The Consequences of Not Being Diligent

(Minghui.org) Yesterday I saw a practitioner named May who told me about her recent experience.

May didn't feel good recently, so her daughter took her temperature, which was 100 degrees. May's thoughts were righteous, but her son-in-law said that she had caught a cold after taking a shower and not drying herself. Her relationship with her son-in-law has always been difficult, so May became upset when he criticized her.

May knows that she has a strong competitive mentality. Whenever she has a conflict with her son-in-law, her daughter reminds her, “He's helping you eliminate your attachment. When you get angry you are lowering yourself to his level. When this happens I would say you are not as good as he is!”

May's heart was moved when her fever didn't go down. Her daughter phoned Annie, a fellow practitioner, and told her what happened. Annie came to May’s home. They studied the Fa, shared understandings, and sent forth righteous thoughts.

May felt fine the next morning but her daughter insisted on taking her temperature. May angrily refused and they yelled at each other. Her daughter quickly took her mother’s temperature using a thermometer gun. The reading was normal, but her daughter felt that an oral thermometer would be more accurate. Her daughter and son-in-law asked May to take her temperature with the oral thermometer. She was angry, but reluctantly took it.

Her temperature was almost 103 degrees, and the young couple were frightened. They took May's temperature several times that day, and the readings were always high. May's heart was moved. Her son-in-law got some pills and told her to take them, which May did. Her daughter asked, “You've never listened to him before. Why this time?” May told me that her human notions were strong, so she treated the problem as would a non-practitioner.

May’s fever didn't subside until 14 days later. During those two weeks May tried to convince her daughter to move out because she was worried that her 3-month old granddaughter would get infected. Her daughter said, “Don't use my daughter as an excuse for your slacking off in cultivation. She'll only get infected if you don't cultivate well.”

May said that although her temperature was 103 degrees, she had no other symptoms. She thought, “Wasn't the fever an illusion?” She talked with other practitioners and looked inward. One by one, she started to eliminate her human notions.

I saw May yesterday; we studied the Fa and shared understandings. She wept when we read Master's article, “Stay Rational.” She felt that Master was talking about her. Master said:

“Any Dafa disciples who have not been diligent, or who are prone to acting in extreme ways, should immediately straighten themselves out, and sincerely study the Fa and work on themselves, for you are at great risk.” (“Stay Rational,” Team Yellow Translation)

May told us, “If I’m not diligent, then aren’t I one of those practitioners at great risk? Will the old forces take advantage of my loopholes?” She said that she didn’t realize how serious cultivation was until this incident. She asked me to warn other practitioners of the lesson she learned and the consequences of not being diligent.

I believe that May has developed compassion and righteous thoughts. She has improved her xinxing and turned a bad thing into a good thing. Master said: 

“...when people’s morals change, things will change for the better.” (“Stay Rational,” Team Yellow Translation)

May has been going out to pass out truth clarification materials in her neighborhood. She told me that after she returned home, her son-in-law said to her daughter, “Your mom looks different now.”