Helping an Elderly Practitioner and Cultivating Myself

(Minghui.org) Because of the power of Dafa, many practitioners reach old age in good health. Dafa has protected their mind, body, and spirit, and many are young for their age. Some have overcome the test of life and death several times, where even terminal cancers are completely removed from their bodies by Master as he extends their time for cultivation.

I have been cultivating for nearly nine years; within six months after learning Dafa, I met an older practitioner who had a weekly Fa-study group in her small apartment. For me, this was an excellent way to immerse myself in Dafa, and our entire group improved together. Several years ago, my personal life became busier, and I could no longer attend that study group. Other factors interfered with the group’s location, ending that group study environment.

A Major Tribulation

About that time, this elderly practitioner started to lose her eyesight and have a tribulation. She could no longer drive, read, go out to clarify the truth or do anything that required eyesight. After a while, she couldn’t see at all.

But she became even more diligent with her cultivation, and her faith in Master grew much stronger. To this day, she wakes up at 3 a.m. every day to do the full two hours of exercises, and sometimes she does them twice a day. She listens to at least one audio lecture a day, and other practitioners call to read the latest lectures to her. However, she had stopped going out to the consulate to send righteous thoughts and traveling to Fa conferences in New York. Because she needed some assistance, several of us have helped her.

Sometimes, other practitioners see me assisting her around our large Fa study group and wondered if she was my mother. I told them that she wasn’t my mother in this lifetime, but that I was helping out a fellow practitioner. I overheard some practitioners ask if she had sought medical treatment. She always answered, “I’m not blind. I can’t see right now, that’s all. I don’t need medical treatments.”

Other times, they wondered how a practitioner could have this kind of tribulation. They were thinking “What’s gone wrong with her cultivation?”

Negative Thoughts

One morning, I woke up with my celestial eye open, and I saw myself and another practitioner curled up on the ground next to my bed in a fetal position. We were covered with a thick black substance that I realized came from the negative thoughts of other practitioners. While the elderly practitioner’s original condition could have been brought on by karma elimination and other factors, it was now obvious to me that other practitioners’ negative thoughts were also a big factor. I also realized that I had some negative thoughts myself, and that I had to eliminate them. My understanding is that practitioners should never have negative thoughts that could affect others. All thoughts should be righteous in hopes for the most positive outcomes for all sentient beings.

A couple of months before a Fa conference in New York several years ago, I received a call from a practitioner in New York offering to help and asking if I thought the elderly practitioner should go to the conference that year. I thought about this for a few days. I knew it would be a lot of extra work, and I was worried that, as a male, I couldn’t take her into the women’s restroom. Furthermore, getting through airport security would be tricky. I was also concerned that she might not be able to make it.

Eliminating My Selfish Thoughts and Other Interference

I also realized that this was a test for me. Those were selfish thoughts on my part, and I was not considering others first. I definitely had the time and ability to take her to the conference, and this was now right in front of me. Cultivation is all about the heart, and if she had the heart and the wish to go, of course she could go! In my understanding, eyesight is not a requirement for cultivation. The only requirement is the heart and wish to cultivate. As a practitioner, I have a duty to unconditionally help others who have the wish to cultivate, whether they are brand new or veteran practitioners who need a little help.

I booked our tickets and arranged to attend every day of the conference. A month before the conference, my sister sent me a text, telling me about my niece’s graduation ceremony the weekend before the conference. My wife saw the message on my phone. Immediately, she told me that I had to go to my sister’s and not take the elderly practitioner to the conference.

I realized this was also a xinxing test, and I sent righteous thoughts. After sending very strong righteous thoughts, I decided to call my sister. After a few seconds of clarifying the truth to her again and explaining the situation, she told me that I should take the elderly practitioner to the conference.

That was the end of the interference, and it came about because I needed to clarify the truth more to my sister. Many things we encounter now involve this critical issue of better truth clarification, even if we think we have done an acceptable job.

I picked the elderly practitioner up on the way to the airport. We parked and took the shuttle to the airport together. We went through security like a breeze. The flight was uneventful, and everything went smoothly–more more so than when I traveled on my own. On the plane, I read some lectures to her from the previous conferences. Master’s fashen were definitely beside us every step of the way.

When we got to New York, this practitioner insisted on doing everything other practitioners were doing, including helping with the parade, which was our biggest ever. Even though she is nearly eighty, she stood next to me for five hours on a very busy New York street corner along the parade route without a single break, handing out flyers and sending righteous thoughts. She was so happy to be out clarifying the truth again! The righteous energy she carried made a big difference in the effectiveness of our truth clarification.

Eliminating the Attachment to Dependency and Fondness

As practitioners, we are all one body and naturally feel a closeness with one another. Many of us have been together through many lives. Because we practice Dafa, our realm of mind is very different from that of everyday people. Because of this, it’s possible to become attached to one another, but in a different way than ordinary people experience. We both shared this concern, though she never asked me for anything and paid every penny of her own expenses.

As we entered the conference venue, I noticed that our tickets were in the same section, but at opposite ends of the row. In the past, we were always right next to each other. We would be separated at this conference, and I knew immediately that this was arranged to eliminate any attachment to dependency and fondness. I took her to her seat and went to mine; we followed the arrangement to the letter and took our assigned seats.

Later, she shared that she had trouble with her radio and even had tears as she was worried that she might not hear Master’s lecture, having traveled across the continent to hear him. I wasn’t next to her to help. Another practitioner she knew, who was sitting a few seats away, came to the rescue. Because we were both able to eliminate our attachments, everything worked out for the best.

Looking back on the past several years of assisting this elderly Dafa disciple, I enlightened that, if practitioners have the heart, anything is possible. I learned that our compassion goes beyond saving sentient beings and includes helping a fellow practitioner who is going through a tribulation to stay on their cultivation path. When we see another practitioner stumbling or suffering, we shouldn’t have any negative thoughts. If we can compassionately point something out or help, we should do it. We need to find more compassion and use these opportunities to look within ourselves to eliminate attachments and improve our xinxing.

These things have been very touching to everyone, and in my understanding they are arranged to show the vast compassion of Dafa disciples.