May 30, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net) Teacher almost always emphasized in his lectures the importance of studying the Fa, but how often have we actually put Fa-study into action? As for myself, 18 hours from six in the morning to twelve o'clock midnight, excluding eleven hours for work and commuting, there are still seven hours left. If I further extract the time for doing the exercises, sending forth righteous thoughts, doing Fa-rectification work and other daily chores, there are still several hours remaining in each day to study the Fa. If I use my time well, reading three lectures in Zhuan Falun everyday should be no problem at all, but often I have been interfered with by fatigue, sleepiness and other factors that cause me to not do as well in studying the Fa.
Teacher said,
"In this universe all things, and this includes even all the matter that permeates the whole universe, they're all living entities, they all have thinking, and they're all forms that the Law of the universe exists in at different levels."
(Zhuan Falun)
My understanding is that studying the Fa in itself is actually rectifying the Fa. We are rectifying our own deviated notions and all the visible and invisible beings in our dimension, allowing them to assimilate to the Fa in our "Illuminating Buddha light." Thus studying the Fa in the Fa-rectification period is not for the sake of studying the Fa. It has been given the connotation of Fa-rectification. Often times, it's not because we have no time to study the Fa but we cannot do it with a calm mind due to not realizing the connotation of studying the Fa in the Fa-rectification. After enlightening to this, I noticed there is less and less interference while studying the Fa and, subsequently, my mind became much clearer. I do not even feel I need a break during hours of studying the Fa. It is the feeling of completely dissolving in the Fa.
I have become more steadfast in the Fa from constantly eliminating interferences and studying the Fa with the mind-set of assimilating to the Fa. In "Lecturing on and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference," when a practitioner asked Teacher, "How can we cultivate and form this type of incomparable steadfastness in the Fa?" Teacher said,
"But the righteous faith of Dafa disciples is a Godly state. It results from having rational understanding of the truth, and it's a Godly state from the side that's been successfully cultivated. It's absolutely not the result of some external element at work. It's not about having steadfast faith for the sake of having steadfast faith. It's impossible to have steadfast faith for the sake of having steadfast faith."
[...]
"...students have all risen to this level through understanding the Fa's principles. And only then can they become more diligent, only then can they be so steadfast in Dafa. That's not due to any external element, and it's not something that can be achieved by coming up with some idea."
Teacher clearly said that it is due to the Godly state that we become more steadfast and not by any external elements. It occurred to me that oftentimes practitioners use human notions to encourage one another. For example, "Fa-rectification has reached this stage, we must study the Fa diligently." "Teacher emphasized many times that we must keep up." "Practitioners in labor camps can still create environment to study the Fa and do the exercises under such harsh conditions so we must not slack off," etc. These are all human ways of encouraging each other and the results obtained are just perceptual ways of understanding the Fa. However we can only improve by truly understanding how sacred and magnificent the Fa is and unconditionally assimilate to it.
"He won't change himself unless his heart has truly moved. Then, this kind of change will never be shattered by any force."
(Lecture at the Fa-Conference in Canada, 1999, un-official translation)
"...the determination that Dafa disciples have developed from their true understanding of the Fa through cultivation and from their Buddha-nature after the elevation of their benti in actual cultivation."
("Coercion Cannot Change People's Hears" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Amidst Fa-rectification, everything we do has the connotation of rectifying the Fa. Hence we must realize this implicit meaning in our studying the Fa and sharing experiences amongst practitioners and treat everything we encounter as rectifying the Fa. We should not study the Fa for the sake of studying the Fa or share experiences just for the sake of sharing experiences. We should be doing it to rectify the Fa and to correct all unrighteousness.
I have seen many veteran practitioners' notions being gravely interfered by the old forces though they appear to study the Fa diligently and do a lot of Fa-rectification work. Sometimes their thinking is completely in line with those of the old forces that damage the Fa.
"As a matter of fact, this results from an inadequate understanding of the Fa by your human side. You have humanly restrained your divine side; in other words, you have restrained the parts that have been successfully cultivated and have prevented them from doing Fa-rectification."
[...]
"I have told you the solemnity and sacredness of the Fa in order to eliminate your confusion about and misunderstanding of the Fa."
("Expounding on the Fa" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
If we eliminate all the confusions about and misunderstandings of the Fa and let our divine side direct our human side according to the Fa principles, then we would certainly be able to walk firmly on the path of Fa-rectification.
In the end, let us use Teacher's words from the article, "Cautionary Advice," to encourage ourselves.
"If every one of you can understand the Fa from the depths of your mind, that will truly be the manifestation of the Fa whose power knows no boundary--the reappearance of the mighty Buddha Fa in the human world!"