(Minghui.org) Using my celestial eye, I often see some celestial beings look for practitioners' shortcomings and use them as an excuse to create tribulations for practitioners. As an example of this, I would like to share the following incident.
Last year, two practitioners came to me separately and said that they didn't think our local coordinator looked healthy. Both of them suggested that we send righteous thoughts for her.
Next day, three other practitioners and I got together to send righteous thoughts for the coordinator. During the process, I saw a narrow path leading to a large grave. I realized that the coordinator's life was in danger.
As we sent righteous thoughts for the third time, I saw a group of old celestial beings. One of them spoke while holding a notebook describing the coordinator's cultivation state. One scene showed the coordinator holding a Dafa book, but her thoughts were about the relationship between her and a male practitioner. The celestial being said, "Look at her! Casting furtive glances of lust while reciting the scriptures. Isn't she a wicked one?" I glanced at the notebook and saw a record of her other attachments, including jealousy, competitiveness, craftiness, self-protection, and others.
I understood that the evil wanted to take the coordinator's life using her shortcomings in cultivation as an excuse. We decided to go to the coordinator's home and send righteous thoughts in close physical proximity so they would be stronger.
When sending righteous thoughts, my legs hurt so badly that I could barely maintain the double lotus position. I saw a very dense crowd of rotten elements destroyed by our righteous thoughts. Then, many celestial beings floated toward us like snowflakes. They threw some scrolls at me. The scrolls immediately became endless mountains that surrounded me.
"Why are you stopping us?" A tall celestial being asked me. "It is this person's destiny that she should leave now," he said.
"She is a Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period," I answered firmly. "She will follow our Master, not you. You are not worthy of taking her with you. If you disturb Dafa disciples helping our Master, you will be eliminated."
I also saw that the old forces had arranged a set of intricate mechanisms in our area that had many gears. On each gear were images of our local practitioners. There was another set of mechanisms inside each gear. There was a long tube extending from each practitioner. All of the tubes hung over the local coordinator's body, and many dark substances flew from practitioners toward the coordinator, which reflected conflicts among local practitioners in our dimension.
In our area, many practitioners involved the coordinator in their conflicts. For example, one person saw a shortcoming in another practitioner, yet he or she told the coordinator instead of telling the practitioner directly. These things occupied much of the coordinator's time, and a lot of bad things were pushed into the coordinator's mind.
The coordinator looked to be in very bad shape when we were sending righteous thoughts in her home. Her face looked very old for her age, and her breathing was labored. I could feel the old forces trying to take her away.
When I looked at Master's portrait, I heard Master tell me, "These two days are very important. Don’t let up."
The evil implanted some false images into the coordinator's mind, so she started to reject our help. She said, “I see many celestial beings. This is great. There’s nothing to worry about." She told us not to spend time sending righteous thoughts for her and skipped our next appointment.
Master hinted to me that I should continue sending righteous thoughts for the coordinator. When another practitioner and I were sending righteous thoughts, the practitioner received an urgent phone call and had to leave. I decided I would continue even if I were the only person there.
I sent righteous thoughts for the coordinator after each set time. I knew that 30% of the evil forces were left. I saw numbers being displayed: 25%, 15%, and so on. Two weeks later, a sentence appeared before my eyes: “Disciple so-and-so has overcome a life-or-death tribulation.” I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, although the coordinator's physical state had not been good during the past year, her righteous thoughts were strong, and she never acknowledged any illnesses or evil forces. However, she was lacking in certain aspects of her cultivation.
In my opinion, when we see other practitioners' shortcomings, we should remind them kindly. If they do not listen, we should not insist on looking at their bad points; instead, we should look more at their good points. We should never think that the old forces will persecute him/her if he/she doesn't correct themselves. If we have such a thought, we would be on the old forces’ side and acknowledging them.
When facing the old forces’ persecution, as a practitioner, I think we should first look inward for shortcomings. I think the correct thought would be: I will ask Master to give me hints to help me find my attachments. I will only follow Master's arrangements. I will not accept the old forces’ disturbance or persecution. I want every one of my thoughts to be aligned with the Fa.
As practitioners, we should always look inward, but the reason should not be to get away from tribulations. We cannot use doing Dafa projects as an excuse to avoid looking inward.
Master said:
"...as long as you’re a cultivator, in any environment or under any circumstances, I will use any troubles or unpleasant things you come across—even if they involve work for Dafa, or no matter how good or sacred you think they are—to eliminate your attachments and expose your demon-nature so that it can be eliminated, for your improvement is what’s most important. " ("Further Understanding," Essentials for Further Advancement)
These are some of my personal understandings. Please point out anything incorrect.
