(Minghui.org) There are some practitioners who have been interfered with by serious sickness karma for a long time without making a breakthrough. Others anguish over the difficulties their sons and daughters experience, and are unable to extricate themselves. How should we face these tribulations?
As practitioners we all know that we should follow Master's arrangements and not take the path arranged by the old forces. However, we sometimes follow the old forces' arrangements unknowingly.
In order to negate the old forces' arrangements, when we encounter any tribulation we need to distinguish between what the old forces hope we will do and what Master wants us to do.
The old forces persecute Dafa disciples in many ways. For example locking practitioners in prisons and detention centers, causing the illusion of severe illness, letting practitioners' relatives suffer so as to interfere, having practitioners' family members hold negative views of Dafa and restrict practitioners' personal freedom, and so on. All of these are the old forces' arrangements to block us from studying the Fa well and saving sentient beings. No matter what causes us to be in the situation of being persecuted, we should think about what Master hopes we will do. As Dafa disciples we should study the Fa and do the exercises well, send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil, look inward according to the Fa, let go of attachments and clarify the truth to save more people. Those are what Master wants, and what we should do our best to fulfill.
When faced with all sorts of pain and difficulties created by the old forces, we should take them lightly in our mind: “I am an upright Dafa disciple; this hardship means nothing to me. Master makes every arrangement for me and my family. No other beings' arrangements count. I put myself in Master's hands and I only want to fulfill Master's requirements. No Buddhas or Taos can move my mind.” Then we should follow through in our actions.
Amid tribulations, some practitioners think that since their cultivation state is not good, they should stop clarifying the truth for a while and study the Fa at home until they get back on track. While it is necessary to study the Fa and improve one's cultivation state, clarifying the truth is one of the Three Things Master has asked us to do and we shouldn't stop except in very special circumstances. The ultimate goal of the old forces is to prevent us from saving people. Only by following Master's arrangements can we negate the old forces' arrangements. Doing all the Three Things well at the same time is what Master wants. All the tribulations will be cleared away when we solidly do the Three Things well.
My parents had been going out to clarify the facts to people every day. At one time, they both got sore throats with constant coughing and a hoarse voice. They decided to stay home and study the Fa, and to stop clarifying the truth until their voices improved. More than twenty days passed and their condition did not improve. When I visited them, I shared my understanding and told them they had been following the old forces' arrangement that blocked them from going out to save people. They agreed and went out to clarify the facts that afternoon. When they came back they realized the coughing had stopped.
Master said,“... don't be afraid if someone actually sends some bad things over. You're a Dafa disciple--you have Master and the Fa! Perhaps you owed it something in the past, in which case just repay it. But you're a cultivator, so you should let go of your worries, and Master will definitely take care of you. Even if it is able to get certain things into you, Master will soon turn that into something good for you. (Applause) Master will take care of you since you're a cultivator.” (“Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
When facing tribulations, we should measure our actions against Master's requirements. If we can meet the requirements, then Master will take care of us and the tribulations will be nothing.