(Minghui.org) Recently, some practitioners from the Xuanhua region have been suffering from symptoms of sickness karma and a few have even lost their lives.
Even though a lot of us did our best to help those in tribulation, I feel that we could have done better. Everyone involved, be they the sufferers, families or helpers, should all think about how to improve themselves. Here I will share some of my understandings.
To Helpers: What Is the Best Way to Get Fellow Practitioners out of Tribulation?
What is the first thing that comes to our minds upon learning of fellow practitioners’ sickness karma symptoms? I think we should send forth righteous thoughts to strengthen them instead of trying to find their deficiencies. They are struggling to get rid of their sickness karma and still harbor human attachments. As such, their righteous thoughts are not strong enough and they may not be receptive to criticism. If we keep telling them where they didn’t do well, we will only upset them. Their refusal to listen to criticism could in turn be exploited by the old forces and that may further intensify the persecution.
Moreover, whatever problems practitioners who are suffering have that we can’t stop talking about are like black substances tossed into their field. When everybody thinks it is the other practitioners' problems that led to their tribulations in the first place, the old forces will be ecstatic to take advantage of the whole body’s loophole and make the situation worse, which is certainly not what we wish to see.
Of course, this does not mean we can never point out another practitioner's problems. As long as our goal is to improve together with them, it's okay to let them know where they fell short. The key is how we share our understandings with them. We should talk to them with kindness and calmness, maintain strong righteous thoughts ourselves, and keep purging bad thoughts from our own fields. We can study the Fa together with them, and make sure the Fa-study quality is good.
To Practitioners’ Family Members and Close Friends Who Are also Practitioners: Do Not Be Moved by Their Sufferings
A lot of practitioners in tribulation have family members who are also practitioners. I’d say to these family members that we should not develop an attachment of relying on other practitioners to pull our loved ones through a tribulation. It is not rational if we feel happy seeing practitioner-visitors every day and unhappy otherwise.
We should not be affected by our loved ones' suffering, no matter how severe they appear. After all, those symptoms are not illnesses. Whatever issues we find in our loved ones, we should point them out right away, and make sure to send forth righteous thoughts more often so as to improve together with our loved ones. We should keep in mind that they are not patients, and encourage them to behave like genuine cultivators and help strengthen their righteous thoughts.
I have the same advice for those who are close to the practitioners who are suffering. We should not be affected when seeing our friends suffer, or be fooled by deceptive appearances. We should all hold a firm thought that there is nothing wrong with them. Such interference is nothing compared to Dafa practitioners’ power. If all of us can treat the whole thing with righteous thoughts, it will create a powerful field that is strong enough to disintegrate the old forces’ arrangements. When the practitioners in tribulation also send out righteous thoughts, we are sure to see positive outcomes.
To the Practitioners in Tribulation: You Must Maintain Strong Righteous Thoughts
We cannot count on others to cultivate for us. I’m not saying that we must be perfect without any omissions, but we must let go of our human hearts and strengthen our righteous thoughts in order to eliminate interference. When we have pure and strong righteous thoughts, one single thought is enough to crush a mountain. Master is waiting for us.
If we fail to summon our righteous thoughts, the old forces will arrange for us to lose our human lives, but if we can maintain strong righteous thoughts, Master will enable us to elevate to the next realm.
I suggest that we send forth righteous thoughts and study the Fa more often, and not just pay lip service, as cultivation of our heart has to be solid.
Everything of ours is meant for Fa-validation. We should not cause losses to the salvation of sentient beings or leave regrets on our cultivation paths because of our notions. Many people like to say something to this effect, “My body is not mine, but for Fa-validation. I am determined to negate the old forces’ interference with my physical body. I will abandon my attachments and walk on the path arranged by Master. I will never acknowledge any other arrangements.”
I want to remind everyone to not just say the above casually without cultivating ourselves solidly. We should follow Master’s requirements unconditionally. It is not good to say one thing but do another.
When we strengthen our righteous thoughts and disintegrate our attachments, the old forces’ arrangements will naturally be destroyed and the sickness karma symptoms will be gone.
Concluding Remarks
Xuanhua is one of the most heavily persecuted areas in Hebei Province. I feel this situation exists because in many aspects we have failed to meet Dafa's standards.
If we all learn a lesson from the recent sickness karma attack, we can improve as a whole body and completely negate the old forces’ arrangements. Turning bad things into good ones is exactly what Master wants and what the evil fears.
As Dafa disciples, shouldn’t what Master wants also be what we want? I'm deeply moved whenever I think about Master’s poem “To the Original State” in Hong Yin III:
His True Body is youthful with a boundless lifespan
Beyond all space and time, He governs cosmic laws
He teaches Heaven's Way to rescue the firmament
He alone has borne the karmic debts of all beings
The abundant debts formed huge ordeals
His hair turned grey and His body was harmed
When Fa-rectification is fulfilled, His Divine self will show
His immense grace shall awe the Ten Directions
I really want to do better to lessen Master’s burden. I send Master my deepest respect and appreciation.
Category: Improving Oneself
