PureInsight | August 15, 2016
[PureInsight.org] In the past few years, many local practitioners have passed away due to sickness karma. At present, there are currently three practitioners in our area who are in the midst of severe sickness karma interference; these practitioners are the primary force behind the local truth clarification efforts in our area. Just these three practitioners save at least tens of thousands of sentient beings each year, so this is a huge loss for sentient beings. Every time a practitioner is lost, it really depletes the strength of our ability to save sentient beings. I hope that practitioners can share more and that we can complete our missions during the end of the final stage.
1. On Looking Within
I often hear practitioners say, “I found many attachments, but I still do not feel better.” So looking inwards was for the purpose of healing one’s body, which is a selfish motive. If one looks inwards while trying to sense surface level physical changes, then this is cultivating with the purpose of wanting to get something. If the old forces see that you want to use “looking inwards” as a way to cure illness, wouldn’t they take advantage of this loophole and create illusions for you to see? The old forces will also use other people to scare you by saying you have such and such severe illness. They will care for you and think of ways to cure your illness with the purpose of forcing this “illness” on you to drag you back to being a human. Shouldn’t we first think about how to eliminate the attachments we find? It is just like the Fa principle that Master said about going to college. If you first consider how to study well, then going to college will be the natural consequence.
Some practitioners say, “I looked inwards but could not find any attachments. I have let go of fame, fortune and sentimentality.” How bold this statement is! Even gods are surprised by it. If there are no attachments left, then what is there left to cultivate? We come from the old universe’s selfish mentality. Being self-righteous, arrogant, and scornful of others is a huge obstacle in our cultivation. Dafa practitioners should always be humble: any interference must be because I have not done well, so I must bravely dig out and eliminate these attachments of mine; when other practitioners point things out, they must have their reasons, so I must modestly accept them and think about them. Only with such a mindset can we find our attachments and cultivate them away. It is not embarrassing to find attachments, but rather not being able to look inwards is what really makes gods laugh and Master upset.
2. Just Doing the Three Things Does Not Guarantee That They Are Done Well
Some practitioners are confused: we are doing all three things, but why have we become like this through cultivation? Doing them does not guarantee that they are done well. Once you study the Fa well, you will no longer be confused; once you send forth righteous thoughts well, then the evil will disintegrate; once you clarify the truth completely, then nearby relatives would not be so hostile towards Dafa. The actual scenario is that you have done the three things, but they were not done up to par; you studied a lot of Fa, but you cannot use the Fa as guidance when encountering problems; you sent forth righteous thoughts for half a day, but who knows what you were thinking the entire time? Cultivation is very serious. You cannot dilute it; you cannot fool Master.
Everyday people can also do the three things and accumulate good fortune, but Master wants Dafa disciples to do the three things. The difference between Dafa disciples and everyday people is that we cultivate instead of just superficially doing things. Regardless of how much we suffer or how much we do, cultivating our hearts and eliminating attachments is always first and foremost. Master said in Zhuan Falun, “The whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments.” Because some practitioners have not been diligent over the long term, when they encounter tribulations they question whether Master still takes care of them. The first thing we should ask ourselves is “Do I want to be a truly cultivating Dafa disciple?”
3. Rationally Validating the Fa
Some practitioners have been diagnosed in hospitals, yet they tell their relatives that they do not have an illness and are instead just eliminating karma. This results in relatives unable to understand Dafa practitioners and consequently pushes them to oppose Dafa. This reflects that we cultivators were not speaking rationally. “I do not have illness” is not something to be said to everyday people, but instead it is us denying the old forces from the perspective of the Fa and is the righteous thought that we must maintain. If the hospital has diagnosed an illness, yet you still claim no illness, then have you put yourself in everyday people’s shoes and considered sentient beings’ feelings? Can the sentient beings understand? Haven’t we pushed sentient beings away?
The reality of the situation is that many practitioners become unstable when they become physically uncomfortable. They tell their non-cultivating relatives, which then upsets them and they force you to go to the hospital or to take medicine; sometimes you yourself are suspicious that you have an illness, so you just agree when relatives tell you to go to the hospital. You know that you should not have any illness through studying the Fa, and other practitioners also do not advocate going to the hospital, which results in an inconsistency between your heart and your words. When you say you do not have an illness, it does not come from righteous thoughts or from the perspective of saving sentient beings. Some practitioners think that they are being considerate of their relatives; they do not want to waste their relatives’ time, waste their money, or make them worried or angry, so they insist on not being treated.
As for practitioners who have had long-term illness karma, this is in fact a test of whether you can step past life and death. If you cannot let go of human notions, then you may really not be able to pass the test. You cannot make it just by insisting and forcing yourself to sustain things. One practitioner insisted on distributing materials in a residential building under very weak physical conditions and ended up dying in the building, which caused a very negative influence among everyday people.
Fellow practitioners who are in the midst of illness karma are very anxious. They are anxious to go save people, sometimes stopping at nothing. Some practitioners are so anxious that they cry about it: “I need to find a quick cure, so I can go save people sooner; I cannot validate the Fa like this.” The time for Fa-rectification is very pressing and urgent, but Dafa cultivation has no shortcuts. You cannot even pass the test laid out before you, yet Master wants Dafa disciples to do Dafa activities. There is a reason why you cannot go save people now. Perhaps you should calm your heart, peacefully cultivate yourself, study more Fa, send forth more righteous thoughts and think about how you can validate the Fa under these special circumstances. Even if you cannot go out now, your positive attitude and eager state of mind can display the beauty of Dafa’s “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance” to sentient beings just the same and display the difference in realm between Dafa disciples and everyday people. In fact if we can really listen to Master and do the three things well, then many problems will be solved. Master said in Zhuan Falun, “Doing the exercises isn’t hard in its own right, and there’s nothing hard about raising your level in and of itself. They only say it’s hard because they can’t let go of their human thoughts.” Do not focus on how enormous the current tribulation is. Master said in Zhuan Falun, “…a good or bad outcome comes from one thought. The difference in one thought leads to different results.” Even the biggest tribulation may not be a bad thing. For a truly cultivating Dafa disciple, it could become a great opportunity to validate the Fa because Dafa can do anything, and miracles constantly happen.
It is easy to say these things, but it may be very difficult for practitioners who are in the midst of sickness karma tribulations because often you have not taken cultivation seriously on a regular basis, so these tribulations accumulate into a mountain, which becomes difficult to overcome. However, Master said in Zhuan Falun, “Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the Master.” We should just focus on cultivating. With Master and the Fa, are there really any volcanos we cannot overcome?
The above is my own understanding at my level. Please do not hesitate to point out anything not on the Fa.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/152691
