(Clearwisdom.net) I have been relying on studying the Fa with a calm mind since I resumed Dafa cultivation a few years ago. Through Fa study in the past few years, I have deeply felt that the Great Buddha Fa reveals its many levels only if one studies the Fa in accordance with Master's requirements.
Master said,
“...you can't read the Fa with an attachment to solving your problems. Just read calmly, and the effect is sure to be excellent.” (“Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.”)
“...when you study the Fa, don't do it while holding on to some attachments. You have to calm your mind and be truly studying the Fa. Don't study with some purpose in mind. When you study the Fa, you can't let your mind wander or think about other things while studying the Fa. You can't do that or you'll learn nothing. When you study the Fa, just study the Fa. No interference should be able to affect your Fa-study.” (“Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference”)
I follow Master's requirements by making a conscious effort to calm my mind each time before I study the Fa. This has been very effective.
When I calm down to read the Fa, free of any worldly cares, I can totally immerse myself in the Fa, body and soul. The more I read, the more I want to read. This is studying the Fa in a divine state. Every time, I sit down respectfully in an upright posture and calm my mind before starting to read.
Since I study the Fa with a calm mind, I receive enlightenment from almost every article in Essentials for Further Advancement. This is also the case with Master's Fa lectures. I can also sense hints in various cultivation tests. In the past few years, I have greatly improved by studying with a calm mind. In the face of various tests, I have come through under the guidance of the Fa. When I have a hard time because my human sentiments are touched, wisdom gained through Fa study allows me to improve.
I felt quite good when studying the Fa in recent days, but things turned out to be quite different from what I understood. When I was reading, I felt good about my understanding of the Fa just as I usually do, and I felt that my mind was calm. Why did things turn out so differently? Only when I evaluated what happened using the Fa's principles did I realize that I was studying with the attachment of pursuit and the desire to solve a problem, albeit unknowingly at the time. What actually happened was that while reading the Fa, I was actively thinking about how the issue could be viewed from the standpoint of the Fa. The hint didn't actually come from the Fa, but from how I thought the issue should be viewed based on my own understandings of the Fa.
The high level meanings of the Fa are not something to be pondered. One should study without any pursuit. One even has to let go of all problems and difficulties in cultivation, including all issues and human sentiments encountered in going through a test. One needs to be free of all such human notions and attachments. There should remain nothing but reading with a quiet mind. Only then can Dafa's principles be revealed. Only when one's mind is truly calm, will one be able to understand what he or she should understand. “One should gain things naturally without pursuing them.” (“Learning the Fa” from Essentials for Further Advancement) The large deviation that I have just gone through was due to my pursuit for answers in the Fa, which shows that my mind was not truly calm. Only the Fa can guide our cultivation. If we cannot study the Fa well, then we don't have a chance at doing well in anything else related to cultivation, as Fa-study is the foundation for cultivation. How, then, can we cultivate if we don't study the Fa well?
Dafa has taught me how to study the Fa. The profound and immense principles of Dafa have purified me and allowed me to make great progress, both mentally and physically. I have become a particle in Dafa under the illumination of Dafa's Buddha light.
Please point out anything improper.