Let's Learn Zhuan Falun by Heart as Well

[PureInsight.org] Not long ago on a Dafa website a fellow practitioner shared his experience of learning the Fa by heart. After reading the article, I felt it was time for me to learn the Fa by heart as well.

Many times I wanted to learn the Fa by heart. However, every time I tried, I met with interference. The biggest distraction was that I always felt that I needed to study the Fa whenever I was trying to learn it by heart. My need was so severe that it prevented me from accomplishing either goal for a couple of weeks. The situation continued until I gave up learning the Fa by heart.

One weekend three months ago, I studied Master's article titled "Melt into the Fa" from Essentials for Further Advancement 30 times in a row without pause. Each time I finished reading it, I found an attachment of mine. Towards the end, my heart became clear and peaceful. I could remember my cultivation history starting with the moment I obtained the Fa. It was at that moment I made a promise to myself that I would learn Zhuan Falun by heart. Days later, ClearWisdom.net and Australia's Guang Ming Net (Australian Falun Dafa Information Center) both published articles in which fellow practitioners shared their cultivation experiences of learning the Fa by heart. These articles further strengthened my determination. I started to learn Zhuan Falun by heart, and soon I was able to recite the first lecture. Although this time I overcame the need to study the Fa and memorize the Fa at the same time, attachments to vanity and jealousy grew. Compared to the miracles fellow practitioners had experienced since they started to memorize the Fa, I didn't feel rapid advancement in my cultivation or anything special. My enthusiasm started to wane and I felt somewhat discouraged. Combined with an increase in Dafa work, I gave up memorizing the Fa again. In hindsight, I understand that was another form of interference.

Reading these types of articles again, I am deeply moved by the iron will of my fellow practitioners. I admire how a fellow practitioner memorized two thirds of Zhuan Falun within a month. In contrast, my speed of learning the Fa by heart was much slower. Three months have passed and I have only managed to memorize 40 pages of Zhuan Falun. I might have even forgotten some parts. The disparity between us was enormous. This fellow practitioner must have overcome all kinds of interference, organized his or her time well, and studied the Fa with a clear mind. However, I only noticed the end result, and ignored the cultivation process.

I have also noticed an incorrect notion of mine. I had an expectation of cultivation practice -- as long as I was diligent in my Fa study I would have a very smooth life. I wouldn't encounter any tribulations or experience physical discomfort to eliminate my karma, and everyone would smile at me all the time. If not, something must be wrong because I believed all tribulations arose from a bad cultivation state. When I studied the Fa diligently but still encountered tribulations, I lost faith. I realize now I went astray in my cultivation. After all, without physical tribulations and conflicts with people, how can we have the opportunities to transform our karma into virtue or to upgrade our xinxing [heart or mind nature]?

I read a fellow practitioner's article titled "Searching Inward and Looking at Things from a Positive Perspective" on PureInsight.org that analyzed the difference between seeking inward and looking at things from a negative perspective. I felt the author had said what was on my mind. A bad cultivation state exposes our remaining attachments and serves as a reminder for us to eliminate them. That's why we should respond to our bad cultivation state as a genuine cultivator. Instead of pursuing a good cultivation state, we should be glad to encounter a bad cultivation state that exposes our remaining attachments and work on getting rid of them to improve or elevate our xinxing with a positive attitude.

Looking back at the period of time when I stopped memorizing the Fa, I realized that I didn't really study the Fa well, and I kept experiencing physical discomfort as if I was eliminating karma. The physical discomfort once became so severe that it hindered my efforts to directly clarify the facts about Falun Gong to people. A couple of days ago, I almost cried when I ran into a small obstacle while clarifying the facts about the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin to everyday lawyers. In contrast, when I tried to study and memorize Zhuan Falun, I studied the Fa well, practiced the Falun Gong exercises diligently, and clarified the facts about Falun Gong with strong righteous thoughts. There was a time I felt I had difficulty sending powerful righteous thoughts, but I was able to examine my cultivation and identify my attachments because I kept memorizing the Fa. In the end I removed the attachment, started to work with fellow practitioners as a group and do well the Dafa work at hand with a humble and peaceful mind. Afterwards I could send forth powerful righteous thoughts again.

In retrospect, memorizing the Fa really did help my cultivation a lot. If I persisted in studying and memorizing the Fa, I might have also experienced the "specific phenomena of the Buddha Fa" that that fellow practitioner had experienced. I shouldn't have abandoned the effort whenever I encountered a little interference. I should have persisted in studying and memorizing the Fa instead. I remember a fellow practitioner said in another article that he had encountered many difficulties when memorizing the Fa, but he managed to persevere precisely when he was busiest with Dafa work.

I remember that I often had to memorize the texts to pass exams when I was a student at school. If we would make the effort to memorize everyday people's knowledge, we should put even more effort into studying and memorizing this Fa of the universe. As we keep filling our head with the Fa, the Fa will help eliminate more bad things from us and help us improve quickly in our cultivation.

I decided to write this article when I made up my mind to memorize the Fa again, instead of writing the article after I started to experience the marvelous effect of studying and memorizing the Fa. The purpose of this article is to remind and urge myself to solidly study the Fa with a tranquil mind from the very beginning, instead of studying the Fa to pursue an outcome. I shall let the Fa guide my daily cultivation practice, purify my each and every thought, and become a genuine cultivator and a qualified Dafa disciple.

Let's eliminate all interference with determination. Let's study and memorize the Fa together!

Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/5/25/27319.html