After Reading "Memorizing the Fa"

[PureInsight.org] When I read "Memorizing the Fa" on Minghui.org, I was so touched that tears flowed down my cheeks. I like memorizing the Fa, the author kept saying. The happiness the author gets from memorizing the Fa is immensely infectious. Indeed, how can any being in the universe not be interested in the origin of its life? I suddenly remembered a recent conversation with a Christian. She wanted to discuss cultivation practice and godhood with me. I wanted to use the format of questions and answers to inspire her to open up her mind. But each time I raised a question, she would immediately flip to the page in The Bible that contained the answer to my question. Compared to her thorough knowledge of the main study text of her cultivation school, I felt very ashamed of my lack of diligence on Fa study. Although she has not accepted Falun Gong, she is a diligent cultivator in her cultivation school. On the other hand, I haven't started to memorize the main study text of my cultivation school, Zhuan Falun.

The author of "Memorizing the Fa" said, "I am not sure if fellow practitioners have ever thought about this question: If Fa-rectification ends one day, our cultivation will also end, then will there be an end to our time of studying the Fa? Will it be cut off on a certain day as well? Are we losing one day every day? Sometimes when I see fellow practitioners spending their thoughts and energy on unnecessary things, I really feel distressed. We should really have a good idea of what we are here for, and what the most precious, biggest, most ultimate happiness for a living being is. We should repeatedly and clearly think about these questions!" [1]

I finally realized that Teacher had arranged the Christian lady to appear in my life to hint that I should be more diligent in my Fa study. Thus I was determined to memorize the Fa.

As soon as I started to memorize Zhuan Falun, I ran into a lot of obstacles. After having studied the Fa for many years, I must have read Zhuan Falun hundreds of times. However, each time I finished studying one lecture of Zhuan Falun, I still felt that all the words I had just read quickly would reside in me only briefly before they quickly disappeared into thin air. More precisely, I felt as if I were a container with both ends open and I could never get a hold on the contents of Zhuan Falun. In the past I always attributed that to the fact that the Fa is boundless. But even when I started to memorize the Fa, I still felt the same way and it seemed impossible for me to memorize the Fa. Then I started to read one paragraph repeatedly before I memorized it. Sometimes I had read a very short paragraph for a dozen times, but I still could not remember it at all. In those days, I truly felt it was very difficult to go on memorizing the Fa.

Yet I knew it was not an issue of having a bad memory, but an issue of cultivation practice. I knew it was a test for me. Then I remembered a problem that had been haunting me since I started my Falun Gong cultivation practice: In my dreams at night, I have never seemed to conduct myself as a cultivator. It was plain that I was a completely different person in my dreams. Did I manifest the true level of my xinxing (morality) when I was awake or when I was asleep?

Teacher said, "Things that you encounter in your dreams are various types of tests for you. They're to see whether your heart has been cultivated solidly during your everyday cultivation and whether you're able to pass this test well. It's a type of test to see whether you're able to pass this test and whether you've cultivated solidly. That's because only then will your true state be displayed, as all your desires of covering up and hiding things are asleep at that time. If you haven't done well, you should take the matter seriously since, after all, you haven't done well. If you've cultivated well in your daily life, you will for sure do well in your dreams and be able to pass the test." (From "Lecture at the Australia Fa Conference")

I finally realized that all the things I encountered in my dreams tested whether I had cultivated solidly and all of my responses in the dreams reflected that I had failed to cultivate solidly. I calmed down and contemplated my cultivation. I realized that even while I was awake, many of my thoughts and actions failed to meet Falun Gong's standards for its cultivators. A lot of times I did not realize I had thought about or done things inappropriately until afterwards. Oftentimes my first thought was not righteous.

I failed to study the Fa well or cultivate solidly. That is the fundamental reason why I had so much difficulty memorizing the Fa. What should I do? I knew there was no shortcut in cultivation, so I continued to memorize the Fa diligently. Thus I finally managed to memorize the entire Zhuan Falun piecemeal. I won't be able to recite the entire book of Zhuan Falun if you ask me to, but I truly felt I had upgraded my xinxing (mind nature or morality) during the process of memorizing the Fa. I feel the Fa had branded into my memory like an inscription on a piece of marble. As long as I repeatedly try to memorize Zhuan Falun, one day I will be able to fluently recite the entire book. I think it will be much easier to memorize Zhuan Falun when I continue to eliminate my attachments.

I know I often forget that I am a cultivator and, as a result, fail to conduct myself like a cultivator, so I tried to reinforce my Main Consciousness during the process of memorizing the Fa. I would often say to myself in my heart, "I am a cultivator of Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong). I must live by the principles of Truth, Compassion and Forbearance. I am Teacher's Falun Gong disciple in the Fa-rectification period." I would often remind myself like this when I was free, although I might be riding a bicycle or taking a lunch break at the time. At first, I would "stumble" even though I was saying these words to myself in my heart. I sometimes had to think for a moment before I remembered what I wanted to say. Slowly these words seem to have melted into my body because I started to remember that I am a cultivator when I encountered xinxing tests.

It is very helpful for the upgrade of our cultivation level to memorize Zhuan Falun at least once. I hope that those fellow practitioners can afford the time will try it. Ultimately we should be able to recite Zhuan Falun as the transformation of our life progresses from the microscopic level towards the surface level during the cultivation practice. During the process of memorizing the Fa, I developed a more profound understanding of Teacher's Fa. I had only a surface understanding of many Fa passages in Zhuan Falun, but now I have a better understanding of them and they are obviously guiding my cultivation practice. Take my morning practice of the sitting meditation for an example. I used to have difficulty entering tranquility in the past because I kept thinking about work. But when I was memorizing the following passage about practicing meditation, I easily entered the described state when I thought of the passage of the Fa.

Teacher said, "Then, what specific state will occur? When you sit there, you should feel wonderful and very comfortable as though you are sitting inside an egg shell; you will be aware of yourself practicing the exercise, but you feel that your whole body cannot move. This is what must occur in our practice." (From "Attachment to Zealotry" in Lecture Eight of Zhuan Falun.)

Last time I attended a Falun Gong practitioners' cultivation experience sharing conference in Berlin, Germany, I had the opportunity to study Lecture Nine of Zhuan Falun with a female practitioner from Israel. During the Fa study, tears came down her cheeks. I have cried while studying some of Teacher's jinwen (Fa lectures), but I have never cried while studying Zhuan Falun. This time I cried. One day while I was repeatedly reading out a passage in Zhuan Falun in order to memorize it, I suddenly felt Teacher's compassion and tears flooded down my face. Without Teacher, there would not have been anything at all. Without the Fa, there would not have been anything at all. Our renewed lives are completely nourished by the Fa, so how could we not study the Fa well? The Fa is like a bridge, the only bridge from the old universe to the new one. It is only through the Fa that we may be brought to the other end of the bridge. It is through the Fa that each and every microscopic level of our body may be transformed into a never-degenerating Vajra body. Our daily Fa study is necessary to us like our daily bread or the oxygen. Gradually, I began to experience the joy of studying the Fa.

I also experienced something rather miraculous. I realized Zhuan Falun is an "interactive" book. While I was memorizing some passages of the Fa, Teacher would arrange some tests pertaining to the parts I was trying to memorize to test if I have truly understood them. I am very regretful that I failed to pass some of the tests. For example, the day I was trying to memorize the section of "Cultivation of Speech" in Lecture Eight of Zhuan Falun happened to be April 25. Many practitioners in our area drove out of town to attend activities to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. During the ride, a fellow practitioner in the car talked about a recent incident emotionally. I did not approve of what he said and began to dislike him. I started reproaching him with very malicious and offensive words, and soon we took the wrong path. I didn't realize it was a hint that I ought to have cultivated my speech, so I continued to scold him. Immediately after I finished, the engine started to smoke and the steering wheel was out of control, so we had to stop. I sat there completely stunned for a while. I had never realized that there were severe consequences to my malicious speech. This was the worst "immediate retribution" I have ever met.

I also learned something else: It is not the length of the Fa study, but the state of the mind when studying the Fa, that matters. The result of our Fa study will be greatly enhanced if we study the Fa with the same respect as if Teacher was teaching the Fa right in front of us. When I treated the Fa study like something "to get over with," I felt as if I had studied nothing at all.

I would like to share my humble understanding on the subject matter because I hope more fellow practitioners will realize the urgency due to the limited amount of time left. I also hope that all the fellow practitioners will truly experience how lucky and blissful it is to be a Falun Gong practitioner. There is nothing more enjoyable than studying the Fa.

Reference:
[1] Clearwisdom.net: Memorizing the Fa: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/3/3/45685.html

Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/5/12/27113.html