(Minghui.org) I returned from a fellow practitioner’s house a few days ago with a little cough, a tickle in my throat, and cool air in my lungs. For a moment I thought I had the Wuhan coronavirus, but I quickly threw that idea out. I have been practicing Falun Dafa for more than 20 years. Although I may not have been diligent at times, I am nevertheless a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. My physical symptoms are illusions created by the old forces by taking advantage of my karma.

Reflecting on my cultivation state in the preceding days, I found that I had slacked off on my Fa study, and instead spent time watching TV dramas. I told myself I must do the exercises when I got up yesterday; I meditated for one hour, six minutes. It then occurred to me that if the purpose of the third exercise is to purify our physical body, the more I do it, the better off I would be. So I increased the number of repetitions from the usual three, to nine. It made me feel great. It inspired me to increase the number of repetitions for the fourth exercise, as well. I repeated the Falun Heavenly Circuit exercise nine times. When I was on the sixth round, I felt my cold hands warming up. I thought it was true that the more you do the exercises the more you will benefit from them. 

Master said: 

“How much you put in is how much you get out.” (“Loss and Gain,” Falun Gong

I spent more than two hours that morning on the first, third, fourth, and fifth exercises.

The slight irritation I had felt in my throat and trachea went away after I finished the exercises. I was reassured yet again that Falun Dafa is truly amazing! I went out later that afternoon as usual to continue my Fa validation activities. My throat occasionally felt itchy, but I ignored it and rejected all arrangements made by the old forces.

I got up early this morning and did the first four exercises after sending righteous thoughts. I spent 45 minutes on the second exercise and now I feel completely fine.

The toughest part of the ordeal for me was my mind. With my celestial eye closed, I am blind to everything beyond this physical world and am guided solely by Master’s teachings. I can’t see divine beings or the manifestations of my own cultivation achievements in other dimensions. Having almost no contact with fellow practitioners does not help, either. I felt helpless and alone at the time. The path to sudden enlightenment appears to be extremely challenging, particularly in the current environment in China.

I nevertheless have faith in Master and know that he is with me even though I can’t see or feel his presence. 

My own experience tells me that I will always be rewarded if I adhere to Master’s teachings. Generally speaking, some tribulations can be overcome rather quickly while others can take much longer. The longer an ordeal lasts, the more challenging the test of our faith and ability to enlighten.

Some of the questions we need to ask ourselves are: What is the fundamental cause of the problem? What needs to be improved in our cultivation? Is our faith in Dafa strong and our conviction immutable? It’s important that we don’t fall into the trap of thinking: This tribulation is lasting way too long. Is there still hope? How much longer is this going to last? These doubts only come about because we are blind to the realities in other dimensions. I believe we can overcome any tribulation, but we have to understand it has a lifecycle that goes from the beginning, to its peak, then downhill to its ultimate end.

When the pain and hardship are at their worst, pushing our endurance to the limit, the tribulation is nearing its peak. We must grit our teeth at this time and muster all our strength to ride out this tough patch just before the decline where everything will start looking up. It’s the same process we go through sitting in full lotus during the meditation. All we need is faith in Dafa, Master, and ourselves.