(Clearwisdom.net) I am a 16-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner. I started practicing at age seven along with my mother. Back then I loved to play. Although I knew Dafa was great and Master was amazing, I didn't want to read the books or watch the Fa lecture videos. I didn't think it was fun to read the large characters in the Dafa books. For a long time I didn't voluntarily study the Fa. I studied the books only when my mother made me. I became somewhat more diligent as I grew older, but I was still reluctant.
Last summer a practitioner hosted a Fa study class for young practitioners at her home. The young practitioners got together, studied the Fa and did the exercises. At first I was unwilling because I had to read through the Dafa books and correct the words in the books under adult supervision. We studied two lectures of Zhuan Falun in the morning and corrected the words. In the afternoon we studied Master's new articles and corrected the words in them. In our spare time we did the exercises, led by adults.
Slowly I began to understand the books, and I began to grasp the significance of the three things in validating Dafa. I started to take the initiative to do the exercises and study the Fa because I felt really good about it. With supervision and encouragement from the adults, we spent a summer studying the Fa. After this Fa study, each one of us could better understand Dafa, and great changes overcame each practitioner. By the time school started we had studied the new articles twice and Zhuan Falun seven times.
Since I had improved last summer, I did not waste time this summer. I had taken the high school entrance exams earlier in the year, but I didn't do well and didn't get into a first-tier high school, so I was upset. My mother and aunt, both Dafa practitioners, encouraged me to study the Fa a lot during the summer and follow Master's plan as to what school I should attend. My aunt set up a schedule for me to memorize Zhuan Falun.
She asked me to memorize four pages of Zhuan Falun at her home. After I had memorized those four pages, I recited them five more times and she checked me. "Nothing can interfere with memorizing the Fa!" said my aunt. I reluctantly agreed. I thought, "It's such a big book. It takes me a long time to even read it. I don't know if I can really remember it." But then I thought, "However many pages I can remember, that's how many pages I'll put in my head."
When I first started, it took me a whole day to memorize four pages. But after I recited a passage from memory, I would understand something I never knew before. It took me ten days to learn the first lecture. I realized then that I had not been truly studying the Fa. It was only then that I started to truly study Zhuan Falun. Last summer I realized that it was better to read through the book than merely skim through it, but now I know that reading through the book is only scratching the surface, while reciting the book from memory is imprinting it on my mind.
I picked up speed committing the second lecture to memory. I could now memorize four pages in one morning. My aunt decided that I should strive for eight pages a day. The first day I aimed for eight pages, but something came up that took the whole morning. I started reciting after coming home in the afternoon, and I finished by 8:00 p.m. I realized I was totally capable of remembering eight pages in one day. By the time I got to the fourth lecture I was able to remember and recite ten pages a day. Against all expectations, something came up again in the morning, but I was able to memorize ten pages in one afternoon, just like the last time.
When I came to the passage about improving xinxing, Aunt asked me to recite twelve pages a day. I thought, "That's so hard!" I cried like a baby and looked at Master's picture. Aunt joked and said, "She is crying and looking at Master's picture, because she thinks Master loves her and we don't, so she is complaining to Master!" I cried for a whole morning but in the afternoon I gladly went for the 12 pages. I liked reciting the book more and more, and I loved looking at Master's picture, because he was always smiling at me. I was memorizing more pages in less time.
When I got to lecture seven I was worried because my mother was in a poor state of mind. Aunt told me in private, "With other practitioners, the mother leads the child to make diligent progress, but it's the opposite with you and your mom. If you improve yourself, your mom will also get better." I took up the challenge of memorizing sixteen pages a day, up from twelve pages. It was a major breakthrough. I went to my aunt's home at 7:00 a.m. and started reciting the book, and I went home at noon to read one of the lectures with my mother. I went back to my aunt's home in the afternoon to recite some more, and then I sent forth righteous thoughts for thirty minutes to eliminate the rotten demons and black hands that interfere with my mother. I was melting into the Fa all day long.
School started early this year, so I had to take a giant step forward and commit to memorizing twenty pages a day. I didn't have time to watch TV. I had memorized Zhuan Falun in its entirety by the morning prior to the first day of school. It took me 42 days to memorize the whole book, from July 9, 2005, until August 19, 2005, done with Master's help and support.
My father was away from home during this time. He was always opposed to my mother and me practicing Dafa, and he created great interference. We asked Master for help. Father left town for work reasons a few days after I started memorizing and reciting the book. When he returned a few days before school started, a miracle happened -- I was accepted by a secondary institution that included three years of high school and two years of college. The school environment is great and my parents like it. I'm ecstatic because I don't have to go to a high school that cares only about test scores. Now I'll have enough time to recite the Fa. I'm so happy I'm beaming all the time! I know Master has arranged everything for me.
When I was on the last two pages, my hands shook and I almost dropped the book. I clearly felt the sentient beings in my universe cheering. Every single one of my cells was jumping with joy. Tears streamed down my face. I calmed down and said to them, "Don't get too excited and let me finish reciting the book. Trust me, I will bring back the Fa in its entirety." When I finished the last few words, I could no longer contain my excitement. I held the book close. I looked at Master's picture and cried. Master was smiling at me, and I have never before seen him smiling so happily. Right then, firecrackers went off outside my home. I knew this was a very good thing in the universe, and Master was congratulating me.
This was a thought-provoking experience. I think most young practitioners my age followed in their parents' footsteps when they started practicing Dafa. Because they were young, they studied however much their parents made them. They often don't study a lot on their own and don't read many of Master's latest articles. They have a poor understanding of Dafa and particularly Fa rectification. They don't realize the importance of Fa study or the significance of the three things.
The fundamental changes that took place in me started when I went to the summer Fa study class last year, which laid the foundation for me to be able to memorize and recite the Fa this summer. I used to be passive, but now I actively practice cultivation, actively assimilate to Dafa and do the three things with reason. I suggest that fellow practitioners who are parents help their children improve by studying the Fa with them, including Master's most recent articles, so that the young practitioners can understand the meaning of Dafa and the Fa principles. They will then become authentic Dafa disciples. They should make a plan and study the Fa with the young practitioners on a daily basis, and they have to persist. Last summer the adults took turns watching us study the Fa throughout the summer. I was able to memorize the whole book this past summer only because my aunt and my mother checked on me periodically. It's crucially important for adults to give us a nudge along the way because we are young and playful.
I hope adult practitioners can help the young practitioners study the Fa, no matter what happens. It's also important not to stop while reciting the Fa, because if you stop halfway, it'll be very difficult to pick it up again. Zhuan Falun is different from other books, so please don't allow interruptions in the memorization process. I learned and recited one paragraph at a time, paragraph by paragraph. I would memorize a paragraph, close the book and recite it five times, by which time the paragraph was firmly imprinted on my brain. Don't think about the previous paragraph when reciting the next one. It's hard to recite a whole lecture all at once, and one is more prone to give up reciting the book when facing this situation. It's also better if the parents can check on the kids to make sure they remember it well.
Since we are young and have fewer notions it's easier for us to recite the Fa. I hope all young practitioners can diligently strive forward. Although we are younger in age, it doesn't mean our enlightenment quality is less than that of the adults. We have more spare time than adults, so we should study the Fa more. With the Fa as our guide, we have more power when sending forth righteous thoughts and saving sentient beings. I am now reciting the book for the second time, reciting chapter by chapter.
The above is my experience of memorizing and reciting the Fa. Please point out anything inappropriate.