(Minghui.org) I read an article about whether we should give warnings to fellow Falun Dafa practitioners who were experiencing tests having to do with sickness karma. It reminds me of my previous experiences and Master Li Hongzhi’s (Falun Dafa's founder) article “A Heavy Blow” in Essentials for Further Advancement.
I would like to share my thoughts on the issue of giving warnings.
In my understanding of the Fa, I believe that it is appropriate for us to give warnings to assist other practitioners in their cultivation, but it depends on each situation, and the warnings should be given out of compassion.
A warning is not to be sarcastic, nor to deal a blow and start a fight. It is actually out of compassion and from a practitioner being responsible for other practitioners and the Fa. Sometimes, we give warnings to fellow practitioners so that their main consciousness can become alert and strengthen. In this way, we can help them to wake up and get back on the right path.
Sometimes, practitioners experiencing sickness karma tests can easily give in. If you tell them to study the Fa, listen to the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts and believe in Master and Dafa, they develop resentment, as they believe they know these things already but can’t tolerate the tribulation any more.
If you ask to study the Fa with them, or recommend they attend group Fa study, they will probably reject your suggestion. Their main consciousness is too weak and is being controlled by the karma. They suffer passively and it won’t work even you help them by sending righteous thoughts. Sometimes, it might work when you study the Fa with them but once you leave them alone, they will give in to the interference.
I once met a practitioner who had slacked off in her cultivation. She almost lost her life when the old forces persecuted her. Under Master's merciful protection, she came to my home. We studied the Fa, did the exercises, sent forth righteous thoughts, and shared our experiences.
I noticed that she was lazy and tended to sleep a lot. She wasn’t strict with herself and accumulated karma, which added more tribulations to her cultivation. Without Master’s mercy, she might have already passed away.
After spending a period of time together, she returned to her hometown. Before she left, we reminded her to be diligent, not to consider cultivation as child’s play, and be strict with herself. She promised that she would.
The next time she came to my home, she told us that her legs were in great pain and she couldn’t put them into the meditation position. I was very surprised, as she could do that very well last time.
During our discussion, she said she made some mistakes again. The last time she came to our home, she said she had killed animals as she wanted to eat fish and chicken. When she returned home, she killed again. As a result, she was unable to cross her legs to meditate.
I was a bit angry when I heard this, and asked her, “Have you thought about cultivation?”
She said, “Yes.”
I asked her, “Haven’t we already talked about not killing? Why didn't you take cultivation seriously? Without Master suffering on your behalf, you might have already lost your life. Do you know how much Master has suffered for us? Do you know how much Master has suffered for each sickness test we experience? Why do you want Master to suffer for you if you can’t improve your xinxing? Does Master owe you? Haven’t you let Master down? Why don’t you think about Master?”
I stopped, feeling choked up, and angry. I couldn't control my temper. I cried for all the suffering Master had endured for her. I also became emotional because the practitioner didn’t cultivate diligently.
I later calmed down, and told her, “My xinxing is not good today. I am worried about you. When you return home, if you have a similar test, I hope you won’t make the same mistake, because I want my words to be a reminder for you.”
The practitioner was not angry and didn’t lose her temper. She said she knew I was doing it for her sake.
This time, I forced her to memorize “On Dafa.” She did it, paragraph by paragraph. After my warning, she changed a lot. She started memorizing the Fa and her condition improved.
I looked within after she left and found that I still had many problems in my cultivation.
This practitioner later called me and said that she could do the sitting meditation with her legs crossed for an hour. I thanked Master and know that Master had cleared the interference and strengthened her. At the same time, Master has shown me my own cultivation problems to let me be more diligent in cultivation.
At a critical moment, we give a fellow practitioner a warning to stop him/her from proceeding in the wrong direction. Then, we should use the opportunity to study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts, to improve together based on the Fa. If we worry that the other practitioner might not be able to accept our words; if we are afraid of hurting them, then our sharings on cultivation won’t be effective.
Sharing among practitioners strengthen our righteous thoughts, but not our human notions. Our righteous thoughts for a fellow practitioner will dissolve evil factors that are behind him/her to lessen the persecution of them, and their main consciousnesses might be able to become alert. Even if the practitioner doesn't accept what we have said to him/her, they might think about it later, which would be a positive thing.
In fact, we know that the karma is the one who actually suffers, not the practitioner. The process of suffering is to eliminate karma.
I have helped two more practitioners by giving warnings when they slacked off in cultivation and had been experiencing sickness karma for a long time. Now, they have strong righteous thoughts and their conditions have improved.
We can’t force practitioners to pass their tests, nor should we tell them to go to a hospital or not, to take medicine or not. We can only tell them what Master has said and let them decide for themselves.
In summary, we should do our best out of compassion to help other practitioners who are suffering from sickness karma.
[Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)]
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Category: Improving Oneself
