(Clearwisdom.net) I had many thoughts after reading an article in Minghui Weekly (374th Edition) entitled "Cherish Oneself." The fellow practitioner wrote at the beginning of the article, "Fa-rectification has truly reached the final stage. The exam prior to consummation might have been started a long time ago. It is truly a critical time of choosing between 'Buddha' and 'human being.' Practitioners who have not been diligent in cultivation, what are you planning to do?" This indeed is a very important question. If we still are not awakened at this time and continue wasting precious time living ordinary people's lives, at the end, all we can do is to hand in a failed exam.
A month ago, I had a dream. Many people were at a place taking an exam. I was one amongst them. I did not know the answers to any of the questions. The exam was almost over and I still could not move forward. After I woke up, I knew it was Master who gave me a hint that time was limited. The exam prior to consummation is almost over, but I have not been diligent enough in my cultivation. Why did I not know how to answer the questions? It is because I have not studied hard enough. If we do not study the Fa well and have not been doing the three things well, we will not be able to reach consummation at the end. On the day that the Fa-rectification ends, how will we be able to face Master?
The results of the exam depend on how we do in assisting Master in Fa-rectification. During cultivation because we do not study the Fa well every day, we make mistakes without the Fa's guidance. However, there is no need for fear when one makes mistakes. What is most critical when one makes mistakes without realizing it is to rectify oneself immediately.
Several days ago, I met a fellow practitioner who I had not seen for a long time and she did not look good. I only saw her once last year. Fellow practitioners and I helped her send forth righteous thoughts to cleanse her dimensions. We both decided to meet at my house every other week to study the Fa together, but she never came and I could not find her home either. I called other practitioners to inquire about her. I heard that she was very sick. Three other practitioners went to her house to help send forth righteous thoughts but it did not help much. I went to visit her and was shocked by her condition. She had become emaciated. Her family worried about her situation and asked her to take medicine. She refused and said it was a test arranged by Master. Her family was irritated by her and asked me, "Did your Master really say that sick people should not take medicine?" I replied, "Our Master did not say that people should not take medicine. What Master teaches us is the Fa principles and the relationship between cultivation and taking medicine." Because of this, the relationship between her and her family became very tense. She did not have the patience to clarify the truth to her family. She only complained that her family did not understand her. She could not figure out a way to get out of the situation.
Later she told me that she seriously examined herself and looked for the root cause of the severe "sickness karma." It was all because of that one thought she once had. She chose to give up on her life because she could not resolve the conflicts with her family and she was denied a cultivation environment in the family. Her thought was: let me leave this human world to another dimension to cultivate. It was that wrong thought that was seized by the evil. Although she suffered from the "sickness karma," she continued to study the Fa and practice the exercises and she said she believed in Master. However, she chose to give up on her life and she did not have strong righteous thoughts, thus Master could not help her. This was the tribulation caused by her thoughts. Therefore, her "sickness karma" continued for a year and got worse. She said she knew her life was coming to an end.
Master said, "...if your righteous thoughts are strong, then Master and the Law-guardian Gods can do anything for you." ("Fa-lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the Western Fa Conference")
I hope the practitioners who suffer from "sickness karma" do not give up on themselves. They should watch their every single thought. No matter how many unpleasant things or conflicts they encounter in their cultivation, they should always follow what Master teaches: to look inward with righteous thoughts and take righteous actions. We should all know that currently, "sickness karma" is not a test Master arranged for us. It is a tribulation due to not being diligent enough and lack of righteous thoughts. It is the evil persecuting Dafa practitioners.
In the past several days, I have been exchanging thoughts and experiences with fellow practitioners regarding the current state of all practitioners. It is because we have not done well as one body. We did not do the three things well, especially in saving sentient beings. I went to visit the practitioners who suffer from "sickness karma." These practitioners have looked inward. Other fellow practitioners also helped them send forth righteous thoughts. But it did not seem to work. Why? There are several reasons:
1. They do not study the Fa every day. Sometimes, they do not study the Fa for several days.
2. They do not pay enough attention to sending forth righteous thoughts. They send forth righteous thoughts only when they become "sick." When they get better, they seldom send righteous thoughts or do not send them at all.
3. They do not do well in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. Some practitioners still have fear of doing this; some treat this as just a mere task.
4. There still are too many human notions. Some practitioners still take medicine when they do not feel well. It is in fact because they do not believe in Master and the Fa. They do not act like practitioners.
5. Some practitioners have been tied up by household chores with no time to study the Fa.
6. Taking on extra jobs to make more money, some practitioners almost gave up on cultivating Dafa.
Overall, this is because these practitioners do not cherish the cultivation opportunity. Just like what the practitioner wrote in the article, "they are tied up by things in ordinary people's life. Their happiness and worries are driven by this and they cannot pull themselves out." They do not have righteous thoughts, which caused the evil persecution. They do not maintain strong righteous thoughts when being persecuted. How can we pay Master back if we don't do well? How can we hand in our final paper to Master? We should all seriously think about this!