Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

My Understanding of “How Much You Obtain Depends on How Much You Cultivate”

Jan. 23, 2011 |   By a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) In recent years there have been incidents where practitioners passed away. This situation was more prominent in our area. The practitioners who passed away were of various ages. Some of them seemed to be doing the three things pretty well. Recently, two more practitioners passed away. One was in her eighties, while the other was in her forties. It caused quite a stir. The evil also took the opportunity to spread rumors. Most practitioners felt that it was so unfortunate for the younger practitioner to pass away, but as for the older practitioner, they did not pay much attention to it. Some practitioners even said sighing, “How much you obtain depends on how much you cultivate.” When I heard these words, I felt that it was not right. This is being passive, helpless, and without righteous thoughts. But I thought perhaps the practitioners were not in the best of cultivation states and thus I only said one sentence, “This is not Master's arrangement!”

There are many reasons why practitioners pass away and thus lose their human body. Master also mentioned this in His lectures. The reasons could be due to agreements made in past lifetimes, paying debts or vows made, or going along with the old evil forces. But these should not become a reason for the old forces to persecute us. This is because ever since we began cultivation in Dafa, we do not belong to them. Master arranged a life of cultivation for us and he was already taking care of us even before we started cultivation. Master fundamentally does not acknowledge the old forces' arrangements. But the elements arranged by the old forces are still around, causing interference. When we do not have sufficient righteous thoughts, these elements take advantage of our loopholes, and thus there will be varying degrees of persecution. What Master wants is for sentient beings to be saved, for Fa-rectification to be completed, and for practitioners to reach consummation. “How much you obtain depends on how much you cultivate” is Master's compassion towards sentient beings. As a practitioner, we should not just enjoy the benefits of Master’s compassion. We should not forget that we are helping Master in Fa-rectification and we shoulder a heavy responsibility. Cultivation is solemn. If we cannot catch up with the pace of Fa-rectification, if we are not able to fulfill Master's requirements at different levels, our human body will be restricted by this material world. But leaving this world early would result in immeasurable losses to Dafa. This is because the practitioner will lose the chance to cultivate and the portion that has not met the standards would also be destroyed. When practitioners are saving sentient beings, one practitioner can do the tasks that ten everyday people do; ten practitioners can do the tasks done by one hundred everyday people. But the evil old forces watch our every thought and grab onto our loopholes to persecute us and thus destroy sentient beings.

“How much you obtain depends on how much you cultivate” is a helpless way of viewing things. This is not what Master wants. As practitioners we must improve our understanding from the standpoint of the Fa; if we don't, it would result in a big loophole. Currently there are some practitioners whose bodies are being persecuted. They could not take charge of themselves and eliminate the interference. Their family members who are also practitioners were also affected and could not do the three things expected of them well. The practitioners around them go to different places to help them send righteous thoughts and this caused much commotion. The practitioners who are in this tribulation are pondering whether to take medication or injections. They are going through the tribulation according to the old forces' arrangements. They even lie to their family members and say that they have taken medicine, so that their family members would not be worried. They do not understand the Fa from the Fa’s viewpoint. If they do not improve their understanding of the Fa, they will not be able to free themselves from the arrangements of the old evil forces. Before reaching consummation, there will still be karma that needs to be eliminated. This will manifest itself in testing our human hearts, or our bodies will have symptoms of illnesses to help us eliminate karma, but this must not interfere with our doing the three things to save sentient beings. If the tribulation becomes big, then it must be the old forces interfering. If we improve our understanding of the Fa, it will be a safeguard that helps us to differentiate between Master’s arrangement and the evil old forces' interference.