By a practitioner in mainland China

(Clearwisdom.net) After learning that a fellow practitioner was in critical condition due to the old forces' persecution, several of us went to his home in a nearby county. By the time we got there, he had already passed away. Although we did not know this practitioner personally, we still felt very sorry for him and regretted that we had not helped him earlier. This incident touched me profoundly.

Another practitioner I knew could not let go of various human attachments, and his loopholes were exploited by the old forces. He suffered from serious diseases and gradually developed the symptoms of lung edema and cancer. The pain was so excruciating that he could not sleep. Although he did not have a deep understanding of the Fa and could not escape the torture of the old forces, he nevertheless firmly believed in Dafa. After ten months, he passed away on Dec 4, 2006.

My heart was deeply pained by his death. When he was suffering, I repeatedly mentioned his situation to other practitioners in the hope that they would visit and help him. In addition to the other things we need to do, we also have the responsibility of helping fellow practitioners, sending forth righteous thoughts, and thoroughly rejecting the old forces' arrangements so that together we can fulfill the mission of saving sentient beings. However, I was surprised by their coldness and apathy. Even when I told others that this practitioner was in critical condition and hoped that they could visit him, I was shocked by the words of one practitioner. During his ten months of suffering, very few practitioners visited him. How much fellow practitioners’ help and encouragement did he need when he was in the midst of suffering and pain? How would we feel if we were in his shoes?

Fellow practitioners, we are the beings of the new universe, forged through the cultivation of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. We are striving towards selflessness and living completely for others. We have sacrificed so much during truth-clarification and our efforts to save sentient beings. Yet despite this, we are unusually cold towards the suffering of other practitioners. Could it be that we are merely doing everything to validate ourselves? Isn’t the persecution of one practitioner by the old forces the same as the persecution of our whole body? Are we validating the Fa or ourselves? Isn’t the persecution of individual practitioners the same as the persecution of all sentient beings and the Fa-Rectification?

We need to balance well the relationship between caring for fellow practitioners and doing the three things well. We cannot let human sentimentality and the evil take advantage of our loopholes. Meanwhile, we also need to be wise. Teacher guards and protects us in every aspect of our lives. Even if we have not done certain things well, Teacher has given us many more chances. How can we give up on our fellow practitioners so easily?

We must stop being indifferent to other practitioners’ suffering. It is our responsibility to help other practitioners who lag behind. Let’s remind each other and improve as a whole. Together we will fulfill the mission of saving sentient beings.

Posting date: 12/31/2006
Original article date: 12/31/2006
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/12/8/144130.html

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