Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
Thanks to the organizing fellow practitioners for providing us such a precious opportunity to share together. I want to share some of what I have learned recently from memorizing the Fa.
Part 1. Memorizing the Fa
On the topic of memorizing the Fa, I have tried it twice before, but only did it by superficially memorizing the words, rather than understanding the meaning of the words. So I didn’t feel anything special and felt I wasn’t enlightening much to the inner meanings of the Fa. I recall that about that time a fellow practitioner mentioned that even if someone memorizes the Fa, if his or her mind is not fully dedicated to understanding the Fa, then there was little use to memorizing, and it would be not even as good as reading the Fa. I agreed with this practitioner at the time. So when I went on to the Chinese Minghui web site and read articles that discussed experiences with memorizing the Fa, I did not feel it was something I should do. At that time my heart was not calm or tranquil.
Then, about a month ago, I happened to be listening to a recording of Master’s nine-day lecture at Guangzhou, China wherein Master mentions that many practitioners in Changchun, China, were trying to memorize the Fa at that time. Everyone took turns to recite one paragraph after another. I thought to myself: ‘Master has told us in this nine-day lecture about memorizing the Fa. Isn’t this for all practitioners to hear and do?’ So I had the thought again to memorize the Fa of Zhuan Falun, and I was determined to give it another try.
This time I told myself, ‘I don't care how fast I can go, and I don't want to rush. I will just go steady, little by little, and focus on cleaning my thoughts as I memorize the Fa, and grasping the content of each sentence, no matter which sentence it is.’ I started like this, day by day, sometimes I memorized two pages, sometimes three, sometimes just one. The feeling at this time was completely different than that of the first two times I had tried memorizing the Fa. During this process, I have clearly seen my attachments and naturally, little by little, I started to hold myself to stricter requirements in daily life. Naturally, my righteous thoughts became stronger. It dawned on me that truly memorizing the Fa means memorizing from the heart, rather than from a human mindset.
On one occasion in memorizing the Fa of Zhuan Falun, I came across the sentences:
"The more one gains, the more one infringes upon others. One will get things one does not deserve. This person will be attached to fame and profit, thus losing de."
At that moment, the image of my boss at work popped into my head. I didn’t pay much attention to it and went on memorizing. And then, all of a sudden, I found myself thinking about my boss. I thought to myself, ‘Why did my boss’s image just pop into my head? Is it because I think he gets more than he deserves at work? Isn’t this an issue of jealousy?’ I began to think about how I had recently had thoughts of fame and personal interest at work, sometimes almost subconsciously thinking of how much this or that coworker makes on the job. I tried to trace these thoughts to their root, and realized that I felt unfairness towards myself for not making as much as I thought I deserved at work, and feeling jealousy towards those who made more than me. I also noticed that these thoughts of fame and personal interest also led me to have subtle thoughts of contending with those who I was jealous of. I also realized that the old forces would try to take advantage of one wrong thought and trap us in ways we may not easily be able to notice. It’s hard to explain exactly how all these thoughts and realizations surfaced in my mind and linked to one another, but I felt at that time that a big and long-standing burden had been lifted from my shoulders. Afterwards I felt completely at ease.
During this recent process of memorizing the Fa, I have come to see my fundamental attachments much more clearly. For instance, when I first obtained the Fa, I was so happy at the chance of jumping out of the cycle of reincarnation and going to a beautiful heavenly paradise. Through studying the Fa, I realized that this was an attachment to pursuing a comfortable future and lasting happiness rather than becoming a true cultivator. On one recent occasion, a practitioner shared her worries with me. Even though she has done much to spread Dafa and counteract the persecution, through our conversation I gradually realized that her worrying came from a pursuit to lead a happy life full of worldly interests.
Suddenly I sensed that divine beings were watching us from the Heavens. A thought popped into my head that when they see us acting like this, they would ask: ‘Are these genuine practitioners?’ It made me think that each one of us has got to look for our fundamental attachments and then get rid of them.
When I found my fundamental attachment to pursuing a comfortable and happy life and future, and when I began working to let it go, I deeply sensed the meaning of cultivating in the human world and assimilating to the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Before, I would envy or yearn to have what others had, whether it be a big house, better living conditions or traveling. But now, although I dare not say that I don't have any of that left, indeed, I have much less of that attachment.
Part 2. Coordinating and Cooperating
In closing I would like to share a bit about coordination and cooperation among practitioners. In Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005, there was this question:
"Disciple asks: I'd like to ask how the media run by us students in the western United States should validate the Fa and play a larger role?
Teacher: This question is too general. Dafa disciples: do well with what you should do. Each student involved has the ability to proactively do well with what he or she should do; meanwhile, it is vital to have good coordination and cooperation so as to produce a larger effect and have greater results. The [media you run] will have succeeded when they are able to truly play a pivotal role in saving sentient beings."
In fact Master has mentioned on many occasions that the whole body of practitioners should improve in coordinating and cooperating. I used to think very little about this issue of how we should work together well, until I read many of the experience sharing articles on the Chinese Minghui Web site from the Second Internet Experience Sharing Conference for Falun Gong Practitioners in China. These articles had a huge impact on me. Some of them are really so good. I felt that reading them changed something inside of me and enabled me to take a huge step forward in my cultivation. The most impressive part of the cultivation state of those practitioners was how their thinking focused on the whole, on the big picture in Fa Rectification, on the whole body of practitioners and on the truth-clarification projects as a whole. When I looked at myself, I found that my heart had not been focusing on the whole body, but rather on just doing my part well and not caring for others. Whenever practitioners asked me to help with this or that project, my first thought had been, "No, I’m too busy and cannot help."
After I realized this problem, I started to participate more in the preparations for the Gala and the media in general. Many practitioners are involved in these two projects, as they are really huge endeavors. Many conflicts come up and it’s very apparent that the coordination and cooperation should improve. I have not done so well in this aspect but I won’t talk about it now for the sake of time. But I would like to give a suggestion: I hope that all practitioners who coordinate—which in fact is very many practitioners—please try to truly study and memorize the Fa. Only if we improve based on the Fa can we understand what it is we are really doing and how we can do it well.
Although I have made some progress since starting to memorize the Fa, I clearly see my limitations. Sometimes the progress has been great, sometimes small, and sometimes it stalls. I have yet to reach a state of striving forward diligently in cultivation. In the process of writing this experience-sharing article, news of the illegal removal and sale of living practitioners’ organs in China was exposed. It is surely an old force arrangement and we have been so far unable to negate it as one body. I believe this has to do with us having not done the three things well enough yet, and with us having too strong of a human mindset filled with indifference and helplessness. On this point, one practitioner shared that: "Master has told us countless times that we should study the Fa well, study the Fa well, study the Fa well. But each time we seem to pay less and less and less attention." I think that now it is very critical that each one of our practitioners, and we as a whole body, wake up, look at ourselves and check whether we are in a state of indifference and despondency. And if so, we should quickly jump out of it, and truly act in accordance with the Fa’s standards, because, as Master has said, "The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be."
Thank you very much.
