The Consequences of Not Truly Cultivating

(Minghui.org) My wife and I have been cultivating in Falun Dafa for seventeen years. Although on the surface it appeared that we have been cultivating, and sometimes we did clarify the facts to people, we didn't really have a clear understanding of cultivation. As a result of lack of Fa study and of not having a thorough understanding of the Fa principles, we didn't cultivate our hearts diligently or look within when encountering problems.

A recent stick warning from Master finally showed me the importance of true cultivation. I realized that if a practitioner does not truly cultivate, the consequences can be severe.

It started with a group arrest of more than ten local practitioners last April. Fearing the persecution, my wife and I were under tremendous mental pressure. We slacked off on Fa study, and did almost nothing to save people. Most of our attention was on how to make more money. Sometimes we fought with non-practitioners for minor gain, totally forgetting the requirements for a practitioner.

I had a dream one night that there were many fish in a big river close to my home, but because of poison in the water, most of the fish died, and only a few big ones were still left, but struggling. This dream left a deep impression on me, but I couldn't understand the deeper message behind it.

Shortly after that, a relative told me that one of my cousins was in critical condition in the hospital. He had fallen from a building while working at a construction site. I was sad and shocked. Four days later, my cousin passed away.

Only a few days after my cousin's tragic death, my father-in-law was hit by a car and sent to the hospital. Luckily for him, he didn't have any major injuries and left the hospital a few days later.

But just two days after he came home, my mother-in-law suddenly had a fever that lasted for days. Medicine didn't work and the doctor couldn't determine the reason for her fever. He suspected that it might be something serious, so he suggested that we take her to a bigger hospital in another city. My wife and I were really worried.

My wife and her sister were taking turns taking care of my mother-in-law in the hospital. When my wife went there for her turn, she called me and told me in a very weak voice that she was experiencing some physical interference. Her chest and stomach felt very uncomfortable, like something was burning inside.

I felt very uneasy and scared. In fact, I'd had a dream a few days ago that two people told me my wife had cancer, and I hadn't negated it with strong righteous thoughts.

With so much misfortune happening around me within the span of two weeks, I became more alert and realized that it must have something to do with our cultivation.

Both my wife and I began to look within that evening and we identified a long list of attachments. Looking back at our cultivation all these years, we saw that we hadn't really cultivated ourselves and sometimes we acted even worse than non-practitioners.

After realizing our problems, we decided to fundamentally change. I didn't go to work the next day. I contacted several diligent practitioners and asked them to share their understandings about the matter with my wife, and encouraged her to think about it from the Fa's perspective.

With stronger righteous thoughts, my wife began working hard to negate the old forces' arrangements and focused on Fa study and sending righteous thoughts.

Through diligently doing the three things, my wife recovered in only a few days. My mother-in-law also recovered after a two-week hospital stay.

This was a very serious lesson for me. I realized that those practitioners who had passed away, or those who had long-term physical interference, all had many attachments that they wouldn't let go of and didn't truly cultivate themselves, or they didn't truly believe in Master and the Fa.

I truly hope that fellow practitioners can learn from my lesson. Cultivation is a really serious matter! If we don't let go of our human attachments and cultivate well, besides causing damage to our efforts of saving people, it also harms ourselves! Time is tight for us to save people, and no room for putting things off. Let us all cultivate diligently together!

Thank you Master for your compassionate hint, and thank you fellow practitioners for your sincere help!