Finding Attachments by Memorising the Falun Gong Teachings

Before the persecution against Falun Gong started on July 20th, 1999 in Panjin City during a Falun Gong experience sharing conference. I heard that some fellow practitioners had memorised Zhuan Falun nine times. At that moment, I wished to do the same but then gave up after some time due to getting a headache during the process. My head had been been injured in the past when a metal window frame in our plant accidentally hit me.

Thus, I wasted almost 9 years because I did not do things correctly. I felt as though I was doing well because I was reading the Falun Gong teachings every day, did the Falun Gong exercises, sent forth righteous thoughts as well as occasionally doing things to expose the persecution. I knew that I was not at the level as some practitioners, but I also knew that I was better off than some. This notion caused me to not be pure enough, so I was being interfered with frequently during my study of the Teachings or when sending forth righteous thoughts. Our Teacher says in Chapter Five of Zhuan Falun:

"If one's mind is full of these things and expresses such ill thoughts, how could that great enlightened person come? The goal of consecration then cannot be achieved whatsoever."

Starting at the end of July in 2005 until now, I was really able to memorise the entirety of Zhuan Falun. Due to my anxiety for progress and mentality of wanting to show off, I tried to do it again in a faster way. Then when I started to memorise the book a second time, I got stuck at the end of Chapter Two, "The Issue of Pursuit." Meanwhile, due to my selfishness, I wanted to clarify the truth to my family badly, without worrying about those outside of my family. As a result, I was often turned down.

When I read in the Minghui Weekly that fellow practitioners had established November 1st as the day for memorising the Falun Gong teachings, I also started to memorise Zhuan Falun. It said to memorise a passage and then reinforce it after a couple of days. But instead of learning from other practitioners' experiences, I dismissed their suggestion as something of ordinary people. I could not pass the section of "Upgrading Xinxing" in Chapter Four. Teacher says:

"Because many people could not maintain good xinxing in the past, many problems occurred. After their practise reached a certain level, they could not make further progress. Some people have a high xinxing level to begin with. Their Third Eyes are opened at once with the practice and can reach a certain realm. Because this person has relatively good inborn quality and a high xinxing level, his gong increases rapidly. By the time the gong reaches his xinxing level, the gong has also increased up to that level. If he wants to continue increasing his gong, the conflict will also become very serious, as it requires him to keep upgrading xinxing. This is particularly true for a person with good inborn quality. He may think that his gong has been increasing well and the practise also goes very well. Why are there suddenly so many problems? Everything goes wrong. People mistreat him, and his boss also does not favour him. Even the situation at home becomes very very tense. Why are there so many problems all of a sudden? This person himself might not get it. Because of his good inborn quality, he has reached a certain level that brings about this situation. Yet how could that be a practitioner's final criterion for completing cultivation? It is far from the end of cultivation practice! You must continue to improve yourself. Because of that little amount of your inborn quality you have reached this state. In order to ascend further, the standard must be raised as well."

The advantage of memorising the Teachings is that one can compare oneself with the requirements of Falun Dafa and thus be able to find one's fundamental attachments. Over the years, I have gained a deeper understanding about upgrading my character, which Teacher¹ mentioned in his lecture above. Writing down my experiences and realising the impact of memorising the Falun Gong teachings surely helps to eliminate my fundamental attachment, which was hidden deeply inside and had been causing trouble for so many years. In the past, I thought that when a certain practitioner was watching TV at home, this would cause interference with his study of the Falun Gong books. Therefore, I pointed out my concern to him. But he replied that I was being foolish and not conforming to ordinary society. I thought that I was right and never tried to search within until now. Now I realise that what I saw was a reflection of my fundamental attachment to fame. In order to redeem the loss I had caused previously, I was too eager to achieve quick success and was rejected by others. As long as I still had this attachment, it would be displayed to me through others. As soon as I was able to rationally validate the Fa, others would see it in a different light.

During these several years I also noticed that the reaction of ordinary people would be driven by my own state. Every time, when I stubbornly thought that I was right, others would not listen to me, which had a negative impact. At times when I needed to improve, I kept searching externally, which was not a correct state of a cultivator. Thus, Teacher gave me hints so I could upgrade my understandings through my dealings with non-practitioners. Because I always wanted to be right, I missed many chances to upgrade my level.Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005 Q&A Section":

"But cultivation is sacred, and it is serious. Master will benevolently resolve those things and has actually settled many of your debts for you; however, with such a major, major issue, in a life-and-death test, can the cultivators not be held to high standards? Those students who are not diligent will have a hard time making it through."

I also remembered Teacher's Poem "Solid Cultivation" from Hong Yin:

"Study the Fa and gain the Fa,
Focus on how you study and cultivate,
Let each and every thing
be measured against the Fa.
Only then, with that,
is it actually cultivation."

Now I follow the experience of the fellow practitioner. I memorise the Teachings in the evening, and then I recite it again and again until I can recite it the next morning. I memorised the sections of "Upgrading Xinxing" and "Guan Ding" until I was able to recite them fluently. Now I can refer to them whenever I need them.

With this article, I wanted to share with fellow practitioners who have not started to memorise the Teachings yet, my lessons learnt during this process. Don't be afraid that it might be too difficult and don't rush hastily into it like I did. Another benefit of memorising the Teachings is that Teacher will give you hints all the time. Whenever you don't feel right in your heart, or you are affected by everyday people's notions, you will not be able to pass a certain section or paragraph when you memorise the Falun Gong books. Memorising the Teachings helps get rid of attachments. You also may see improvements in your cultivation as a result.

Note:

1. Master/Teacher: Respectfully referring to the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi.