(Minghui.org) As the wave of frigid weather washed over China this winter, many people became so ill that they were hospitalized. Some practitioners also had symptoms of being ill. Even though they didn't seek treatment, they felt weak and couldn't go to work. Their families who don't practice asked, “Don't you say Falun Dafa keeps you healthy? Why do you seem to be sick?”

The practitioners I know who had illness symptoms were those who hadn't passed cultivation tests well, so they were being interfered with.

One practitioner said, “It doesn't matter how poorly I've cultivated, the old forces aren't worthy of interfering with me.” It sounded like she had strong righteous thoughts, but it could also be interpreted as an excuse for not cultivating diligently.

If we don't proactively try to eliminate attachments and we don't meet the standard of the Fa, the old forces may use this as an opportunity to cause interference in the form of tests. In this case, our “denial of the evil old forces” wasn't powerful enough.

We can deny the old forces' arrangements and not go through sickness or other tribulations if we can understand this issue from Dafa's principles, and quickly correct ourselves. The key is whether we are genuinely able to give up our long-held attachments. Although we frequently say that we're cultivating and getting rid of our notions and attachments, sometimes we don't really want to let go of them.

When some practitioners experience interference in the form of persecution or illnesses they do cultivate and look inward diligently. They work hard to improve themselves during the tribulation, but relax afterwards. Some even resume their old negative habits or attachments. This has happened several times. If we don't treat cultivation seriously, we are cheating ourselves. Some practitioners were able to truly improve, but others eventually gave up and stopped cultivating.

It's fine if we haven't done well once, or if we experience temporary interference in the form of illnesses. However, the key is to treat our cultivation seriously and learn something from our experiences. We should never consider our cultivation as an option!

No matter how long or how short the time we have left to cultivate is, it's but a passing moment throughout the eons of history. We should treasure every opportunity we're given to do better and to save more people. Let's truly maintain a state of being diligent and remember that every challenge we encounter is an opportunity to improve ourselves and to save people.