(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, some elderly practitioners around me have encountered major sickness karma. Some of them endured it for long periods of time, and others couldn't bear it and went to the hospital. Some asked for practitioners to help them send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the karma or look for problems in their xinxing. Some passed away. Seeing these practitioners struggling with their pain, I was also deeply pained.
Sickness karma is a very common tribulation for cultivators. Everyone knows that they have to put down this attachment--this sickness karma--and face it calmly to pass this test. However, when faced with this problem, different people have different ways of handling it. I hope my sharing in this regard will help fellow practitioners.
In August 1998, before I obtained the Fa, I could neither eat nor drink. Gradually I became emaciated and even walking became a big problem. Doctors told me that I had stomach cancer and had six months to live. Seeing that my condition was incurable, their assistance and care for me waned. I didn't want to bear the pain any longer and even thought of committing suicide. I thought of many ways but did not succeed.
My neighbors then told me that many people were practicing a qigong exercise nearby. After taking a look, I realized that it was Falun Gong. An elderly lady taught me the five sets of exercises and I began practicing. Even though my movements weren't perfect, I felt very comfortable throughout my body. After finishing the exercises, practitioners asked me to join a study group. The next day, I followed their directions, and very coincidentally, I met a boy who led me all the way to the practitioner's house.
Practitioners gave me the books Zhuan Falun and Essentials for Further Advancement, and I began studying with everyone else. The more I studied, the more I was drawn into it, and I felt like it was what I had been looking for all my life. Once I got home, I read the books in one sitting. I realized that this was the unprecedented law of the universe. Even though doctors told me that I had only six months to live, I felt infinitely fortunate to obtain this ladder to heaven. I decided that I wanted to cultivate, regardless of my mortal limits. If I had a day left, I wanted to cultivate that entire day, even if it was just studying one more paragraph. If I had one last breath, I wanted to read one more word.
In this way, I began studying the Fa, practicing the exercises and didn't think about anything else. Soon after, a relative held a wedding banquet and I ate every dish that was served. It was a while later before I remembered my stomach cancer. I thought, "Wow, I was healed." My cancer was miraculously healed. My spirits improved and I walked without effort. The Fa created me and Master saved me.
Thinking about it now, I realized that as cultivators we are cultivating ourselves. No matter what obstacles, interference or tribulations we encounter, we must not be moved. Obstacles are there for us to improve our xinxing. Let us not forget this. If we use other methods to try to reduce the karma and pass the test, we haven't cultivated ourselves. If we meet these tribulations, fellow practitioners, we shouldn't hurry to try to solve them for the sake of solving that particular problem. We shouldn't think about it and should calm ourselves down. Study the Fa, study the Fa, study the Fa. The Fa will display its wonders, but we must not be attached.
