Karma and Fate: Where Do Illness and Misfortune Come From?

(Minghui.org) Many people have been trying to find a recipe for good health. 

John Schindler, co-founder of the Monroe Clinic and author of How To Live 365 Days A Year, found that 76% of illnesses are related to emotions. Therefore, he believes that people should remove negative feelings and try to live positive lives. 

But the connection between mind and body may go beyond emotions. In ancient China, for example, people believed in the harmony of heaven, earth, and mankind. Whenever a person acts or thinks inappropriately, there would be consequences, since these inappropriate thoughts disturb this cosmic balance. There is also the belief in karma, where a person may encounter blessings or misfortune depending on the events that play out across different reincarnations. 

A Man and His Blind Wife

Chunzhu Jiwen by He Yuan of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) tells a story of a blind woman.

Shen Chunliang was a documentation officer for Yuqian County, an area in today’s Zhejiang Province. He liked reading and treated others well. 

Shen’s friend had a relative called Huang Bi. After passing the imperial examination and becoming a high-ranking official, Huang married a beautiful woman. The woman had an incurable eye disease, rendering her unable to see. 

Under family pressure, Huang divorced the woman. Since the woman was neat and good-looking, and her blindness was not easily noticeable, Shen married her and they lived together. 

Several days after the wedding, Shen had a dream in which he arrived at a government compound. Many prisoners were summoned to the place, and Shen looked at them one by one. An official in dark red came and sat behind the desk for a trial. His staff members were standing on both sides. 

The officer then summoned a merchandise vendor. Because the goods that had been ordered from him did not arrive, the officer was angry and ordered someone to beat the vendor with a baton. When the vendor argued back, the officer grew even more furious. He ordered someone to burn straw in front of the vendor to smoke his eyes. Shen saw this and began to laugh. 

A staff member standing at the side suddenly said, “Why don’t you have sympathy? Why do you add insult to injury? You may not know it, but the officer in red is your blind wife in this reincarnation.” 

And then Shen woke up. 

He told his wife the story and said, “It seems that karmic retribution does exist. Because of your anger and how you smoked someone’s eyes, you went blind at a young age. After laughing over that person’s misery, I married a blind woman. We really have to care about our words and actions.”

Kind People Are Blessed

Just as bad deeds bring about misfortune, actions from a good conscience lead to blessings. A recent Minghui article tells such a story. 

In the 25th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), a poor person named Li Fu went to the capital city of Beijing to work. He was 40 and had a five-year-old son. After working hard and making 20 taels of silver, he went back home.

When he was tired, Li stopped at a hut by the roadside. There was an old woman who was taking care of a bedridden child in the hut. The woman looked very sad.

When Li asked what happened, the woman said, “My only grandson is ill and the doctor prescribed ginseng soup. It costs two taels of silver, but I cannot afford that.”

Without hesitation, Li took out his hard-earned money and helped the woman.

Upon arriving home, Li saw that his own son was in bed, but he looked as if he were just recovering from a severe illness.

“The child had an incurable disease,” his wife said. “One night, we dreamed that his grandma came and gave him ginseng soup. Then he recovered.”

Li asked his wife when she'd had this dream and realized that it was the same night he’d given the money to the old woman.

Li opened his own bag. All 20 taels of silver were still there. He immediately recognized this as a blessing from the divine for his kindness.

Supporting the Upright

This cause-and-effect relationship also extends to our society today. Right now, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) totalitarian regime poses the biggest threat to the world. Inside China, Falun Gong practitioners are the single largest group persecuted by the regime. Tens of millions of practitioners have been discriminated against and harassed for their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance since July 1999. Many of them have been detained, imprisoned, and tortured. 

During the largest human rights violation in today's world, courageous efforts that support the innocent often bring blessings. Here is an example that was reported by Minghui earlier. 

The Lingyuan City Hospital admitted Da Li, 42, a man who was diagnosed with inflammation of the heart, and told him that he needed surgery. However, just a day later, the doctor found that Da Li was in good health. The doctors and nurses were dumbfounded.

As it went, after Falun Gong practitioners talked to Da Li about Falun Gong, he quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

While he was working in a field near the village entrance on March 28, 2009, a few police came by and asked him what the practitioners in that village were up to.

“Nothing,” he said. “Why do you monitor and harass Falun Gong all day long instead of going after the bad guys anyway? Go back! There is nothing that concerns you here.” The police left without another word.

Of course, he attributed his recovery to his support of Falun Gong.

The Importance of Repentance

After the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong, defamatory propaganda was disseminated across the country through all of China's communication channels. Many people were misled and turned against Falun Gong and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Through the relentless efforts of practitioners who explain what Falun Gong truly is and expose the persecution, some people have come to know the truth. Below is a story previously reported by Minghui. 

Mr. Luo, a farmer from a village in Lingyuan City, was in good health. Even though he was over 60 years old, younger people could not keep up with him at work.

However, his life was not always easy, free, and healthy. After the suppression of Falun Gong began, he, like many other people, believed in the lies broadcast by the CCP media and he participated in the persecution. He used abusive language about Falun Gong and its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, and tore up Falun Dafa truth-clarification materials.

His daughter practiced Falun Dafa and repeatedly told him that good is rewarded while evil is punished. But he refused to listen.

His health began to deteriorate significantly three years after the onset of the persecution, and it kept deteriorating. He lost all of his teeth and needed dentures, and he even lost his eyesight. His legs and hands became numb, leaving this once strong and capable man disabled. He was then afflicted with a blood clot and was diagnosed with diabetes. He had become an invalid. His family lived far away, and there was no one to take care of him.

When he had reached a low point, he visited a Falun Gong practitioner that he knew. He told her that he was at his wit's end, since neither injections nor medication helped him.

The practitioner told him that there was something that could make a difference.

“There is a picture of Teacher Li, the founder of Falun Gong, in your daughter’s place,” she told him. “You can burn incense and kneel in front of the picture and tell Teacher that you are truly repentant. You should admit that you were wrong. If you are no longer hostile toward Falun Gong, then you should ask Teacher to pardon you.”

Too embarrassed at that moment to admit that he was wrong, he left, went home, and did exactly what the practitioner told him to do. He returned to the practitioner’s home about a week later, telling her that his health had taken a turn for the better.