(Minghui.org) A practitioner recently told me that practitioner Ms. Ma's son-in-law had been diagnosed with leukemia, and that they'd spent more than 700,000 yuan on medical expenses. This practitioner also told me that practitioner Ms. Niu's grandson had leukemia as well.

I told her what I had heard about other practitioners. An elderly practitioner's daughter had gone to the hospital several times, and everything seemed to be fine. But shortly afterward she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She passed away just before she was about to have surgery.

Upon her death, the elderly practitioner enlightened that the reason why the doctor didn't find the tumor was because Master didn't want her to know about it. Otherwise she might become worried about her daughter, which might have interfered with her doing the three things.

This elderly practitioner was really great. Everything went back on track very soon and she wasn't unduly affected by the loss of her daughter.

There was another elderly practitioner whose daughter was born with only one kidney. The doctor told her a person could expect to live 80 years of age with two kidneys, so her daughter would probably only live to age 40. When she was 40 years old, the daughter developed a kidney problem. At first, she studied the Fa with her mother, and Master eliminated karma for her.

But as soon as she went home, her husband and daughter, who had been badly poisoned by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) slander against Falun Gong, knelt down in front of her weeping and begged her not to practice Falun Gong. She gave up the practice and had a kidney transplant. She had rejection reactions and eventually passed away. But her mother, the elderly practitioner, wasn't affected by it and continued doing what she was supposed to do.

I've also heard that quite a few practitioners left the practice when misfortunes happened to their family members. For example, upon hearing of the death of her son, an elderly practitioner who was detained in prison denounced the practice.

When I had the wish to write a sharing article on this, Master gave me a hint that I should write it. What I've written is only my own understanding at my limited level, and it might be different from the understandings of other practitioners.

I want to ask fellow practitioners, "Why are we practicing cultivation?" In my opinion, this is being responsible for ourselves and our lives. No matter who gets sick or even passes away, are you cultivating for that person? Even if it's a member of your family, Master can't take care of him if he doesn't practice cultivation.

But if you give up the practice because you feel overwhelmed by the tragedy, then who are you cultivating for? Aren't you being fooled by the old forces using human sentimentality to drag you down? Master said,

“If today I were to offer any high-level god, no matter his greatness, the chance to come and be a Dafa disciple, he would leap at the opportunity in a split second—the instant my words reached him he would come. He would be simply elated, for everyone who is aware knows that this way he could not only save himself, but also the countless sentient beings of his world.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)

That being the case, when the old forces arrange such a test for you, if you indeed quit the practice, haven't the old forces deceived you?

Master said,

“It’s similar to what I said earlier about the thinking people with illness have: It won’t work if you practice only because you want me to eliminate karma for you! The bottom line is, you shouldn’t be attached to anything. You must have righteous thoughts.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland”)

Even a Dafa practitioner, if he doesn't truly cultivate his heart or does not cultivate diligently, might also pass away. There have been many cases like this in the past few years.

In this human world, our relationships with family members only last for several decades. But for thousands of years and countless reincarnations we have been waiting to obtain this Dafa.

When your family members become sick or pass away, have you considered that everything has karmic ties? Maybe he did something bad in past lives, and his death will help him eliminate some karma. Because you are a cultivator, Master will make good arrangements for him. So what can't you let go of? However, if you no longer practice cultivation because of your family members, how much karma will he bear then? Perhaps he will be eliminated forever. How foolish is that?

Master said in Zhuan Falun,

“In the course of samsara, you have had mothers who were human and non-human, and there are too many of them to be numbered. It is also countless how many sons and daughters you have had throughout your different lifetimes. Who is your mother? Who is your son or daughter? No one knows it after one passes away. You must still pay for what you owe others.” ("Lecture Six")

The more you worry about your family members, the more likely that they came to collect karmic debts from you. They just want to interfere with your cultivation. If you are attached to it, you will miss the precious opportunity to practice Dafa, for which you have waited thousands of years. If you don't cultivate, Master will be very worried for you.

In a sharing article, a practitioner wrote, “The skin on Master's back can never heal, there are continuously explosions that cause big bloody holes...” “Right now, every minute and every second is extended by the huge endurance of Master. All the happiness and all the wealth in this world are exchanged with Master's blood. It is to give sentient beings more time and opportunities to make choices to enter the future, and for Dafa disciples to establish mighty virtue and save sentient beings.”

After I read this article, I couldn't hold back my tears.

Master taught us,

“Another problem would be that since the evilness that was overwhelmingly pressing down at that time was extremely enormous… In the picture posted on the Clearwisdom Website, we saw that the Earth resembled the image of Satan. That was only a manifestation of the karma on Earth. Since every karma particle has its own distinctive karmic image, collectively, they also have an overall image, which is the image of karma. But at that time that evilness far exceeded this karma by many times. It was extremely frightening to beings at many levels—Earth wasn’t the only thing covered by the evil. They thought that without undergoing a test this huge, a Fa this enormous couldn’t be established. Yet they were also aware that with such a huge tribulation pressing down, human beings wouldn’t be able to endure it and they’d be destroyed. They also knew that it would be very difficult for Dafa disciples to come through a tribulation like that. Still, they thought, 'Then let them be destroyed.' They even regarded me as a cultivator. They believed that enlightening to a Fa this immense would require a test this huge. Think about it, everyone: it’s easy to talk about this, but in truth, it was extremely frightening. The environment at that time was so extremely horrible that it was beyond description. But our students in China and abroad all sensed it at the time and saw the degree of evilness manifest in this world by the evil. On the surface, it only appeared to be a manifestation among humans. In essence, those evil factors were manipulating humans. From the outset I tried my best to destroy them, but they were extremely huge. No matter how fast you destroy them, it requires a process. It took me as long as nine months to destroy them. This had never happened before… so enormous. At that time, since this evil was incredibly enormous, it would have been impossible for students to bear it; and then if it weren’t borne, their test wouldn’t count. You can’t just annihilate it, so you have to bear it. But I knew that if the students were to bear it, it would be very hard for them to make it through. So I could only let the students bear the evilness played out by human beings, whereas I bore the real things. (Applause) This isn’t to tell you how great Master is; I didn’t mean that. I’m telling you what went on.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America” from Guiding the Voyage)

“No matter how much power Master has in Fa-rectification, on the surface the old force is still causing a partition, and it has separated Master's enormous power from the surface. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be able to create this partition, but they are using the method of lining up a great multitude in a constant stream, and using as a partition a gigantic mass and the long, drawn-out time-space contained within that mass. Looking at it from beyond the cosmic bodies, one can see that very soon it will be broken through, but it feels like a few years when measured with the time of the human dimension. But once it is broken through, then this entire cosmos's Fa-rectification will be complete. So as [I go through] the process of crashing against it, they do a few things against Master, and have some effect on Master's surface body. Since July 20, 1999, the evil has done a lot of bad things, but I won't talk about those things too much. There is such an enormous amount of evil for Master to clear away, and Master has to bear the karma of many students, so there is a certain amount of harm done to [Master's] surface body.” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005”)

“The evil has assaulted me because I have been suffering on behalf of sentient beings....In the past they went through the same ordeals that human beings experience, or suffered even worse than humans, for it was hard to save people, and those divine beings bore the karma of human beings. That was also to leave their own examples and to help people learn from them. They willfully went through that for the sake of human beings and to teach people how to live properly. So should divine beings, who don’t have karma, have to suffer even a bit? It was human beings’ karma weighing them down.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference”)

When I was doing the sitting meditation, my legs didn't hurt during the first half hour. I felt very comfortable and wonderful. But when Master said “change palm,” I heard His voice shaking because of the pain He was enduring for me. From then on, I dared not enjoy the wonderful feeling, and I became very serious when doing the exercises.

Master began eliminating karma for us from the day we started cultivation practice. Regardless whether you feel it or not, the process of our growing mature in cultivation is a process of suffering, enduring, and hard work for Master. This is Master's infinite Buddha grace, and it is also the immense compassion that Master has for His disciples.

Master said in Zhuan Falun,

“We have given you so many things and let you know so many principles that should not be known by everyday people. Besides providing you with many other things, I have taught you this Dafa. Among some other issues involved, your body has been purified.” ("Lecture Three")

Our Master is so great, so why don't we cherish this opportunity and cultivate ourselves well? Only by doing so can we repay what Master has endured for us.

I would also like to ask those practitioners who quit the practice, "Master has done so much for you. Have you ever felt grateful, even if Master never asks anything in return from you?"

Master began to impart the Fa beginning in 1992. During the past 21 years, how much has Master done and endured for His disciples? When the persecution first started, Master endured unimaginable attacks from the evil. How do you look at this?

When Master started to impart the Fa, He looked very young. But now, after enduring so much karma for sentient beings, how much damage was caused to His flesh body? Master said,

“Human beings can't see the karmic retribution process in human society or the cause and effect of things, and so they don't consider the consequences of anything they do, as they are blind to the underlying reasons.” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)

When you easily give up the practice, when you don't enlighten simply because of an attachment to human sentimentality, have you ever wondered how sad Master is? Who is truly being good to you? Who is eliminating your karma, teaching you how to be a good person, being responsible to you, and yet never asks for anything from you?

You spend money for your family member who is sick, worry about him, and can't calm down to practice cultivation. But meanwhile, who is suffering for you? Who takes your karma and bears it for you? Master is doing all of this for you, but have you realized it?

Master said,

“The cosmos has a measureless, incalculable number of Buddhas, countless Gods, and moreover, to each of the multitude of gods, the cosmos at their position seems to already be at its zenith, with no lives existing above them and nothing existing above where they are. But in fact, in larger realms there are still more incomparably massive and high realms and even more Buddhas and gods that are innumerable, and when they look upon the gods below them, they see them as ordinary people.” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005”)

“You are a cultivator, and you are above ordinary people. You know that in this lifetime you are family, but did you know that in your previous life you might not have been? You know that in this lifetime this person is your wife, but who knows whose wife she will be in the next lifetime. In this lifetime that person is your child, but whose child was he in his previous life?” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)

Please wake up, my fellow practitioners. We all need to study the Fa more, because only the Fa can guide us in the correct direction. If you let human sentimentality go, the demon won't be able to get hold of you.

Master also said,

“Another reason is that the factors of the old forces that interfere are still exerting an effect. I have said something before: 'The gods in the cosmos don't regard human beings as anything significant.' People say that gods are compassionate. Yes, they are compassionate, and compassion is what they cultivate. But their having compassion does not mean they have compassion toward human beings; they have nothing to do with human beings. When a god comes into contact with human beings, humans may sense powerful compassion from him, but that's just the kind of god he is, and he is not being compassionate specifically towards you; rather, being compassionate is just his state. In fact, a lot of the gods of the old cosmos think, 'You Dafa disciples are cultivating to such a high level, and you will determine the future of the cosmos. So I won't let you ascend if you fall short even just a little bit.' Even though we can't call these beings 'ruthless,' when it comes to this they absolutely won't give a wrongdoer a way out, nor be lenient with you just because you have done some good things.” (Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles)

Fellow practitioners, if you don't cultivate, then you have actually been fooled by the old forces.

Master said in “Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference,”

“You should know, and I have been saying all along, that when you, as Dafa disciples, look at something, you have to make sure to view it in reverse since the Three Realms are inverted, and you have to conduct yourselves in a positive, correct manner. What ordinary people regard as not good is good for cultivators--beings who wish to leave this place. If your thinking is the same as ordinary people's, then you will forever be an ordinary person and never be able to leave here. So, when you meet with ordeals, it is the perfect opportunity for you to improve. If you are able to look inside, that trying situation will become instead an opportunity, something to overcome and a chance to enter a new state. Why haven't you looked at things that way?”

In this sharing article, I cited many paragraphs from Master's lectures, but I still feel it's not enough. Fellow practitioners, let's study the Fa well, step out of human sentimentality, and not become lost in this human world. Master is waiting for you!

Master said,

“So in other words, the Maitreya that Buddha Shakyamuni spoke of is as a matter of fact the Buddha Maitreya who descends to the world to save people during the final time of the world, in man’s final days. In fact, some people in the human world did know—and it’s not limited to people of the East, as some in Western society knew as well—that the one who would really come is Maitreya. The god who holds that Buddha title is the only savior of the cosmos’s sentient beings, is the supreme King of Kings in the heavens, and saves the cosmos’s sentient beings under the title of Buddha Maitreya. So, given that he uses the title of Buddha Maitreya, who was he before he descended to the human world? He came from an even higher place, reincarnated at many different levels, and as he came down, level by level, he was different gods at various levels and he assumed the Fa titles of those levels as he passed through. And when he descended to the Fa Realm, he was the Holy Law-Wheel King, otherwise known as the Holy King Who Turns the Wheel.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference”)

Fellow practitioners, please cherish Dafa, and cherish Master.

“Opportunity knocks but once.” (“Practicing Cultivation After Retirement” from Essentials for Further Advancement)

“Seize the opportunity, formed over ages” (“Hesitate No More” from Hong Yin III)

Let us seize the time to study the Fa and cultivate ourselves well. Let us return to our original home with Master.