(Clearwisdom.net) I have seen some senior practitioners showing signs of aging for quite a while, such as their being unable to read small characters when they study the Fa, losing their teeth, their hair turning white, and so on. Even some younger practitioners have showed signs of premature senility and become helpless and puzzled.
Of course, having aging symptoms is related to the cultivator's gaps in cultivation, but is there another factor? We have recognized the old forces' persecution in the form of “illnesses,” but have we ignored the possibility of persecution by “aging,” thus unconsciously acknowledging the aging persecution? Several practitioners and I studied “Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles” together. From the Fa, we know that Teacher said:
“Back at that time, I wanted the transformation of the surface body to be in sync with the part that has been well-cultivated; I wanted to have the body be disassociated with the human state during cultivation; and I wanted to have the cultivating disciples use their own righteous thoughts to maintain a state that is just like that of human beings.”
We have been walking along the path of assisting Teacher to rectify the Fa for many years. Being aged will negatively impact us in saving sentient beings around us. I think this is the old forces' evil intention to prevent us from validating Dafa by impairing our physical health.
I have encountered this problem several times. I lost several teeth although I was only in my 30s. To prevent a negative impact, I replaced the teeth immediately and didn't tell anyone about it. I also lost a lot of hair. After having my second child, I became very skinny and looked much older than people of my age. Many everyday people mentioned it to me and seemed surprised by it. I didn't want to accept it, but most of the time I would just look within and concluded it was due to gaps in my xinxing or from not doing the exercises. It was not wrong to look within, but the issue was that I had acknowledged getting “old” passively. When fellow practitioners reminded me about the above Fa from Teacher, I realized: When I was persecuted by the “illness,” I sent thoughts to eliminate the interference and was able to recover quickly. However, for the “aging” persecution, I didn't have enough righteous thoughts and unconsciously supported the evil. For example, when I started to have some pain in a tooth, I didn't pay much attention. When my tooth got loose and eventually fell out, I tried many things: looking within, sending righteous thoughts, trying to settle it with benevolent solutions, and so on. Then I would just bear it passively when none of my efforts worked or it didn't bother me much.
“Aging” is a restriction of everyday people. Dafa disciples should not acknowledge it. If a practitioner looks older than people of the same age, it could reflect badly on the practice and possibly hinder the saving of sentient beings. Moreover, it is not what Teacher wants.
Many practitioners that I know acknowledged their “aging phenomena” by buying large screen MP4 players, asking materials-production centers to print Teacher's new articles in a larger font, dying their hair, wearing reading glasses (when they didn't wear them before), walking slowly, telling other people that they were old, etc. Actually, they were all restricted by human notions. The old forces could then take advantage of the gap to make practitioners show signs of aging just like everyday people. It also hides the effect of dual cultivation of nature and longevity, which is visible to others.
We must be clear on the Fa on this issue. We are not just trying to make ourselves look young, but we are validating the Fa. From the basis of saving sentient beings, let us all show our “divine” side, be younger and more energetic than everyday people of our age, and save more people.
