(Minghui.org) I was once informed that a Falun Dafa practitioner had been hospitalized. The doctors told his family that he had no feeling on the right side of his body and he was unable to swallow. They also said that further treatment was unlikely to help him.
The practitioner's family decided to send him to a nursing home.
We were concerned that the environment in a nursing home was not suitable for a Dafa practitioner, so two of us went to the hospital and spoke with the practitioner's elder brother.
He told us that his brother was scheduled to be released from the hospital the following Monday, and that shortly after, he was going to be taken to a nursing home because, for one reason, his place was too filthy to live in.
I told him that we would clean his home. He was very happy and eventually agreed not to send his brother to the nursing home.
On our way home, we discussed how to get more practitioners involved in the cleaning.
We spoke to a few practitioners to see if they could help, but each of them made excuses not to. So we decided to clean the house ourselves.
I looked inward and noticed that I still had a mentality of relying on others.
When we arrived at the practitioner's home, we were aghast upon seeing the place. Everywhere was a mess and really filthy. There was even leftover food in the kitchen sink.
When the elder brother came to the house, he exclaimed, “Wow! It's so clean and looks like a home!”
The practitioner was released from hospital the next day and returned home.
The local coordinator asked several Fa-study groups close to the practitioner's home to go there so that they could take turns studying the Fa with him.
When I brought the idea up at my local Fa study group, only a few practitioners agreed to go. Among those who did, some only went once or twice, offering various reasons not to return.
One person said that the practitioner had brought this tribulation upon himself, by routinely doing things that practitioners shouldn't do.
Another practitioner wondered why others who had suffered similar bouts of sickness karma weren't taken care of as well as this practitioner.
I began having similar feelings myself. However, I calmed down and thought: “Even if this practitioner does have shortcomings, he still has the opportunity to rid himself of them by diligently cultivating in Dafa. We must not allow the old forces to persecute fellow practitioners, and I must do everything I can to help.”
After the first Fa-study session at the practitioner's home, we fed him and helped him learn how to walk again.
While he was being feed, both food and saliva kept dripping from the corners of his mouth. It made me feel sick, and I even vomited once.
I later realized that my mentality of disliking gross things had to go. The next time I saw him, I wiped the saliva from his mouth. Gradually, my nausea disappeared.
We shared our experiences to encourage him to improve. I said, “You like watching TV and you've done some wrong things before. You need to remember that it's not your true self that's doing these things. It's old forces factors in other dimensions that are persecuting you. You must realize this and deny their existence.” He was touched to hear this and had tears in his eyes.
One day, I went to his home for group Fa-study, and saw him getting angry and fighting with another practitioner.
I talked with him after Fa-study, and said, “I saw what you did today. I know that sometimes we get angry with others. I think that practitioner did a good job of tolerating you, but you didn't do a good job of tolerating him. I hope that you'll do better next time.”
Master said,
“But we’ve said that as a practitioner, you shouldn’t hit back when attacked, or talk back when insulted—you should hold yourself to a high standard.” (from “The Fourth Talk” in Zhuan Falun)
The two practitioners later spoke to each other, and since that day, everyone's xinxing level in our different Fa-study groups has steadily improved.
The practitioner's health has dramatically improved. He can now feed himself and is able to walk with support.
Through this experience I have been able to let go my mentality to complaining, dependence on others, impatience, and my hot temper. Helping this practitioner through his tribulation was actually helping myself.
If we hadn't all looked within during this period, I'm sure that the practitioner's condition would have steadily worsened, instead of improved!
Category: Improving Oneself
