Reading the Fa But Not Absorbing the Fa

(Minghui.org) Master Li said,

“There are many people who would like to cultivate toward high levels. They have such thoughts and wishes, but they have not obtained the right methods for cultivation, thereby causing great difficulties and many problems.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

I didn’t think I had this problem because Master was talking about those who practiced other qigongs and did not know the high-level Fa like I did. Only recently did I realize I wasn’t studying the Fa properly.

About ten years ago, I wasn’t able to stay focused while studying the Fa, so I decided to memorize it. At first, I understood many principles, and I felt Master rectifying my bodies in different realms. The feeling was sacred and amazing. Even after I memorized the Fa well, I still wasn’t able to stay focused when reading it. I could recite the Fa fluently in my mind, but couldn’t absorb what I was reading. I could recite every word from Lecture One in under an hour, faster than I could read it, yet I didn’t absorb even the superficial meaning of the words.

A practitioner I knew could recite the Fa faster than I could—one lecture in 40 minutes. I asked if she could enlighten to the principles behind the words; she said no and tried to explain why it did not affect her cultivation. I thought something about her answer wasn’t quite right.

Later, I suffered a serious tribulation, but eventually got through it with Master’s help. I began to wonder why I often strayed from my cultivation path and got into trouble. In the past few years, although I tried to overcome this incorrect state, I could only stay focused for a short time when reading Zhuan Falun. After that, I read the words quickly but absorbed little of their meaning.

Sometimes, when I could focus on the meaning of every word I read, although the process was slow, I was able to be enlightened to something every time, and feel changes in my body. One time, I studied two lectures attentively, ensuring I understood what I was reading. I then felt that I was made of the Fa, and I had no human notions. It was a sacred feeling, and I could understand what Master meant when he said that the World of Ultimate Bliss was created by the Fa. Another time, after carefully studying the Fa, I felt that my body had become pure gold. When I sent righteous thoughts, I felt that my supernormal ability could split a mountain.

All of these amazing experiences and feelings were impressive and gave me confidence. I knew that it was Master encouraging me. However, most of the time, I couldn’t stop myself from studying the Fa quickly. Before I absorbed what I read, I had already moved on to the next sentence.

One day, I heard about a practitioner copying down the Fa carefully and reading each sentence dozens of times before writing it down. “I can’t cultivate without the guidance of the Fa,” she said. I think Master was telling me that I was not cultivating.

I started to copy down the Fa at home as well, and was determined to let my main consciousness obtain the Fa. I made sure that I knew the meaning of the words before I wrote them. This way, I enlightened to many things every day. When I looked at Zhuan Falun, I truly felt that it was a priceless heavenly book that taught me numerous heavenly secrets. Master once said,

“Some disciples have said, “Every sentence that Master Li Hongzhi has said is a heavenly secret and a disclosure of heavenly secrets.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)

Still, I felt that something was preventing me from staying focused, and I had to fight with all my strength to suppress it. I discussed this with practitioners in my Fa study group, and one of them said, “Your assistant consciousness is fighting your main consciousness for your physical body so that it can cultivate. Your assistant consciousness is quite strong.” The words shocked me as if a bolt of lightning had run through my body. The moment I realized what was happening, Master began to clear away the old forces’ arrangement—the path for the assistant consciousness to cultivate. I was adamant that I would never acknowledge such an arrangement.

From then on, when I recited the exact words in the book so quickly that I didn’t know their meaning, I would pause, negate the interference, and send righteous thoughts. One evening, while doing chores, a thought emerged: “I am doing this because I (the assistant consciousness) am getting a lot of good things when I recite the Fa.” I told the assistant consciousness, “Only the main consciousness can cultivate Dafa. I am the main body, and you are the guardian of the Fa. If you fought for my body to recite the Fa and cultivate, but I failed in my cultivation, what you did would be in vain, and you wouldn’t receive any of the good things. The old forces knew that your level was limited and steered you into doing this. If you continue to interfere with me, I will send righteous thoughts to eliminate you.”

After that, the strong interference disappeared. I was able to recite the Fa while walking or sitting in a car, and clearly understand the meaning of each word. Occasionally, I lost focus when reciting the Fa, but I believed that was interference from my notions or thought karma, which was inconsequential when compared to the strong interference from the assistant consciousness. Studying the Fa well has allowed me to understand many principles as well as identify my shortcomings, which Master has helped me resolve step by step, one after another.

If we fail to recognize the Fa principles in our cultivation, something is bound to be amiss because we need the Fa to cultivate. Master said:

“As you know, I have 100 million Dafa disciples. If my Main Body were to tell every disciple in person how to cultivate, and look after you in person, if when you each had questions you all came to ask me directly, and if the transformation of each person’s gong, the Consummation of your paradises, the elimination of your karma, and each and every thing were done by this Main Body of mine, then think about it, that’d be impossible to handle. It couldn’t be done before the Fa rectifies the human world and clears away the final obstacles. So, when that many students can’t see me, how are they to cultivate? The Fa is there for them, and that’s why I told you to take the Fa as teacher. That was the essential purpose. I have also told you that this Fa is so powerful, and that I have infused my immense abilities into this Fa, so this Fa can do anything for you.” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)

Since Master’s Main Body could not be physically present and tell each of us what to do in every situation, He gave us the Fa, which is essential for our path of cultivation. Zen Buddhism refused to acknowledge the existence of the Fa, which is why it only lasted until the sixth patriarch. Consider this: what would happen if we didn’t have the Fa to guide us?

As practitioners, we should not take what other practitioners say as the Fa. Everyone cultivates at a different level and understands different Fa principles. Some practitioners like to ask others about their understanding of the Fa and take it to be a Fa principle. A practitioner would often ask for my advice whenever she faced a conflict, and I’d tell her what I thought she should do. In the end, she passed away. Some practitioners like to guide other practitioners with the principles they enlighten to in the name of helping them cultivate. This could be seen as disrupting the Fa. In my opinion, we should find our attachments by paying attention to our thoughts and actions, as well as considering others’ experiences, and eliminate them by following the Fa principles. This is how we compare our studies and cultivation.

Master told us,

“Then when you seek them out and use what they say as Fa, is it not a case of your disrupting the Fa? And at the same time, it turns what Master’s family members said into a sin against the Fa.” (“What Does It Mean to “Help Master Rectify the Fa”?,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress III)

“You must have a lot of questions. I think that through studying the Fa you will be able to resolve all of them. Many specific questions and problems can be resolved as long as you study the Fa.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)

My understanding is that if we stay focused when studying the Fa, we will find the answers we need. Only by solving our problems on our own, and enlightening to principles while studying the Fa, will we not go awry.

For example, a practitioner stated in a Minghui article that many people didn’t pay attention to the content of the Fa when studying it. One time, he asked other practitioners, “What are the three factors that determine the levels of our celestial eye?” after we finished studying the chapter about the Celestial Eye. Although I thought hard, it took me a long time to think of only two. Once I was able to stay focused while reading the Fa, I recited the part about the celestial eye one day. I made sure that I understood the meaning of every word that came out of my mouth. At that time, I gained many insights about the celestial eye, as if it were my first time reading about it.

I used to think of the celestial eye as the vertical eye on Erlang’s forehead in the story “Journey to the West.” Now, I realize that I was using the story to interpret the Fa rather than taking the Fa seriously. There were other similar instances, and Master has helped me rectify them all.

When we understand the Fa principles and follow what the Fa asks of us, it is not difficult to maintain our xinxing because we have the power of the Fa behind us. I suggest that practitioners who have difficulties cultivating their main consciousness read the Minghui article: “Are We Treating Cultivation Seriously?”