(Minghui.org) A local Falun Dafa practitioner (hereinafter referred to as “L”) in his early fifties, passed away suddenly last month. Practitioners in the area were shocked.

L appeared to have a sharp mind and a clear understanding of Dafa principles. He was also good at organizing events, and had participated in many Dafa-related projects.

The sudden departure of L caused quite a stir among local practitioners. Some were very confused by the event, while others found it impossible to accept.

Some practitioners who knew him well recalled that L had started an iron ore business in 2001, and needed several million yuan as operating capital. He borrowed the money from practitioners in our group and paid them a high rate of return, or interest.

He was later arrested in 2007 and imprisoned for seven years for practicing Falun Gong. Several practitioners who were actively involved in L's company felt that his arrest was related to his long term-borrowing practices, thus the old forces were provided with an excuse to persecute him.

These practitioners not only stopped soliciting funds on L's behalf, they also returned all of the money they had borrowed. As a result, the company's bottom line had improved, along with the practitioners' xinxing.

After L was released from prison in 2014, he started his own iron ore business. Being in need of operating capital, he again borrowed money from other practitioners. When he had surplus funds—after paying back the interest that he owed—he often loaned out money to others, charging them above-average interest rates.

One month before L's death, a non-practitioner's company's bank account was frozen, thus the company could not pay back the more than four million yuan loan that they owed him.

L was very anxious because he needed that money to pay back the practitioners he had borrowed from. He asked Master Li for help, saying that he would return all the money that he borrowed from practitioners if the company was able to make good on the loan.

Not long after, the company's bank account was suddenly unfrozen, and L was paid back in full. However, he failed to pay back any of the money that he had borrowed from practitioners, nor did he stop borrowing or offering loans to other people.

L's departure is not only his own personal loss, but a loss to the entire one body. I, too, had borrowed money from other practitioners, but I repaid everyone back within one year.

Did my borrowing interfere with other practitioners' daily lives and cultivation? Does borrowing money from fellow practitioners for material things amount to taking advantage of them, because it is easier to borrow from practitioners than from other sources? Is this a disguised form of taking advantage of Dafa and using Dafa's resources for our own personal gain?

I think that lending out money with the expectation of receiving back a high rate of return is an attachment to self interest. Cultivators need to have firm righteous thoughts. Only after L's death did I truly understand the seriousness of cultivation.

The practitioners who lent money to L did so because they trusted him. However, one has to ask, did they do it because deep down inside they felt that it was okay to take advantage of Dafa? Didn't their thoughts of receiving a high rate of return on their money harm L in the end?

There is a steadfast practitioner in our area who used to be very poor. Not long after starting up his company, he was worth several million yuan. He seems very attached to expanding his business, and making it bigger and bigger. He, too, has borrowed money from practitioners, offering a high rate of return. His business is now in serious financial trouble.

Some local practitioners borrowed money from other practitioners ten years ago, but have not made any effort whatsoever to repay it, and some of the loan amounts are upward of several hundred thousand yuan.

Some of these borrowers don't even have jobs, and for those who do, many refuse to work overtime in order to pay back their loans. Their excuse? They say that they're too busy working on Dafa projects to work overtime at their respective companies.

Other practitioners feel completely justified living off the money that they collect from other practitioners for Dafa-related projects.

I feel that L's departure is a wake-up call for all practitioners who are involved in such activities. For ordinary people, a personal debt is repaid either in this lifetime or the next. But for those Dafa practitioners who will reach consummation in this life, how can you not be motivated to repay back what you owe?

Everyone, please set strict requirements for yourselves and walk steadily on the last leg of your cultivation journey!