(Clearwisdom.net) I read a recent article in "Minghui (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom) Weekly," "On Reading Zhuan Falun Word by Word." I was shocked when looking at how I studied the Fa. Like other practitioners I felt that I upgraded my level very slowly. I did not feel that I made progress when reading Zhuan Falun straight through, and that I failed to discover high level Fa principles. I'd like to share about my attitude when reading the Fa.
1) Not Understanding the True Purpose of Fa Study
Looking back at my Fa study of the past years, I simply did what Teacher asked when reading Zhuan Falun and other Dafa books. I read both aloud and silently. I thought, the more times I read, the faster my level would be upgraded. As a result, I failed to reach the state where my mouth, eyes and mind all concentrated on the Fa I was reading. In my reading I often added or left out words. Sometimes when my mouth was reading the sentence, my eyes were already on the next sentence. I really did not know where my mind was at the time. Looking inside it seemed that I not only failed to let go of the mentality of pursuit but also failed to understand the true purpose of studying the Fa. In sharing with fellow practitioners I always said that I was lagging behind here and there, but as a matter of fact I was lagging behind in my Fa study. However, I still refused to come to my senses.
2) I Failed to Recognize that Going Off into Flights of Fancy When Studying the Fa as Interference and did not Eliminate It with Righteous Thoughts
Through Fa Study I realized that one of the purposes of our Fa study is to eliminate all the bad influences we are exposed to in everyday society. But would these negative influences easily allow us to eliminate them and fill our minds with the Fa? Definitely not! They interfere with us when we study the Fa. They let us read the Fa, while not truly letting us see it. Even when they let us see, they stop us from concentrating. They don't want to allow us to study the Fa, and thereby don't want us to improve our levels. It's like what Teacher said in "Melt into the Fa",
"As a student, if his mind is filled with nothing but Dafa, this person is definitely a genuine cultivator. So you must have a clear understanding on the matter of studying the Fa. Reading the books more and studying the books more is the key to truly elevating yourself." ("Melt Into the Fa" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
3) If We Do Not Study the Fa Diligently, We Do Not Study the Fa Well - We Disrespect Teacher and the Fa
Teacher has eliminated most of the karma accumulated over generation after generation for each practitioner. He takes compassionate care of practitioners so we can pass one test after the other. However, when we do not study the Fa diligently, thought karma interferes, so that we leave out or add words. Sometimes we fall asleep and only wake up when the book drops to the floor. Isn't this disrespecting Teacher and the Fa?
I hope practitioners who have the same problems can draw lessons from this sharing. Because of the limitation of my level please kindly help me understand any shortcomings I may have.