(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Dafa for 20 years. I would like to share my experience in improving my xinxing through attending a Fa-study group.
I studied the Fa at home for many years even though I know very well that studying the Fa together with other practitioners is the form of cultivation practice left by Master. Whenever my fellow practitioners asked me to attend the Fa-study group, I just smiled and declined, making an excuse that it was not a convenient time for me.
My home is an environment that allows me do what I like, and this tends to increase my laziness. Time spent at home is my own and how to use it is at my will. As to studying the Fa, I studied when I wanted to and I didn’t study when I didn’t. I could choose any time to study the Fa. While studying the Fa, if I wanted to sit down, I did so. When I felt tired, I would lie down. When thirsty, I stood up and had a glass of water. If I wanted to go use the restroom, I would do so.
I did not pay any attention to my sitting posture and showing respect to Master, such as facing Master and holding the book with both hands. My behavior was clearly observed by the old forces and they took advantage of my loophole. They caused me to appear to have a serious disease. My neck had a tumor and my legs were in such pain that I had difficulty walking.
Upon looking inside, I found many attachments, including a mentality of competitiveness, fear of losing face, self-satisfaction, looking down upon others, and treating others differently. I secretly made up my mind to remove these attachments by sending forth righteous thoughts to disintegrating the evil lives and factors that were affecting my health. A month passed but my health showed no improvement.
I was a little anxious and timid, but I eventually told a fellow practitioner with strong righteous thoughts about my condition. She said to me, “Please go and attend the Fa-study group where the energy field is strong with the presence of many practitioners. And this is also what Master requires.” The next day, I went to the Fa-study group.
There were eight or nine people in the Fa-study group. Everyone came on time regardless of the weather. They were strict with their behavior, such as sitting upright and reading the Fa very seriously. I felt extremely comfortable in that field, which was peaceful and wonderful, and the state of my mind was quite different from studying alone at home. I suddenly understood that I had not been serious in studying the Fa, which was a manifestation of my disrespect toward Master and the Fa.
Master said:
“Those of our practitioners with the Celestial Eye open can each see that this book looks very colorful, golden, and shiny. Each word bears the image of my fashen.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
How could I have treated the Fa like this? I was scared and sweating, but I immediately admitted to Master, “Master, I was wrong.”
After understanding my mistakes, I immediately exposed them in the Fa-study group, and then began to be strict with myself while studying. The Fa study location later moved to my home, which is bright and spacious.
In my family, I have volunteered to be a group leader carrying out the requirements of the Fa-study group. I have also made a suggestion that after studying the Fa, everyone should sit down and share their understandings, the Fa principles they have realized, and what they have improved on in cultivation. All practitioners are very active in sharing their experiences. This way, we have made progress in distributing truth-clarification materials, making phone calls, and clarifying the truth to people face to face.
The pain in my legs and the tumor on my neck have disappeared without my even realizing it! Dafa is so amazing. I now know that cultivation practice is so serious, and not child’s play. As a practitioner, it is my duty to believe in and respect Master and the Fa. Only by doing so can I be called a genuine practitioner.
Smart phones have entered thousands of households. I have had a smart phone for a very long time and continue to purchase the upgrades as they come out. At first, I only phoned my friends by using QQLive. I later became involved in WeChat, whose content is varied and in different forms. From then on, I always had my smart phone with me, and it took up a lot of my time every day. While my fellow practitioners were reciting the Fa, I was busy with my phone. When my fellow practitioners were reading Minghui Weekly, I had no time to read. Finally, this even affected my attending the Fa-study group. I was very troubled by all of this and wanted to quit WeChat but failed to do so. It just took me away like a ghost!
Below is a question and answer from a recent Falun Dafa Fa Conference:
“Disciple: Many young Dafa disciples in China spend a lot of time playing with their cell phones, using WeChat, and watching videos, especially videos of cute animals, which they’re really fond of. When we remind them that it’s not a good idea, they don’t listen, and so we’re really worried.
Master: As I was just saying, everything in this world is trying to entice you, to block you from gaining the Fa. And you’re not alone—most every parent in this world as well as government is aware of the problem, but everyone is powerless to do anything about it! And there’s not just the problem of blocking people from gaining the Fa: it leads people to do poorly at their jobs, to not learn well in their studies, and to waste vast amounts of time on the computer or with electronic devices. Those things are tempting you to watch and play with them. [People’s behavior is] not befitting of human beings anymore. Never in all of history have people been like this. Those things are alien technologies, and they are being used by demons to seduce people, making them give up all that they had going for them, and leading them to become obsessed with those things. You’re wasting your life with them, yet still unwilling to give them up! That isn’t befitting even an ordinary person, much less a cultivator.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
Two weeks ago, we shared our understandings in the Fa-study group about removing the WeChat software. One fellow practitioner pointed out its harmfulness as follows:
1. Consumes our time: The time extended by Master’s endurance is to save people. If we cannot achieve our vow, it will be too late to cry.
2. Weakens our will: Practitioners should do what Master said:
“Steadfastly cultivate Dafa, the will unflinchingThe raising of levels is what’s fundamental”(“True Nature Revealed,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
If a practitioner forgets his or her goal, what else do you cultivate for? Neither can he or she be considered a sacred disciple, nor will Master protect you.
3. Occupies our mind: Master said,
“This universe has this principle that no one will stop you as long as this is what you want, and neither will anyone say that you are good.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
Everybody has a brain. If your brain is filled with something given by demons, aren’t you on the way to becoming like a demon?
Master has told us the following:
“...this is something one doesn’t come across even in thousands of years. To teach the Dafa of the whole cosmos in the human world, a Fa that even gods weren’t aware of before, that’s something which has never happened in all of creation.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)
“You might not get a human body in several hundred years; perhaps you obtain it in one thousand years. Once you get a human body, you do not even know how to treasure it.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
After considering the above, I suddenly realized this truth and felt regretful. I felt ashamed to still be called a Dafa practitioner. I have now completely stopped using WeChat.
I am grateful to Master for his compassion and that he did not give up on me. I am grateful to the Fa-study group that helped me remove my attachment to WeChat.
There are many benefits of attending a Fa-study group. I would like to tell those practitioners studying the Fa at home to let go of your own stubborn ideas and quickly go and attend your local Fa-study group. What awaits you is an environment for self-improvement and fertile soil for cultivation practice!