(Clearwisdom.net) Fellow practitioner A told me a couple of days ago that our elderly fellow practitioner B had been showing symptoms of illness for a long time. Fellow practitioner C called yesterday and talked about going together to visit B, so yesterday evening seven of us got together to visit her.

Practitioner A brought a copy of Master's “Fa Teaching Given at the 2010 New York Fa Conference.” We had a discussion with B about the false illusion of illness. I read aloud the section addressing this issue. Fellow practitioners D and E later suggested that it was time for us to leave. On our way back, D and E both said, “We tried to help B to improve, but how can we really help? Master is the one doing everything. It was the power of the Fa.” I suddenly came to an understanding. The thought of looking inward had occurred to me when we were at B's home, and I now realized that we had failed to look inward.

We went to A's home for a discussion. Everyone shared their thoughts upon hearing B's symptoms of sickness karma. A was worried that B's family and others would have a negative impression of Dafa if B couldn't pass this test. His underlying thought was that B might pass away. F's mind was on how B was, what B thought, and if she had strong faith. G was also concentrating on B herself. H said he wasn't too sure if B would be able hold on and pass the test when he saw blood in B's mucus. E said he wasn't planning to go at first, because he knew he wouldn't cooperate very well if anything didn't fit his mindset. I myself was planning to go “help” B. My tone of reading “Fa Teaching Given at the 2010 New York Fa Conference” wasn't right. I was reading it to B, not to myself. I seemed to be saying, “Look! Master said it was a false vision. Did you hear it? Master said you would be okay if you were steadfast.” I could tell what I was reading didn't reach B's heart. Instead of looking inward, I had been looking at B's faults.

After the sharing, I said, “None of us has helped strengthen B's righteous thoughts and faith. We didn't have strong faith ourselves. If we did, we would know that B's symptoms were all an illusion. We have Master and the Fa. What are we afraid of? We should apply what we told B to ourselves. We are one body. When we have this thought, we will be able to connect to B's energy field. If we all firmly believe that B will be fine, our righteous thoughts will form a strong energy field, and it will strengthen her.” I realized I was wrong when I asked E to treat B's problem as our own. Why had I used the word “treat,” as though B had an illness? It is obviously our problem. When a fellow practitioner shows symptoms of sickness karma, it will be the same as we having the symptoms. Our first thought should be that we believe in Master and Dafa. Master has already made the arrangements, and B will be fine. That will truly be forming a whole body with our fellow practitioners and our thinking will stem from the Fa. Master said,

“You all know that during your cultivation, even when you don't specifically think about something, bad thoughts come up on their own. And why is that? Isn't it because that thing is there? When any conflict arises or anything happens, I've told you that not only should the two parties in the conflict look for reasons on their part, even any third party should think about himself--why are you the one who observed it? When you are a direct party in the conflict, that's even more the case, but why won't you cultivate yourself?” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference”)

When we arrived at B's home, she was studying the Fa and she kept saying she wasn't sick. D said, “We paid too much attention to outward appearances. If we didn't think she was sick, then why did we go there?” We all had the same realization. It was our own wrong thoughts that were blocking us.

The initial thought we had upon hearing about B's illness symptoms was not right and didn't conform to the Fa. We needed to eliminate our own notions. Master said,

“When a tribulation arrives, if you, a disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm or be determined to meet different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to pass the test.” (“Expounding on the Fa” from Essentials for Further Advancement)

This is so true! If all of us can stay calm and unaffected, what trick can the evil play?”

Practitioners found the key to the issue immediately. It was Master’s arrangement that we got together to visit B and collectively improved through this test. After we changed our mentality, we went to study the Fa with B again. This time, we came with completely different hearts.

Such things have probably happened to other practitioners also. I've written about the process of our collective improvement so that fellow practitioners can learn from each other.