(Minghui.org) I am 72 years old and began practicing Falun Dafa in November 1996. Over the past 21 years, I have had many memorable cultivation experiences. I would like to share an incident of serious sickness karma that I encountered in recent years and how Teacher (the founder of Falun Dafa) and fellow practitioners helped me to overcome the tribulation.

Many practitioners in my area were arrested one day in August 2014. The local coordinator decided on an approach to rescue them and asked me to inform some of the other practice sites.

Developing a Fever

Because these sites were far apart, a fellow practitioner drove me there on a motorcycle. When we reached a suburb, a strong, cold wind suddenly started blowing. The practitioner asked me if I was alright and if I was cold. I said that I was fine, but I developed a fever later that night.

I started coughing and found it difficult to breathe the moment I laid down to sleep. The next morning, I coughed and coughed, and my throat felt hot and painful. I threw up and saw that the vomit was red. I immediately shouted, “You old forces must stop! I don't acknowledge you!”

I didn't cough much later that day, but my whole body ached at night like I was being pierced by sharp needles. Every night, I had to sleep sitting up, leaning against the wall. Sometimes, I was awakened by a pounding headache, and I made countless trips to the toilet.

I had a fever for ten days and vomited blood for seven days.

After several days, I had a fever again for a week and vomited blood. A big lump appeared at the back of my right knee. Several painful lumps later appeared on my waist and chest.

In the midst of all this, fellow practitioners and I often went to a practitioner's house to study the Fa and help send righteous thought for her as she had sickness karma. She persisted for some time but finally decided to see a doctor. She was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer.

After some time of going to her home, I began showing similar symptoms. My condition got worse as the days went on, so I decided not to go there anymore. She sent her greetings with some practitioners who came to see me, and she was later happy to hear that my health was improving.

Looking back, I was actually worried at the beginning stage of my sickness karma, as a few practitioners that had passed away also had lung cancer. I quickly denied this negative thought.

Not Wanting to Acknowledge the Old Forces

I was about to get off a bus one day when I suddenly couldn't move my right leg. A lady helped me off the bus. I walked slowly down the street. People noticed that I was having difficulty walking and asked me if I was okay. I said that I was fine because I didn't want to acknowledge the old forces' persecution and give them energy.

I needed to walk a lot every day, so I asked Teacher to take away the lump behind my knee.

It disappeared the next day, but I still couldn't sleep at night and was in a lot of pain. So I did the exercises more and studied the Fa more, as I remembered what Teacher said:

“...practicing cultivation is the best form of rest...” (Lecture at the First Conference in North America)

I constantly looked inward to try to find the problems that gave the old forces an excuse to persecute me.

Teacher said,

“...you must cultivate the part that you are supposed to cultivate. As for the things that you can't cultivate, and can't detect or recognize--or take care of even if you could recognize them--Master will take care of them. Of course, it doesn't mean that when you see attachments that you can't get rid of you can use the excuse of “I can't do anything about that” and thereby shrug off your responsibility. (Audience laughs) That won't do. What I'm talking about is, when it comes to the structures of your being and your way of thinking--things that you can't detect at all and can't take care of--Master will definitely take care of those things.” (Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York)

As I was sending righteous thoughts, I said to Teacher, “It's very difficult for me to bear the pain. Please help me eliminate the attachments that I can't detect, and please help me to get some rest.”

I then lay down and slept very well for almost two hours.

The next day, I looked at Teacher's photo with tears rolling down my cheeks. I bowed to Teacher. No words could describe my appreciation for how much Teacher has borne for me.

I tried to lay down again after sending righteous thoughts. Once again, I slept for over two hours. From then on, I could sleep at night with no difficulties, and the coughing also stopped.

Although I had lost a lot of weight, I felt perfectly fine. When some people asked me about my weight loss, I said, “It doesn't really matter. I feel healthy!”

My two children lived far away and were busy every day. My grandchildren had to go to school, too, so nobody really knew what I had gone through. Weeks and months later, they finally found out what had happened to me and asked why I didn't tell them. I said, “If I told you, wouldn't you have dragged me to the hospital? That would have been even worse!”

Looking Inward to Find My Problems

All these days, I kept searching for what it was that I couldn't detect. Finally, I found it.

I was making rice dumplings at a colleague's house one day back in the 1980s. A psychic mind reader came and said that he could read my mind. I declined the offer, but my friend coaxed me into letting him do it. The reader told me something about myself and my family that was very accurate. Then he said that I would only live to 69. I was in my 40s at the time and suffered from numerous ailments. I didn't actually want to live, so I told him that I would be very happy if that were true.

I was 69 when I had the sickness karma. My encounter with the mind reader had been on my mind until I began practicing Falun Dafa. Although I wasn't too attached to it, sometimes I did mention what the mind reader had said when I was chatting with friends. Now I understand that it was the old forces that arranged for me to live until 69 but that Teacher is prolonging my life.

I passed the tribulation, but I am very clear that the life that Teacher prolongs is for me to do the three things well. Teacher said,

“There is a criterion, however, that the life prolonged beyond your predestined time to live is completely reserved for your practice. If your mind goes wrong a little bit, your life will be in danger because your lifetime should have long been over.” (Zhuan Falun)

I am truly thankful to Teacher for saving me. I would also like to thank all the practitioners who have helped and encouraged me.