(Clearwisdom.net)
Due to the arrangements of the old forces during the Fa-rectification period, many practitioners who have upheld their righteous beliefs in Dafa have been detained for long periods of time and have suffered from physical injuries of varying degrees. Apart from inflicting damage to their physical bodies, the old forces are also burrowing into the gaps in Dafa practitioner's minds to cause interference there as well. If a Dafa practitioner's righteous thoughts are not firm or his understanding of the Fa is not clear and he treats the old force's persecution as illness karma, it brings about a situation similar to that mentioned in the article "Expounding on the Fa," in which Teacher explains,
"Evil demons then capitalize on this point and inflict endless interference and damage..." ("Expounding on the Fa" -- Essentials For Further Advancement)
An outbreak of scabies is a common example of this. The unbearable itching and severe irritation that the disease causes can be enough to break a person's will.
Teacher mentioned in the first lecture of Zhuan Falun,
"There is a transition at the lowest level of cultivation practice, which is to purify your bodies completely. All of the bad things on your mind, the field of Karma surrounding your bodies, as well as the elements that make your bodies unhealthy will be cleaned up. If these are not cleaned up, how can you practice cultivation toward a higher level with such a dirty and dark body, as well as a filthy mind? We do not practice Qi here. You do not need to practice such low-level stuff, and we will push you over it to make your bodies reach the state free of any illness." (Zhuan Falun, Second Translation Edition) .
During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference, Teacher again explained,
"Except for newer students, from July 20, 1999 on, Master hasn't created any personal-cultivation type tests for you, and that's because overall your personal cultivation has changed in the direction of saving sentient beings and validating Dafa" (Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference).
My understanding from this is that veteran practitioners will no longer go through long periods of karmic dissolution arranged by Teacher as they did in the past. An outbreak of scabies must therefore be direct interference from the evil forces to try and prevent Dafa practitioners from participating in Fa-rectification. How could it be karmic dissolution? Even Teacher himself does not recognize the arrangements of the old forces, so why should we? After realizing this principle, I feel we should send forth righteous thoughts more often to negate their presence. Teacher said,
"Negate them, and face all of it with the right thoughts" (Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference)
While I was being detained in a forced labor camp, I contracted scabies. When the infection was at its peak, the itching was so intense that I could only sleep for two hours a night. One night, while confronting another acute attack, a thought came forth from deep inside my mind: "Teacher is with us and the Fa is with us, why should I be afraid?" After that, I quickly fell asleep. The next morning I awoke to find that the infected area from the night before had completely healed. I knew Teacher was protecting me and I was so happy and moved. As my xinxing (mind nature) improved by having righteous thoughts, other infected areas began to recover as well. The scabies were completely gone after about a week. Teacher said,
"I have mentioned that the level of Gong is as high as that of Xinxing" (Zhuan Falun, Second translation edition, pg. 110).
Teacher often emphasized this principle throughout other areas in Zhuan Falun as well. Therefore, when our righteous thoughts are strong, the old forces will be powerless.
Some practitioners were seriously interfered with during their detentions, resulting in various illness symptoms. I felt that there were two reasons behind this. First, the old forces have stepped up the persecution of Dafa with the intention of "testing" and eventually breaking Dafa practitioners' wills. Under such a circumstance, the so-called "illnesses" would be prolonged if not looked at correctly. This problem occurred most frequently with the third type of practitioners whom Teacher mentioned and those who had signed agreements with the old forces in history. Second, Teacher may have been helping some practitioners whose xinxing had already reached the required level to get out of the detention center by purposely causing some very severe illness symptoms to suddenly appear. By doing so, the police would become scared and release the practitioners to avoid responsibility. In these cases, the illnesses were usually very acute for a short duration, and we commonly understand this as another way that practitioners use righteous thoughts to break out of detention centers. Regardless of what the situation is, however, we cannot hold onto any human notions that we were actually ill. Illness itself is a human concept. If we do not let go of this concept, Teacher might be unable to intervene, and the old forces would have an excuse to cause more interference. I feel this is what Teacher means when he says that,
"...the good or the evil comes from the instant thought of a person, and the differences of the thoughts can bring about different consequences",
"...matter and mind are one thing", and
"...if you cannot give up the attachment or that illness, we cannot do anything and will be helpless to you" (Zhuan Falun, Second translation edition, pgs. 163, 27, 3).
Hence, when we suddenly come down with a serious illness condition and are "recommended to seek outside medical help" by the police, we must remind ourselves that we are not actually ill. We are disciples of our Teacher, who makes the best arrangements for us; we do not need to acknowledge the old forces arrangements. We should maintain strong righteous thoughts and reject their arrangements, and when those righteous thoughts come forth, our "illnesses" will disappear. If the illness condition is caused to help get us out of the detention center however, it may be a unique situation and something unusual will probably happen. Even so, if we think that we are actually sick, it may lead to the case where as Teacher described,
"Should you believe that you have an illness, you will probably really become sick" (Zhuan Falun, Second translation edition, pg. 213).
At the same time, if we think, "I must leave now. I would rather lose my physical body than lose Dafa. I don't care if I pass away," outwardly, we may appear very strong and righteous, but in reality we still have omissions. The old forces would be happy to take advantage of this and really try then to destroy our physical bodies.
Recently, I read a few cases on the Internet about some Dafa practitioners who became ill while in a labor camp and were "recommended to seek outside medical treatment," but later died after leaving. It was indeed distressing. This is definitely not the righteous path of a Dafa practitioner. There are only two paths Dafa practitioners can take - the one arranged for us by Teacher or the one imposed on us by the old forces. We all know that Teacher cherishes us (including our physical bodies) more than we cherish ourselves. How could he arrange for us to lose our physical bodies during the Fa-rectification period? When facing the old forces persecution, we must strongly refute them and not recognize them. Even if we made an agreement with the old forces in history, we can still choose not to accept it today, and at critical moments we can ask Teacher for help. When our righteous thoughts are strong, we can break through it and change the arrangements.
During the later stage of my imprisonment in the forced labor camp, I went on a hunger strike for a long period of time to protest the evil's persecution. I soon became so weak that the resident doctor diagnosed me as having muscular atrophy in the heart and liver, as well as gallstones, hardening of the intestine, and inflammation of the pancreas and stomach lining. In other words, I did not have long to live. To shirk responsibility for my condition, the camp guards quickly released me and "recommended I seek outside medical treatment."
At that time, even my own family was reluctant to take me in as I was not likely to survive. However, when I was carried aboard the train to return home, I slowly began to regain my strength. By the time I finally arrived home, I was a totally new person altogether. The whole experience was miraculous indeed. My family members were stunned and said, "If we hadn't seen it ourselves, we wouldn't believe it!" Actually, the moment I left the camp my mind became clear and alert again, and I told myself, "It was Teacher who saved me from that evil den. I am not sick at all." That thought alone was enough to allow the miracle of my recovery to take place.
The purpose of my writing this article is to ask our fellow practitioners to melt all of our thoughts and actions into the Fa, negate the arrangements of the old forces, and sincerely ask Teacher to re-create our righteous paths for us. When we truly recognize and walk the paths arranged by Teacher, we will preserve and use our precious physical bodies and divine powers to assist Teacher in Fa-rectification and fulfill the wishes we made in history to help save all sentient beings.
The above is my personal understanding. Please feel free to share and make comments.
