(Minghui.org) One morning in February 2014 I woke up at 3 a.m. I realized that I could not raise my legs or turn over. This was the time when I usually got up to do the exercises. Instead, I lay there in pain.
As I lay there wondering what had happened, Master’s words flashed through my mind: “You are a cultivator, so it is definitely not in fact sickness.” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)
I realized that it was a manifestation of sickness karma and an opportunity for me to improve my cultivation.
I started to look within. I knew I had some attachments that I had not eliminated, such as my attachments to comfort, fear, and lust. As long as I had loopholes, they could be used to bring me down.
As I looked out the window, dawn was breaking and the sky was getting brighter and brighter. Suddenly I heard a knock on my door. It was the practitioner that usually came over to do the exercises and study the Fa. I rolled myself from the bed to the floor, and using my hands and arms, I crawled to the door.
When I opened the door, she was surprised to see me like that. She immediately phoned another practitioner who arrived in a few minutes and drove us to a Fa-study held in another practitioner’s house.
Three other practitioners were there. I briefly told them what had happened. They decided to look within themselves first rather than sending the righteous thoughts for me.
They felt that what happened to me must be a reflection of their individual cultivation, as all of us in the group were one body. By carefully examining themselves, they found a number of obvious shortcomings and subtle attachments that they had overlooked.
I was deeply moved and inspired by their genuinely looking inward and cultivating themselves. Instead of asking me to search for my own attachments, they looked for theirs.
I learned so much from them that day! I also started to dig out some of my deeply hidden attachments.
For instance, I had been pursuing comfort with everyday people’s thoughts and had developed an attachment to fear. Consequently I tended to slack off when it came to clarifying the truth to the people around me. I also did not study the Fa wholeheartedly. Sometimes my hands drooped when I sent forth righteous thoughts.
With their help, I had a better understanding of what a true Dafa disciple should do in the Fa rectification period: We must take on the responsibility of a Dafa disciple and respect Master and the Fa when handling minor details in order to help Master rectify the Fa and to help save sentient beings.
Then it was the time to send forth righteous thoughts.
As soon as we finished, I tried to stand up. And I did! I felt it was a miracle. Everyone looked at me with huge smiles on their faces.
The next day when the practitioners took me home, I immediately began studying the Fa and doing the exercises. The first day I had to lean against a wall to do one or two of the exercises. Two days later I was able to do them without any support. After a week I managed to do all five exercises at one go, just like other practitioners did.
Ten days later I went back to work. I also went out to talk to people about Dafa and save them like I used to.
Master said:
"When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”("The Master-Disciple Bond" in Hong Yin Vol. II)
And:
“What's important for cultivators is righteous thoughts. When you have strong righteous thoughts, you are able to withstand anything and do anything. That's because you are a cultivator: someone who is on a divine path and who is not controlled by the factors of ordinary people or low-level principles.” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)
Under Master’s compassionate care, I passed the test of sickness karma. Master saved me from the brink of death. The only thing I can do to repay Master's kindness is to fulfill our mission to help Master rectify the Fa and save sentient beings.
Please correct me if there are any mistakes.
Thank you, revered Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
Category: Improving Oneself
