(Clearwisdom.net) I know a practitioner who practiced Falun Dafa for several years before the persecution started on July 20, 1999. On the surface she has been diligent: she still delivered Falun Dafa flyers, hung banners and clarified the truth to people after the persecution began. But, she made a big mistake and has caused some people to have negative thoughts about Falun Dafa.

She came to my place one day this spring, 2004. She looked pale and weak, which is not a state a practitioner should be in. I asked her what happened. She said she had an appendectomy. I remarked: "You should look inward. Have you done anything that's not up to the standard of Falun Dafa?" I wanted to know the cause of her condition, but got no answer.

Several days later, she said, "I thought about what you said after going home. I think it's better to tell you what I did. I really did a big wrong thing. I feel ashamed of it. In the spring, the river was in flood, fish were abundant, and many villagers went to catch them. They dried the fish in the sun, then ground the fish to powder to feed the pigs. I knew I should not kill, but I still went and caught two buckets of fish. Since then my health has gone from bad to worse and finally I had an appendectomy."'

I told her very seriously, "Cultivation is such a serious issue. Think about it, two buckets of fish baked to death in the sun. How painful it must have been for them! Please think about it seriously, and see how you should practice in the future." After a period of time, I heard she developed intestinal cancer that spread to her liver and lungs. The doctor said she would die even with surgery. After surgery, her family prepared for her funeral. Hearing this news, another practitioner and I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate ghosts and the evil factors which were persecuting her. Later, she told us her mind was very clear when she awoke from surgery.

Many villagers were shocked by her experience, and some even said negative things about Falun Dafa. A fellow practitioner, a neighbor of hers, came to ask me how to explain her experience to other villagers. I said to tell them that practicing Falun Dafa does not guarantee that one will never be sick, and that to experience really good health, one must closely follow the teachings. For example, a practitioner should not kill, but she killed so many fish.

I later learned that she actually caught more than two buckets of fish. The powdered fish filled two gunnysacks. I feel she had made a big mistake.

Even in such a case, our compassionate Teacher still gave her many chances to enlighten. A few days ago, she was discharged from the hospital. She survived because she is a Falun Dafa practitioner. She has returned to practicing Falun Dafa in a righteous way and is catching up with Fa-rectification.

'Teachers' compassion has encouraged so many practitioners to strive forward, even when facing calamities. Cultivation is to truly change oneself for the better in one's own heart. 'During this period of time when the evil is still persecuting Falun Dafa, we should take the burdens for our Teacher. How can we ask Teacher to suffer even more for our mistakes?

November 28, 2004