(Minghui.org) I always wanted to memorize the Fa and tried to do so several times, but each time I stopped in the middle. Then I was inspired by an experience sharing article about reciting the Fa on Minghui Radio. So I recently started to recite the Fa again with two older practitioners. We encouraged each other along the way. I made up my mind to persist to the end.
I greatly benefited from memorizing the Fa this time. At times I felt Master's grand compassion and protection, and burst into tears. Sometimes I suddenly enlightened to a layer of Fa principles, which made me joyful. At first I memorized the Fa one sentence at a time, then I memorized an entire paragraph. Some paragraphs were difficult to memorize. I encouraged myself and repeatedly worked on the paragraph. After I eventually was able to memorize that paragraph, I found I was able to memorize the Fa faster and faster, and became more willing to memorize the Fa. I suggested that the elderly practitioners memorize sentence by sentence and keep going, which was usually better for them.
Memorizing the Fa allowed me to obtain more wisdom, find many of my attachments, and elevate my mind and body rapidly. For example, I found the fake self after memorizing the Fa. Reciting the Fa has been so rewarding. One cannot realize how rewarding it is without experiencing it. I sincerely suggest that practitioners, who haven’t yet started memorizing the Fa, start right now.
Finding the Fake Self
The weather recently turned cold, which occasionally led to my not getting up on time, and that affected my doing the morning exercises. One day I did not want to get up even after the alarm clock went off. I still did not want to get up even after I looked within and found my attachments of laziness, the pursuit of comfort, and fear of cold. Then a thought suddenly came to my mind, “I must break up the human notions of being smart, lazy, gluttonous, and cunning.” I immediately became sober. I repeated this thought of getting rid of these human notions, and then I got up to do the morning exercises.
I looked within with a calm mind afterward to find my human notions of “being smart, lazy, gluttonous, and cunning.” For example, I was attached to talking smoothly while interacting with regular people in order not to offend them, to being lazy and pursuing comfort when doing things, and to liking spicy, sour, and sweet food. I understood that Master enlightened me to get rid of these attachments as soon as possible. I constantly cleaned up these dirty substances in my mind and recited “breaking up being smart, lazy, gluttonous, and cunning.” My body and mind became much lighter and I gradually was no longer obsessed with the taste of food anymore.
I continued tracing the attachments to find the root: What exactly is “smart, lazy, gluttonous, and cunning?” Why does it still exist after I have cultivated Dafa? It is the “self” that formed after birth, the fake self. I was controlled by the fake self and I must truly cultivate myself to get rid it.
I understand that the fake self is made up of the dirty substances that accumulated over time when my true self was walking down from heaven to earth. It includes selfishness, showing off, zealotry, jealousy, resentment, competitiveness, fame, fortune, lust, etc. The fake self is a living being created from all the attachments. It hid in my mind and controlled me.
For regular people, the fake self is very powerful. It acts as the master of the body at every moment. When someone praises you, it will create attachments of zealotry in your mind. When someone beats you or disrespects you, it will make you resent and fight with others. When you see the opposite sex, it will create lust in your mind. When you see fame and fortune, it will have you long for it and fight for it. In short, it makes you cry and laugh whenever it wants. It controls an everyday person’s emotions, while your true self has been deeply buried, covered by the countless dirty things you acquired after birth. Regular people pitifully and uncomfortably live for the fake self.
Dafa practitioners are different. A practitioner's true self was already awakened by Master. Master also constantly cleanses us with the Fa principles. The true self should be in control of our life. Therefore, our practitioners must clearly recognize the fake self and eliminate it continuously, instead of being controlled by it. The fake self was formed after birth and its wisdom is at the level of regular people. What it controls us to do are low-level, stupid, dirty, and nasty things. There is no reason for us to safeguard it, for it drives us to hate, fight, and pursue lust and zealotry. A practitioner should not want any of these dirty substances. Instead, we need to constantly get rid of it until we completely remove it from our world.
I have often heard elderly practitioners say during their experience sharing that they did not know how to look within. I patiently told them my thought process and how my mind transformed. It helped them to some extent, and I was occasionally praised for it. Once, after hearing such praise, I felt zealous. I asked myself, “Who am I validating? Am I trying to validate the 'self?' This fake self is a super low-level and stupid substance. How can I validate it? I am a Dafa practitioner, and all my righteous thoughts and actions are to validate the greatness of Master and the Fa. They have nothing to do with the fake self.” The attachments of showing off and zealotry disappeared immediately after I had this righteous thought.
I remember the scene about the “True and Fake Monkey King” at the end of Journey to the West. I understand it is a metaphor for the battle between the true self and the fake self. The Monkey King eventually defeated the fake one, which was a six-eared macaque. We must also eventually eliminate the fake self during our cultivation.
When I did not know what to do upon encountering a problem, I asked myself: “What would Master tell me to do?” And I followed Master’s requirements. The true self is the one who can meet the standard of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Otherwise, it is the fake self. The true self can return home pure with Master only if the dirty fake self, which formed after birth, can be completely eliminated.
I am extremely grateful for everything Master bestows on me. I must memorize the Fa more, and cultivate diligently.
Category: Improving Oneself
