(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, two local elderly practitioners experienced fairly serious tests of life and death. I would like to describe the tribulations that they went through during these tests to help others reach the goal of "holistic improvement and holistic upgrade ." (Zhuan Falun)
Practitioner A, a 72-year-old woman, is a veteran practitioner who began to practice Falun Gong before July 20, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong. One evening in January of this year she decided to go to a fellow practitioner's home to fetch truth-clarification materials. Since it was not close, her granddaughter insisted on taking her in her car. It was dark, and they were traveling along a steep slope, driving a bit too fast while turning a corner. Practitioner A was thrown out of the car and landed heavily on a cement ridge. Blood covered her face and her right arm was broken. At the time, however, her mind was very clear. With one hand, she sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate persecution by the old forces, looking within herself to find the areas in which she was not cultivating well and to identify her gaps. Since her husband, who was not a practitioner, had passed away, there was no one to look after in her daily life. However, her righteous thoughts were very strong and she was of the opinion that even though she suffered from physical pain, her karma had been eliminated and her debt had been repaid. She looked at the whole event as a good thing, in a way. The following morning she supported her broken arm with a cloth wrap and, in great pain, walked the few kilometers to pick up the truth-clarification materials. As a result, her acute pain was relieved greatly in three days and her arm became normal in a week's time. During that time, she did not neglect any of the three things Teacher has asked practitioners to do.
Practitioner B, 74, is also a veteran female practitioner. Her husband, who was not a practitioner, passed away three years ago, but she could not let go of his memory. She hung a big portrait of him in her home and often cried at the sight of it. On May 31 she went to the funeral of a friend in the city, then she went to a banquet, and then to a crematorium to say farewell to her friend. As soon as she returned home, she had a stroke and the right side of her body became paralyzed. She lived all by herself, but she had children living in the same city. However, she thought that if she were to inform them, they would certainly force her to go to the hospital. As a practitioner, wasn't this following the path arranged by the old forces? She put up with the paralyzed state for three days. She could hardly endure it, and on June 2 she thought about death. Supporting herself by hanging onto the neighborhood walls, she moved step by step toward Practitioner A's home, but she did not knock at the door. Then she went to Practitioner C's home and told her about her hemiplegia as well as her intention to die. Practitioner C criticized her muddle-headedness, which was not in line the xinxing standard for a Dafa practitioner. Practitioner C took her to the Fa study venue to watch Teacher's Fa lectures. Upon hearing the news about B, Practitioner A went to share with her and told her to pay attention to three main points: First, she should look inward whenever problems arose to check for loopholes that could be taken advantage of by the old forces; second, she must resolutely deny the persecution by the old forces and not follow the train of thought of the persecution to give up; and, third, she must firmly believe in Teacher and the Fa and consider that the problems she was experiencing were good things, so that she could elevate by overcoming them. Practitioner A cooked meals for Practitioner B for 14 days until she recovered.
With the help of her fellow practitioners, Practitioner B found her shortcomings. She had been cultivating on and off and not being diligent and she had failed to do the three things well. On going to the group Fa study, she was irrationally angry. As for Fa study itself, she had only studied Zhuan Falun since she had packed away her other Fa lectures and Dafa materials a few years earlier and had not unpacked them since. She had a fearful mentality and she did not dare to step forward to clarify the truth. She also had an attachment of sentimentality. Three years after her husband's death, she still worshiped his memorial tablet. Whenever she would leave or return home, she would shed tears when she looked at the portrait of her husband. Last, but not least, she could not let go of fame and fortune. Her children were fairly well-off. Her son and younger daughter owned two houses apiece, her elder daughter owned three homes and she owned her own. Practitioner B failed to enlighten from the perspective of the Fa, but she was fond of talking about their prosperity with great interest and pride. Therefore, she was caught up in fame and fortune without realizing it.
After Practitioner B discovered her xinxing problems, her hemiplegia improved with each passing day. It was just like Teacher described,
"Upon xinxing improvement, the matter in your body is guaranteed to transform. " (Zhuan Falun)
On the 14th day when she was fully recovered, she was not only able to look after herself and go up and down the stairs and go shopping, but she also passed the test of stepping forward to clarify the truth. She went to the group Fa study three times a week and she did the three things that Teacher asked practitioners to do.
From the experiences of the above mentioned practitioners, I further enlightened to the Fa principle: "one's gong level is as high as one's xinxing level." (Zhuan Falun)
When encountering conflicts and problems, we must first look inward to check our each and every thought. We should not accumulate everyday people's attachments, which will be used by the old forces as an excuse to persecute us, creating large tribulations for us.
Please comment on anything that is not proper.