(Minghui.org) I often hear older Falun Dafa practitioners say, “I forgot,” or “I am better at forgetting things than remembering them.” They say they have grown forgetful as they aged, and think of memory loss as something natural that comes with age. Without giving it much thought, I also agreed that people became forgetful as they grew older. However, this was looking at it like an everyday person would, and thus dropping to that level.

Aging is a form of demon, and we should not accept that it happens to practitioners. I believe that Master Li recently wanted me to share my current understanding with fellow practitioners, especially the older ones.

Being forgetful as one ages is an everyday people’s phenomenon—old age, sickness, and death. The laws of everyday people do not govern those who cultivate Falun Dafa. After a local practitioner said that being forgetful was natural, she became even more forgetful, and eventually couldn’t recognize the words in the Dafa books and became unable to study the Fa. Accepting everyday people’s laws turned her into an everyday person.

We should not take forgetfulness lightly; there are no minor issues in cultivation. The old forces manipulate the “fake self” that is formed after birth to forget things. Forgetting her true self and cultivation was a result of not cultivating solidly.

We must remember that “... matter and mind are one and the same.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun) Master told us that we control our limbs, so they move the way we want them to. This is not something you forget, nor could you even if you tried. We must call out the fake you that is controlled by the old forces, negate it, and eliminate it.

Here are some measures that I take to eliminate the demon of forgetting:

1. Stay clearheaded and let the main consciousness take control. Stop being muddleheaded, indifferent, perfunctory, or slacking off. When you start something, you finish it.

2. Carefully plan something before you do it, and make sure things are well prepared, rather than acting spontaneously.

3. Identify where a thought comes from based on Master’s teachings. Find out why the thought emerged, and whether it benefits yourself or others. As soon as you think that you “forgot” something, you should negate it and eliminate the thought with righteous thoughts.

We should do what Master asks of us in “The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be” (The Essentials of Diligent Progress III). We should try not to fall into routines and slack off. Instead, we should strictly do the three things well and stay on the path Master arranged for us.