My Understanding of “Taking Hardship as Joy”

(Minghui.org) I was inspired by the article “Taking Hardship as Joy is the Best Cultivation State,” published on the Minghui website. It helped me see my situation when suffering from illness symptoms differently.

I became a Falun Dafa practitioner in 1995, at an old age. I recognized the power of Dafa very quickly, and made up my mind to study the Fa well, and return to my true home with Teacher. My unshakable determination to cultivate Dafa and my firm belief in Teacher and the Fa have never changed, even when I was persecuted in a forced labor camp.

In recent years, however, I began to suffer several symptoms, including leg pain, small bumps on my calf, and a lump in my right breast. I considered these symptoms illusionary reflections of my poor enlightenment quality. In the most painful times, I recalled Teacher’s Fa: 

To consummate yourself, reaping Buddhahood, Let joy be found in hardship. Physical pains count little as suffering, Indeed, cultivating mind is hardest. Each and every barrier must be broken through, And everywhere does evil lurk. Abundant troubles rain down together, All to see: Can you pull through? The world’s miseries endured, One departs the earth a Buddha.”(“Tempering the Will,” Hong Yin)

I also heard a voice telling me that those bad things were not on my own body. I suddenly realized that the old forces used ailments to “test” me to improve my character. This experience reminded me of Teacher’s Fa, which helped me understand the deeper meaning of enduring hardship:

Cultivating gong has a path mind is the way On the boundless sea of Dafa hardship is your ferry”(“Falun Dafa,” Hong Yin)

From now on, I will take physical pain lightly. The old forces used pain to stop me from clarifying the facts about Falun Dafa to others. Without falling into the trap of the old forces’ arrangement, I am determined to save people by telling them the facts about Dafa. Upon having righteous thoughts, I found that my leg pain subsided, the small bumps on the calf disappeared, and the lump in my breast became smaller.

I truly believe that “taking hardship as joy” is a result of believing in Teacher and the Fa. It is based on the righteous belief in Dafa. As Falun Dafa practitioners, we can overcome any tribulation as long as we believe in Teacher and the Fa.

Editor’s note: Views expressed in this article represent the author’s own opinions, for which the author is solely responsible. Readers should evaluate the article’s merits on their own.