I have some thoughts on the topic of group Fa-study that I would like to share.
1. Be alert to being "too busy to study the Fa(1)"
No matter if we ourselves feel this way, if we hear other practitioners saying it, or we see it actually happening to others, we should all keep on the alert regarding the issue of "being too busy to study the Fa." This is not a small problem. We are not detained in a forced labour camp and have not lost our freedom. We have Teacher's books and know the importance of Fa study. Then why do we still not have time to study the Fa? We all should carefully think things over -- who is controlling us to say that I am too busy to study the Fa? Who is arranging things so that I become busy and put aside studying the Fa? In my opinion, if a Dafa practitioner does not have a strong main consciousness, he will be vulnerable to interference. Therefore, our main consciousness must predominate. I have realised that studying the Fa well is the safeguard for everything.
2. Seize every opportunity to participate in group Fa-study
According to my observations of some fellow practitioners in charge, I noticed that they often become too busy to study the Fa because of various objective or subjective reasons, although they know the importance of Fa-study. In my opinion, for those practitioners who had realised their problems, it would have been a good solution for them to temporarily put off requests in their Dafa work, calm down and study the Fa well to improve their cultivation states before they start to accept new tasks again. However, some fellow practitioners did not realise their problems in Fa-study at all, or, even though they did realise the problems, they could not do anything about it. For example, when the equipment was having problems, they couldn't simply ignore it. Therefore they would be trapped in tribulations for a long time and couldn't break through. They would unconsciously create a bad circle, which manifested in such a way that they would become busier and busier, and become too busy to study the Fa, all while interference would keep getting them from been involved in more work, and finally destroy them.
Since the practitioners dealing with technical things often go to the material sites to solve equipment problems or give technical instructions, why not take the opportunity to study the Fa with the group when he goes there? If everyone makes this a habit, then he/she not only can study the Fa, but also can benefit from this pure group Fa-study environment, which is a strong righteous energy field and can assimilate everyone. If they can be persistent in doing so, then they would have a deeper and deeper impression of the words "Fa Study" in their minds, and they can give top priority to Fa study from the heart. Furthermore, when they are away from this environment of group Fa-study, they will be able to conduct themselves well.
3. Regarding individual Fa-study "habits"
Someone I know had the following habit -- he wouldn't study the Fa during the day even when he was free, and his reason was because "it is quiet in the morning so it is good to study the Fa then. I do not have the habit of studying the Fa during the day." When I heard this, I thought I should respect others' habits, so I did not point out his problem in time. Quite regretfully however, he was illegally arrested not long afterwards and was sentenced very heavily.
Later on, two contact persons from other areas came to our area and stayed at our home temporarily. Under our repeated invitation, they finally agreed to study Zhuan Falun(2) with us. We took turns to read one paragraph each. One of them imitated Teacher's tone in the tapes of Fa lectures and seemed to be reading according to the tapes, and frequently modified the words and expressions in the book according to the tapes. He thought it was pretty good. The other contact person read extremely fast and made many mistakes in his reading. He said he liked to read at night when it was very quiet, and he could finish two or three lectures in a very short time. While they were reading, we had to constantly correct their mistakes and remind them of the seriousness of Fa-study, and that we should not make a single mistake. Finally they realised the seriousness of their problems. If it weren't for Teacher's arrangement to have them study the Fa with the group, it would be very difficult for them to realise their problems by themselves.
Of course these practitioners were in charge of coordinating and were very busy as well. I was just mentioning them to support my point. In my opinion, the purpose of participating in group Fa-study is to improve ourselves and purify ourselves, not to correct others. Some practitioners may not want to participate in group Fa-study. In my opinion, since everyone is practicing cultivation in the same Fa, why not put aside our habits for the time being?
4. Considerations about some concrete problems.
There are some practical issues in taking opportunities to do group Fa-study. For example, everyone is busy and it's hard to have a fixed schedule to get everyone together. In my opinion, it would be best for the practitioners in charge of technical work not to arrange their schedules too tightly, so that they can study the Fa first at the material sites before starting to solve the technical problems. If the situation is really urgent, it is also OK to solve the problem before studying the Fa. But it is not a good idea to fill the Fa-study time with experience sharing or doing things. Since everyone's pace in studying Zhuan Falun is different, we can discuss our situations with each other and find the best solution. We can also study Teacher's articles together. Teacher said in the article "Environment" in Essentials For Further Advancement,
"The environment is created by you, yourselves, and it, too, is essential for your improvement."
I think if everyone of us can give top priority to group Fa-study, then we can coordinate well and advance diligently together in group Fa-study.
Please compassionately point out any mistake there may be in my understanding.
(1) Fa can be translated as "law and principles in the Buddha School".
(2) Zhuan Falun is a book that contains the main principles of Falun Gong.
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