(Clearwisdom.net) A fellow practitioner once told me that she had not been feeling well recently. She said she had headaches, back pains, and generally felt weak. When a tribulation got serious she would even get toothaches. She tried to find her shortcomings and looked inward, but could not find the root cause of her problems.
Some practitioners in other areas have even passed away because their thoughts were not in line with the Fa. They acknowledged their illnesses and accepted the old forces' arrangements. Some practitioners have even complained, suggesting that Master was not fair with them because they had done a lot for Dafa and Master did not protect them. A practitioner with cancer did not stop validating the Fa even when he was in the hospital. He continued to let people know that “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” However, he could not understand why he became ill and questioned why Master had allowed it to happen.
When the persecution started, some practitioners stopped practicing because they were afraid of being arrested. They now rarely study the Fa and seldom do the exercises. I was informed that some practitioners only returned to studying the Fa and doing the exercises because their health started to deteriorate. Some practitioners told me that when Master purified their bodies at the beginning of their cultivation, they experienced an extremely comfortable feeling. Now when they do not feel well, they study the Fa more and do the exercises, with the thought of having that same feeling return.
We all cultivate the same Fa, but why are there such big differences among us? One practitioner who had passed the test of sickness karma said, “It is not of much use to rely on others and have them send forth righteous thoughts in order to help us. I passed the test by firmly believing in Master and the Fa. My understanding is that as a cultivator, we cannot benevolently resolve anything. The true benevolent resolution is done by Master!” If we are not diligent, Master can't help us.
I remember an ancient cultivation story about a cultivator who was seeking to live comfortably.
A master, who cultivated Taoism on Mt. Laoshan, was leading a group of disciples one time. The master gave each disciple a bottle of gourd seeds and explained to them how to plant the seeds. If the disciples followed the master's instructions, the seeds would grow into treasure and the disciples would get whatever they wanted. However, the disciples had to irrigate the gourd shoots with three drops of blood from their middle finger everyday. One of the disciples went to the back of the mountain to relieve himself. He noticed that when his urine hit the red soil, it turned into a reddish liquid, which looked very much like blood. Suddenly, he had an idea. He brought some of this red soil back to the temple and made some red fluid out of it, which he wanted to use instead of the blood from his middle finger. From that point on, when he saw his fellow apprentices in pain from constantly drawing blood, he felt lucky because he did not have to suffer this way anymore. However, in order to hide his actions from the others, he still wrapped his middle finger up, so as to pretend he was stopping the blood.
Three years later, the treasure had grown. The master taught his disciples the magical spell and taught them how to use the treasure. Then the master said, “You can try your treasure now. What do you want from your treasure?” The first disciple said, “Master has put forth a lot of effort for our cultivation, as a disciple I want to ask for some heavenly peaches and wine for our master.” He then read the spell, and then saw some heavenly maidens deliver the peaches and wine on trays. All the disciples were very happy! The second disciple said, “I want a flying carriage for our master, so that our master can ride in his carriage and roam the outer realms.” He then read the spell, and a golden carriage pulled by silver horses appeared. Every disciple asked for something good for the master. Then the master looked at the disciple who used the red soil fluid. He said, “It is your turn now.” The disciple, also full of confidence, read the spell and said, “Open!” But nothing happened. He read the spell several times, as sweat began to pour from his body. The master then said, “You don't need to read the spell anymore. Do you think that I didn't know? To avoid pain you used the red soil fluid instead of blood from your middle finger. The blood of this finger is connected to your heart. Master is teaching you to cultivate the Tao with your heart.” When he was done talking, the master took the disciples, who had finished their cultivation, and flew away with them. The disciple who had pursued comfort bumped himself against the wall with regret, and was left holding the big gourd he grew.
Is the thought of seeking comfort any different from using the “red soil fluid” to irrigate treasure? The cultivator who was seeking comfort could only cry with regret when the others had successfully completed their cultivation and left this world with their master.
We cannot think of doing cultivation simply for the purpose of feeling comfortable, and we can't look at cultivation as a way to improve our health. If we don’t want to have any regrets, we must get rid of our attachment to comfort. We must have a firm belief in the Fa, complete our cultivation and leave with our Master.
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