(Minghui.org) I am a Falun Dafa practitioner in my 70s. Many practitioners in my area have begun memorizing the Fa. I also wanted to memorize the Fa, but given my age, I was somewhat doubtful.
My sister also practices Falun Dafa. She suggested that I hand copy the Fa instead, and even brought me some paper. I found that it was easier said than done.
While growing up, students were required by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to do labor work, so I only went to school a few months every year. I was only able to recognize a few Chinese characters, making it very difficult to copy Zhuan Falun.
I thought about it and realized that I should not worry, as that was an everyday person's mentality. I am a practitioner of Falun Dafa, and I should be able to do it.
The first time I hand copied Zhuan Falun my handwriting was poor, and I felt I had not represented the Fa well. I decided to try again. My handwriting improved vastly – it was amazing. I showed it to other practitioners and received many compliments.
Without being aware of it, the attachments of zealotry and show-off mentality arose in me. I knew it was because of the Fa that my work improved, but I could not control myself and continued to show-off my handwriting to others. I had a strong urge to hear more praise.
I then realized that this behavior was because of the attachments of zealotry and showing off. I immediately sent forth righteous thoughts and asked Master to help me eliminate these attachments. Shortly after, I could sense that I had eliminated the attachments.
From this experience, I learned that a Dafa practitioner can accomplish anything, no matter how difficult it is, as long as it complies with the Fa and the practitioner has the confidence to do it. Teacher will help when he sees the pure heart of diligence and devotion.
Teacher said,
“Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master.” (Zhuan Falun)
With this understanding, I began to memorize Zhuan Falun. During the process, I removed many attachments.
One day after breakfast, I picked up Zhuan Falun to memorize the Fa. I was sitting on the sofa and began to feel achy, dizzy, and weak, so I laid down.
Something was wrong with me. I remembered a sharing from the Minghui Weekly, which several practitioners and I had studied a few days prior. A practitioner described symptoms of a fear attachment, such as throbbing legs and heart palpitations.
I realized that the attachment of laziness was preventing me from memorizing the Fa. I sat up immediately and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the laziness attachment. It was gone after ten minutes. I felt that my energy had returned, and my mind became clear again.
One time when I was about to memorize the Fa, I felt so sleepy that I could not keep my eyes open. I recalled that Teacher said,
“Don’t you get sleepy? Don’t you feel sleepy as soon as you read the book, or become drowsy once you study the Fa? Let me tell you that those are gods at a level in this human dimension. If you can’t break through them, you remain a human. They aren’t intentionally doing anything to you—they treat everyone like that. That’s why people feel tired and sleepy. If you want to break away from being a human, you have to break through everything before you can make it. If you go along with them they’ll think you are just a human.” (Teaching the Fa at the Assistants’ Fa Conference in Changchun)
I decided to address the demon of sleepiness. “You are a Higher Being who is responsible for ordinary people. However, I am a Dafa practitioner who studies the Universal Law. You made me sleepy so I could not study, nor could I memorize the Fa. It is a crime to interfere with my studying. Can you accept such responsibility? You must leave.”
As soon as I finished my words, I no longer felt sleepy, and I have never felt sleepy again when studying the Fa.
I realized that any kind of interference is a result of attachments. Every attachment has its own symptoms. When we see or feel incorrect behavior, we should look within to identify the attachment, after which we must send righteous thoughts to eliminate it.