fellow practitioners acted according to the Fa, did not yield to human emotions and sentiments, and did not let the old forces take advantage of these loopholes. Instead, they pointed out why the things requested were against the Fa. Those coordinators who issued the requests and those practitioners who complied are now facing tribulations for what they did.
It is possible that they were not clear about which things were against the Fa and Minghui editorials. But when fellow practitioners pointed it out to them, they still used various excuses and human notions to dodge the issue rather than fixing their mistakes according to the Fa. Again, the root cause was the lack of solid Fa study.
Ignoring Phone Safety
Some elderly practitioners would not pay due attention to the security issues with using mobile phones. Instead, they accused those who reminded them of having the attachment to fear and spreading negativity. They also claimed that they had strong righteous thoughts and, even if they were caught, the evil would not be able to do anything to them due to their advanced age. As a result of this security oversight, many young practitioners in contact with these elderly practitioners were arrested.
Afterward, these practitioners still would not look within for improvement; rather, they would just bring up a wealth of problems that they claim the arrested practitioners had. Their judgment was solely based upon who was or was not arrested. Therefore, they thought that they were doing well in cultivation and that they had strong righteous thoughts since they were not arrested. It caused other practitioners to avoid contact with them.
Although they did a lot of things every day, they frequently dozed off in the middle of Fa study and the exercises. Their exercise movements were very inaccurate and their crossed legs kept falling down during the sitting meditation. In my opinion, these practitioners are already in a quagmire of tribulations.
Fa-rectification is advancing faster than ever. If we don't keep up and advance ourselves according to the Fa, we would fall behind no matter how long we have cultivated or how many Fa validation projects we have participated in. Keeping the status quo without continuous advancement is also equivalent to falling behind.
Fa study provides the critical foundation for diligent advancement. The gap in fellow practitioners' cultivation states seems to be widening. But the solid foundation from Fa study is not obtained in one day; rather, it is the result of a long process of earnest cultivation with respect for the Fa, a seriousness towards what we do, and the sense of responsibility for all sentient beings to be saved.
I often applauded internally many times while reading fellow practitioners' experience-sharing articles, as I could identify with the deep meaning and profound state of mind behind the plain text. The above-mentioned articles touched on quite a few important issues and illustrated them thoroughly. I hope we will all seize the limited time remaining, cherish our opportunity to practice Dafa and cherish our fellow practitioners.
Fellow practitioners, please point it out if anything falls short of the Fa in my understanding.
Category: Improving Oneself
