(Minghui.org) When I talked to a fellow practitioner last year, she told me she was attending fitness classes and promoting health care clothing. The necklace, bracelet, and underclothes she was wearing were all health care products. I was surprised to see a cultivator relying on such things.

She told me she had been sickly since she was a child. She felt that the pain in her joints was an indication of illness, and that these health care products improved her health. I wanted to share my understanding of the Fa with her on this, but she had to leave for her fitness class.

When I saw her again a few days later, she was still wearing these products. She told me she was attending a new class and promoting a detox supplement made of greens. She said that some other practitioners were also attending this class and taking this supplement. She said the supplement could help get rid of the toxins in our bodies.

I talked about taking the supplement during our Fa study. As soon as I mentioned it, an elderly practitioner took out a box of supplements and told me she had taken several boxes of it. Another fellow practitioner said she knew some other fellow practitioners who were also taking it.

It thought it was no coincidence that I'd encountered this issue many times, and feel that I need to bring fellow practitioners' attention to this issue.

Master has told us,

“Dafa disciples are cultivators. Modern man’s surface body is inherently contaminated. And furthermore, there is a lot of karma at the surface. In the cultivation process you are to remove these bad things and purify your mind and body. Whatever is deficient or damaged can even be compensated for. When you return to your position, you must meet the standard for a divine body. So there shouldn’t be a problem. As long as you cultivate, this isn’t an issue. Adults’ bodies won’t become deformed right away, but [these foods] can cause hair loss. The impact is minor. The impact on future generations is huge, though. But as long as someone is a cultivator, whether a child or an adult, the problem is actually in the process of being resolved; your body, whether contaminated or not, is being transformed.”(Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference)

Related to the issue of supplements, Master said,

“A cultivator’s body couldn’t develop gong if it were sick. That is, your impure body wouldn’t be suitable for cultivation. When you cultivate your body needs to be cleansed to the point of absolute purity, and only then can it start to develop gong. So I’ve said that we don’t do healing. But I will cleanse true cultivators’ bodies, and that kind of body is free of illness. We intend to attain the kind of body found in a Buddha’s realm. Can you attain that by taking nutritional supplements? Definitely not. So why take them? It’s not like that stuff is something delicious and worth sampling for its delicate flavor. We make your body purer and purer during the course of cultivation so as to have it gradually reach the most natural and optimum condition. That’s something taking medicine can’t achieve. Aren’t you still doubtful about cultivation if you take medicine or ingest supplements? You simply are not seeing yourself as a cultivator. Isn’t that the reason? If you don’t see yourself as a cultivator, how could we? Makes sense, right? Whether it be Chinese herbal medicine or Western medicine, it’s medicine all the same, for sure. Your goal is simply to have a healthy body, but our cultivation achieves something well beyond that. I’ve described how these things work. So how do you think it should be handled?”(Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)

I had a lot of thoughts after reading Master's words. Every sentence left a deep impression in my mind. As I understand these passages, Master has talked very clearly and straightforwardly on the issue of taking supplements. Yet some of us haven't followed Master's teachings.

As I see it, there is no need for us to waste our time, money and energy on supplements and fitness classes. As long as we have righteous thoughts about our cultivation, Master will give us the best in the universe. We haven't treasured Master's blessings, but instead some of us value everyday people's methods of keeping fit and healthy. When we do this, don’t we let Master down?

Fellow practitioners, failing to follow Master's teachings is an omission in our cultivation, and leaves loopholes for the old forces to create trouble for us.

The elderly practitioner I mentioned earlier who took supplements got sick and went to the hospital several times.

Another fellow practitioner I know has lingered in sickness karma for a long time. She finally went to a hospital and received treatment, but her condition did not improve. Her family bought her expensive supplements like Cordyceps sinensis and sea cucumbers. However, as she relied more and more on the supplements, her condition got worse and worse. She finally began looking everywhere for a cure. She bought whatever anyone suggested. She spent close to 100,000 yuan, but nothing helped. Finally, she became bed-ridden and confused, and her family had to hire a nurse to take care of her.

Cultivation is a serious matter. There have been too many lessons to learn from. We have to remember to follow the Fa and walk straight on our path of cultivation!