A Fellow Practitioner Dozed Off During Fa Study

(Minghui.org) For years I heard about veteran practitioner Jie, and was told that he was often sleepy during Fa study. Since I seldom saw him I did not pay much attention. I met him during a small group Fa study in August 2021.

I was shocked by Jie’s condition. His main spirit did not seem to be in control. His speech was slurred and hard to understand. He often lost his place when we read the Fa. While others read, he dozed off. He even dropped Zhuan Falun a few times. I was told he could not read the Fa alone at home. He needed another person to read with him. I felt he was badly affected by interference from other dimensions.

All of our local practitioners were concerned about him. I decided to help him. During a private conversation he told me that he spent five months doing home improvement in his hometown, and he did not do any of the three things that Master told us to do. Instead, he read novels on his cell phone and looked on WeChat. It was clear to me that the old forces wanted to destroy him by using these temptations.

Our group of practitioners did not give up on Jie. We spent countless hours talking with him, hoping that he could discover the root cause of his troubles. We told him that his current situation could bring serious consequences. We also sent righteous thoughts to clear out the interference. With everyone’s effort, especially Jie’s, he became much more clearheaded.

But we still fell short of turning Jie’s situation around. For many years he only read the teachings with another elderly practitioner. They did not discuss their understanding of the Fa, and did not look inward when they encountered tribulations. His improvement was slow, and the quality of Fa study was not stable.

Another elderly practitioner in our study group was upset by Jie’s slow changes, and he even scolded him when Jie looked at his cell phone. I reminded fellow practitioners in our study group to look inward for our own problems. We should not focus on Jie’s cultivation. If we become impatient and angry with him, we are not behaving like cultivators. I also reminded myself not to become too attached to his situation.

After everyone began to look for their own attachments, Jie was touched. He expressed his regret and thanked Master for sending him to this group. Afterwards he felt guilty whenever he had the urge to play with his cell phone. He did not want to disappoint fellow practitioners. He gradually set his cell phone aside. He recently stopped reading novels and WeChat postings. He still shops online. His Fa study has improved, and he is less sleepy during Fa study.

Two days ago during the evening Fa study, Jie began to doze off again. I stared at him for a moment. But I suddenly recalled what Master said about looking inward. My stern looks at Jie exposed my attachments. I was impatient, and looked down on him.

When he misread the Fa, another practitioner immediately pointed out his mistake with a condescending attitude. I thought, everyone was trying to help Jie to strengthen his main spirit, but how could I be so sure that my own main spirit was in control when I read the Fa, even though I did not doze off like Jie? Wait a minute, I could not remember the last paragraph we just read. Maybe the other practitioners also had similar issues. No wonder Jie’s situation was unstable. His condition reflected our overall cultivation as a group. Isn’t his behavior a reflection of ourselves?

I suddenly became alert. I should not always look at others. I need to change my mindset and use my own righteous thought to help Jie. I asked Master to reach out to Jie’s true self, help him take charge of himself, and eliminate the interference behind him. In just one minute I noticed a big difference in Jie. He became very energetic, and his reading was smooth. He stopped dozing off during Fa study.

I felt strongly about Jie’s change after I began looking inside without saying anything. Behind this simple phenomenon, I learned Dafa’s principle at a deeper level that I did not know before.