(Minghui.org) More than half of the practitioners in our area are in their 70s and 80s. Many are barely able to read and their comprehension is limited. Because they live in remote mountainous areas, they have a narrow view of the world. So many of them stubbornly cling to their own understandings and refuse to accept other practitioners' ideas or suggestions. In the beginning, these elderly practitioners diligently cultivated themselves, but gradually they've become less diligent. Many have developed illness symptoms and some have passed away.
Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, said:
"Many of you have the heart to truly attain the Tao, which, of course, is the purpose of cultivation practice. The ultimate goal of cultivation practice is to attain the Tao and complete cultivation. Yet some people have limited time left in their lives. Their years for living are numbered and may not be enough for cultivation. Our Falun Dafa can solve this problem and shorten the course of practice. Meanwhile, it is also a cultivation practice of mind and body. When you continually practice cultivation, you will constantly prolong your life. With consistent practice, your life will be constantly prolonged. Those elderly people with good inborn quality will have sufficient time for practice. There is a criterion, however, that the life prolonged beyond your predestined time to live is completely reserved for your practice. If your mind goes wrong a little bit, your life will be in danger because your lifetime should have long been over. You will have such a restriction until you reach Beyond-Triple-World-Fa cultivation. After that, one will be in another state." (Lecture 1, Zhuan Falun)
Cherishing the Opportunity to Cultivate
Yi is 90 years old this year and lives by herself. Because her home was far from the other practitioners, she was never able to participate in the group Fa study. Sometimes practitioners travel to her home to study with her and talk about cultivation. She knows that Master has extended her life. She is very diligent in cultivation and eliminates her attachments. Her back is straight and her eyesight is normal. She looks like she's in her 70s.
Jia is a retired teacher. He suffered from a lung disease for decades and later developed a prostate infection. He was in severe pain and sometimes there was blood in his urine. After he started to practice Falun Dafa in January 1998, all his illnesses disappeared. He was successful in everything he did and knew it was because of the blessings he received after starting to practice Dafa. He acknowledged that his life was extended by Master and that he needed to be diligent in cultivation.
Other practitioners go to Jia's home to study the Fa. He also does well the three things that practitioners are expected to do. Many practitioners in his area wanted to sue former communist party leader Jiang Zemin, who started the persecution, but they did not know how to write. Jia made suggestions and helped revise their letters. Sometimes he had to rewrite them three or four times. All the letters he revised were delivered.
Jia is very compassionate and treats the other practitioners as family.
Master Li said,
“Old age, illness, and death are also forms of demons, but they are created to maintain the characteristic of the universe.” (Lecture Five, Zhuan Falun)
In 2005, Jia got over a huge tribulation. Afterward, he added the thought to eliminate the interference of old age, illness, and death when he sent forth righteous thoughts.
Jia is now is his 80s but says he feels young and he seems to have stopped aging. His once white hair has turned black. He has no ailments and is very happy. He rides his bicycle to the mountain villages several miles away to distribute truth clarification pamphlets to save people. He plants vegetables and collects his own firewood. He has no concerns or worries!
Remembering Why We Are Here
Ding (an alias) was always very hard-working. Her mother died shortly after Ding was born in 1947. She was raised by her father and other relatives until she was seven or eight years old, then they sold her to another family. Ding married when she was only 13 years old and had her first child at 16. As a result of these hardships, she developed asthma, diabetes, headaches, and gynecological problems.
She learned about Falun Dafa in 2000. The first time she opened the book Zhuan Falun, she saw the words were golden, and she could see Buddhas, Taos, and Gods behind them. This meant that she had a good foundation. Shortly after she began practicing, all her ailments disappeared.
In 2012, her youngest son went to work in Guangdong Province. A year later, he was tricked into engaging in a pyramid scheme business, and she lost contact with him. Ding was very upset, and she cried whenever she thought about him. When other practitioners reminded her that everything happens for a reason, she did not listen. As time passed, she was no longer able to calm down when she studied the Fa, and all her previous ailments returned. She passed away in March 2016.
Practitioner Bing's son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter are all practitioners. Her family environment was good. But since Bing believed she was more experienced and knew more, they always argued over trivial things. When she went out to clarify the truth with other practitioners, she spent a lot of time buying gifts for her relatives, which left her little time to actually talk to people. Her husband has been dead for years, but she missed him and kept telling people how good he was. Other practitioners reminded her to eliminate her attachments, but she did not listen. Bing is seriously ill now and hasn't been able to study the Fa with other practitioners for two years.
Category: Improving Oneself
