(Minghui.org) Prior to the last Chinese New Year, I occasionally spent some time with a fellow practitioner whom I didn't have much contact with. This practitioner suggested we form a study group for young practitioners. It was pointed out that most of the young practitioners in the area were not involved in group Fa-study, and most of them were studying by themselves at home. They therefore lacked opportunities to share experiences and were pretty much slacking off in their cultivation practice. I immediately agreed to make my home the group study site, because I really wanted a group environment for Fa-study.
The study group was formed as soon as the New Year. After group study on the first day, several of us shared our experiences and found that our state was excellent while studying the Fa together: our minds were calm, and our Fa-study was solid. I myself felt that the energy field was very good. Group practice and group study are cultivation practice forms that Master has left for us, and they are indeed the best environment for advancement in cultivation practice.
The study group has continued ever since, and every practitioner has benefited from it a lot. Any behavior or speech that doesn't conform to the Fa is pointed out and rectified. Any words read incorrectly are pointed out. One practitioner said he had read a certain sentence hundreds of times and never realized he was reading it incorrectly. One practitioner read very fast, and others kindly pointed out that reading too fast showed he had notions, that he should slow down and read the Fa word by word. The practitioner looked inside and found he had an attachment to showing off, that he failed to think of others who were listening, and that they would miss things if he read too fast. Upon realizing this, the practitioner read more slowly and found that his Fa-study became more solid.
I used to have a hard time concentrating on the Fa while I was reading, and I couldn't solidly study the Fa. However, in the group study environment, I could focus and read the Fa with a pure mind. In such a good state of mind, I was able to pass good information to others while reading out loud and benefit others. Now things have greatly improved for each of us during Fa-study. I feel that every practitioner is doing a great job reading the Fa, and I feel very much at ease listening to them. It is because we have gradually rectified our thoughts and improved our xinxing.
Master taught in “Melt Into the Fa” in Essentials for Further Advancement:
“So you must have a clear understanding on the matter of studying the Fa. Reading the books more and studying the books more is the key to truly elevating yourself. To put it more simply, as long as you read Dafa, you are changing; as long as you read Dafa, you are elevating. The boundless content of Dafa plus the supplementary means—the exercises—will enable you to reach Consummation.”
Master has been earnestly telling us to study the Fa more. We therefore increased our Fa-study time by also reading Master's recent lectures after reading a lecture of Zhuan Falun.
The method of group Fa study has increased for us the amount of Fa-study as well as the quality. No one feels tired or sleepy after three hours of reading. I feel the environment is changing me and pushing me upward.
A group study environment can provide strong positive elements that can help a practitioner to improve. One practitioner used to say that, in the field of group study, the righteous field of each practitioner can disintegrate bad substances and elements and rectify incorrect states. I experienced this one day when I had a headache and nausea. I still made it to the group study, and my symptoms disappeared very quickly. Therefore, I have never skipped our group study since it was formed.
Every practitioner in the group has something in him or her to bring to the group, and that's what others need to learn from and improve. Every practitioner also has attachments, and shows them sometimes. I'd like to share how to look inside and to kindly help the person to remove the attachments, hence making this environment one that enables practitioners to improve together.
I normally would not have pointed out other practitioners' shortcomings when I saw them, thinking that they would realize it themselves sooner or later. So I thought there was no need for me to point them out. Additionally, I was afraid that the practitioner would not accept it because of self-esteem or vanity. One practitioner pointed out to me that my thoughts were based on the mentality of self-protection. The practitioner recited to me Master's Fa:
“Since you have found the cause that prevented him from moving forward, why don’t you point it out to him? It shouldn’t be a problem if you tell him kindly. Is it because you are a little afraid of him getting upset with you? Yet, wouldn’t the bad attitude of that person be a perfect chance for you to cultivate yourself? It doesn’t matter even if he didn’t understand what you said—shouldn’t this emotion (qing) of an everyday person be given up? You should tell him if you see a problem.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Canada”)
Following Master's teachings, I found a deeply-hidden attachment of mine: I was using human thoughts to imagine what would happen, and I was afraid of others' being offended and not accepting it. I realized that I was not being responsible to fellow practitioners, and my thoughts were selfish. To rectify myself, I first removed my attachment to self-protection. Then, when I saw another's shortcomings, I told the practitioner about it with a compassionate heart. At the same time I adjusted my mentality, and tried my best to remain in a compassionate and peaceful mindset. The practitioner accepted it easily.
It is inevitable that conflicts develop as long as we are together. It is just as Master said:
“If the person did not create this situation for you, how could you upgrade your xinxing? If both you and I are nice to each other and sit there in harmony, how can it be possible to increase gong? It is precisely because that person has created this conflict for you that there is this opportunity to improve xinxing, and you can make use of it to upgrade your own xinxing. Isn’t your xinxing raised this way?” (“Lecture Four” in Zhuan Falun)
It is not a bad thing for conflicts to occur. The key is how to rectify ourselves using the Fa and improve our xinxing through the conflict.
Having persisted in attending group study and looking inside, I discovered my long-term slacking off in cultivation practice by not consistently doing the exercises. Realizing that my cultivation state was far from the standard for practitioners, I made up my mind to immediately change it by breaking away from my attachments to ease and comfort and fear of hardships. I decided to attend the morning practice. However, for someone like me who had failed to get up early to do the exercises for years, it was simply too difficult to pass the test. I thought of seeking help from other practitioners and joining them for the morning practice. Even though I was trying to use external help to pass this test, perhaps Master saw my heart of wanting to advance diligently in cultivation practice, so an older female practitioner agreed to practice with me every morning.
With waking up early no longer an issue, my next test was sitting in the double lotus position. Although I had practiced for so many years, I had not broken through sitting in the double lotus; I would take my legs down as soon as they started to hurt. When I went to the older practitioner's home for the first time, seeing her sitting in the double lotus position with ease, I knew I was too far off. So I bit my lips and made it to an hour. In the month that followed, I was able to do the sitting meditation for an hour every day, because I gave myself no excuses for not doing what I could do on the first day. I told myself that, because of my slacking-off over the years, I hadn't paid off the karma that I should have paid off. Thus it had accumulated to this extent, and it was all my due tribulation to pay. With Fa-rectification in the last stage, I would not have any more opportunities if I did not take this chance to advance diligently. So I bit my lips and faced it and overcame it. “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (“Lecture One” in Zhuan Falun) Perhaps because my xinxing had met the requirements, I was able to endure the pain regardless of how bad it was. I knew Master was helping me elevate.
With the environment available, persistence still depends on me. Whether or not I can study the Fa solidly depends on me. Whether or not I can calm my mind and obtain the gong myself during group practice also depends on me.
I felt that my heart was greatly enriched by the consistent daily Fa-study and practice. Just as another practitioner who also attends the morning group practice said, “I feel very secure, and I feel myself a practitioner now.” In the past, I studied the Fa and did the exercises, but regardless of when I sent forth righteous thoughts or clarified the truth, I felt it was not powerful, and the effect was not good. That was because I did not conduct myself and assist Master in Fa-rectification by clearly following the standards of a practitioner. I had been wearing the hat of a Dafa disciple, but did not practice real cultivation; I had not even met the requirements of a normal cultivator.
It wasn't until now that I realized I needed to hurry up. I wrote this to encourage myself to cherish the limited time left, do the three things well, and be responsible for myself and sentient beings!
