Serious Lesson After Slackening Off in Cultivation

(Minghui.org) I didn’t cultivate diligently for a long time. I was lazy and I wanted to be comfortable. I thought it wasn’t a big deal so I indulged myself. I didn’t do the three things Master asked.

I was recently hospitalized and went through a life and death ordeal. Fortunately, Master granted me another chance. I want to remind myself and fellow practitioners to not repeat my mistakes.

I began practicing Falun Dafa in May 1998, and I’m now 54. After I began practicing my arthritis and joint pain disappeared. Master also removed the entities that were attached to my body.

I’ve been illness-free for twenty-seven years. I didn’t bother getting vaccinated during the COVID pandemic and I was fine. I’m in good health. I feel happy and content, which I know is the result of following Falun Dafa’s principles.

Looking back at my cultivation journey I see it was smooth sailing for a long time. Master is extremely compassionate. I only needed to work every afternoon, which left me ample free time. I was able to access the Minghui website every day despite the severe Internet blockade in China. I downloaded truth clarifying materials each week and shared them with fellow practitioners so we could improve together.

On the surface it looked like I practiced diligently and did the three things, but over time, I fell into a routine and started to take things for granted. I no longer took cultivation seriously and gradually lost my sense of urgency. I began to pursue a life of comfort and pleasure, and slowly drifted off the path of cultivation!

How did this deviation from the Fa begin? I did the three things but I distanced myself from the other practitioners. For example, I read the Fa or took a nap when it was time to do the exercises. I made excuses and said I would do them with my children during the day.

I was just lazy and I was busy with other things during the day. Gradually, I reduced the length of time I exercised. I stopped taking the exercises seriously, and gradually strayed from the right path. It was a process of slow neglect.

Master told us that we must take our practice seriously,

“A complete cultivation practice of mind and body requires both cultivation and practice.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

If we don’t eliminate our incorrect thoughts and behavior and don’t attach importance to sending righteous thoughts, our righteous thoughts won’t be very powerful and they cannot completely destroy evil. Because I slacked off the old forces were able to distract me and prevent me from doing well the three things that Master requires. I was merely going through the motions.

My attitude worsened when other practitioners couldn’t access the Minghui website, but I could freely access it at any time. They were impressed, thinking I must be doing well in cultivation, and they praised me. Their praise went to my head, and I thought I was diligent. Instead of using Fa principles to evaluate my words and actions, I used the number of things I accomplished to measure my progress in cultivation.

The old forces seized on my loophole and struck me hard. My uterus began hemorrhaging last month. A normal hemoglobin level ranges from 115 to 150, but mine was only 37. I couldn’t urinate and I felt as if my body was about to explode. My family took me to the hospital.

The chief physician said, “You’ve lost a huge amount of blood, a life-threatening amount, yet you do not appear to be mentally confused.”

I said, “I thought it was just a menstrual irregularity and that it might be a symptom of menopause. I wasn’t afraid or concerned. I used to have heavy periods, but this time, the bleeding was exceptionally heavy, and I was unable to urinate, so I came to the hospital. I feel really weak.”

The doctor said, “This is extremely rare. You have lost so much blood; yet your blood pressure remains normal. This is truly unusual. I’ve never encountered a patient like you before.”

Master once reminded me in a dream to take cultivation seriously. I did not heed the warning, and continued indulging my attachments to leisure and comfort. I slowly stepped into the old forces’ trap and I could not extricate myself.

With Master’s compassionate protection and help from fellow practitioners, I was able to identify many of my notions and attachments, and understood that I needed to work hard to improve myself. Thus, I got through this critical tribulation.

My husband asked our son why I was sick and hospitalized while other practitioners were healthy. He told him it was because I hadn’t cultivated diligently.

I know this happened because I did not take cultivation seriously, I slacked off, and indulged in my attachments. I’m sorry, Master, for not living up to the title of Falun Dafa practitioner.

I will do better and meet Master’s requirements, walk the right path in the future, eliminate attachments, and cherish this second chance Master gave me. I hope practitioners can learn from my mistakes, not take detours, do the three things well, live up to Master’s compassion, and fulfill the earnest expectations that sentient beings have for us.

Thank you, Master, for your immense grace. I will do my best.