(Minghui.org) In the past few months, quite a few local practitioners have fallen ill. Most of them have been hospitalized and three elderly practitioners have passed away. Some practitioners who have been suffering from “sickness karma” for a long time have shown an improper state of mind. I believe that a common problem they have is not understanding what it means to revere Master and the Fa, which is a very serious issue.
Recently, I was looking through the Dafa books of three practitioners who had passed away and I found many pieces of paper, amulets, and thread in between the pages. Some of the slips of paper had their own words written on them. I found more than ten small slips of paper in one book, and cleared out a lot of stuff from another set of books. One practitioner had glued pages of Master’s articles to the backs of some books, and the covers of other books were very dirty. This really shocked me.
Over the years, I have sorted through many Dafa books used by practitioners, and noticed that the books of deceased practitioners were all in a similar state, with all sorts of things between the pages, including pieces of dirty cards, advertisements, stickers, and so on.
Minghui.org has published many articles about respecting Master and the Fa. In the past two years, I downloaded several such articles, printed dozens of copies and distributed them to local practitioners. However, most of them thought these articles had nothing to do with them. They continued to show disrespect for Dafa books, treating them carelessly, just like ordinary books.
In traditional Chinese culture, even everyday people respect their teachers, much less spiritual cultivators! Over the last 20 or 30 years, practitioners have been studying Dafa books every day, but many still haven’t yet realized the preciousness of these books.
People in China have long been indoctrinated with atheism by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and many are used to living in the poverty and filth inflicted on them. But we are Dafa practitioners and should know better!
Master said,
“Those of our cultivators with the celestial eye open can each see that this book looks very colorful, golden, and shiny. Each word bears the image of my fashen. If I were to tell lies, I would be deceiving everyone. That mark you made looks very dark. How do you dare to make marks in it so casually? What are we doing here? Aren’t we guiding you to cultivate toward high levels? There are some things you should also think about. This book can guide your cultivation. Don’t you think it’s precious? Can you truly cultivate by worshipping the Buddha? You are very devout and dare not even lightly touch that Buddha statue for which you burn incense daily, yet you dare to ruin the Dafa that can truly guide your cultivation.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
“Don’t make marks on what I wrote or said. And that’s especially so for Zhuan Falun. Many of you whose Third Eye are open have looked at it and said that it beams with golden light, and that every character is a Law Body of mine.” (“Teaching the Fa and Answering Questions in Guangzhou,” Explaining the Teachings of Zhuan Falun)
“Think about it, everyone: I’ve repeatedly emphasized that you should cherish the book. If you don’t know how precious it is you won’t pay much attention to it, and of course you won’t be considered wrong. But if you already know how much inner meaning it has and still don’t respect it or take it seriously, then I would say it’s a different matter and you shouldn’t be like that. Of course, on the other hand, when you’re aware of how much inner meaning it has, you will know for yourself to cherish it.” (Teachings at the Conference in Europe)
“Since this Fa is so significant, if a person is even just slightly irreverent toward it he is at risk.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day,” Collected Fa Teaching, Vol.XII)
When I shared with practitioners, I found that many of them haven’t realized that the book Zhuan Falun is actually a life; to them, it is just a book. Under the influence of the CCP party culture and modern concepts, trashy books, classics, and books of spiritual practices are jumbled together and casually put in untidy piles here and there. There are all sorts of behaviors among practitioners that disrespect the Fa.
I hope that practitioners will carefully read the relevant articles on Minghui.org with a calm mind. I hope that we can all reflect on ourselves and rectify our improper conduct, so that we can let go of our human attachments and move forward steadily to succeed in Dafa cultivation.
I would like to make these few suggestions:
1) Please don’t casually put anything in Dafa books, including using improper paper slips as bookmarks. I suggest using special bookmarks for our Dafa books, and better still, use those with Dafa content.
2) Put Dafa books separately in a clean cabinet or drawer, and don’t put anything on top of Dafa books.
3) Wash your hands before reading so the book doesn’t get smeared with sweat. Turn the pages carefully, and don’t press or stroke a book too hard, as it could deform the book with too much pressure. Don’t put anything on the book, such as reading glasses, etc.
4) Remove dirty book covers. Some practitioners write the title of the book on the book cover to make it easier to find. Although your words are not written on the book itself, they are still wrapped around the book. If you want to use a book cover for Zhuan Falun, I suggest using a transparent plastic cover.
5) If conditions permit, we can put Master’s portrait in a proper place to show respect. If you don’t have suitable conditions, please don’t do this. You shouldn’t place Master’s portrait or Dafa books on a balcony or in the basement. In my opinion, you shouldn’t put Master’s portrait in your bedroom either.
I’ve been thinking about writing this article for a while, but didn’t act on it until a number of practitioners around me passed away one after another, and I saw the condition of the Dafa books they left behind. To truly cultivate, we must respect the Fa.
Please kindly point out anything improper in my sharing.