PureInsight | August 8, 2005
[PureInsight.org] When I first joined the group Fa study in our area, I was the newest Falun Gong practitioner there. They read very fast and I had difficulty keeping up with them. Nevertheless, I enjoyed attending the group Fa study because the exchanges of cultivation experiences and insights were very inspiring to me.
Later I had difficulty focusing during the Fa study for a long time because I felt fellow practitioners were studying either too fast or too slowly. Later we had a discussion on our reading speed and decided that we should be thoughtful of other practitioners at all times, including during the important Fa study. We also decided that each of us should lower our voices so that we won't cause any interference to other practitioners when we make mistakes in reading. It is also important to read softly so that we won't disturb the host's neighbors. From then on, we began to read softly and the quality of our Fa study actually improved.
One day about six practitioners attended the group Fa study. We studied the Fa together with soft voices. That was the first time I experienced the wonderful feeling of tranquility. I was truly able to study the Fa in tranquility and think of nothing else. My heart was filled with an indescribably beautiful feeling. All of us had the same wonderful feeling. In other words, we entered tranquility together during the Fa study. It was not until then that I realized it was an extremely wonderful feeling to enter tranquility. It is not a boring and empty feeling that everyday people might have imagined. It was not like that at all. When your mind is in tranquility, you will experience what it is like to be in an elevated realm.
During another group Fa study, my cultivation state was so good that I felt every word in Zhuan Falun was communicating with me. As I was reading each Chinese character in the book, I felt as though I was interacting or talking with the character. I felt as though each Chinese character in the book were a living being. I actually felt each and every Chinese character hopping and exclaiming in joy, as though it were in celebration.
Over the time fellow practitioners' reading speed no longer bothered or inconvenienced me. When they read fast, I would keep up with them. When they read slowly, I would slow down. Sometimes I hoped they would adjust their reading speed to coordinate with mine. Eventually I came to the understanding that, although we are supposed to be thoughtful of others at all times, including during the Fa study, the group's reading speed doesn't actually affect our own concentration. The key factor is whether our mind is on the Fa. That's the critical factor, not the group's reading speed.
I remember once a young man, an elderly uncle and I were studying the Fa together. [It is respectful and affectionate for the Chinese people to address an elder man outside the family as "uncle."] The uncle usually reads slowly and often has difficulty keeping up with the group's reading speed. But that day the three of us read very fast although none of us intended to do so. It was because we were enveloped in a very tranquil field that day and every word we read flowed into our minds. We were very drawn to the Fa and were drawn to read very fast yet pronounce every word very clearly. Even our voices sounded very tranquil and beautiful. The uncle read in a unified rhythm with us. Usually he often had to pause repeatedly during the group Fa study in order to catch up again. But that day we read in a unified rhythm and speed. He finished studying a lecture of Zhuan Falun together without pausing even once. I concluded from these experiences that, as long as our minds were on the Fa, the group's reading speed would not affect our concentration or the quality of our Fa study. The real key is whether we are able to melt ourselves into the Fa.
Translated from: http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/2/27/25710.html
