(Minghui.org) Cultivation is very serious. When one fellow practitioner passed away, I was very sad and regretful.
Ms. Qiu and I were in the same truth-clarification group. She went out nearly every afternoon with other practitioners to help people do the three withdrawals, clarify the truth, distribute truth-clarification materials, and help with other projects. Although she did these things wholeheartedly, she had been arrested twice and sentenced to forced labor. She endured a lot.
Regrettably Ms. Qiu did not understand the need to cultivate ourselves, so she was not able to finish walking the last steps of cultivation. This year, I have seen four fellow practitioners pass away, and another narrowly escape death. After thinking about all these incidents, I discovered that these practitioners had two main problems.
1. Inability to Differentiate Human Notions and Understand the Fa
Some practitioners often use human notions to look at things in cultivation. They talk about ordinary people's rules with human notions and ordinary people's understandings. If one is unable to identify the human notions, those notions will block them and prevent them from understanding the Fa.
Master once used the example that when a Taoist master jumped into a wine container, his new disciple followed him and jumped into it as well. The disciple had no notions.
If you were that disciple, could you also do that without notions? Many people may think that the wine container was too small to jump into, but this is a human notion. The first paragraph in “Lunyu” (Zhuan Falun) advises us to change our human notions! I think that changing our human notions is the hardest thing to do. When we aren't vigilant we may fall into the mindset of everyday people.
Ms. Qiu started to have trouble moving in the spring of 2013. I went to visit her and asked how she was doing. She said, “My leg is numb and hard to move.” I asked her if it was really numb. She said, “It's really numb, and it's also cold.” She regarded her symptoms as reality, and she could not see through her human mindset to look for her attachment.
I told her that a practitioner should not use an ordinary person's mindset to look at things. I also told her of my experiences in eliminating “sickness karma.” She felt that what I said was right, but she could not accept or understand it.
What are human notions? In my understanding, it's what a person sees, hears, or personally experiences over their lifetime. These things create a certain mindset. Then, when one goes through tribulations, he will use this mindset to think about problems. If the person is uncomfortable and thinks about this uncomfortableness as a “sickness,” they will immediately think about going to a hospital to cure it.
To break through this mindset, and change our notions, we shouldn't use ordinary people's methods to look at the problem. Of course this is very difficult to do, so we must let our knowing sides, the parts of us which are in accordance with the Fa, disintegrate our human thoughts. We must not let our human notions control our thoughts.
In Zhuan Falun Master states that cultivators must use higher-level principles to look at the issue of sickness. Many practitioners understand this from the outermost surface, and believe that not taking medicine or injections is all they need to do. I don't believe it is that simple. We need to turn our human notions around, and use a god's mentality to regard this issue in order to succeed. We must completely eliminate this concept of sickness.
It's not only toward the issue of “sickness” that we should avoid using human notions. We should look at all issues using a god's mindset. This is truly eliminating human notions. Using one's human notions is not correct when viewed from a higher level, as a god would look at all issues without notions.
Practitioner Ms. Zhang was suffering from sickness karma in July 2012. When I was at her house to study the Fa, she had to move her body to get out of bed to get a glass of water. Practitioners who helped hold her up were concerned, and said, “Don't get up again, if you need anything just call, we'll help you get it. It's not easy for you to get up, so stay in bed.”
At first glance these words may seem like they are helpful, but they originate from human notions, and are treating the practitioner as an ordinary person. Ms. Zhang said, “Thank you,” which meant she accepted these human notions. If she did not see herself as a sick person, and saw her difficulties instead as a way to elevate her xinxing and understanding of the Fa, the symptoms of sickness would have disappeared, since gods don't have sickness.
To eliminate sickness karma, we must first reach a god's mindset, and unconditionally act in accordance with Dafa's standards. Whether it is a personal cultivation problem or the old forces' persecution, if we can treat all issues with righteous thoughts, the key problem will be solved.
When I saw Ms. Zhang in this condition, I often wanted to say a few words, but I didn't have the nerve to say anything.
Two months later when she passed away, I deeply regretted not speaking up. As a fellow practitioner, wasn't I responsible for her? Perhaps a few words from me would have helped.
(To be continued)
Category: Improving Oneself
