(Minghui.org) After reading the article on Minghui “Tribulations and Suffering Are Tests that Temper Us,” I was deeply touched. I was impressed by the practitioner’s righteous thoughts.
The author wrote, “Do we cultivate to enjoy a good life among ordinary people? Yet, don’t everyday people measure good or bad simply based on their notions? As practitioners, all the tribulations we encounter are tests that temper us and pave the way for us to reach consummation. My heart brightened. Master removed many of my human notions and my depression suddenly vanished.”
Her article made me think a great deal. Do we cultivate Dafa to stand out among ordinary people? Is it to be physically healthy and mentally happy? Is it for the sake of having everything go well and living an everyday life comfortably? In a word, is it to seek happiness among ordinary people?
None of the above should be the reason why we cultivate Dafa. As cultivators, we should have righteous thoughts amid suffering and tribulation, be able to understand things based on the Fa, let go of human attachments, and firmly cultivate without wavering. Master will help resolve our tribulations and eliminate karma; when we improve our xinxing, our realm will elevate through our levels and meet the standard of the Fa. Therefore, righteous thoughts are pivotal when one is going through tribulations and suffering.
I began practicing Dafa in 1997. But unlike many other practitioners who experienced improved health after taking up Dafa, I have been struggling with physical suffering most of the time. I was physically comfortable only a very few times. My enlightenment quality could have been better, and sometimes I wondered why it was so hard for me to cultivate.
One night in a vision, I saw myself surrounded by a large group of tall, angry men. They’d come with an empty large basket to collect debts. I was terrified and had nothing to pay them. Then Master came and communicated with them with hand gestures. A minute later, they all left peacefully.
At that time, I knew Master had relieved me of my debts and done me a great favor. I later realized that it was Master who had enlightened me that the debts I owed were not ordinary but huge and heavy.
In the first few years of my cultivation, whenever it was not the busy farming season, I would have severe sickness karma—until I was bedridden. My husband was distraught and wanted to take me to the hospital. But I believed in Master and Dafa. No matter how hard it was, I endured and got well. And when it was farming season again, I could go out into the fields and work like everyone else without any problem.
I went through several more rounds of serious sickness karma. I firmly believed Master and understood that my body was going through purification again. Time seemed extended when I was enduring the excruciating pain, but I let go of my fear, kept up my righteous thoughts, and made it each time.
In our cultivation, no matter how much we think we have endured, it is Master who has endured more for us and balanced our karmic debts at every level. Master has arranged everything for us in a very orderly manner.
It is hard to persevere in the middle of tribulation and suffering, but what we pay back is very little—Master has borne and eliminated most of our debts. Master arranges that little pain for us to endure, which is essential for our elevation and improvement. I realized that suffering is a good thing in cultivation. Enduring pain can eliminate karma. Only through hardship can we tell whether we are truly cultivating.
There is no shortcut to becoming a divine being; one has to balance the debts and endure the hardships. Only when one can break through the tribulations can one make it to consummation. How can it not be hard for a karma-ridden person to become a golden divine being?
Master is eliminating our karma and cleansing us of our sins, making us completely pure before we can return to heaven. Tribulations and suffering are so minute compared to what Master gives us.
This is my understanding at my level. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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