(Minghui.org) As the progress of Fa-rectification marches forward, the demons are in the throes of their last stand. Because of this, Dafa practitioners are experiencing interference from the evil in complicated ways, including the false phenomenon of “illness karma.”
An ancient saying has it, “To cover 90 percent of one's destined distance brings the traveler no farther than the midway point,” which means the last part of an endeavor is often the hardest to finish.
Our cultivation in this final period is extremely important and serious.
To me, the practitioners who have been interfered with by “false illness karma” usually had two problems: a lack of righteous belief in Master and the Fa, and a tendency to look outward when pursuing solutions.
Some practitioners didn't have strong righteous thoughts and discounted their belief in Master and the Fa, so they couldn't rid themselves of illness karma. Some went to the hospital instead.
One practitioner studied the Fa and practiced the exercises while taking medicine and receiving medical treatments. He tried various ways to get rid of his “illness.” The old forces took advantage of his loopholes to aggravate the fake “illness” and put him in this tribulation for a long time. Such a scenario has been commonplace among practitioners.
Master said:
“At critical moments can a person give up the attachment to life, give up the fear of losing so-called “happiness” and take that step and give up the attachment? Isn’t that a trial set up for you?” (from Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Canada)
In the face of big tribulations, whether a person can give up the attachment to life is the difference between an ordinary person and a cultivator. So, what's genuine cultivation?
Master said,
Study Fa, obtain Fa,Compare in studying, compare in cultivating,Examine each and every deed,Accomplishing is cultivating.”("Solid Cultivation," {{Hong Yin)
If a practitioner is not able to let go of fear and the attachment to life, he is not obtaining the Fa even though he may be studying the Fa. If a practitioner is not able to be aligned with the Fa, is he practicing genuine cultivation?
Master said,
“If you still are not fundamentally resolute in the Fa, everything else is out of question.” (For Whom do You Practice Cultivation? from Falun Dafa Essentials for Further Advancement)
A fellow practitioner who offered to help thought that it was the practitioner's own choice to see a doctor.
“Who could stop him from going to the hospital? Who could stop him from taking medicine?” he asked.
This is not a righteous thought. It's a human thought, stemming from the fear of offending others. It is a thought that is irresponsible to other people. Though we couldn't forcefully prevent the practitioner from going to the hospital, we must really want to help the practitioner walk out of their tribulations and return to the right path.
We must first help the practitioner identify where they were stuck, what they really need, any of their thoughts or behavior that were not aligned with the Fa. Then we target their main problems and obvious attachments, share with them based on the Fa, quote relevant Fa principles and help them rectify their thoughts and behaviors. We should point out their problems, suggest that they face their attachments and rectify themselves. This is how to really help from the bottom of our hearts. If we do not touch their real problems, it's no use even if we motivate many practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts for them.
When the practitioner is looking outward, they are either eager to wait for Master to remove their illness, or relying on fellow practitioners. One practitioner moved to live with a fellow practitioner immediately when he felt a tribulation falling upon him. At the time, he forgot to look inward, but instead, sought the other practitioner's energy field for help and asked other practitioners to study the Fa, practice the exercises, and send forth righteous thoughts for him.
Practitioners should certainly help each other, but this practitioner was reluctant to accept any advice and even resented it when others pointed out his attachments. He thought that others were adding bad things to him. Though practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts for him, no breakthrough was made in his condition, even after a long period of time.
Master warned us,
“Cultivation is your own affair, and nobody else can do it for you.”(Determination From Falun Dafa Essentials for Further Advancement)
Cultivation is serious. The practitioner in the tribulation should solidify his righteous thoughts, look inside and improve in cultivation instead of relying on others. Fellow practitioners should help him based on the Fa and with righteous thoughts instead of doing things with sentimentality and taking care of everything for him. Some practitioners got to the point of overdoing things on his behalf and thus increased his attachment to looking outward. If he doesn't move ahead, but increasingly relies on external forces, no one could really help him out. On the contrary, the result might backfire and actually worsen his tribulations.
Additionally, each practitioner has his own path of cultivation, so the ways to help fellow practitioners cannot be the same.
Surely the practitioners in tribulations need encouragement, understanding, and tolerance. Since each practitioner is different in level, they might encounter different tribulations. They also are living in different environments, so the ways to help should be different. If pointing out a practitioner's attachments is understood as causing a negative effect or adding bad things to him, then how do we bring him back to the Fa? If he couldn't be rectified in the Fa, how could he walk out of tribulations?
Some practitioners believe that the objective to help the practitioner as one body means that everyone else should look inside and improve instead of pointing out the practitioner's shortcomings. They said that the process is more important, so they do not pursue any results. I think that this depends on the situation.
For instance, Practitioner A was suddenly in critical status, but his mentality was not stable; meanwhile, he couldn't identify any obvious attachments after looking inside. The fellow practitioners who help him should encourage him to strengthen his righteous thoughts and solidify his mentality so that he makes breakthroughs.
However, for Practitioner B, who had no righteous thoughts and actions and was stuck in misunderstandings for an extended period of time, to the point where his life was in danger, to help him is equivalent to grabbing him from the old forces. In such a case, it is absolutely crucial to find his key problems, guide him with patience, inspire him, and rectify his thoughts through power of the Fa so that he can walk out of the trial and catch up with Master's Fa-rectification progress. This is the objective that we should achieve.
As such, the method used on Practitioner A – encouragement and tolerance – is not applicable to Practitioner B.
The process of our overall cultivation as a group (including the practitioner with illness karma) and improvement determines the final result. If the practitioner in the tribulation couldn't be rectified according to the Fa's principles, then aren't other practitioners all cultivating in that practitioner's tribulations as well? Moreover, if both the practitioners who offer help and the practitioner in the tribulation are lacking in righteous thoughts and unable to find the core issues, it's a waste of time. In a situation like this, how can we improve as one body?
Above is my personal sharing. If you find anything inappropriate, please compassionately point it out.
Category: Improving Oneself
