(Clearwisdom.net) I'd like to share with fellow practitioners my experience and understandings of helping fellow practitioners who are undergoing tribulations.
1. The first time I helped a fellow practitioner
My mom is the first practitioner I helped by sending forth righteous thoughts. She is over 80 years old now. Before she obtained the Fa, she had necrosis of the femoral head. Every time she got out of bed or went to the bathroom, someone had to help her. Several large hospitals she went to said that it could not be cured. After obtaining the Fa, her body was miraculously healed. Seeing her amazing transformation, our friends witnessed the miracle and the beauty of Falun Dafa.
After my mom had been practicing for a while, a new housemaid came to work for us. The new housemaid had several books on Buddhism. My mother momentarily forgot herself and read them. After a while, she felt very dizzy and began sweating all over. Suddenly, she fell onto the bed. I asked her what happened, but she said she didn't know what was going on. I soon found the Buddhist books on the housemaid's bed. I realized that my mother had a xinxing problem and had read them, and the old forces had taken advantage of her shorcoming. Remembering Master's Fa teaching on “no second cultivation way,” I reminded her that the field of our home had been cleared by Master, and things of other schools of cultivation were not allowed to come in. Afterward, I asked the housemaid to take the books away. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference by demons in other dimensions. Meanwhile, I encouraged Mom to send forth righteous thoughts with me and asked Master to strengthen us. About ten minutes later, she sat up. After another few minutes, she could walk. This was the first time that I witnessed the power of righteous thoughts.
There were two other similar cases. When Mom was having a tribulation and her xinxing was poor, I sometimes complained about her. But then I remembered: She is my fellow disciple. Master said, “In these situations your conduct should always show Dafa disciples' tolerance, kindness, and niceness. The next person's things are your things..." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference") "...you can't leave behind a single one of my disciples." ("Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students") I realized that my complaint about her was the sentimentality I needed to remove. What we should have in Dafa cultivation is compassion.
2. Regret
Last winter, an elderly fellow practitioner was diagnosed with rectal cancer. His entire body swelled up, and he couldn't do the exercises, sit down to study the Fa, or send forth righteous thoughts. He contacted fellow practitioners asking for help.
It was ten years since we last saw him – before July 20 1999. Everyone helped him search within and look for the causes. He said that when the persecution first began, he wrote a statement promising to not practice Falun Gong, but afterward he never submitted a solemn statement to the Minghui/Clearwisdom website stating that he had resumed practicing. He was rarely in contact with fellow practitioners and he didn't clarify the truth or distribute truth-clarification materials. Regarding the persecution, he was confused and didn't know what to do. But in his heart, he always remembered he was Master's disciple.
After some sharing, we all thought it was precious to remember that one is Master's disciple while in the midst of tribulation. However, he failed to do what Master required and didn't make up for his mistake. Thus the old forces had an excuse to persecute him. Only if he firmly believed in Master and the Fa and walked the path arranged by Master would he be able to break through the tribulation. He listened very carefully and afterward we submitted a solemn statement to Minghui for him. Every week, we went to his home to study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts with him. In the beginning, each time after sending forth righteous thoughts, his pain was significantly reduced. After a period of time, I asked him to do the exercises with me. But he stopped in the middle of the first exercise and couldn't continue. A few months later, he unfortunately passed away.
I realized there must have been causes within himself for his death. But looking inward, I felt that I didn't try my best to help him. I always thought I was busy with my job and clarifying the truth, so I didn't visit him as frequently as I should have.
I read an article on the Minghui website about encouraging previous fellow practitioners that was very meaningful. I was reminded of this fellow practitioner who had passed away. I suddenly realized that if we had been able to find him a few years before he passed away and had helped him come back to Dafa cultivation in time, the outcome could have been different.
3. Let go of oneself and help fellow practitioners with righteous thoughts and compassion
Earlier this year, another practitioner in our area, in his 70s, began to cough, became short of breath, and had difficulty breathing. Sometimes his mind was not clear. When I saw him recently I became worried about him, because his face looked a little crooked.
I shared with him that he needed to find the excuse the old forces were using to persecute him. From my observation, I didn't think he had any big attachment, and I thought he cultivated very well. In the past, he went to Tiananman Square in Beijing with other Dafa disciples and validated the Fa. During recent years, he kept going out to clarify the truth and persuade people to make the three withdrawals (withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party and its two affiliated organizations). After examining himself carefully, he said he had an attachment to time. Recently, he went to do some work in a hospital. He felt the field in that hospital was not good and didn't want to go there anymore.
I helped him analyze his understanding. The attachment to time is indeed a loophole. The thought that the hospital's field was not good was not on the Fa. Master said,
“...since you practice cultivation and have a shield around your body. You all have shields; otherwise, not only would others interfere with you, you would affect others." ("Teaching the Fa at the Assistants’ Fa Conference in Changchun")
In my understanding, if our thoughts are righteous, bad beings won't be able to enter our dimensional field or interfere with us.
After we Identified this loophole, we sent forth righteous thoughts to deny the old forces' arrangements and asked Master to strengthen us.
At that moment, my dimensional field seemed to freeze. I felt the strength of righteous thoughts and the infinite power of Dafa. Before, the practitioner told me he couldn't calm down enough to send forth righteous thoughts. But this time, he kept sending forth righteous thoughts for about 20 minutes. The coughing and shortness of breath were greatly alleviated. Before I left, I reminded him to pay attention and to correct his every single thought. When there is any thought that is not consistent with the Fa, you need to deny it right away, because it is not your own thought.
I went to his home again the following afternoon. He told me that the inappropriate thought in his head was gone. We sent forth righteous thoughts together twice. His condition improved significantly. One week later, he had completely recovered and started to validate the Fa and save sentient beings again.
Actually, it is Master who is really helping fellow practitioners. When we send forth righteous thoughts with them and help them search within, Master is strengthening us. Without Master, we can't do anything.
Speaking of searching within and sending forth righteous thoughts, my understanding is that before sending forth righteous thoughts, we need to help the fellow practitioner who is in tribulation search within, find the attachment, eliminate it in his heart, and correct himself based on the Fa. In this way, we can enhance the power of our righteous thoughts.
This is my understanding at my current level. My fellow practitioners, please point out anything improper.