66-Year-Old Western Practitioner Survives Head-First Fall from Third Floor

(Minghui.org) On the topic of Falun Dafa practitioners repaying karmic debts, Master said:

“... there will be relatively little left to bear when you go through ordeals. Little as it may be, though, it is still sizeable, and you still wouldn’t be able to bear it all at once. The solution, then, is to divide the karma up into many, many portions and distribute them throughout different stages of your practice so that you may perfect your character and develop your energy as you work through them.” (The Third Talk, Zhuan Falun)

On April 22 this year, I had a busy day. First I hiked with some people high up into the nearby rainforest mountains to help install a water system for our community. When I came back, I had to check on the construction of a new annex building complex next to our house.

To get a good view, I climbed a tree to get on the roof of the two-story building. Since the workers were plastering the outside walls that day, I had to bend over the edge of the flat concrete roof, which had a one-foot overlap extension. I grabbed the branch of a tree to help support myself. I had done this many times that day while hiking on steep slopes. But at home, I felt safe and didn’t look closely at what I was holding onto.

Upon the slightest touch, the branch snapped like a matchstick, and I fell head-first to the ground eight meters below. The ground was covered with construction materials, tree trunks, and tree branches of all different sizes.

Having read many stories by practitioners over the last 12 years of my cultivation, I often asked myself what would happen if I had a serious accident. Would I be able to think of Master [Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa]? Would I be able to say convincingly, “Nothing happened, and I am fine”?

The moment the branch broke and I started to fall, I knew instantly that only Master could save me. During my one-second free-fall, I called out in my mind, “Shifu, help! Shifu, help! Shifu, help!” (Shifu is the Chinese term for “Master” or “Teacher.”)

I was falling with full awareness. I even saw the workers on the wall as I passed them on my way down. Interestingly, I cannot recall the moment I hit the ground. I only remember that I was entangled in all the materials lying around and had a little trouble getting up.

Then I noticed the foreman rushing towards me, asking me desperately if I was all right. I had fallen right in front of his eyes. I replied, “Sorry to trouble you about this, but I am all right.” I was actually more shocked about his concern for me than about my fall and my own well-being.

He and another worker grabbed my arms to help me get up. Blood was running down my face, and my legs felt as if they had been hit by a hose. I assured them that I would be fine, though for a brief moment I felt faint. I asked Master to strengthen me. I then told the workers that I just wanted to take a shower and rest but that I didn’t need to see a doctor. Later that night, the foreman called me to ask how I was and if I really didn’t have any broken bones or internal bleeding. I assured him again that I was all right.

The next morning, my wife (who is also a practitioner) had an urgent appointment with the bank, so I drove her 60 km through the mountains to the bank in our capital city as I had promised her the day before. Of course, I had a lot of pain (repaying my karma) and walked very slowly, but I didn’t need any support or a cane.

That afternoon I saw the foreman again and he said, “You are not an ordinary person. If a thousand people had the same accident, they would have either been dead or in the hospital with broken bones or worse.” I told him then about being a Falun Dafa practitioner and that I called out three times for help from my master while I was falling. He later told me, “Michael, I saw you falling, but I cannot recall seeing you hit the ground.” I told him that I didn’t remember how I hit the ground either!

Having practiced Falun Dafa for 12 years, I had to ask myself why this happened to me and why it happened now, out of the blue, when the Fa-rectification seems to be ending soon. Did I have such a big loophole that I wasn’t aware of, or was this karmic retribution?

Later that night, I had a dream that hinted clearly at a big karmic debt that gave me a strong sense of guilt. After all, I think that I would not have had the presence of mind to call on Master for help and to say that I was “all right” if I had been confronted with this huge test years earlier.

Master told us that we will be tested again and again all the way until we reach consummation, so we cannot slack off, hoping that we have “made it already.”

Thank you, Master, for helping me to resolve my karmic debts!