(Clearwisdom.net) During the several years of Fa rectification, under Master’s guidance, we have become mature, rational, and determined from our initially being immature and irrational. Amidst our validating the Fa and saving sentient beings, we have accumulated a lot of good experiences. After we experienced many grave losses, we have also learned a lot of painful lessons. The fundamental causes of these painful lessons were rooted in our lack of Fa study.
Around us, there are many fellow practitioners (coordinators) who have shouldered many Fa-validation projects, and they even do very rudimentary Dafa work. For a very long time, they have been busy doing these tasks and have neglected their Fa study. We should first affirm that we respect these practitioners for the huge sacrifices they have made while validating the Fa. However, fellow practitioners: If we cannot correctly understand the relationship between studying the Fa and doing Dafa work, and if we cannot recognize the importance of Fa study from the perspective of the Fa, we will not be able to do the Fa-validation work well, and we may also easily cause damage to Dafa. In the recent article of "To the Australia Fa Conference" (November 18, 2006), Master has again emphasized the importance of Fa study, saying, "There have been so many lessons involving this." Therefore, I feel that it is necessary to talk with fellow practitioners in this regard, which can serve as a reminder. Please point out any of my understandings that are improper.
A. Looking at the importance of Fa-study from one of my personal experiences
Four years ago, I left my home in order to avoid further persecution. I came to a Dafa material preparation site in region A. Before that time, I had stayed at home and I thought that the coordinator of the Dafa material preparation site must be someone who had studied the Fa very well and cultivated him or herself solidly. Through interacting with the coordinators in region A, I increasingly realized that something was wrong with their cultivation states. They were busy doing things all day long and they could rarely calm themselves down and study the Fa. In the evenings, they were already very tired and sleepy, and they would fall asleep not long after they started to study the Fa. They were always in this state. I felt very worried then, wondering how they could do Fa-validation work well without studying the Fa better. I then shared my thoughts with them, and all of them used the excuse of being busy doing Fa-validation work. They thought that if they just wanted to study the Fa that would be too selfish. I did not understand this issue very well. I talked about it with other coordinators and they all used the same excuse. Later in region A, several practitioners (coordinators) were abducted during a short period of time. Some of them were persecuted severely, and some were sent to labor camps. Therefore within a short time, we had to move the material preparation site several times.
During my stay at the material preparation site, I had not done much in validating the Fa, but I had become very skilled in moving homes. We, like terrified birds, were in panic and terror. I realized that our cultivation states were indeed not right, and we needed to make rapid adjustments. I thought about the issue from the perspective of the Fa. I understood that the fundamental cause that led to the arrest of the practitioners and the instability of the material preparation site in region A was because we did not put Fa-study as our priority. Later I came into contact with a practitioner from region B and found that region B was distinctly different from region A. The practitioners in that region always took the time to study the Fa and they studied the Fa well. It did not matter whether they were coordinators of the material preparation sites or practitioners who stayed in their homes. Especially when the coordinators in region B meet other fellow practitioners, they act differently than ordinary people doing things when making business arrangements and dealing with details of specific Fa-validation work. Instead, the first thing they do is to remind everyone to pay attention to studying the Fa and they exchange their understandings of the Fa.
By comparing these two regions, we can easily see the importance of Fa-study. Just as Master said in "To the Australia Fa Conference,"
"The regions that have done well saving sentient beings and validating Dafa, and where great changes have transpired, are always places where people have studied the Fa well."
Later we intentionally organized the coordinators in the two regions to meet and exchange understandings, hoping that the coordinators in region A could learn from their painful lessons and adjust their states quickly. However, the coordinators in region A seemed to have a deep-rooted notion of not paying attention to Fa-study, and they found a lot of excuses when they were pleading for themselves. I cannot remember how many meetings we have had to discuss and raise this issue of Fa study. The arguments about this issue lasted about half a year. Then the coordinators in region A finally realized the importance of Fa study. Now they study the Fa during the morning, and when they do not have urgent things to discuss, they use the afternoon or evening to talk about specific issues related to Dafa projects. Therefore, the entire region A is now in this state, and the Fa-validation as a whole has again returned to a harmonious, peaceful, and stable environment.
It is worth mentioning that during the half-year-long exchange of understandings, a coordinator in region B showed great patience, and he really treated the issues of fellow practitioners as if they were his own. No matter whether practitioners stubbornly stuck to their views, refused to accept the views of others, or developed some impatient, negative emotions, he always treated fellow practitioners with a calm and compassionate heart. He patiently discussed every issue with fellow practitioners. His broad and compassionate heart of being responsible to the Fa and fellow practitioners was really moving. Exactly because of the efforts of this practitioner, the material preparation sites in region A went back to normal. I was also able to let go of my notion, which was being afraid of going through the trouble of sharing my understandings with fellow practitioners by writing them down. When we see that fellow practitioners have problems, and because we want to save face, or we are being lazy and don't speak about them or write them down, this is a selfish mindset that is extremely irresponsible. If our fellow practitioners or the Fa-validation projects are hurt or damaged as a result, we could not recover the losses even if we would regret it forever.
B. Studying the Fa, cultivating one’s mind, and validating the Fa are also cultivation
I came to understand that all the elements for our cultivation are behind the truth clarification materials we have made. If we have studied the Fa well and have pure minds, the truth-clarification materials that we have prepared will carry the profound meanings of the Fa and can play the role of validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. Otherwise, if we do not study the Fa when we do Dafa work, as Master has mentioned, it will be the same as if it were ordinary people doing Dafa work. How could the work of ordinary people have the power of Dafa? Therefore, some of our truth-clarification materials did not achieve the desired good effect of saving sentient beings. They were often discarded before being read. This has something to do with our Fa study. We are cultivating ourselves during the process of truth-clarification.
If a coordinator has not studied the Fa well, he or she will carry many notions of ordinary people when doing things. Here are several examples, which I am using to expose these kinds of ordinary people’s notions, so we can learn from these lessons.
1. The mentality of just doing things for the sake of doing things. One does Dafa work in the same way as he or she does the work in ordinary society. One pursues glorious achievements, and seeks a sense of accomplishment.
2. Wanting to do everything. One is reluctant to give other practitioners the "rights" of doing Dafa work (even when a safety concern is not at issue). As a result, a coordinator becomes increasingly busier, and the evil has taken advantage of this loophole. There is a saying in ordinary society that "giving a person a fish is not as good as teaching the person how to fish." While we help fellow practitioners to establish the material preparation sites, we should teach them the techniques of how to independently operate the equipment. The coordinators should not just finish everything for other practitioners; in this way, the coordinators will not become too busy and they will have time to be involved in new Dafa projects.
3. Seeking fame. Some coordinators pay attention to the feeling of being a "leader" among Dafa practitioners (probably some practitioners are leaders in ordinary society, and their attachment in this regard may be stronger than other practitioners). When others point out his attachment, the coordinator covers it up with the excuse that it is his or her own prenatal nature. Fellow practitioners: That is not the prenatal nature, it is a deeply-rooted human notion, and it is something that has to be eliminated! Without letting go of the attachment to fame, one will become arrogant, the attachment to ego will be enlarged, and one will even go astray in his or her mind.
4. Getting attached to showing off one’s special talents. There are many ordinary people’s notions but I do not want to give any more examples here. Only by persevering in Fa study can one eliminate these post-natal notions. I came to understand what Master talked about when he mentioned that persevering in studying the Fa and having good Fa-study are two different concepts. Persevering in studying the Fa does not mean that one has good Fa-study. However, the first thing one must be able to do each day is study the Fa. Fa-study should not be just a formality. Sometimes, when we read the Fa, our thoughts run wild; our eyes are reading, but our minds are not on the Fa. In this case, our reading is useless. Master has emphasized again the importance of Fa-study in "To the Australia Fa Conference."
Looking at my situation before I was illegally arrested, I realize that I did have a serious problem in studying the Fa. Although I studied the Fa every day and also spent a lot of time studying, the quality of my Fa-study was not good. That state lasted for two or three months and later I was arrested. After they sent me to a forced labor camp, I talked with fellow practitioners regarding this issue. Most of the arrested practitioners also had serious problems studying the Fa. For a long time, they either could not persevere in their study, or they could not really be absorbed into the Fa.
C. Regions where practitioners study the Fa well experience good Fa rectification situations
I know a region where the Dafa coordinators have studied the Fa very well and they have cultivated themselves solidly. This influenced other practitioners there to also cultivate themselves solidly, and with the cooperation of all Dafa practitioners, the Fa rectification situation in that region is very good. When a coordinator makes a suggestion, all the practitioners cooperate actively. Once they went to the local Secretary of the Political and Judicial Committee, who had persecuted four Falun Gong practitioners, and two of them were illegally sentenced. A practitioner who has very strong righteous thoughts went to find him and clarified the truth to him, while the other practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts. At the beginning, this person appeared very frenzied, claiming that he would send the practitioner to the police department. Through the continuous truth clarification of this practitioner, the secretary finally withdrew from the Chinese Communist Party. He also asked the practitioner if he would lend him Dafa books to read. The local 610 Office members have adopted an attitude of passively treating or dodging the truth clarification of practitioners. Furthermore, when evil persons reported Dafa practitioners to them, they scolded these people and told them not to interfere with others' business and mind their own.
Based on my knowledge, four or five practitioners in this region usually study the Fa together as a group. Every day they read at least one lecture of Zhuan Falun. When they return home, they also study the Fa by themselves. An elderly practitioner who reads three lectures of Zhuan Falun every day has done very well in truth clarification. In one month, this practitioner handed out several hundred copies of the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" to people. In this region, some practitioners are able to recite the whole book of Zhuan Falun. Other practitioners are also in the process of memorizing and reciting Zhuan Falun. Some elderly practitioners recite every article of Master as it is published. Therefore, we can see that this region’s good Fa rectification situation is closely related to their Fa study.
Fellow practitioners: Master has again stressed the importance of Fa study in, "To the Australia Fa Conference." We really should not take Fa study as child’s play and we should not treat Fa study lightly. In this regard, we have experienced too many painful lessons, too many irremediable losses, and too many regrets. Some of these lessons even cost the lives of practitioners. Dafa is the foundation and the guarantee for everything. We have all come for Dafa. Fellow practitioners: Let’s closely follow Master’s teaching, spend more time studying the Fa, and study it well. Only then can we avoid stumbling on our path of Fa rectification, and be sure-footed and walk steady steps.
