Helping a Fellow Practitioner Was Also Cultivating Myself

(Minghui.org) Over the years, some elderly practitioners in our area experienced serious illness karma tribulations, and a few of them passed away. Many of our local practitioners had persistently sent forth righteous thoughts for these practitioners. However, I realized this may not be enough. I found that such practitioners need specific and meticulous help.

Taking in and Helping a Practitioner Who Developed a Tumor 

Practitioner Liang, whom I had not seen for a long time, called me and was crying before she could talk in early March 2020. She finally said that she found a large, hard lump on her body, suggesting that she had cancer.

I asked Liang to come to my home. She looked emaciated, her face was gray, and she looked as if she was in pain. She said that she experienced pain in her neck, shoulder, and thoracic ribs; and sometimes she could not lift her arms because of the pain. Then she recently discovered a swollen lump on her body. I checked the lump with my hands. There was indeed a lump about the size of an egg. It was irregular, hard, not smooth, immobile, and there were swollen lymph nodes. 

I learned some of Liang's history: During the past eight or nine years since she was released from prison, she always felt the shadow of being persecuted in her heart. She was afraid of being persecuted again, and she rarely studied the Fa. Especially after becoming a grandmother, she spent three years taking care of her grandson, and almost all her energy and attention was devoted to the child. Her xinxing subsequently dropped, and she had many conflicts with her family members. The attachments to resentment and fighting were particularly strong, and she heavily valued her personal interests. She had almost become an ordinary person. 

Since discovering the lump, she was afraid that if she went to a hospital and was diagnosed with cancer, the hospital could not cure her. She was afraid of death, and did not want to go to the hospital for an examination and treatment. She wanted to try other methods, but could not find any. She was extremely worried. While suffering pain, she finally decided to call practitioners, including me. 

I knew that in order to help her, I must first help her study the Fa. Understanding the Fa is the key to improving one's cultivation. 

Master said: 

"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." ("Drive Out Interference," Essentials for Further Advancement II)

However, in addition to her doing housework and looking after her three-year-old grandson, she constantly used her mobile phone to do business online. There wasn't the right environment, and she couldn't keep up with studying the Fa, so I thought that she should stay in my home. Only my husband and I are at home, and we have an additional room and a quiet environment.

When I suggested that she come to my home to study the Fa she became worried. She said she hasn't told her husband about her health problem. Two of her relatives had the same symptoms and were diagnosed with cancer. They went to the hospital for treatment, and eventually died. She was aware of their painful experiences, and was afraid of going through that herself. She knew that once she told her husband and children, they would definitely ask her to go to the hospital. If she refused their request, and came to stay in my home instead, her family might not understand her. They might have a misunderstanding of Dafa. 

In fact, I also had some worry. I was afraid that people would think that practicing Falun Dafa prevented a patient from going to the hospital for treatment. However, I happened to have spare time. and the environment was suitable for her. How could this be accidental? It must have been arranged by Master. 

Master said: "With Master and the Way by my side, what is there to fear?" (Lecture in Sydney)

I thought this was an opportunity for us to cultivate and improve. If I couldn't help her calm down and study the Fa, then that would be a big issue. I said to Liang: "Your problem is also my problem! My home is also your home. Don't have any worries about coming to my place. Let me persuade your family members. You have Master's blessing, and we will do it well." 

I went to her home. I called her husband to another room and talked to him alone. I told him about his wife's swollen lump, and he said his wife should go to a hospital as soon as possible. I said: “If she goes to a hospital, the possibility of confirming the cancer is very high, and the cancer must be in a middle or late stage. Your wife will not agree to have surgery and chemotherapy. I asked her if she would like to go to the hospital. She said she would not. It's not because she practices Falun Dafa, that she doesn't want to go to a hospital. Falun Dafa doesn't keep people from going to a hospital if they are sick. She said that the hospital cannot cure her illness. She saw that two of your relatives had similar cancers and suffered in the hospital. So she said that she would rather die than go to a hospital and suffer like they did. You know her temper, there is no way to force her into something.” Her husband said: "It is just like what you said; she has this temper." 

I continued: “It seems that your wife intends to restart practicing Falun Dafa. This should be the best choice. You know that she stopped studying the Fa and doing the exercises for fear of being persecuted again by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), so she hasn't been a true Dafa disciple. She said that before 1999, she chose to practice Falun Dafa because she had severe arthritis and a rheumatoid disease that couldn't be cured for many years. She used to be very diligent in her cultivation, and you witnessed that her severe arthritis and rheumatoid diseases miraculously disappeared after she began to cultivate. 

Seeing my sincerity, Liang's husband immediately said that he did not object to her practicing Falun Dafa. He said, “She hasn't practiced the exercises in recent years, and has been very temperamental.” 

“I am responsible for persuading her to stop surfing the Internet,” she said. “Her doing that has hurt her health. I will urge her to study the Fa, and I'll take good care of her. You can rest assured. I will contact you if there is any problem. You don’t have to worry about it." For safety reasons, and to avoid her being misunderstood, I asked him not to mention this to any outsider. He happily agreed. 

Fundamental Change After Studying the Fa

Liang came to live in my home, and we started to study the Fa together. Through Fa study and exchanging our thoughts, she realized she was unable to let go of many human attachments, she had deviated from Dafa, she generated karma, and she was exploited by the old forces. Before practicing Dafa, Liang went to a fortune-teller, who said Liang would live to be about 50 years old, which happened to be her current age. 

Liang realized that if she didn't study the Fa, she would not have righteous thoughts. She would be an ordinary person and have ordinary people's thoughts. Fortune-telling only referred to her life before practicing Falun Dafa. Her path of life since practicing Dafa was re-arranged by Master. 

When Liang first discovered she had a health problem, she wanted to treat herself as a cultivator. Liang also recalled that some practitioners who had been doing the three things also had illness karma, while she had returned to being an ordinary person. She wondered: how could it be possible that Master and Dafa would take care of an ordinary person like her?

We studied two lectures of Zhuan Falun every day and sent forth righteous thoughts frequently. The rest of our time we studied Master's Collected Fa Teachings, Essentials for Further Advancement, the video "Teachings at the Conference in Australia," and others. We sent forth righteous thoughts for at least 20 to 30 minutes at the four global times. 

At first, Liang missed her grandson, she worried about a leak on the balcony of her home when it rained; and she thought about family chores. She encountered a lot of disturbance while studying the Fa and doing the exercises. She was inattentive and sleepy, and kept yawning as soon as she started the exercises. When doing the sitting meditation, she moved about due to pain after half an hour, and when doing the second exercise, it was very difficult for her to hold the law wheel for an hour. After seeing her state, I looked within myself, and saw that I also wanted to be at ease. 

“You have reached the edge of danger,” I said. “With such an opportunity, can't you let go of ordinary people's thoughts and concentrate on studying the Fa as a disciple? Are you behaving as a Dafa disciple? Are you worthy of Master?” She cried and knelt down in front of Master's picture to tell Master that she could and would do well, and she asked Master to help her. 

As soon as she improved her understanding of her situation based on the Fa, her Fa-study and doing the exercises, she made breakthroughs. The incorrect states she had before disappeared: when sending forth righteous thoughts. She could keep focused and do so for more than an hour. When studying the Fa, most of the time she could sit with her legs double crossed. Now she is able to do the sitting meditation for one-and-a-half hours, and sometimes for more than two hours. She said that she had seen other practitioners sit with their legs double crossed when studying the Fa and practice the sitting meditation for a long time. She thought she would never be able to do that. She did not expect that she could achieve this step so quickly. She realized the Fa-principle taught by Master: "One's gong level is as high as one's xinxing level." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

Liang is extremely grateful to Master for not giving up on her. She also wondered about the impact on sentient beings.

Master said: 

“...as I would have been transforming everything that a Dafa disciple owed into benevolent returns for sentient beings, and everyone would have been given the best compensation. If he couldn’t do it, then Master would help him do it.” (“Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003”)

Liang and I sent forth righteous thoughts and thought about the lives that had been hurt by Liang. 

When sending forth righteous thoughts, I saw that Liang's tumor in another dimension was a circular nest with black-brown patterned snakes entrenched in it. The scene was clear. Upon sending forth righteous thoughts, these snakes, four or five of them, quickly left one after another. 

After we finished sending forth righteous thoughts, Liang said that her body felt a lot more relaxed. When I told her about what I saw, she said that these things were caused by lust. At that moment, she realized the great harm of not letting go of lust. I also saw there was a little dragon that didn't want to leave. Liang immediately recalled that her son-in-law's zodiac was a dragon. He had been living in her home after he married her daughter. There were conflicts among her son-in-law, in-laws, and her over the years. During the conflicts, she regarded herself as an ordinary person, and didn't remember to look inward. She held resentments and complaints toward them, and didn't clearly clarify the truth about Dafa to them. She said it was Master who used this form to help her realize the seriousness of the problem, and the next time this happens, she will communicate better with her son-in-law and his relatives, will resolve the conflicts, and will clarify the truth to them. 

In our pure cultivation environment, Liang changed rapidly, and her mental state and complexion improved significantly. However, one day I unexpectedly discovered that her emotion was not right. After I asked about it, she said: “I am very apologetic to Master.” I asked her what was going on? She said she unconsciously touched the lump and felt that the lump seemed to be big again. She said she knew it was false, but she hadn't completely let go of her fear. 

I realized that this was really a test of life and death for Liang. In fact, what was the difference between a large or small lump? I said: "If you have any thought, the evil will evolve a false one for you. Isn't this revealing your fear, suspicion, and desire again?" I encouraged her to treat it as a good thing, and get rid of it quickly; don't go along with it. She was awakened again, saying that she would leave everything to Master to arrange, and that she firmly believed in Master and the Fa.

She recalled what Master taught: 

"So you all mustn’t let up! As soon as you do, the old forces can take advantage of that fact and may even take your life. There have been too many painful instances and lessons like this!" ("Teaching the Fa in Washington D.C. In 2018", team yellow translation) 

Liang completely changed, compared to a few months ago. She is no longer afraid to touch the lump, and the pain has disappeared. When she returned home, her husband praised her for gaining weight. Her family members were very pleased to see the changes in her. 

After Liang returned home, not only did she participate in the group Fa-study, she also studied the Fa at home and sent forth righteous thoughts more frequently. She realized that she should go out to clarify the truth, persuade people to do the three withdrawals, and be a cultivator during the Fa-rectification period. At the same time, she found the resentments towards her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and other relatives. She looked within and realized it was her problem. With a kind heart, she bought presents and apologized to them. She re-established the image of a Dafa disciple and validated Dafa. Her relatives and friends again saw the beauty of Dafa in her. 

Helping Liang Improved My Cultivation

In retrospect, I myself had not been truly diligent in my cultivation over the years. Before Liang came to my home, another practitioner came to my home to study the Fa, which helped me improve. 

Liang's arrival also helped me a lot. Helping her was also cultivating myself. Her human attachments were like a mirror standing before me. The problems she had were more or less the same as mine. Some of mine were even more serious, such as jealousy, envy, fighting, seeking fame and fortune, hypocrisy, self-protection, liking to hear compliments, disliking criticism, and not remembering Dafa and Master when facing tests in dreams. I also had not smoothly passed tests of lust and desire. 

I previously had a very bad attitude when speaking to my husband at home. A practitioner pointed out to me that it was unkind. She said: “This is not genuine cultivation. Your behavior at home is your truest self. In other circumstances you did not show it because you pretended to be kind.” I was used to behaving this way at home for a long time and didn't realize my problems. This time when Liang and other practitioners pointed out these problems to me, I still felt uncomfortable, didn't want to hear it, and even wanted to cover it up. However, I immediately realized that I was wrong, and looked inward as soon as possible. I also realized that these bad things were not my true self. Thus, I didn't acknowledge them, didn't want them, and began to eliminate them with righteous thoughts. 

In the past, I was egotistic and heavily poisoned by the CCP indoctrination. I thought I was correct all the time. Normally, I would not admit my mistakes. Even if I made a mistake, I would argue, especially with my husband. After cultivating, many of these attachments still exist. But now, I can finally say to him: "I'm sorry, I was wrong." 

In a good cultivation environment, not only is the fellow practitioner being helped to improve, it also makes it better foreveryone else. I also realized that mutual help among practitioners requires selflessness and meticulousness. The environment of group Fa-study is originally the cultivation form left to us by Master, so we shouldn't leave this environment.