(Clearwisdom.net) I am an older practitioner, and I would like to share my story with fellow practitioners about how I overcame two cases of illness karma. One took place before July 20, 1999, and the other took place after.
I attained the Fa not long before July 20, 1999. At that time, I had retired from a government-owned corporation and decided to start practicing Dafa because of my wife. She used to be bedridden and suffered from multiple ailments. Through studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, she miraculously recovered without any medical treatments. She was healthy and had a rosy complexion.
After I read Zhuan Falun just once, Master started cleansing my body. I used to have a stiff neck and even a little activity would make me terribly dizzy. I felt weak, had blurred vision, and was bedridden. My wife knew that my body was being cleansed and kept reading the book to me and encouraging me. At that time, however, I didn't have a deep understanding of the Fa. No matter how my wife shared her understanding on the Fa with me, I still went to the hospital after seven miserable days, when I could no longer take it.
In the hospital, as I looked at the IV bottle hanging beside my bed, I felt deep regret for having failed the test. I fell asleep while in this depressed mood. I had a dream which I still very clearly remember. In a great square, there was a high metal tower and I was on top of it. Without being aware of it, I slipped and fell to the ground. In the dream, I blamed myself for not holding on tightly. I looked around and noticed that there was a fence around the base of the tower. Looking up, I saw a long ladder going straight up. I was ready to climb the ladder.
When I woke up and recalled the dream, for the first time I realized that Dafa was indeed from a higher realm and we should treasure it. I also clearly knew that Master hadn't given up on me and was waiting for me to catch up quickly. I should not give up cultivation because of one setback. It is truly the Great Law that I had been seeking, whether I knew it or not. Master said,
"Cultivation practice is extremely arduous and very serious. If you are being careless for a moment, you may stumble and become ruined at once. Therefore, one's mind must be right." (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
Therefore, I was determined to leave the hospital and return home. I let go of human notions and started to cultivate genuinely and diligently to make up for my loss. After all, I had taken a wrong turn because of not truly believing in Master and Dafa.
Not long after that, the persecution started. The environment became worse and many practitioners were arrested. Sometimes the mentality of fear surfaced in my mind. One night just after reading a chapter in Zhuan Falun and before starting the exercises, I suddenly felt suffocated and panicked. I felt like I couldn't breathe. It seemed as though the air was sucked away, and I began to panic. Then I steadied myself. With the lesson learned from the last time when I didn't break through the illness karma, I kept a strong thought this time to believe in Master and Dafa. "If one is determined, the karma can be eliminated." (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun) I tried to eliminate all distracting thoughts and focus on one thing, "There is Master and there is the Fa. What should I fear? What am I unable to put down?"
I insisted on practicing the exercises. I turned on the tape player and managed to finish the first exercise with great effort. Then I felt much better. I started to do the third exercise, and when the music started and Master said the verse, I clearly heard in the music another, slow, clear voice that was also Master's, saying, "No fear! No fear!" Master was looking after me during this vicious attack. Recalling this, I can't stop my tears.
Indeed, this was to cleanse my main body. During my past lives, I had committed countless crimes, and this was just a small portion for me to suffer. What could I not give up? Going to see a doctor still cannot change one's path in life. Only Dafa cultivation can truly change a being's life thoroughly. Suddenly the terrible illness symptoms disappeared, dissolved amidst my righteous thoughts of believing in Master and Dafa. I felt calm and peaceful.
Eight years of validating Dafa have passed. The insight I gained through these two incidents before and after July 20, 1999, has encouraged me all along during my Fa-rectification cultivation and in doing the three things to assist Master in Fa-rectification and save sentient beings. We should always believe in Master and Dafa, all the time and in all situations.
