(Minghui.org) Several senior practitioners in our area passed away due to sickness karma in recent years. A few others haven't overcome their tribulations of sickness karma. This situation negatively impacts our projects to offer salvation to people. Every Falun Dafa practitioner has his or her own cultivation path and unique problems. There is no example to follow. The following are my thoughts on the issue of denying the old forces' arrangements and breaking through sickness karma.
Putting Our Hearts Into Fa Study
As Falun Dafa practitioners, our paths of life have been re-arranged by Master ever since we started to cultivate. Everything in our lives is related to our cultivation. All we need to do is to improve our xinxing so that all our thoughts and behaviors conform to the characteristic of the universe: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Master has told us many times that we have come from high levels of the cosmos and used to be lords of huge cosmic bodies. Based on my understanding, the process of our cultivation is a process of saving sentient beings, rectifying countless beings in our cosmic bodies, and establishing the new cosmos. If we can put our hearts into our Fa study, our minds should be touched and changed, and degenerate thoughts will be eliminated. Clinging to our attachments will restrict us within the old cosmos, prevent our assimilation to the Fa, and stop us from saving sentient beings.
The new cosmos is founded on altruism, so we should cultivate great compassion with unselfishness. However, some fellow practitioners fail to tolerate others in their everyday lives, lose their temper, or fail to let go of attachments to personal interest. They do the three things with human notions, and forget to cultivate themselves according to the Fa.
Our Fa study is not a formality. We have to compare ourselves to the Fa and improve as quickly as possible. We shouldn't allow our attachments to pull us down or hinder the Fa-rectification due to our sluggishness. We shouldn't let our problems grow bigger. The only way to make genuine improvement is to put our hearts into Fa study, compare ourselves to the Fa, and always guide our behaviors with the standard of the Fa.
Master has told us,
“Gong cultivation has a way, the heart is the path” (“Falun Dafa” from Hong Yin) (English Translation Version B)
Unwavering Faith Under Internal and External Interference
Falun Dafa practitioners cultivate in a world of illusion. All we can feel comes from the sensory organs of our bodies, but it isn't the true manifestation in the cosmos. The best thing we can do when facing sickness karma is to stay firm, look within, and correct ourselves unconditionally. We need to be aware that it's easy to follow our human notions amidst illusion and that the old forces take advantage of our notions to persecute us.
Master said,
“Everything in your dimensional field is controlled by the thoughts in your brain. In other words, when you look at things with your Third Eye, if you calmly observe with no thoughts added in, what you see is real. But as soon as you use your mind, even if it’s just a little bit, everything you see will be false, and this is 'breeding demons in your own mind,' which is also called 'transforming according to thoughts.'” (The Sixth Talk from Zhuan Falun)
I have had such an experience several times. I suddenly had a sharp pain in my back. I couldn't move or get out of bed. I looked inside to see if I had done anything that had deviated from Dafa. After correcting myself, I continued to do the three things as I had planned.
I know everything happens for a reason. I took it as an opportunity to improve myself. My pain quickly went away. Some fellow practitioners have treated such things as sickness. It could last as long as half a year. I think it was trouble caused by an incorrect understanding of the Fa.
Master said,
“So whether it is good things or bad things you run into, so long as you cultivate in Dafa, they are all positive, to be sure.” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005”)
The level of our understanding of the Fa--and the strength of our faith-- determine how well we pass a test.
One time, a fellow practitioner was in the middle of doing a truth clarification project when she was suddenly hit by a severe headache. It was so painful that she rolled on the floor. She couldn't walk or see. She was so afraid that she forgot she was a cultivator. In the hospital, the doctors said she had four types of cancer and uremia.
Her family started crying, but she smiled, because she remembered Master and Dafa. She told her family, “Master is the only one who can save me.” Her symptoms suddenly vanished the moment a doctor was about to tap her abdomen. The doctor and nurses were shocked to see it happen in front of their eyes. She has been fine ever since then. Her family witnessed her drastic change.
It was her wish to rely on medical treatment that landed her in the hospital, but she thought of Master when medical treatment couldn't have treated her “fatal diseases.” It wasn't until she gained strong faith in Dafa and saw through the false appearance of sickness karma that she was able to free herself from the desperate situation.
Master has told us,
“We’d say that a good or bad outcome comes from one thought.” (The Fourth Talk from Zhuan Falun) (Translation Edition (Feb. 2003, North America))
Many good things could turn out as bad things if we lack righteous thoughts, but many seemingly bad things can turn into good things as long as we improve our xinxing.
Falun Dafa practitioners have to let go of the attachment to selfishness during tests and think whether our behaviors will bring a negative impact on Dafa. If we are determined to validate Dafa, we can pass the tests well. It's a process of cultivation as well as a process of denying the old forces' arrangements fundamentally.
Properly Helping Fellow Practitioners Suffering from Sickness Karma
Dafa practitioners are one body. Sending forth righteous thoughts for those being interfered with by sickness karma has played a positive role. However, we can't ignore the negative impact of our human notions. When a fellow practitioner in my area had serious symptoms, dozens of fellow practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts next to him for hours every day, rain or shine. This practitioner eventually passed away.
We need to have a clear understanding that fellow practitioners experiencing tribulations aren't exempted from personal cultivation, and they will have to cultivate themselves to get out of the tribulation, no matter if it is persecution by the old forces or caused by their own karma. Nobody else can cultivate for them. If we treat them in a special way and become anxious to improve their health condition, isn't it treating cultivation during the Fa-rectification period with our human notions? Having so many fellow practitioners driven by human notions will make the tribulation worse.
My fellow practitioners and I have learned hard lessons from our past experiences. Dealing with fellow practitioners experiencing sickness karma using human notions will leave a loophole for the old forces to take advantage of. We can help our fellow practitioners in tribulations gain a better understanding of the Fa, make improvements on their own, and strengthen their righteous thought to eliminate interference. It's the best way to eliminate the old forces' arrangements.
As for having righteous thoughts, I think it means our thoughts and actions meet the requirements of the Fa. Some fellow practitioners think that the more time we spend sending righteous thoughts, the better. I think it's a misunderstanding of Master's teaching about righteous thoughts. We have to strictly follow Master's instructions.
The above is my personal understanding. Please feel free to point out anything incorrect.
Category: Improving Oneself
