(Minghui.org) Several senior practitioners from our local area appeared to have experienced illness karma tribulations during recent years. Some passed away, some faced the illusion of illness for a long time, whereas some others managed to improve themselves from the Fa, and truly got rid of the tribulations.
These practitioners are mainly senior practitioners. They could endure hardship and sacrifice, they seized the time to study the Fa, and went out almost every day to clarify the truth about Dafa. But, they harbored strong attachments, didn’t know how to look inward, and were not aware of the intricacies of how to cultivate.
Among them, at group Fa-study, some went through the motion of reading Dafa books very fast. They often missed words while reading, and did not realize it. Sometimes it was difficult for others to follow what they were reading as they didn’t speak clearly enough. Given that one can imagine the ineffectiveness of their Fa-study.
Master said,
“...one is that they can’t make spiritual progress if they don’t have the higher guidance of the Way; and the other is that they won’t get higher energy if they don’t work on themselves or strive to perfect their character. These two reasons sum it up.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Master takes us to a high level, thus, we have to cultivate towards a high level as well. If we don’t do that, tribulations could very well appear on our cultivation path.
In my opinion, these senior practitioners hold onto strong notions and ego. At the same time, they didn’t know what their human notions were, nor what having an ego meant. They got stuck in human reasoning as well as sentimentality. Although they have endured a great deal of hardship, their resentment arose, as opposed to having their xinxing truly elevated. They couldn’t snap out of their loss and gain, nor human notions.
Master said,
“If you do not change the human logic that you, as an ordinary human, have formed deep in your bones over thousands of years, you will be unable to break away from this superficial human shell and reach Consummation. You cannot always count on me to eliminate karma for you while you fail to truly progress in comprehending the Fa and rise above human understandings and notions. Your ways of thinking, your understanding, and your appreciation towards me and Dafa are the product of ordinary human thinking. But what I’m teaching you is in fact moving beyond ordinary humans to a rational, true understanding of Dafa!” (“Cautionary Advice ,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
How to remove the shell from a human being’s outer layer? What is this shell all about? I came to enlighten from the Fa: This shell is what we have formed during our reincarnation – lifetime after lifetime. They consist of our human thinking, notions, principles, sentimentality, attachments, desires and so on – they constitute the fake me. For thousands of years, we have safeguarded, validated and lived our lives for this ego (the fake me) lifetime after lifetime during reincarnations, whereas our true self was buried under these human notions. Only by improving ourselves from the Fa, can we snap out of this fake me and our humanness.
Ms. Lin is our local practitioner who had suffered from an illness karma tribulation for a long time. At the same time of doing well the three things, she also had to take care of cooking for a few family members, and do household chores. She was really tied up with these duties. One time, when I shared with her, I said, “Aunt, Master said, ‘The key to real spiritual progress is to train your will.’ (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I continued, “You not only have to be the junior monk on the surface, but more importantly, you have to improve your xinxing.
“Although you have suffered a great deal of hardship and took care of many household chores, you complained about your daughter-in-law for being lazy and your grandchildren for not tidying up the house. You also didn’t maintain your xinxing and had a temper tantrum.
“Although you have endured a lot of hardship, your xinxing didn’t improve. Moreover, you have developed a strong resentment attachment. Is it worth it? Master has given you the opportunity to a four-for-one deal, which can’t be experienced very often. When others treat you well, you will lose the opportunities to improve.”
In other people’s eyes, Ms. Yan’s living environment was rather optimal: Her husband was very supportive of her cultivation – He took care of everything in her day-to-day life, while she only had to do the three things. When it came to things that she needed to do, she just had her husband take care of them. But it had to be to the point where she was satisfied. She spent too much time on what she ate and what she used, living like a princess. When she had illness karma illusion surface, she didn’t improve from the Fa, but instead, wanted to rely on an external force to get over it. When fellow practitioners came to see her, she only wanted to have them send forth righteous thoughts for her, hour after hour. When fellow practitioners asked her to study the Fa together, she refused; when they shared with her, she didn’t want to listen either. Her ego was as thick as a shell and covered her up. When she became emaciated, she didn’t eat, as eating would cause her discomfort. In the end, she passed away as a result of the old forces’ persecution – what a pity.
Master said,
“Things aren’t always how you imagine them to be, where divine beings or I can take care of everything for you. Some of the causes are simply too complicated to begin to explain.” (“2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.”)
“If you can always be compassionate and calm, you will handle the issues that arise in your life well since you will have a buffer, in a sense. Things will work out well if you are always compassionate and good to others, thoughtful towards people, and handle whatever situations you get into with people by first pausing to consider how well your actions will go over with the other party and whether anyone will be hurt by them. You should hold yourself to high standards and raise the bar still further as you practice.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I came to enlighten: No matter what a practitioner encounters, as long as we hold ourselves to what Master said, then we will be able to reach the standard of gods in everything we do. As to those practitioners who made the breakthrough in their tribulations, they were able to rectify themselves according to Master’s Fa. Despite the fact that they were in the midst of illness karma tribulations, they were still humble and considerate of others. Whatever other practitioners advised them, as long as it was on the Fa, they’d listen. They kept studying the Fa, doing the exercises, sending forth righteous thoughts and looking inward.
Ordinary people have a saying: “Complacency suffers losses, modesty benefits.” If we couldn’t accept other people’s opinions, our strong ego could be blocking us. It makes us stick to ourselves and think we are right, but look down upon others.
Master said, “You shouldn’t look to anybody as your example. No one is a substitute for the teachings; only Dafa itself can serve as your guide.” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
As long as what a practitioner said is on the Fa, we should listen, so that we could keep rectifying ourselves from the Fa.
I’d also like to remind practitioners who are amid tribulations to drop the attachment of pursuit, not to worry about the outcome or changes. From Master’s lectures, I came to enlighten: “Attachment to pursuit and complaints are interdependent. The reason why we complain is that we keep being involved in pursuits. Only by eliminating the attachment of pursuit can we obtain something without pursuit.”
Practitioners in tribulation are inclined to study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts with pursuits. When the outcome isn’t that obvious, they’d easily become indifferent to the point where they complain to Master. This is truly perilous. They’d likely be seized upon by the old forces, and have their tribulations become even greater.
During the process, no matter whether it’s the practitioners in tribulations, or practitioners who came to help out, we only need to do well with what we are supposed to do, let go of our ego, attachment of pursuits, have faith in Master and Dafa, and leave everything to Master. Thus, Master will surely take charge.
Ms. He in our local area had to stay at home during the lockdown. After it was removed, when we saw her again, we were caught off guard. As her face was sallow, without a trace of color, she was so thin that a gust of wind seemed to be able to blow her down. It really felt that her life was threatened to us.
Then two practitioners brought her to my home to share with me and help her look inward. It had been a while since she could sleep. She was in terrible pain especially at night. She tried to have congee every day. When she couldn’t sleep, she listened to Master’s lecture recordings.
Ms. He has held herself strictly in her day-to-day life: She studied the Fa, did the exercises and went out to clarify the truth. She was one of those who stepped forward to clarify the facts to people face-to-face. But, I think, she didn’t balance well her relationship with her family. Although she had undertaken a lot of household chores at home, she didn’t let go of her resentment towards her family members. I always felt that she tried to show “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” in front of her family members, as opposed to assimilating herself to “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”. Although her family didn’t say anything, deep down, they felt unbalanced.
After she came to my home, we shared on how to look inward. We also kept studying the Fa, doing the exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts. On day six, in the morning when we did the exercises, her state wasn’t very good. She lay in bed while we were still doing the exercises. At that time, I was doing the second set of the exercise, thinking: Why is her state always like this? What’s the reason?
When I thought about that, Master’s words came to mind:
“Any Dafa disciples who have not been diligent, or who are prone to acting in extreme ways, should immediately straighten themselves out, and sincerely study the Fa and work on themselves, for you are at great risk.” (“Stay Rational”)
Ms. He didn’t belong to one of those who weren’t diligent in their cultivation. However, on the issue of treating her family members, she acted in extreme ways.
Master said, “...should immediately straighten themselves out...” (“Stay Rational”) kept popping up in my head. I thought about when I first brought Ms. He home, I had an idea flash in my mind, saying that she would stay with me for seven days at most. At that time, I had a strong feeling that the old forces were going to strike soon. When thinking about that, I was so worried, so tears kept covering my face. I did Heshi deep down and asked Master to enlighten me on what to do.
I then thought: On the seventh day, I had to take her home. Ms. He had to rectify herself, she needed to seize the time and quickly go back to rectifying the situation and admit her mistakes to her family members. When my mother who is also a practitioner saw me crying in the kitchen, she said, “Don’t cry. You’ve got to find the practitioner who brought her here to take her back.” So I went to look for Mr. Ye right away. When I found him, he said, “Great minds think alike. I also thought about taking her home today, so her family can be rest assured.”
After Ms. He returned home, she resolved the misunderstandings and made apologies to her family. I felt finally this matter was concluded. Although her family took her to the hospital, Ms. He firmed up her righteous thoughts. She awoke the conscience of patients and their caregivers. After several check-ups, the doctor was at his wits’ end. He said he could proceed with surgery, but since a young man died of it recently, he wouldn’t recommend that, but advised that she go home.
After she went home, she strengthened her righteous thoughts, and had her thoughts on the Fa. She didn’t acknowledge that as an illness, and was persistent with Fa-study. After she vomited she continued to eat. She also gave away the nutritious food from the hospital to other people and only took normal food. Gradually, she could eat cakes, then later she could eat everything. She reached her normal weight within four months. Her family witnessed the power of Dafa. Now she walks on the path of assisting Master to rectify the Fa steadily. Master said,
“…When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide” (“The Master-Disciple Bond,” Hong Yin II)
“Master: Those are dark dens where the evil is entrenched during its final days. Each Dafa disciple's circumstances are different, but under no circumstance should you lose your righteous thoughts, and you mustn't forget for even a moment that you are a Dafa disciple. If you put the Fa first, you will manage to have righteous thoughts and be able to withstand the evil; you will know what to do in the face of the evil. That said, things are complicated, and people's cultivation states are different. Some might indeed lose their lives, and some will be severely persecuted. Each person's situation is different; each person's past history, along with that which the old forces might have arranged for a Dafa disciple if he was deceived, have made things awfully complicated. But whatever the case, if you can manage to keep Dafa in your heart, you will make it through. And even if the person does lose his life, he will return to his rightful position, for sure. Even though some people get confused temporarily, they will ultimately make it through.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IX)
As to the above passage of the Fa, I felt it’s the same for practitioners who suffered from illness karma trials. No matter how difficult it is, how great the interference is, we should not lose our righteous thoughts, but have the Fa in our hearts and put the Fa in the first place. I remember when I was amidst a family tribulation, in my most difficult time, a fellow practitioner said to me, “No matter when it is, no matter how difficult it is, we should put the Fa in the first place and don’t cause a negative impact on Dafa.”
What this practitioner said helped me a lot. At that time, I thought: It didn’t matter how I was, no matter how terribly I felt wronged, I shouldn’t create a negative impact on Dafa because of my behavior. Only because of this thought, under a very difficult situation, was I able to let go of myself. Then Master empowered me, so I was able to snap out of the tribulation.
Only by stepping out of humanness, can practitioners become gods; only by eliminating everything that is formed in humans in our cultivation, can we break away from humanness.This is my personal understanding, please point out anything inappropriate.