Persevere in Studying the Fa

[PureInsight.org] I thank Teacher immensely for arranging me to witness the iron will of a fellow practitioner who persevered in studying the Fa. Somehow I feel in my heart that it is important to share her story with those fellow practitioners who might encounter the same type of interference from time to time when studying the Fa.

I recently made a trip back to Taiwan. During the stay I often went to the practice site nearest to my parents' home in the morning for group exercise and Fa study. On a particular chilly, windy morning, there were only Anna (pseudonym) and I attending the group practice. After the practice, we decided to study one chapter of Zhuan Falun together before we left.

When we were half way through, Anna's voice gradually subsided. She stopped and said, "Lillian, why don't we call it for the day and finish off what we started tomorrow morning? I stayed up clarifying the truth to Chinese people on the chat rooms until 2:00 AM. I feel I could swoon any minute." Just when I was about to get up and bid her farewell, Anna sat down again and declared, "No! I must not leave! I must finish studying one chapter of Zhuan Falun! How can I be so easily defeated by the evil?!" I saw that a sheer determination to combat the evil interference registered her face. An admiration of her righteous thought grew in my mind. I encouraged Anna with a smile.

"Let me send forth righteous thoughts first to eliminate the interference," Anna said. I immediately followed. To help Anna combat the evils, I focused powerful thoughts on saying, "I shall eliminate all the evils interfering with Anna's Fa study right now," after I finished saying the formulas.

As we proceeded in sending forth righteous thoughts together, I could feel that peace and tranquility had been restored in her energy field. Afterwards we resumed studying the Fa with ease, improved focus, and very keen senses. Before we knew it, we had finished reading a chapter of Zhuan Falun. When she looked up at me with a truly happy smile, I saw her eyes sparkling with joy and her face radiant with the kind of radiance you will find when a Dafa practitioner has truly studied the Fa.

"I know how you feel," I thought. I have always felt this unknowing happiness when I have truly studied the Fa.

I thank Teacher immensely for letting me witness a fellow practitioner successfully combat the evils interfering with her Fa study. I was truly moved beyond what words can describe. From then on, I would think of her and her iron will to combat the evil forces every time I felt distracted, or sleepy during Fa study, and I would combat the evil forces with the same determination.

I hope that, by sharing her story, we will spread her righteous spirits like a fire on the prairie, and we will never let the interference get to us ever again.

I'd like to tell you another rather inspirational story.

I had the most precious opportunity to attend a local experience-sharing gathering in Taipei where a group of Chinese practitioners were invited to share their personal Fa-rectification experiences in China. Betty (pseudonym), a practitioner from China who spoke that day, was detained in multiple prisons and labor camps where she successfully rectified the environments with her righteous thoughts and actions.

Finally she was transferred to a psychiatric institution where she was first given a general anesthesia that knocked her unconscious, and then she was administered eight large bottles of unknown drugs for two whole days while unconscious. When her husband visited Betty, she stared into the air without blinking and drooled all over her pillow. The "doctor" at the institution announced that she was a goner and that she would never regain consciousness or walk for the rest of her life because those drugs had caused direct permanent damage to her central nervous system. The hospital had to release her, but within three days Betty was able to do the sitting meditation and read Zhuan Falun. A week later she was able to walk again.

"How did you do it?" That was the question we all had.

"I think I was able to walk this Fa-rectification path from a little uncertainty to a complete faith in Dafa because I have been studying the Fa diligently. I acquired the Fa 1½ years before the persecution against Falun Gong began in China. During that 1½ years I would devote each and every weekend completely to studying the Fa. I would read from morning until bedtime every weekend. If not for the good foundation I had built by studying the Fa diligently, persistently, and thoroughly, I would not have had the adamant faith in Dafa that truly helped me validate the Fa and combat the evils when I was totally alone, surrounded by the allies of evil in those evil environments."

Upon hearing her words, I remembered some of the episodes in my own Fa-rectification path where I felt completely alone although I have never been cooped up by myself in a solitary confinement cell of a forced labor camp. I guess there are some moments in our life of Fa-rectification when we all have to face the tests of our faith in Dafa --- alone. During those moments, I would ask myself, "Can I really do it? Can I really overcome these obstacles?" I would also ask myself the same question when I read a Fa-rectification story on Clearwisdom.net where a fellow practitioner in China walked out a labor camp with his righteous thoughts and actions.

In the end, the answer is always "yes" because I am not and never will be truly alone. The Fa is my best friend and it is with me at all times, giving me all kinds of help I need to conquer the evil obstacles. Teacher's words always come to my mind as the best aide for my problems.

This is why it is so important to persevere in studying the Fa. Studying the Fa will surely reinforce our faith in Dafa, but on the other hand, I have come to understand from Anna's experience that persevering in studying the Fa is also a manifestation of faith in Dafa.

Yes, all the problems we face all come down to our faith, including studying the Fa.

It is pretty obvious that the evil old forces will stop at nothing to shatter our faith in Dafa, for when our faith is weak every effort we make becomes fragile. We mustn't satisfy them even one bit. I hope that we will all remember Anna's words next time we experience interferences in studying the Fa, or when we are tempted by the evil old forces to study the Fa later:

"No! I must not leave! I must finish studying one chapter of Zhuan Falun! How can I be so easily defeated by the evil?!"