(Minghui.org) I've recently heard a lot of examples of practitioners suffering from sickness. Some of them were crippled, some were hunchbacked, some took medicine, stayed in the hospital and underwent surgery, and some who were imprisoned died from sickness. Some even left Dafa or started to believe in other religions because of the pain of being “sick.” They caused a negative effect on Dafa and made it more difficult to clarify the truth and save people.
Over the past two years, I had opportunities to get in touch with several practitioners who were suffering from “sickness karma.” Guided by Dafa and protected by Master, we were able to overcome the tribulations together.
Practitioner A
Practitioner A, 78 years old, who lives alone, invited me to her house at the end of spring in 2011. I noticed she was in bad shape. She had poor vision and hearing. She could not see people clearly. We had to speak loudly into her ear. Someone had to assist her to walk (she had a caregiver). She could only practice the tranquil exercises and would get sleepy when she studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts. Sometimes, she could not remember the words. She needed help from other practitioners urgently.
I discussed it with the director of the study group that A was in, and we decided that every local practitioner should take part in assisting her. Considering safety and not wanting to affect their regular cultivation and their doing the three things, we decided to group practitioners into twos. Two of us studied one chapter of Zhuan Falun and sent forth righteous thoughts with her twice between 9 a.m. and noon every day. We sent forth righteous thoughts to clear the environment before we studied the Fa. Practitioner G and I went to A’s house the first two days. We often asked A, “Did you hear clearly?” She nodded. Two days later, she was not that sleepy. On the fifth day, both her hearing and memory had improved, and she could recite the Fa-rectification formulas when sending righteous thoughts. On the sixth day, she was able to stand to do the first, third, and fourth exercises. She did not sway at all. I told her, “You are better now. We don’t need to come again. We hope you can look within yourself and improve your xinxing to save people in the future.”
Practitioner B
In the summer of 2012, Practitioner B, 83, asked another practitioner to pass on the message that he wanted to see me. I heard that he had been in a wheelchair for several years.
I saw him sitting on a stone with his wheelchair by his side. He saw me and smiled. I bowed and said to him quietly, “How can a Dafa practitioner sit in a wheelchair?” Suddenly, I saw him become more energetic. He told me about his experience after being detained in 2001 for telling people about Falun Dafa. After that, he was scared of being monitored all the time. He lost the opportunity to contact other practitioners. He studied the Fa less and less, and finally he became “sick.” He went to the hospital and stayed there. He then felt weak in his legs and could not stand up, so he had used a wheelchair ever since.
I told him, “Master has talked about sickness karma. Your condition now is not real sickness. It’s the evil’s interference in order to pull you down so you can't do the three things. You must deny the old forces' arrangements. We are Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples and we have the mission and responsibility to save sentient beings. You cannot sit on a wheelchair anymore—you must go out to save people.” He said that he could not stand up. I encouraged him, “Yes, you can. Ask Master for help, you can stand up.” Then he stood up slowly and walked while supporting himself on the wheelchair. Other practitioners later saw him shopping in the market by himself.
Practitioner C
Practitioner C is 77 years old and does the three things well. On the fifth day of the 2013 New Year, she called me and asked me to visit her. When I arrived, her home was very crowded. Her son and daughter-in-law were there. Some of them were playing Mahjong, some were cooking. However, Practitioner C was lying in bed and said, “I’ve been in bed for about a week. My back hurts and I cannot move. My kids saw me like this and they thought that there must be something wrong with my back and asked me to go to the hospital. I used to have this problem before I practiced Falun Gong.”
Then she told me that her son had bought a new house and just finished decorating it. He invited her to visit him at the end of last year. When she went, she saw that the mother of her daughter-in-law had already moved in. She felt it was unfair at that time, and she was jealous. So the evil took advantage of her attachment and brought on her sickness. She said, “My plan to save people during the New Year holidays was interfered with. I am a practitioner and I don’t want to live with my kids. Why should I be jealous?”
I thought she had found her attachment. I told her, “You regard your back pain as sickness. Master has raised all of us to our positions. The karma shouldn’t be a problem for Dafa practitioners. Whatever affects Fa-rectification must be evil.” I thought, “I must help her overcome the tribulation. I must validate the wonderfulness of Dafa to her friends and family.”
I saw her getting better, so I encouraged her to endure the tribulation and go out to save people to fulfill her mission. I helped her sit up and we sent forth righteous thoughts for about half an hour. After that, I felt the field had cleared a lot. She was still sitting. I told her that there shouldn’t be any more problems. I also said, “Ask your sons to come over here. I want to tell them about the truth.”
I had heard that all her children had quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) but they didn’t support her practice of Dafa. I told her two sons, “Your mother is getting better. Practitioners don’t have sickness, but they will meet with tribulations and have tests to pass. Just like the stories in Journey to The West, Monk Tang and his disciples had to pass 81 tests on the way to obtain the scriptures. Today, your mother’s recovery from the back pain testifies to the greatness of Dafa. Falun Gong is legal in China. Dafa practitioners don’t disobey any law. You can check China's constitution and laws—there is no term or clause saying that Falun Gong is illegal. It’s all a set-up by Jiang Zemin. He abused his power. He has been sued in many countries for violating human rights. The police are violating the law. I hope you can all treat Falun Gong practitioners well and protect your mother. You should respect and support her choice to learn Dafa.” I was serious and my tone was peaceful. Both her sons nodded.
The next morning, her sons called me and told me that their mother could get out of bed and that all her “sicknesses” were gone. Her family members were talking about this wonder. Some of them guessed that I had had her take some medicine. However, her daughter-in-law, who was pretending to play Mahjong but was actually keeping an eye on us, said, “Mom did not take any medicine. She didn’t even drink any water. I only saw them talk for a little while and sit together (we were sending forth righteous thoughts). Then she got much better.” I realized that
“Calmly reflect on the attachments you have
Remove your human thoughts and evil will naturally die out”
(“Don’t be Sad” from Hong Yin II)
My Understanding of Helping Practitioners Overcome Sickness Karma
It’s also a process of understanding Fa principles. Shouldn't we help someone like Practitioner A overcome the tribulation? Would I be able to help her by myself, or should I combine my efforts with other practitioners to help her? I actually considered all of this when I helped her. Master said,
“I have talked about this many times before, and many students have actually understood it already. When students exhibit severe sickness karma, it undoubtedly has two goals. One is to have that person display such a state and then see how people around him or her look at it. It's to see how and whether your minds are moved by it. Isn't that the case?” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco” 2005)
“No matter what happens, nobody should be affected inside. Each student should think only of giving help as a Dafa disciple as he's able, and there is nothing to get worked up about. Even if you can't help that person you should still face this issue with righteous thoughts.” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco” 2005)
Practitioner A’s problem also reflected the need for practitioners in the same study group as well as other practitioners who knew about the situation to improve themselves. Thus, I thought we should all take part. However, it’s up to everybody’s own will. Only in this situation is the field pure and can it have good results. Master said,
“For Dafa disciples as a whole, in the process of validating the Fa, when you work together in concert, the Fa power is great.”(“Fa-Lecturing During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
Because Practitioner A has poor eyesight, I communicate with her every day. I mostly share with her about Master's Fa lectures written after the persecution began. I must be clear on the Fa principles in order to assist her to look within herself and get rid of attachments.
Be Kind to Practitioners Who Are in Tribulations
Practitioners A, B, C, and I practiced at the same exercise site before the persecution began. Two of them haven’t seen each other for more than six years. It seemed that it was they who contacted me, but I knew it was Master's arrangement. I met with them and tried to consider the situation from their angle. I kept a thought in mind, “I must help them overcome the tribulation.” The issue of safety and my own cultivation shouldn’t be obstacles that prevent us from cooperating together. I never blame practitioners who are “sick,” instead, I help and encourage them patiently. Especially when I helped Practitioner A, I spent ten days and really applied myself to help her. Over the past two years, I have helped more than these three practitioners.
Why is it that it was arranged for me to see such practitioners again and again, and why was I able to help them? Sometimes I thought maybe it was because they trusted me, or because I had the capability to deal with them. But I never took it seriously. Not until I wrote this article did I realize that Master has said,
“Everything you, a cultivator, encounter is related to your cultivation and Consummation, or else those things absolutely would not exist.”(“Dafa Is All-Encompassing” from Essential for Further Advancement II)
In the 18 years of my cultivation and of being a coordinator, I thought I had a clear understanding of Fa principles. I use the Fa to measure everything and I thought I did well over the past 13 years of the Fa-certification period. However, some practitioners did not work well with me, some even didn’t listen to me. Not until last year did I realize that my tone of voice when speaking and unkind heart was the cause of this. Master has told us,
“While working, your tone of voice, your kindheartedness, and your reasoning can change a person’s heart” (“Clearheadness” from Essential for Further Advancement)
“Shan is the manifestation of the nature of the universe at different levels and in different dimensions. It is also the fundamental nature of Great Enlightened Beings.”(“A Brief Explanation of Shan” from Essential for Further Advancement)
Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners. Heshi.
