(Minghui.org) For some time now, many elderly practitioners have been experiencing “sickness karma.” Some believe that they have this or that “illness.” For some, while they won’t say it is an illness, they still regard discomfort as sickness. Some were stuck in a long-term tribulation, and some eventually passed away.
With the Fa-rectification about to enter the human world and at this critical moment to save all sentient beings, such a phenomenon is serious interference and a loophole in our cultivation.
Because Dafa disciples in mainland China have been subjected to suppression for a long time, many fellow practitioners have been persecuted and have suffered significant physical and mental trauma.
When some appeared to have sickness karma, they wondered, “I have devoted so much to Dafa, why am I still like this?”
A common phenomenon among fellow practitioners is that they measure the amount of truth-clarification work they accomplish as cultivation, and they view many things in cultivation as tasks to accomplish. I was that way myself in the past and was persecuted many times. I have found that many fellow practitioners still have this problem. What is important to them is, “how many lectures I read today or how long I did the exercises.”
They always use human notions to evaluate things. Whenever they encounter problems, it is just as Master taught:
“There is also a certain segment of practitioners, among whom are veterans to the practice, who are regularly involved in Dafa work and who have continued to study the Fa, but who aren’t able to overcome certain blocks at critical moments.” (“Wake Up”)
After being arrested, they would write certain statements (to renounce Dafa) in exchange for their release. Then they said they “came out of the dark den with righteous thoughts.” When they were harassed and forced to sign some documents to renounce Dafa, they justified it saying that they were “trying to protect their families from harassment.” Whenever they feel discomfort, they believe they have “sickness karma.”
Master has repeatedly discussed the issue of sickness karma in Zhuan Falun and various lectures. We should know that Master purified our bodies and that the so-called sickness karma is a tribulation that allows us to improve. But when we feel uncomfortable somewhere, we forget about the Fa and still evaluate things with human notions.
I think the problem is that our cultivation is not solid enough and remains on the perceptual understanding of Dafa. Cultivation is serious, and the closer we come to the end, the stricter the requirements become, and the more we can’t slack off.
Believing in Master and the Fa is not just paying lip service; it is about treating ourselves as true practitioners, implementing the Fa teachings in our practice, recognizing problems with righteous thoughts, and evaluating things with the Fa instead of human notions.
A fellow practitioner came to visit me. She had hypertension, nose bleeds, and a swollen leg. She was in and out of the hospital, and now her swollen leg was worse. She wondered what went wrong. She exercised, studied the Fa, and sent forth righteous thoughts daily, and she also went out to talk to the public about Falun Dafa and the persecution. I wondered myself, and asked her whether she was attached to her illness, to getting well, and did she let go of the thought of being ill. Did she really abide by the requirements of a Dafa cultivator?
Master told us:
“Anything one encounters in cultivation is a good thing.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XII)
Some fellow practitioners get tense whenever they feel they have sickness karma. Do we regard it as a good thing? They will intensify their exercises and Fa study, and prolong their sending forth righteous thoughts. Some still went out to clarify the truth in their poor physical condition, and some asked fellow practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts for them. They have a strong attachment to pursuit and want to eliminate “sickness karma” as soon as possible.
I strongly agree that the “sickness karma test” is a “xinxing test.” For cultivators, the attachment of pursuit is the worst kind of attachment, most easily exploited by the evil. The consequence of pursuit is usually the opposite; it prolongs the sickness karma or worsens it, and eventually, can take the life of the cultivator.
There is a middle-aged fellow practitioner who began having abnormal menstrual bleeding. Her sister, who was also a Dafa practitioner, died after experiencing the same symptoms. Initially she was shocked, but in the end she left everything in the hands of Master. She cultivated like usual, looked within, and did not tell any fellow practitioners. Her symptoms disappeared in a month.
Once, a fellow practitioner came to see me. I had not seen her for several months. She quickly began to tell me that she was hit by a car four months before and her leg was still not back to normal.
“According to medical science, it takes a hundred days to heal a fracture. You haven’t healed in four months as a Dafa cultivator. Maybe it’s time to find out why,” I said to her. “Maybe you’re taking the matter of ‘being hit’ too seriously and hoped that you would be alright, just like the example Master gave in Zhuan Falun, where a lady in her 50s was hit by a car and got up and left without any injuries. You might have also copied her actions and told the driver that you practiced Dafa, and you would be alright, and there was no need to go to the hospital.”
She exclaimed, “You’re right; I did do that!”
I continued, “But you acknowledged the fact that you were hit hard, and then thought that if you did what Master discussed in the book, you would be alright. That itself is a pursuit; no wonder it took you so long to get well.
“Maybe we both need to learn from this. Whenever we encounter something, even if it is bad, we should still treat it as a good thing. It might not be able to hinder us at all!"
Another practitioner in her 90s slipped in the bathroom one day, and her lower leg was completely broken through in at least two places. She could not move due to the pain and swelling. She crawled back to her bed and did not take it seriously. She studied the Fa with fellow practitioners as usual and carried on with her daily routine. She did not even tell her children, so they would not worry.
Three nights in a row, she dreamed that Master came to heal her. One week later, she was back to normal. When her granddaughter learned of her situation, she hurried in to see her. The granddaughter had previously twisted her ankle and hadn’t fully recovered after a month. But for her grandmother, her broken leg was fully healed in one week! She witnessed the wonder of Dafa and began practicing Falun Dafa.
A fellow practitioner who obtained Dafa not long ago began having abnormal menstrual bleeding. Her heart was not steady, and she went to the hospital for a checkup; she was diagnosed with late-stage cancer with metastasis, and surgery was recommended. She went along with the surgery.
After the surgery, she learned that she still had to go through a year of radiation and chemotherapy. Suddenly, she heard Master’s voice saying,
“The root cause of your illness has been removed, and what remains is only this bit of black qi that will come out on its own to let you suffer a little and bear a little hardship. It wouldn’t do for you to not bear even a little bit.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
“If you are a true cultivator, our Falun will safeguard you. I am rooted in the universe. If anyone could harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Tears filled her eyes. “Yes!” she said. “I am a Dafa disciple, and I will only walk the path that Master arranged for me. Only Master and Dafa can heal me!”
She let go of her human notions and did not have any radiation or chemotherapy. She went home, persevered in studying the Fa and doing the exercises, sending forth righteous thoughts, and clarifying the truth. She recovered in no time!
Whether one has surgery or not is not the key issue; the crucial matter is whether one can let go of one's human heart and notions. When some fellow practitioners encounter “sickness karma,” their hearts are not steady; they are afraid if they do not go to the hospital, and also fearful if they do. So they took “health care products” long-term, saying that they are not medicine; they also carried out Dafa duties in the meantime, and they felt safe that way. Their actions resulted in the “sickness karma” dragging on for a long time.
In fact, this is self-deception. On the one hand is reaching to the divine, and on the other hand is holding onto human notions. Can such a person be a true cultivator? With such pursuit, maybe even Master can’t help them.
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 in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)