(Minghui.org) This year I am 77 years old. Having had no formal education, I was illiterate all my life, that is, until I practiced Falun Dafa. Fortunately, practicing Dafa enabled me to read.
One day, I saw an interesting article in the Minghui Weekly about a practitioner who’d copied the Fa by hand. The author said that doing this uplifts one’s cultivation realm, rapidly improves one’s character (xinxing), and helps one assimilate to the Fa. I thought a lot about that and was a bit envious. For someone like me, who had never touched a pen, hand-copying the Fa could only be a dream.
One day, I saw a disabled person with no hands writing with his feet. I was so surprised! I thought to myself, “He can write with his feet. I am a Dafa disciple with two hands, and I dream of assimilating to the Fa. Why haven’t I made up my mind to learn to write and then copy the Fa?” I was upset.
I begged Master Li in my heart, “I want to copy the Fa! I have obtained such a good Fa after reincarnating for countless lives. I can’t sleep if I don’t copy the Fa and assimilate to it! I can’t write, but I will start copying the Fa tomorrow.” This thought was strong and firm and I told myself, “I give everything I own to Master. I just want to assimilate to Dafa and go home with him! May Master bless me and help me.”
I told my family, “I’m going to copy the Fa.” They all laughed at me: “You can't even write characters, and you want to hand-copy the Fa?” They thought I was joking, but I really did start to copy the Fa the next day.
I copied On Dafa from right to left. I wondered how to write the character “Lun.” I stared at it for a long time, then picked up the pen and started. The pen wouldn’t listen to me, and the character came out crooked. I was not discouraged and continued to write. After several lines, I saw that my characters were twisted: some were high, some low, some big, some small, some fat, and some too thin. Some parts were floating around. I laughed. This was not writing—it was drawing.
I showed what I’d written to my husband. He laughed and said, “You are so stupid. How can you copy from right to left?” After a second, he remembered that I was illiterate, so he explained patiently, “You should write from left to right.”
Looking at the misshapen characters, he continued, “Pay attention to writing the parts that comprise the character: the horizontal and vertical lines as well as the hooks and dots. We write from top to bottom, going from left to right, first the outside and then the inside.” He wrote some characters to show me. I remembered and thought to myself, “Writing correctly really is not easy!”
Master said: “Every word in my book bears my image and Falun ...” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
I wanted to copy the Fa respectfully and write every character properly. I continued to write and formed every stroke carefully. My writing started to improve, and the characters looked like true characters. I seemed to be a little smart.
I copied most of the page and showed it to my husband. He looked up at me and said, “You’re good. It's getting there!” He then taught me how to write several more characters, and I, again, learned new techniques on how to write.
Every time I showed him the Fa I’d copied, I learn more aspects of writing. When I encountered a character that I couldn’t write well, no matter how hard I tried, I asked Master to teach me. Then they looked better after I wrote for a while. I said, “Master, thank you!”
I became more and more enthusiastic about copying the Fa. Sometimes I forgot the time, forgot to eat, or forgot to go to sleep. I was even copying the Fa in my dreams. One day my husband opened the door and saw that I was copying the Fa in complete stillness. He asked, “Aren’t you hot?” I said I wasn’t. In fact, it was 99 degrees.
Now I am about to copy the fourth lecture in Zhuan Falun. A fellow practitioner compared the characters I’d written at the beginning with the ones I wrote recently and was surprised and complemented me, “You are improving fast. Even children in the fourth or fifth grade can’t write that well!”
I smiled and said in my heart, “Of course, I am copying the Fa, with wisdom bestowed by Master and strengthened by Dafa. How could I not make rapid progress?”
From the heart, I copied the Fa and I assimilated into the Fa. Thus, the Fa principles in the book were revealed to me and guided me to improve.
Some characters were difficult to write, so I practiced them a few times on another piece of paper until they looked decent and then I wrote them in the notebook where I was copying the Fa. For the characters “Buddha” and “Tao,” “Tao” was easy to write, but the character for “Buddha” was not, even though I had written it no less than 50 times.
I stopped and thought, “’Tao’ is easy to write, which may indicate that I am on the right path of practicing Dafa. But why is the character for ‘Buddha’ so difficult? Yes, I cultivate Dafa to attain Buddhahood. So isn’t it giving me a hint that I haven’t cultivated well when I can’t write the character well?”
I was taken aback. “I can’t write this character properly even though I’ve already written it 50 times. Isn’t that also enlightening me that cultivation is a long process and that I have to cultivate in all aspects to achieve consummation? I still have many attachments I have not removed. My failing to properly write the character ‘Buddha’ must be a hint for me to cultivate diligently and improve in areas that have not been good.”
When I wrote the character “guo” (which means “mistaken”), my eyes stopped at the side part “cun” (which means “inch”). I was startled and thought, “You have to keep a proper sense about everything you do, and you can’t go extremes.”
I’m a Dafa disciple, and I need to be more compassionate when I do things. For example, when fellow practitioners or family members have shortcomings, I can’t force them or hurt them when I mention it. I’ve done that too much. “Cun” reminded me to cultivate myself in this area.
Dafa disciples are cultivating among ordinary people and may encounter many things. Master tells us to think of others first in whatever we do, to be selfless, and to show that we are good people at all times. I have a deeper understanding of what Master requires for us to be good people. By copying the Fa, studying the Fa, and assimilating into the Fa, I realize that every word in the book is leading me to advance in cultivation.
Falun Dafa is a practice that cultivates both mind and body. Because copying the Fa allows me to become one with the Fa, my body also changed accordingly. On the third day, after I’d copied On Dafa twice, my arms hurt so much that I couldn’t lift them. It felt like my bones were about to break. While enduring the pain, I thought, “It is a good thing. I will just ignore it.” I continued to copy the Fa no matter how much it hurt.
Another day, everything seemed to feel wrong. My back began to ache, then my internal organs, and then I couldn’t eat. I copied the Fa anyway.
Master said: “Because in the course of In-Triple-World-Fa cultivation practice one’s body will be constantly purified …” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I understood that Master was purifying my body. I have been cultivating for more than 20 years. I can’t remember how many times my body has been purified, but none of it was as fast or as fierce as this time. I knew it was a great thing, but it was really unbearable! When I couldn’t take it, I asked Master to strengthen me to send righteous thoughts. If I could meditate, then I meditated.
I endured the pain for three days and still copied the Fa. After that, I was able to eat a little millet porridge. Although I continued to have pain, I could bear it. That went on for more than two weeks, and then the pain was gone. Now I am relaxed. I don’t know how much pain Master endured for me this time to help me overcome it. I really can’t express my gratitude to Master.
Master said:
“As for what people here seek to gain, we seek none of it, and that's why you are, for one, cultivating yourself, and secondly, doing things for sentient beings.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Meeting on Writing Music,” Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Writing Music and Creating Fine Art)
My copying the Fa and melding into the Fa to have my body purified is all about cultivating myself. As a Dafa disciple, I can’t forget about saving sentient beings.
Master said:
“Clarifying the facts and saving sentient beings are what you need to accomplish. There is nothing else for you to accomplish. There is nothing else in this world that you need to accomplish.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)
I often read the above two Fa quotes to inspire me to do the three things well and to practice diligently. I realized Master’s painstaking efforts: He taught this Fa to be responsible for the final consummation of his disciples!
Since I started copying the Fa, the way I study the Fa has also changed. But I am still doing what I should do, including the three things. The difference is that, because I am more deeply assimilated to the Fa, I feel that Master is by my side to strengthen me and grant me wisdom when I validate the Fa and clarify the truth.
When I hand out truth-clarification materials, it is like entering no man’s land: the whole dimension is clean and quiet. When I talk to people about quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), it is easy and natural, as if I am talking to acquaintances, and most of them agree to quit the CCP, Youth League, or Young Pioneers.
I want to hurry up and do more to validate the Fa and save people. I hope Master now worries about me less.