(Clearwisdom.net) On January 10, 2012 the Minghui/Clearwisdom website posted Master Li's new article, “On the Issue of Collecting Funds.” It had a deep impact on me. I am a practitioner from Jiangsu Province. In 2004 I started a packaging company. After several years of effort, my company started to make some progress. However, I then developed diabetes. In March 2009, someone recommended Falun Gong to me and I began practicing. At the end of the year I went to the hospital for a check up. Miraculously my blood sugar level had returned to normal. I continued to practice Falun Gong from that point on.
Later some practitioners told me that I could speed up my progress by donating money. I developed a slippery thought in my head that I could complete cultivation by spending my money lavishly on Dafa. First I donated hundreds of dollars to help practitioners buy CDs and CD burners for the truth clarification material sites. Later I donated thousands of dollars to the Chinese Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television. I regarded donating money the same as studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. My Fa study became more and more intermittent. When I got busy at work, I would forget to read Zhuan Falun or Master's articles.
My diabetes relapsed in June 2010, and the symptoms were more severe than before. I couldn't see clearly. The big toe on my right foot festered. I didn't have the strength to walk. I developed doubts about Dafa. I thought that I had developed great merit by generously donating to Dafa. Why wasn't Master aware of this?
Later, articles on Minghui gave me a warning. Master clarified this issue in his Fa lectures on many occasions. The Minghui website also reiterated this repeatedly. It is absolutely not permissible to collect funds among practitioners, especially in China. We have had the great fortune to obtain the Fa. If we don't understand that we need to practice cultivation with determination, regularly study the Fa, do the exercises, and send forth righteous thoughts, but think that we can reach consummation by donating funds, we are mistaken. There aren't any shortcuts, and we can't simply act as a practitioner. It isn't cultivation if we don't deepen our understanding of the Fa principles, look within, and remove attachments. There aren't any shortcuts, only wholehearted cultivation. We can elevate in the Fa only by strictly acting in accordance with Zhuan Falun and Master's published articles, calmly studying the Fa, dissolving into the Fa, and truly cultivating.
I began to read Zhuan Falun again. I consistently studied the Fa every day. I regarded myself as a practitioner, acted according to the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I wasn't afraid because I felt in my heart that I had Master supporting me. The symptoms of my diabetes gradually disappeared. My sight returned to normal. The ulcerations in my big toe disappeared, and I grew healthy tissue. I want to thank Master and Dafa.
