(Minghui.org)I have repeatedly encountered sickness karma over the years, and have been arrested and harassed for my belief in Falun Dafa. However, Dafa practitioner Mei has never been harassed, nor has she experienced any sickness karma.
My experiences taught me to be more diligent in cultivation and look inward to find and eliminate my human notions. Yet Mei became increasingly more involved in family matters and even stopped attending group Fa study.
I had participated in some projects to raise awareness about the persecution against Falun Dafa, but my contribution was limited and my role did not seem of great value. However, Mei was a major player in the projects and seemed irreplaceable.
After watching Mei for a while, I complained to practitioner Bai [alias] that Mei had not been diligent, and for the last year she had been too focused on making money. We also heard that Mei was involved in some kind of marketing scheme that had lost money.
Bai assumed that she must be poor and in need of money, so she shared this information with practitioners in other areas. The practitioners who heard about Mei's situation wanted to support her.
I didn't agree with Bai and wanted to tell the practitioners that monetary support might make her life easier, but it couldn't guarantee that she would be diligent on her cultivation path. In the end, I decided not to get involved.
Some practitioners asked if they could provide money to support Mei. I shared my concerns with Bai and asked her to pass on my opinions to the practitioners, but she refused.
I was upset when I joined the group Fa study that day, and discussed Mei's situation with the practitioners there. I said that her problem was about cultivation, not money, so money would not solve the problem. However, Bai argued that we had to help her and wanted to talk to her.
I disagreed and said that I had discussed cultivation issues with Mei for the past ten years, and she was not receptive, wanting only to work on Dafa projects instead of cultivating her xinxing.
Looking Within
I was angry and upset during Fa study, but upon arriving home I looked inward and asked myself if I was envious. I appeared diligent, but had been harassed and arrested. Mei was not diligent and experienced no persecution. I found this unfair.
I then realized that our cultivation paths were different. The persecution I experienced was on the surface and could be easily seen, such as being harassed, arrested, and suffering from sickness karma.
Mei had a lot of family-related problems. People deal with family matters on a daily basis. It's difficult to comprehend that family matters can also be persecution arranged by the old forces.
I had been using “contributing to projects” and “being arrested or harassed” to measure and compare myself with Mei. But I had ignored the persecution she had experienced.
Master said:
“You are cultivators. I’m not talking about your past, what you once were, or what you display on the surface. I am talking about your core and the meaning of your life, the responsibility you shoulder, and your historic mission. Only thus are you truly a Dafa disciple.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference XI)
We are Falun Dafa practitioners so we must be diligent. Anything that prevents us from being diligent is persecutory in nature, even though they may appear to be normal everyday things. We therefore do not recognize them as cultivation issues, and this then prevents us from making breakthroughs in our cultivation.
This understanding made me realize that my anger towards Mei came from jealousy. I also realized that helping my fellow practitioner is a way to negate the old forces' arrangements.
A fellow practitioner does not have to experience the same persecution I have experienced. We are all walking different paths toward the same destination.
Category: Improving Oneself
