FALUN DAFA India Newsletter for August 2016

FALUN DAFA - INDIA
TRUTHFULNESS - COMPASSION - FORBEARANCE

Newsletter for August 2013

Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:

Welcome

What’s Happening?

Accepting Criticism with the Right Attitude”

Leading the Mind to Happiness

My Thoughts on Conflicts Among Practitioners

Rising to Higher Levels through Continuously Studying the Fa

My Understanding of Dealing with Illness Karma

Meeting the Requirements When Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts

1. Welcome: Welcome to the August 2016 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.

In this issue, we have a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites.

We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don’t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.

Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!

Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."

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2. What’s Happening?: Practitioners from all across India met at Nagpur from 15 to 17 July for different activities and an experience sharing conference. Reports with photographs were posted on Minghui:

Nagpur, India: March and Candlelight Vigil Mark 17 Years of Persecution in China

Second India Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference Held in Nagpur

Practitioner from Sarnath along with a practitioner from Switzerland spent 4 weeks in the North East introducing Dafa in schools and clarifying the truth to VIP’s and journalists. There was some coverage in the local newspapers.

Practitioners from Pune organized an introductory session for one of the areas in Pune.

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3. Accepting Criticism with the Right Attitude By Xin Mei, Dafa practitioner in Northern China

(Minghui.org) I joined a Fa study group after the 2013 New Year. We studied the Fa together and sent forth righteous thoughts the entire day. Because my palm was not in an upright position when sending forth righteous thoughts, another practitioner asked to speak to me.

The practitioner appeared angry and asked me a few questions in an unpleasant tone. I do not remember the exact questions, but they were related to finding attachments and whether I believed in Dafa firmly. I was a little upset. After the Fa study, I went to another room to take a nap and somehow felt at a loss.

When I woke up, I heard that practitioner talking about me to other practitioners. That upset me. It was really like the Teacher said, “...if it does not irritate a person psychologically, it does not count or is useless and cannot make him or her improve.” (Zhuan Falun) But then I thought, “No matter how poorly I cultivate, as long as Teacher does not give up on me, I will cultivate to the end.”

A practitioner couple was worried about what I might think and provided some guidance. I told them that I was very grateful to this fellow practitioner. I also shared my understanding, including how to resolve conflicts in my mind and how to look inward to face the issue. They were relieved.

Despite my understanding on the surface, I still felt a little uneasy. At dinner, I felt uncomfortable and intentionally kept a distance from the practitioner who had criticized me.

However, when sending forth righteous thoughts, everyone sat in a circle and I happened to face this person. It was very awkward. But after turning away from the practitioner, I realized that this was a bad thing and faced the practitioner again.

I then felt something move from my head to my stomach and then back and forth in my stomach, making a sound like a chainsaw. I was worried the loud noise would disturb everyone. I looked around and saw that no one had heard it except me.

I knew that, because of my righteous thought, Teacher had removed a bad thing from me and purified my body. As Teacher said:

“Once you upgrade your xinxing, your body will undergo a great change. Upon xinxing improvement, the matter in your body is guaranteed to transform. What kind of changes will take place? You will give up those bad things that you are attached to.” (Zhuan Falun)

From the incident, I truly gained an understanding of what it means to have the right attitude. I greatly appreciate Teacher’s care and eliminated my sense of not cultivating well. I deeply appreciate Teacher’s compassionate salvation and helping me advance firmly on my cultivation path.

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4. Leading the Mind to Happiness By a Clearwisdom correspondent in China

(Minghui.org) Mr. Xin Guang (pseudonym) is a company manager in his 30s. He has been practicing Falun Gong for over three years. He has a youthful smile, but his serene temperament makes people feel he is amiable and trustworthy. Below is a conversation between Xin Guang and the reporter about "happiness."

Reporter: I am curious. I thought that in today's China, most young men like you would not be interested in cultivation.

Xin Guang: My previous goal in life was success in my career and personal gain, but I resigned from a state-run work place in order to allow me and my family to live a better life. I have a friend whom I considered to be a "successful man" and my role model. He often socialized with his clients, which involved a lot of drinking. Afterwards, he did not feel too well, but he tried to hold out. He was eventually diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. He spent lots of money in topnotch hospitals in Beijing, but that did not save his life. When he passed away, he was less than 30 years old. At death, he came to realize that health is more important than money. Later, I met many people with successful careers. People see their surface glory but do not know the pressure and pain they have suffered. I started to doubt that kind of success and thought about what true happiness is.

Reporter: It looks like these things have given you new things to reflect on in your life.

Xin Guang: I started to pay attention to how people think and study psychology, to analyze their inner fears, anxieties, and trepidations. Although I knew the reasons, I could not fundamentally free myself from them. I read Dao Te Ching and the Bible and even practiced Christianity for some time. Although I found some peace and comfort, I could not fundamentally control my mind in today's society. I still smoked and drank alcohol and I still had desires for women other than my wife.

Reporter: How did you think of practicing Falun Gong? Since 1999, the Chinese Communist Party has slandered and persecuted Falun Gong, and many people in China who do not know the facts are afraid of getting close to Falun Gong.

Xin Guang: I had opportunities to hear voices from the media outside China, so I never believed in what the Chinese Communist Party said. Once, a friend of mine obtained a truth-clarification DVD titled "Between Heaven and Earth" and I watched it. Another time I received an overseas email with anti-web-blocking software, which enabled me to download and read Zhuan Falun. This book resolved much of the confusion that I had in my heart. I finally understood that the meaning of life is to return to one's original, true self and elevate one's mind.

Reporter: What is your biggest change after practicing Falun Gong?

Xin Guang: I feel more calm and happy in my heart. I now understand that there are predestined relationships among things in this world. I can now take many things as they are and not argue or fight with others. I don't have any bad habits and I try to help others selflessly.

Our Master, Li Hongzhi, asks us to look inward when we encounter conflicts. This way we can immediately untie the knots in our hearts and reach a state of peacefulness. Life is like a string. The more knots, the less smooth. Doesn't the string become smooth when the knots are untied? Only the power of belief can untie these knots. We'll be happier if we don't have so many knots and worries in our lives. It will be just like Master wrote in a poem:

"Light are the boats, quick the travel
with attachments cast aside"
("Self-Evident is the Heart " from Hong Yin)

I have truly experienced the beauty of this realm.

Reporter: Human morality is sliding downwards rapidly. Everyone has, in fact, been adding fuel to the flame of human morality's great demise. What was the attitude of your family members after you started practicing Falun Gong?

Xin Guang: They had worries in the beginning. They have come to understand after seeing my actions and behavior. Who wouldn't accept a nice person, let alone my own family?

Reporter: Have you not experienced any pain during your cultivation?

Xin Guang: There have been trying periods. But the "pain" endured as a result being a good person according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is completely different. Because I understand its meaning, pain or happiness depends on how you look at it. I think true happiness is the process of eliminating the attachment of selfishness. The more you are selfless and compassionate to others, the happier you are. Isn't there a saying "Happy like a deity?" Why are deities happy? Isn't it because they don't have everyday people's attachments to selfishness? So my true feeling is: The better I cultivate, the happier I am.

I feel very fortunate to be on the cultivation path of returning to my original true self. I hope more people can learn about Falun Dafa. I hope more people with predestined relationships can attain the Fa and be happy.

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5. My Thoughts on Conflicts Among Practitioners

(Minghui.org) An article I read reminded me of the conflicts which have been occurring for more than a year among practitioners in my area. Many other areas are having similar problems, I understand. It's normal to have conflicts because we are still cultivating and we still have human mentalities. We should use the conflicts as opportunities to improve. If the conflicts continue, however, it is not right, and it means that practitioners are not improving.

In many practitioners' minds, it is not right to have conflicts among practitioners and it is not tolerable for practitioners to have human thinking. They become attached to conflict, causing rifts between practitioners. My understanding is that when we are faced with situations like this, we should keep in mind that practitioners are still cultivating and they are exhibiting human mentalities. We should not focus on the conflict. Instead, we should ask ourselves whether the incident has touched us in any way. If we reflect on our own words and gestures, and especially on what we were thinking when it happened, we will see clearly the reason behind the conflict.

If we could see the incident from the perspective of the another practitioner, we would understand. If we cannot see our shortcomings, then we can simply ask ourselves why we feel upset. It has to do with our human mentalities, without which, we would not be upset. The conflicts happen to help us eliminate our human thoughts.

As practitioners we should come to have the compassion and tolerance with which conflicts can be resolved. Nothing could then stop us from becoming one body.

Conflicts that happen during cultivation are different from those that happen among ordinary people. We should avoid interpreting incidents from a human perspective, as that can add a negative substance to the field of fellow practitioners.

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6. Rising to Higher Levels through Continuously Studying the Fa By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Chongqing City, China

(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. From the beginning of obtaining the to today, I have been focusing on studying the Fa--the more I do it, the more I love it. I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences with fellow practitioners, and please kindly correct my errors.

1. Getting rid of the attachment of resentment

Because of firmly refusing to give up my faith in Dafa, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials threatened to take me to the Public Security Bureau. I had no alternative but to leave home, at least for a short while. After I left home, my husband invited those who persecuted me to dinner, telling them that he wanted to divorce me. Later on, he went to court to go through with the divorce, and got married again in a relatively short time, causing me to have no home to return to. On top of that, he even spread a rumor among relatives and friends that I ran away without telling him. (In fact he agreed that I should leave and he knew where I was.) He told them that he went looking everywhere for me, but couldn't find me. The relatives and friends sympathized with him and blamed me for what I had done.

Thus, I was not only persecuted by the CCP, but also lost my family and my source of income. I had nowhere to turn to, because they all blamed me. At that time, as I was wandering from place to place, I felt hatred toward my former husband. Later on, with Teacher's compassionate protection, my resentment towards him was gradually dissolved as I read all of Teacher's Fa-lectures. This enabled me to raise my level, and I understood that it wasn't right for me to hate him and that it was right to clarify the truth to save him.

I had the thought that I wanted to save him, but the problem was that I wasn't keeping in touch with him. I heard from someone I knew that he wasn't in good health, that he was in the hospital and wasn't able to get out of bed. How could I save him? Later when I was visiting a relative, my former husband happened to be there too. I didn't hesitate to say hello to him, to clarify the truth to him, and to get him to quit the CCP. I also gave him an amulet with the inscription "Falun Dafa is good" on it. He gladly accepted it, for he knew it was good for him.

I also asked him to recite "Falun Dafa is good." He said he would remember it. It was apparent that he was quite moved. For some reason I couldn't stay long and wasn't able to clarify the truth more fully, but at least he heard the truth. For this reason I understood more about the importance of studying the Fa. There is nothing more powerful than the mighty virtue of Dafa, which solves all problems with the power of mercy. With the Fa guiding me in my cultivation, those who hurt me previously were met with kindness in the form of my telling them about the truth about Dafa.

2. Eliminating the attachment of blaming others

Previously I had a bad habit complaining about and blaming others. Sometimes, just my tone in talking about something would carry such blame that it created friction and problems with fellow practitioners.

A small Fa-study group in our area was held at the home of a practitioner's daughter. There was nobody at home in the afternoons, and it was up to the practitioner to have the door open for everyone else's arrival. I was the one who delivered Dafa materials to the Fa-study group. But one day 4-5 other practitioners and myself, with the materials on my back, were waiting at the front door for this practitioner, who was late. At that moment, a thought of complaint came up, but I immediately warned myself about the attachment and I calmed down. When this practitioner finally arrived, I said to her calmly, "Could you come a little earlier in the future? All of us standing here at the door isn't appropriate." She immediately agreed.

However, a week later, she came late again. It was even later than the last time. In the past, I would have complained, but I didn't this time. I was thinking, why was this happening? I must look within myself to see why such an unpleasant thing took place.

3. The power of righteous thoughts

I have been paying lots of attention to sending righteous thoughts, four times a day every day. When I'm out of town, I keep doing it whenever possible, and while on a train or bus, I'll work on eliminating the evil elements behind all passengers, so that they may be saved.

My residence is near a construction site, and a couple of years ago, a Chinese Communist Party flag was placed on a pole so high that I could see it when sitting by my window. I thought, the flag should not be there to poison sentient beings. So, I sat there every day, sending righteous thoughts to disintegrate the flag. After a period of time, the flag disappeared. A few days later, another new flag was raised again. To disintegrate it, I kept sending righteous thoughts, and a while later, the color of the flag turned white and ragged.

In my thirteen years of Dafa cultivation, I have come across so many things that I am unable to share them all. From now on, I want to be more diligent and do better to cultivate myself in order to thank Teacher for saving me.

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7. My Understanding of Dealing with Illness Karma

(Minghui.org) I began my study of Falun Dafa towards the end of 1996. Before that time I had many illnesses. Like many other practitioners, I don't have any illness now and am quite healthy. This is a blessing that comes from practice in Dafa and I don't want to dwell on it any further here.

What I would like to discuss is what to do when karma appears in the form of illness. Of course, a standard approach in dealing with this problem is to look within oneself to locate the cause. Beyond that I would like to add what I have learned, hoping that this will be helpful to those practitioners who are now facing such problems.

First of all, a practitioner must understand that the so-called illness is not the same as what ordinary people have and must not be dealt with in the same way. Instead, a practitioner must follow what is required by Dafa. I have learned my lesson on this point. As an example, I had a car accident in 2009 and my left leg was broken. After taking an X-ray, the doctor ordered me to stay in the hospital for surgery. My daughter (also a practitioner) and I decided to go home and told our relatives (who are not practitioners) that for practitioners healing would take place faster at home, and this turned out to be true. At the time my leg was swollen and was much bigger than normal. One day I thought it might be better to lie down on the bed while listening to Teacher's audio lecture. This was a human notion. That evening when I went to bed, I had a dream. My spouse and I were lying in a courtyard. I could see some ghosts on the outside wanting to come in to harm me. I was very fearful and suddenly they kicked the door open and jumped on my left leg. I was trying to fight them off and calling for Teacher to help. Later on with help from other practitioners, I understood that the dream was caused by the human notion I held earlier on that day.

With this understanding, I watched more carefully my every thought to make sure it conformed to Dafa. After 25 days, I was able to take care of myself. After forty-some days I was back to normal. At that time many people who knew me were amazed by Dafa and learned that Dafa is good.

Secondly, it is important to read Zhuan Falun. I have a six-year-old grandson who is able to read Zhuan Falun and a four-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter who can read the book with some guidance from adults. I have been taking care of them since they were babies. We read the book together in the evenings and send righteous thoughts. Generally, when they do not feel well, we let them listen to us reading the book and they recover fairly quickly. However, in the spring of 2009, there was a case that required much more effort. My granddaughter had a fever and difficulty breathing. We did what we usually did--reading the book and sending righteous thoughts for her. In the evening she was back to normal. However, the same thing happened again the next day. We went through the routine again and by evening she again recovered completely. This cycle repeated itself for six days before we realized that the entity attacking her was able to recover itself while we went to bed. Thus, we decided to take turns reading without stopping through the night. On the seventh day my granddaughter no longer had any symptoms at all.

A while back my grandson had a fever and stomachache, and required frequent visits to the restroom. We did the same thing with him as we did my granddaughter. We believe that there are no illnesses for practitioners. It was an attack by some entity from other dimensions. When we were reading, my grandson said, "Your reading to me hurts." We understood that it was that entity using my grandson's mouth to try to stop us. We did not stop reading, and by the second day he appeared to be improving. With help from two other practitioners, we were able to continue reading day and night for five days, and my grandson recovered completely.

The above are my understandings of how to deal with illness karma.

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8. Meeting the Requirements When Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts By a Falun Dafa practitioner Hubei Province, China

(Minghui.org) Among the three things required by Teacher, I always regarded sending forth righteous thoughts to be the easiest. However, as I have become stricter with myself and have begun to hold myself to a higher standard, I find that this is not the case.

For instance, when I sent forth righteous thoughts in the past, I had thoughts related to fame, self-interest and sentimentality. I had always been interfered with by those uncontrollable wandering thoughts until this February, when I was determined to eliminate those thoughts from my mind.

Taking Master's Words to Heart

Teacher said,

“They’re karma and notions that you’ve acquired throughout your life. That’s why you should regard them as a third party: “You keep on thinking, and I’ll watch you do that.” This time, you jump out of them. If you can truly distinguish them, this equates to your having made a clean break from them and your having found yourself. This is also practicing cultivation and doing so can remove them quickly. If you can truly discern them, they will be scared since it’s time for them to be eliminated.” (Lecture at the First Conference in North America)

After I distinguished between me and the third party, many of those wandering thoughts were eliminated.

Meanwhile, I have become more alert to my wandering thoughts. As soon as they surface, I drive them out without hesitating. Because the duration for the global sending forth righteous thoughts is only 15 minutes, I cannot afford to allow those wandering thoughts to stay in my mind for even a few minutes.

Falling Short of Master's Requirements

After reviewing the article “Righteous Thoughts,” I still felt that I fell short when compared to Teacher’s requirement. For instance, I could not always make all four times for the global sending forth righteous thoughts. Mealtimes at my workplace (a private enterprise) are at 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. As a result, I missed sending forth righteous thoughts at those two time periods for the past 10 plus years, and only made them up at a more convenient time.

A fellow practitioner suggested that I set an alarm on my cell phone and send forth righteous thoughts without sitting in the lotus position or doing the hand gestures. The result was incredible. The powerful thoughts surpassed my imagination.

In the past, I always felt that I could only send forth righteous thoughts if I was sitting in the lotus position and doing the hand gesture. My experiences proved that what’s said in the Minghui editorial is true, “… sending forth righteous thoughts can be done in any environment. It doesn't have to be in the sitting meditation, and it can be done with the eyes open or closed. It's not absolutely required to do the hand gestures ...”

Although my wandering thoughts had largely been controlled, they were far from being completely eliminated. I needed to be patient. Sometimes those thoughts were hidden and unnoticeable. They were in the form of things related to my work, Dafa work or cultivation. I used to treat them as normal thoughts. However, I realized that I should not allow those thoughts either. I told myself to hold those thoughts until I was finished sending forth righteous thoughts.

In regard to sending forth righteous thoughts, Teacher said,

“… your mind has to be absolutely clear and rational, the force of your thoughts needs to be focused and strong, with an air of supremacy and of destroying all evil in the cosmos.” (“Righteous Thoughts” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)

Despite my progress, I still can’t achieve the state of “air of supremacy” and “The mie word needs to be so strong that it’s as large as the cosmic body” (“Righteous Thoughts”). I felt that it is not that easy to truly do well in sending forth righteous thoughts.

Progress After Paying Attention

Ever since I paid attention to the issue of sending forth righteous thoughts, I have been able to make good progress in my cultivation. I firmly believe that the stricter I am with myself, the closer I am to the requirements of Teacher.

From my experience, another important component to doing well in sending forth righteous thoughts is studying the Fa well. The Fa is the foundation. Only after studying the Fa well, can one upgrade ones realm and fundamentally eliminate various interference. If we only rely on grasping the superficial techniques in sending forth righteous thoughts, we can only achieve the formality and can’t reach the state required by Teacher,

“… your mind has to be absolutely clear and rational, the force of your thoughts needs to be focused and strong ...” (“Righteous Thoughts” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)

This is the essence of sending forth righteous thoughts.

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