(Clearwisdom.net) Every time Teacher gives a lecture, he tells disciples to study the Fa and study it well. Especially in the article "Drive Out Interference", he said with sincere words and earnest wishes that,
"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."
Only when we study the Fa well can we cultivate steadfastly and diligently and do the three things well.
I am very lucky. I gained a copy of the heavenly book Zhuan Falun on New Year's Day 1995. Although I lacked a deeper understanding of studying the Fa, I read the book often. I have read the book over and over again since then and have lost count of how many times. I used to keep track of how many times I had read it, but I came to understand that this is a human thought. The key to studying the Fa is not about how many times one has read the Fa, but about reading it with one's heart, following the requirement of the Fa to conduct oneself properly at every moment in every circumstance, judging one's every thought, every word, and every action against the standard of the Fa, rectifying oneself, and guiding oneself to practice cultivation with the Fa.
There was one period during which I couldn't concentrate while studying the Fa and became sleepy easily. One day, an old saying occurred to me: "Reading a thousand times is not as good as copying it by hand one time." Yes! I should copy the Fa by hand. So I started to hand copy Zhuan Falun and Teacher's new articles. I read the Fa sentence by sentence and copied it stroke by stroke. Once again I could concentrate and I felt as if all of my mind and body had melted into the Fa. I have copied Zhuan Falun by hand four times. In my understanding, hand copying the Fa is an even better way to study.
In 2005, Clearwisdom.net published many experience sharing articles about memorizing Zhuan Falun. I recalled that although I had made several attempts to memorize the Fa, human thoughts of fear of difficulties interfered every time. I thought that the speed of memorizing was much slower than reading and therefore never finished. I regret it so much! I understand now that the great law that guides us to practice cultivation can guide us only when we bear it in our mind and have it in our heart. An everyday person can even study diligently for the sake of fame and profit, but a Dafa practitioner should study and memorize the Fa no matter how much time and effort it takes. Zhuan Falun is a heavenly book; it is the law of the universe guiding us to practice cultivation.
I passed the message around to local practitioners, and many other thought that they should memorize the Fa, too. For each paragraph, I memorized the first sentence, then the second sentence, and then memorized the two together. I did this until I finished the entire paragraph. Then I read the paragraph conscientiously to verify the correctness. If I found omissions or errors in reciting, I would correct myself and recite it again until I could do it without making any errors. Then I would move on to the next paragraph.
When I first started memorizing the Fa, I was very slow. For example, it took me two days to finish a paragraph in Lecture 1. I told my wife, who is also a practitioner, "It didn't take me so long before. How come it is so difficult for me now?" She said, "It means you're getting older." I thought to myself, "Age makes no difference in practicing cultivation. Studying the Fa and memorizing the Fa shouldn't depend on one's age either." Looking inside, it was my human desire for quantity and speed that had interfered. Without a clear and clean mind and being attached to speed, "more haste often leads to less speed." Even though I'm in my 70s, I will make 10 times more effort than others. As long as I make up my mind, I certainly can finish memorizing it!
Now I've finished memorizing 200 pages. I have come to understand that the process of memorizing the Fa is also a process of cultivation practice and a process of improving xinxing. In memorizing the Fa, one can get rid of many attachments. When one's mind is extremely pure, it is relatively faster and easier to memorize the Fa. I can even remember a line or sentence's position in the page.
While memorizing the Fa, my mind is extremely tranquil, as if nothing but the Dafa book and me exist. In my humble understanding, this is the best state for studying the Fa. I had never experienced it before. And only when one studies the Fa and memorizes the Fa in this state can one truly learn the Fa by heart, melt into the Fa wholeheartedly, and truly "Study the Fa and gain the Fa!" ("Solid Cultivation" in Hong Yin)
My mind has become much more tranquil, not only in memorizing the Fa, but also in practicing the exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts. It has also become much easier for me in clarifying the truth and persuading people to quit the Communist Party and its affiliated organizations. Even some of my old classmates that I hadn't seen in years came to me inquiring about the truth of Falun Gong. These things rarely happened in the past. And this is the manifestation of Dafa's power.
In my understanding, "studying the Fa," from reading the book thoroughly to hand-copying it to memorizing it, is not merely an exercise in methods but the manifestation of a Dafa disciple's desire to follow Teacher closely in the progress of the Fa-rectification. It is also a stricter and higher requirement a Dafa disciple makes for oneself in Fa-rectification cultivation practice.
I will keep on memorizing Zhuan Falun and rectify myself in the Fa.
