Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Looking Inside When We Encounter Illness Karma”
- Understandings Gained Through Helping a Fellow Practitioner
- A Few Issues to Watch When Sending Righteous Thoughts
- Dafa Disciples Should Look Inward Unconditionally
- My Understanding of Removing Attachments
- My Understanding of How To "Study the Fa Well"
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the May 2016 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
May is such a special month when we celebrate Revered Master’s Birthday as World Falun Dafa Day. Let us cherish what Master has gifted us and be diligent to honour this divine gift.
Let us spare a thought for our fellow practitioners in China who are still being persecuted.
There is a special request.
Please copy the text below and send the petition to as many people as possible.
Hi,
I saw a Documentary recently titled 'Human Harvest' where they show in China, you can get any organ you want in a week's time. This is because they extract organs from innocent people who practice Falun Gong, a peaceful exercise and meditation practice that is banned in China by the Communist government.
The sad thing is that a lot of affluent Indians travel to China to get a liver, or kidney transplant. They don't realize that somebody is killed, so that they can live!
I just signed this petition. I think this is important, because it affects us all in some way. I would be grateful if you can sign and also forward it to your contacts please.
http://chn.ge/1jFWwRV
(Your Name)
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 Bangalore were invited by the GG Summer camp in Shimoga to introduce Falun Dafa and teach the exercises to the children. Children of various age groups participated in the camp and had an enjoyable 4 hour session doing the exercises.
Practitioners from Pune, Nagpur attended the huge congregation at Ujjain Kumb Mela where they had put up a Stall. Many flyers were distributed to people from various parts of India including Naga Sadhus.
Practitioner from Sarnath went on an arduous journey to Mizoram though the Book Fair was cancelled. The practitioner met several editors of newspapers and decided to hold a Press Conference to create awareness in this part of India.
Pune practitioners participated in ‘Happy Streets’ and distributed flyers and demonstrated the exercises. Many people bought the books and shown keenness to learn the exercise.
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- 3. Looking Inside When We Encounter Illness Karma
(Minghui.org)
I am a young practitioner. I have not previously experienced disease karma, so I don't have many thoughts about it.
Recently the skin on my fingers has become fragile, dry, and cracked, and they bleed, swell, and itch. In a word, uncomfortable. I have thus begun to look inside to understand the attachments which led to this illness karma. I first identified my competitive mentality and pursuit of comfort, but my fingers showed no signs of recovery. I continued looking inside and found that I didn't make the best use of my time to save sentient beings. I started doing better in this, but my fingers still didn't show any improvement. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate karma, but it didn't seem to help. I was quite confused and wondered, "What on earth is my problem?"
I mentioned this to another practitioner. He said, "Don't be moved." I was somewhat enlightened after hearing these words. It seemed that I took it too seriously, worrying about my fingers consciously and unconsciously every day. I hoped to recover as soon as possible. This was also an attachment!
Teacher said,
"For a long time now some students just haven't gotten rid of their fundamental attachments! And as things have piled up, at the end they aren't able to overcome them and their tribulations get big. When problems occur, instead of searching for problems in their xinxing, fundamentally improving themselves, or truly letting go of the matter and coming through in an open and dignified manner by another route, they focus on the thing at hand--'Goodness... why is it that I still can't overcome this thing? I've done better today, so it should have improved a little. Tomorrow I'll do even better and it should improve some more.' He can never let go of that thing. On the surface it appears that he's letting it go--'Look, I'm doing well now.' You're doing well now but you are doing well now for its sake. You aren't doing that for the purpose of doing what a true Dafa disciple should do! "
("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference")
Teacher also said,
"Of course, as you go about cultivating, you--who are cultivators--are sure to meet with tests, for you need to elevate. When someone doesn't handle things well, troubles will constantly arise. But those who do handle things well will constantly meet with tests as they cultivate. If you categorically regard all of them as interference and try to resolve the troubles just for the sake of resolving them, then you won't be able to resolve them, because they come about for the sake of your improvement. " ("Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006")
It seemed that I was cultivating and looking inside during that period of time, but I was actually trying to resolve the troubles just for the sake of resolving them. This is pursuit! It is not a cultivator's state. I also found that such a state manifested not only in treating illness karma but also in other tests.
I often contemplate the purpose of passing tests, hoping that the tests will disappear immediately. This has become an attachment, but I have not been aware of it. Actually, behind this hides another attachment, which is the reluctance to see what I don't want to see and the unwillingness to suffer any pain, hoping that everything goes smoothly. I've read some articles by practitioners on the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net), in which practitioners stated that things evolved positively as soon as they identified their attachments. My personal understanding is that, on some occasions, things do turn out better as soon as our righteous thoughts emerge, but it's not absolute, because the depth of each practitioner's attachments is different, as is how they go about removing their attachments.
In my opinion, we shouldn't take these tests seriously. It's very important and necessary to look inside, but we shouldn't regard it as the omnipotent key and expect the disease karma to disappear immediately. If things don't improve, doubt and negative thoughts may surface, especially when dealing with serious disease tribulations. Some practitioners look inside, but still don't overcome the "disease," and sending forth righteous thoughts also doesn't help. They develop ideas about taking medicines and going to the hospital, and some have even doubted Dafa. Some practitioners have been dragged away by disease karma, and I think this is part of the reason. I believe that whenever we are in trouble, we should make great efforts to do the well while looking inside, and we will overcome them sooner or later. We shouldn't focus on the trouble itself nor develop attachments. It's not a big deal even if we suffer the pain. We should just do whatever we should do.
This morning, Teacher's words in came to mind:
"As a practitioner, if you assimilate yourself to this characteristic you are one that has attained the Tao--it's just such a simple principle."
Actually, as cultivators, our goal is to assimilate to the characteristic of the universe. During the process, all things we encounter are just superficial phenomena. They are nothing. The key is that our attachments are exposed and removed in the process and we finally assimilate to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
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- 4. Understandings Gained Through Helping a Fellow Practitioner
By a practitioner from China
(Minghui.org)
Recently, a fellow practitioner in my family was not serious about following the teachings. Whenever I spoke to him about cultivation, he became very impatient. Furthermore, he made statements such as "Please don't talk to me about cultivation matters. Do I have to stop practicing in order for you to stop?" Statements like this made me angry, and we argued frequently.
Later, I realized that nothing happens accidentally. I needed to look inward, but was concerned about the negative statements he made. I thought that he could be inviting some form of persecution. Such thoughts created a lot of anxiety. Whenever I spoke to family members about Dafa, I watched their reactions. When they reacted negatively, I felt bad for them. I was not at peace and lacked compassion. I was ready to blame them for the way they reacted.
After realizing that I was too emotional, I decided to use righteous thoughts to view the problem. My attitude should be to help a fellow practitioner who was going through a tribulation. I should not view him as a family member, but as a Dafa practitioner. In addition, I sincerely stated, " Evil entities must not persecute my fellow practitioner because Teacher is looking after him. Any mistake he made could be corrected by studying the Falun Gong teachings. Evil spirits have no right to interfere; otherwise, they will be committing a crime."
When I told him about my new understanding, he was scornful. His facial expression was dark, but I knew that this was not his true self and I shouldn't be misled. At this point, I remembered what Teacher said:
"This is because amidst everyday people, different ordinary human attachments could interfere with her. When she cured a patient's illness, the patient might not appreciate it. When she treated the patient, she might have removed a lot of bad things from this patient's body. Although she healed this patient to such an extent, there might not have been any obvious changes at that time. The patient, however, would not be happy in his mind. Instead of expressing gratitude, he might accuse her of cheating. With these problems, she was undergoing psychological tribulations in this environment." (from )
I understood that all these incidents were designed to upgrade my . As I looked inward, I noticed that when I spoke to fellow practitioner, I had a tendency to show off and a desire to validate myself. After I removed these incorrect thoughts from my mind, he suddenly made a 180 degree change and smiled at me. Lately, we have been sending righteous thoughts and studying the Falun Gong teachings together.
Another point I would like to make is that a practitioner must not say, "I don't want to cultivate." Such a statement will invite evil spirits to strengthen one's attachments and eventually break him. In this case, Teacher and other divine beings cannot help, because it is the "pursuit" of that practitioner. Cultivation is a serious matter. Do not act on a sudden impulse and deny what Teacher has done for us. We must follow Teacher and the Fa in order to achieve our final consummation.
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- 5. A Few Issues to Watch When Sending Righteous Thoughts
By a Falun Dafa Practitioner in Hebei Province
(Minghui.org)
Every cultivator knows that the three things Master taught us to do well are cultivating ourselves, clarifying the facts to save sentient beings, and sending forth righteous thoughts. These three things encompass everything a Dafa disciple does. We spend more time sharing about xinxing cultivation and truth-clarification, but do not pay as much attention to sending righteous thoughts, even though it is also an important responsibility of Dafa disciples. We need to have a good understanding of it and do it well.
Recently, I found that some practitioners did not have a good state of mind when sending righteous thoughts. I would like to discuss some issues we need to pay attention to when sending righteous thoughts.
The first issue is that we wait for others to inform us when to send righteous thoughts. Before or during important Fa-validation events, we wait for someone else to notify us. If we receive no notification, then we don't send righteous thoughts. Some practitioners even need others to tell them what they should be thinking when sending righteous thoughts. For example, in March 2010, the Chinese Communist Party held two large conferences. A large number of evil factors gathered in Beijing in other dimensions. It was an excellent time for Dafa disciples to send righteous thoughts and eliminate them. Although it was such an obvious opportunity, some practitioners still waited for notification from others. Their completely passive attitude undoubtedly negatively impacted the results. The evil factors' lives were extended, and we did not save as many sentient beings as we could have.
We cannot wait any longer! We have followed Master in validating the Fa all along. We will become lords and kings of gigantic celestial bodies. How can we always wait for others?
The second issue is emotions involved in sending righteous thoughts. For example, when a practitioner we know or like, or lives near us is detained, we pay close attention to sending forth righteous thoughts. Otherwise, we don't pay much attention. Sending forth righteous thoughts is such a sacred matter. If our emotions are involved, the old forces will definitely exploit our gaps, inflate our attachments, and make us indifferent to the fate of practitioners whom we don't know. Such emotions significantly weaken us as one body in sending righteous thoughts. It has a very negative effect on our rescue work and group efforts to eliminate the evil factors.
The third issue is our inability to view Dafa disciples inside and outside of China as one body.
In the last few years, Dafa disciples outside of China have done a lot of work in supporting Dafa disciples inside China and helping the Chinese people to see the facts about the persecution. Sometimes they ran into difficulties, and sometimes they were quite successful. Yet many practitioners in China feel the overseas practitioners' difficulties have nothing to do with them. They view practitioners outside of China as a separate group, or feel that the physical distance is too great to overcome. They are only watching the progress made by overseas practitioners; they do not view all the practitioners as one body. This has weakened the force of Dafa disciples for validating the Fa and saving sentient beings.
Master has said that the main body of Dafa practitioners are in Mainland China. Overseas practitioners are supporting Dafa practitioners in China. As a member of the main body of Dafa disciples, our failure to support global efforts to validate the Fa and save sentient beings with righteous thoughts has severely hindered the Fa-rectification process!
Fellow practitioners, we should examine ourselves on the issue of sending forth righteous thoughts. How much have we applied ourselves to it? Master has given us the Fa implement of sending righteous thoughts, and has high hopes for us. Have we used righteous thoughts to the fullest extent? In May, the World Expo will be held in Shanghai. The CCP is frightened by the global progress of the Fa-rectification. It will gather evil factors and cause problems. On the other hand, this is another excellent opportunity to send forth righteous thoughts and eliminate them. I hope that Dafa practitioners in China can use their strong righteous thoughts to eliminate all evil. One thing we should note is that we must have an upright mentality when sending righteous thoughts. We are Dafa disciples; we are selfless beings. We do not send forth righteous thoughts to protect ourselves. We do it to protect sentient beings.
I don't mean to point fingers, as I am also a disciple in Mainland China. I would like to share my current understanding on this issue with others so that we can discuss and improve together.
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- 6. Dafa Disciples Should Look Inward Unconditionally
By a Falun Dafa practitioner in China
(Minghui.org)
Recently, the issue of lack of coordination among practitioners, due to various conflicts, had been apparent. I think that as long as we are still cultivating, anything that happens around us exists for the purpose of making us look inward and eliminating our attachments. Therefore, no matter what we encounter, as Dafa disciples, we should look inward unconditionally.
The major manifestation of these conflicts among practitioners is because one practitioner involved in the conflict thinks, "You do not even acknowledge that I am right, even though I am so right." At the time, all kinds of emotions are stirred up in the heart of this practitioner: grievance, indignity, anxiety, worry and complaint. The more emotion is stirred up, the stronger the practitioner's desire to validate himself, the stronger the determination to convince and change others, and the more intense the conflicts become. When we insist that we are right, as a matter of fact, behind the thought of being right stands a strong ego. Such conflicts are actually caused by self-centered selfishness, which is the fundamental nature of the lives in the old universe. If we do not replace selfishness with selflessness and become considerate of others, we cannot accommodate the shortcomings of other practitioners with compassion, no matter how much we look inward. If we cannot let go of ourselves and look at things from the perspective of the and with a pure heart, then our notion of "I am right," no matter how much we look inward, will not allow us to understand the Fa principle of "different levels have different Fa." () It is the same as has been described in the ancient poem about looking at a mountain, "From the front, I saw a series of mountains; from the side, only a single peak; far, near, top, bottom, no two positions present me the same vision." Even ancient people knew about this. As Dafa disciples, we should be more clear about this principle.
It happens too often that when fellow practitioners have conflicts, everybody is able to find words from the Fa to defend himself or herself. However, Dafa is accommodating. For each different situation, there is a different Fa on each different level. If we only pay attention to the part of the Fa that validates ourselves, however, we fail to see the Fa from other aspects. When we are self-centered and are attached to our personal correctness, we will blame the other party and be unwilling to change ourselves. It seems that we have completely forgotten that cultivating is all about looking inward and Dafa requires us to treat everything with compassion. When we blame or interfere with others, we think that we are being responsible to Dafa and fellow practitioners; however, we fail to realize that actually, this is coming from a very strong attachment to self. We measure others against the part of the Fa that we have enlightened to. We set standards for and cannot accommodate the shortcomings of others and harmonize the environment; instead, we try our best to change others. This is an exact manifestation of the fundamental characteristic of life in the old universe and a major excuse for the old forces to persecute Dafa disciples, who they look down upon due to their attachments to their own arrangements during the Fa rectification.
When we unconditionally look inward, even though we feel that we are right, we are actually changing the fundamental characteristic of the old universe: the attachment to ourselves. Although we are right, we are able to compassionately accommodate to the "misconduct" of others. Although we are right, we can let go of ourselves, be considerate toward others, and think about whether the methods of the other practitioners can also validate Dafa. As long as everything is for the sake of validating Dafa, we should unconditionally let go of our attachment to self and proactively coordinate with fellow practitioners. Even though there might be insufficiencies and imperfection, we can quietly harmonize the situation by using the best methods we have available to us. Dafa accommodates everything. I think that when we cultivate to the extent that we are completely selfless and altruistic and are completely assimilated into the Fa, we will be in a state of being able to compassionately understand others. Not only can we then take everything in the everyday society lightly, we will also be able to understand every phenomena of each living being and compassionately accommodate to them. No matter with whom we interact, we should put ourselves in their shoes, be considerate and sincerely perform good deeds for others without a single selfish thought. When we validate Dafa, we should not be attached to ourselves and we should do things completely for the purpose of validating Dafa. Therefore, no matter what kind of situation we face, we will be able to smoothly coordinate with fellow practitioners and not allow any conflicts to arise among ourselves, so that the old forces will not find any loopholes they can take advantage of.
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- 7. My Understanding of Removing Attachments
By a practitioner from China
(Minghui.org)
For a long time I was bothered by an attachment to getting angry very easily. This was especially true over the last two to three years. Fellow practitioners had pointed it out to me in the past, and I also recognized that I could not put up with it anymore. All the interferences it caused me made me calm down and give it serious consideration. As a result, I gained some insights that I would like to share with fellow practitioners.
If there was something I didn't like, if I failed to handle something properly, or if I had to wait or put in more effort on a task--all these situations made me angry. I would complain about the way things were set up or about other peoples' attitudes, etc. In short, I was, in general, highly dissatisfied and felt tired both physically and spiritually. Being in a bad mood, I began to blame others and was unable to handle other matters properly.
All along I had recognized that my ability to endure was poor, because things like having to wait or having to do more work to achieve an outcome are quite common in daily life. Why couldn't I handle those situations calmly? Was it because the demand exceeded my expectations or because I was not able to complete the job on my own terms? Was I taken by surprise or being treated as a fool? At any rate, whenever I encountered a situation like this, I thought it was for me to improve my character. However, this went on for a long time without my making any improvement.
At home I even got angry when I couldn't find something. I felt that something was acting against me and I needed to retaliate. I had a fighting spirit.
I got angry because I did not expect certain things to happen to me. I had a strong attachment to the "I" even though I knew I should let this attachment go. Since mind and spirit are one, I imagined the attachment to be a black body consisting of hate, anger, mistreatment, and anxiety. It could be an arrangement by the old forces or a result of my own karma. In the past, I did not send forth righteous thoughts or recognize my problem. In fact, I thought that being narrow-minded easily provoked was just part of my character. When I did well in studying the principles of Falun Gong, my mind was at peace. When I was lazy about my study habits, anger really controlled me, even in dealing with minor matters.
At this point I came to understand that my attachment and I were two different concepts. I want to cultivate and release all my attachments, while my attachments want to stay with me. When my righteous thoughts are strong, I can suppress those attachments until they are gone. When my thoughts are not righteous, my attachments want to expand their control over me. My old view--that I needed these notions to improve my character--is an idea used by low level cultivators. By showing a need for them, they will not go away. That is why low level cultivation is very slow. Before a significant improvement can be made, the person's life is over. He has to continue cultivation in his next life. On the other hand, Falun Dafa is the great of the cosmos. In it is stated,
"Our practice has a focus and truly points out those attachments. By abandoning them, one will make very rapid progress in cultivation."
Every Dafa practitioner, when facing a conflict, needs to discover the attachment that has caused it. When he is determined to let the attachment go, the energy mechanisms and Teacher will help him remove it. Also, the practitioner can send forth righteous thought to clean the environment around himself. Relative to other traditional cultivation practices, Falun Dafa is unparalleled. The reason why Dafa practitioners can practice this way is because they are from higher realms and are obligated to save sentient beings.
Hence, we should apply Dafa directly to remove our attachments and clean our own space, as well as the dimension to which we correspond. We should not passively endure the pain inflicted upon us by our attachments. I think the reasons we passively endure our pain are threefold: (1) we do not clearly separate ourselves from our attachments, (2) we do not recognize how ugly and dirty our attachments are, leading to a lack of determination to remove them, and (3) we do not fully understand that cultivation deals directly with our minds and that we can remove evil by sending righteous thoughts and resolving injustice with compassion. If a practitioner is serious about sending righteous thoughts everyday, then his gong will be disintegrating the evil entities around and within him. These weakened entities will then be able to cause only a few problems and will have no chance to inflict pain on him. When this happens, there is only harmony around the practitioner and there is no need to find an attachment to remove.
About this attachment to being easily provoked, I found that, as I was able to separate it from myself more and more, it got weaker and weaker. I know that it is not only a personal attachment, it is also an impediment to keep me from saving sentient beings. By letting this human notion go, I feel I am growing bigger while the attachment is getting smaller. Clearly, it is being eliminated.
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- 8. My Understanding of How To "Study the Fa Well"
By a Mainland China practitioner
(Minghui.org)
On the topic of studying the Fa, I would like to talk
about my experience and discuss this with everybody.
After I broke out of detention with Master's protection, I was quite puzzled
over some practitioners' giving in to the pressure of persecution. At the same
time, I thought about how to be firm.
Later, a practitioner reminded me of Master's words, "the Fa can strengthen
righteous thoughts" ("Drive out Interference," Essentials for Further
Advancement II ) Yes, this is the answer. From then on, I started to study
the Fa more.
Later, I found that I was going after quantity, instead of paying attention
to whether I had learned something. I made some improvement, and started to read
out loud. In the past I could finish 3 lectures in two hours. Now I finish only
one lecture. But I make sure that I understand what I am reading. The result has
been rather good.
After some time, I found that I had been reading only Zhuan Falun.
Master has over 20 books. Then I made a plan. Every day after I finish a
lecture, I would arrange some time to study other books. I read the other books
in turn, and then start from the beginning again. I found the result is even
better.
A practitioner told me that besides studying the Fa, I should cultivate
firmly, which was a wake-up call for me.
Another practitioner said, "Actually studying the Fa includes many things
already. It also includes cultivating firmly, because the Fa is capable of all
things." I felt this statement is right too. Then I made a summary, and felt
that if I want to "study the Fa well," I have to study the Fa more, read the
book with concentration, and do as told by Master. Then it is to "study the Fa
well."
One day, when I was reading the section of "A Clear and Clean Mind," (Zhuan
Falun) I suddenly came to understand a deeper meaning of "read the book with
concentration." There is no external method that one can use to settle down the
mind. Only by getting rid of attachments can we truly settle down the mind.
Isn't this cultivating firmly?
"Sincerity is a prerequisite if you are to rectify your heart." (Chapter III
Cultivation of Xinxing, Falun Gong) A sincere attitude is critical. After
I studied Master's Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the
U.S. West Fa Conference, I realized that as Dafa disciples, we should seek
to assimilate to Dafa, and follow Dafa's requirements unconditionally. We cannot
look for something according to our attachments.
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