PureInsight | March 18, 2002
When I first obtained the Fa, I focused on transforming and eliminating my karma in order to purify my body as fast as possible. I was able to succeed in doing this because I was dilignet in studying the Fa and in doing the exercises no matter how ill I felt. I was not upset by all the pain that I felt because I knew that I was bearing all of my own karma. With a light heart, it went quickly. Furthermore, I understood that what Master Li was enduring for me was far more than I could possibly imagine.
Along with my cultivation, Fa studying, and Hongfa activities to clarify the truth, I have also come to understand the meaning of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. During these two years of cultivation I have also struggled through countless xinxing tests.
For quite some time, there had only been a few small tribulations - sickness karma - for me to endure. I used to give myself three days to overcome a tribulation. If I failed to overcome it, I would definitely search inside myself to see whether I had said something wrong, did something wrong, thought in a wrong way, tried to hide my own attachments, was lacking compassion, or something else. A tribulation that was caused by my own karma would generally be over within three days.
Since, the evil beings are currently facing elimination, they have become more rampant. They are very good at exploiting the unrighteous thoughts of practitioners. There are many opportunities for the evil and they are more than happy to take advantage of them. This can occur under various circumstances, such as when practitioners are reluctant to search within themselves to avoid responsibility for a problem regardless of whether they are at fault or not. It can also occur when practitioners blindly hide their own attachments, develop zealotry after doing a lot of work for Fa-rectification, raise the competitive mentality by copying whatever other practitioners are doing, or even feel jealous when they find out that other practitioners have finished a job before they had a chance to do it. Practitioners should also not show off their contributions for the Fa or perform work for Fa rectification with the heart of obtaining merit and virtue.
Our benevolent and great Master anticipated this situation, so Master wrote in the article 'Expounding on the Fa:'
'Whenever a tribulation comes, you do not see it with the side of your original nature but view it completely with your human side. Evil demons then capitalize on this point and inflict endless interference and damage, leaving students in long-term tribulations.......Having humanly fostered the evil demons, you allow them to capitalize on the loopholes in the Fa. When a tribulation arrives, if you, a disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm or be determined to meet different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to pass the test. If it continues endlessly and if there do not exist other problems in your xinxing or conduct, it must be that the evil demons are capitalizing on the weak spots caused by your lack of control."
(Essentials for Further Advancement)
There was an experience sharing conference with fellow practitioners from North America. There was also another meeting scheduled the day before - this meeting pertained to the practitioners who were interested in clarifying the truth through the Internet. I signed up to attend both meetings. But to my surprise, the evening before setting off, I suddenly felt pain in the toes of my left foot and I could hardly move. When I felt the most pain I looked at my toes and said in my mind, 'If this is karma I am willing to bear it, but if it is interference arranged by the evil to stop me from going and taking part in truth clarifying work you will be disappointed since I will never give up and let you succeed." Then I didn't pay any more attention to it. (This is similar to the past when karma could not stop me from cultivating and doing Fa-rectification work.)
On the next morning when I went to the airport, I found that the painful feeling was curiously reduced. By the time I got off the plane I felt the pain was halfway gone. That day I studied the Fa, shared experiences and sent forth righteous thoughts at the top of every hour for the whole day. By that evening I was able to run, and the swelling in my foot faded. During the two days, it was very clear in my mind that it was my righteous thoughts that had helped me get through this test.
I have seen that some practitioners remain in tribulations caused by their own karma or continue to have the same symptom for a long period of time. I have also seen some practitioners who can't overcome xinxing tests that appear repeatedly, which often worries me a lot. Sometimes I remind them with compassion. However, Master has told us in the article 'Path,' 'But a person always has to enlighten on his own to what he should do in the face of tribulations. Every time a person improves, the Attainment Status he has validated and enlightened to rises.' If fellow practitioners come across situations that are similar to these, the best thing to do is to immediately and truthfully search inside oneself. Only then will we really ascend, and be able to truly break away from those restrictions. If the tribulation is not from our own xinxing problem but interference from the evil, then it is even more necessary that we treat it with righteous thoughts that are indestructible. When we have righteous thoughts, a tiny finger will be more than enough to crush the evil.
Please point out any mistakes so that they can be corrected.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/2/5/13656.html
