The Seriousness of Cultivation

(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. I am now 73 years old. I would like to recount an experience that I and a fellow practitioner shared, which had a profound effect on our cultivation.

Helping Others

When I attended a Fa study group in June 2018, Mia, a fellow Dafa practitioner, told me that she was almost blind. She had already lost sight in her right eye some years ago, and now the sight in her left eye was deteriorating fast.

I asked her what she wanted to do about it. “I would like to stay with you,” she replied, “to spend some time to calm down and look inward.”

I didn’t say anything.

I felt annoyed as I thought about it on the way home. How could I help her when I can hardly look after myself? How could she have the nerve to ask me and inconvenience me like this.

When I was brushing my teeth that night, the toothpaste fell on the floor. I bent down to pick it up and struck my head on the corner of the washbasin. A large bump quickly began to swell, but I felt no pain.

I thought, “How could this be an accident? Am I wrong to refuse to help another practitioner? But my situation is really bad, how can I help her?”

I realized that as a practitioner I should consider others first. Looking inward, I felt that I was afraid of inconvenience, of being interfered with, and was being selfish.

Master said,

“When I ask you to break away from humanness, you don’t follow me. Each opportunity will not occur again.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore)

Master compassionately arranges everything for practitioners, so it's no coincidence that Mia came to me asking for help.

I went to Mia's home and told her that I was sorry for not responding to her the other day, and said, “I would like you to come and stay with me.”

She was very happy, and agreed to come.

Cultivation Is Serious

Mia came to my home the following afternoon. We sat down together and shared our understandings. We agreed that both of us needed to be more diligent and do the three things that practitioners should do.

We read two lectures of Zhuan Falun, looked inward, and discussed what we had just read.

Mia told me about her concerns. She didn’t study the Fa with her heart and forgot most of what she read after closing the book. She also had a lot of fear because she had been arrested multiple times for talking to people about Falun Dafa. She said that she was also domineering at home, was jealous, and liked to compete and criticize others. I could felt that she was really opening up.

I also told her about my own attachments, such as jealousy, competitiveness, showing-off, selfishness, fear, vanity, feeling superior, and pursuing comfort.

We sent righteous thoughts for an hour, and both felt the strong energy field and knew that Master was strengthening us.

After the global sending forth righteous thoughts at six o'clock, we continued sending righteous thoughts for another hour.

We listened to Master’s lectures, did the exercises, and then went to bed.

I woke up when the alarm went off at midnight to send righteous thoughts and saw Mia standing by the bathroom door crying. She said, “I can see!” She was so delighted and hugged me tightly.

I was very happy for her but warned her not to get too excited. She nodded.

Another practitioner came to visit us later that day. She was amazed to see that Mia's sight had been restored and to witness the power of Dafa.

The three of us studied four of Master’s lectures, sent righteous thoughts, did the exercises, looked inward, and shared our understandings.

However, when Mia told us about her experience, I could tell by her words and tone that she was very proud of herself and was showing off.

After the other practitioner left, I mentioned this to Mia. She immediately realized that she was wrong.

Master said,

“The issue of cultivation practice is not child’s play, and neither is it a technique of everyday people—it is a very serious matter.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)

I also looked inward and noticed that I also got carried away with this whole experience.

The next day Mia said that she couldn’t see clearly, and became anxious. I encouraged her to keep believing in Master and Dafa.

I guided her to the room where Master’s picture was hanging on the wall. She lit some incense and apologized to Master for having done wrong. I felt heartbroken watching her confession, and my heart went out to her.

Master said:

“Calmly reflect on the attachments you haveRemove your human thoughtsand evil will naturally die out ”(“Don’t Be Sad”, Hong Yin, Volume II)

We had group-Fa study at my place the next day, and I told the practitioners there what had happened. I said that we had gotten carried away by the excitement, thus the old forces took advantage of this loophole and made her eyesight bad again. Mia also told them about her attachments and shortcomings.

We studied three lectures that day and sent righteous thoughts for an hour. I felt the energy was very strong.

Mia was still feeling anxious. She lost her appetite, and couldn't sleep well. I became a little impatient seeing her like this.

Mia and I have both been practicing Falun Dafa for over 20 years, and we still have so many attachments. The events over the past few days made me realize the seriousness of cultivation, and to look inside to get rid of attachments.

Eight practitioners came to my home a few days later. We studied the Fa from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and sent righteous thoughts intensively. I felt calm, and the energy field was very strong.

After we finished Mia could see again. We all thanked Master.

Digging Out the Root

I have gained a deeper understanding of the Fa through writing this article, as layers of the Fa principles kept revealing themselves to me.

Master gave me a hint in a dream. There was a plate of delicious-looking fried donuts. I took one and opened it, and found it was not fully cooked. After waking up, I realized that this was my cultivation state. It looked good from the outside, but there were a lot of issues inside.

I am grateful to Master for giving me this valuable opportunity, so I would learn how to cultivate in the future. I understand that Master wants practitioners to be selfless, putting others first. I am confident that I can now start again and move forward on my cultivation path.