(Minghui.org) I took up Falun Dafa 26 years ago when I was 60. Since then, I have undergone many challenges, but I was able to overcome them under Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) protection. Though there is much I’d like to share, I’d like to focus on my understandings regarding Master’s teaching of “moving beyond ordinary humans to a rational, true understanding of Dafa!” (“Cautionary Advice”, Essentials for Further Advancement)
I used to have many illnesses that put me in constant pain. Due to my suffering, I often felt anxious and insecure. I even thought of killing myself to end my misery. However, during my darkest times, a sudden and strong thought manifested in my heart: “I hope gods really do exist.” This hope kept me going, and I began looking out for some divine entity who would rescue me from this sea of suffering. Soon, I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of Zhuan Falun.
I read the book hungrily. Before long, the book completely absorbed my attention, because the more I read, the more I realized that I had finally found someone who would provide salvation to the people of this world.
My early life had been filled with the constant atheist indoctrination of Communist China, to the point where I had given up my faith in the divine. Yet, embers of belief were still hidden away deep in my heart, waiting to be set alight.
I immersed my body and soul entirely within the book; I wanted to know more about how Master Li would save people, and if I had the qualifications to be saved. I read from 8 a.m. on the first day to 4 a.m. the following day, without stopping to sleep or eat until I finished the book. After that, I became energetic, relaxed and happy. I felt like I was reborn overnight.
The fact that I was able to read a book for 20 hours continuously was beyond my wildest dreams. Prior to that day, my ailment-infested body was so weak that I could hardly do anything for over two hours, not to mention reading. After two hours of anything, my head would hurt and my eyesight would become blurry.
At that time I was on a daily regimen of multiple medicines, and the side effects of my medication had caused my teeth to all loosen up. If I caught a cold, my myocarditis would recur, and my blood pressure would rise. As a result, I would be bedridden for a minimum of two weeks. Plus, if I skipped my daily nap at noon, I would become very tired to the point that I was unable to think or work normally for the rest of the day.
However, after reading for 20 hours straight, I wasn’t dizzy and my eyesight was perfectly fine. On the contrary, my whole body was full of energy. The negative emotions that had haunted my mind for many years vanished, and I was filled with effervescent joy.
I realized that this book was a sacred book, and the author of the book, Master Li Hongzhi, must be truly extraordinary. I was grateful that I had finally found the best qigong practice (at that time, I still thought Master Li was just a qigong master).
Therefore, I made up my mind that I would only follow this master. I would devote my life to practicing Falun Dafa, for Master Li had given me a new lease on life.
Back then, Master often wrote short articles, or scriptures, to guide us. Every time a new scripture was published, I would read it over many times to fully grasp it. However, one of them, titled “Cautionary Advice,” puzzled me for a long time, even after I had read it a few times.
Master said some practitioners “remain at the perceptual stage in their understanding of me and Dafa, always being grateful towards me for the changes in their bodies...” (“Cautionary Advice,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
When I read this, I thought: why shouldn’t I be grateful to Master for saving me and giving me a new life?
Master said, “If you do not change the human logic that you, as an ordinary human, have formed deep in your bones over thousands of years...”
I asked myself: why is human logic incorrect? What constitutes human logic?
Master also said, “If every one of you can understand the Fa from the depths of your mind, that will truly be the manifestation of the Fa whose power knows no boundary—the reappearance of the mighty Buddha Fa in the human world!”
I thought: how would I go about achieving that? Why do we have to understand the Fa for this to happen?
Nonetheless, one thing was clear to me—Master required us to “rationally rise to a true understanding of Dafa.”
I decided that, even if I did not fully understand Master’s teachings, I must follow his guidance because the issues that he pointed out must be important.
Since then, I have studied the Fa teachings very diligently, trying to understand it from a rational perspective. I read the Fa during the time of the day when my mind was the clearest, and I also kept the door closed so that no one would interrupt me. I also wrote down the realizations I came to while reading Dafa’s teachings, which helped me to remember the teachings.
Over the period of 20 years, many Dafa principles were instilled in my mind. Therefore, when problems occurred, I could always solve the issues in accordance with Dafa’s teachings.
I truly feel the immense energy and wisdom gained from Dafa. This rational understanding of Dafa enabled me to persevere through the difficult years of this brutal persecution. The process of continuously deepening my knowledge and understanding of Dafa’s principles strengthened my body and soul, which ultimately enabled me to be more tolerant and considerate of others. I was rarely irritated by other people or things around me. Although I have been persecuted for my faith, I am happy with my cultivation in Dafa and am optimistic every day.
When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its suppression of Dafa in 1999, the rational understanding of Fa principles helped me stay clear-minded. I was not intimidated, nor was I easily deceived. Here is one incident that I encountered.
In the early days of the persecution, we could not get Master’s new articles due to the CCP’s internet blockage. In addition, the CCP agents fabricated fake scriptures and even spread them around. But with a rational understanding of the Fa, I was not easily fooled.
Once someone gave me a fake scripture. I immediately noticed that the vocabulary and expressions in the text, as well as the tone, were different from those in Master’s teachings. Thanks to my rational understanding of Dafa, I was able to distinguish fake scriptures from real ones.
Someone told me a story about two practitioners. Both of them had practiced Dafa for a number of years and both of them were detained for their belief.
When one of them, Juan, was arrested, she entered the prison gate while sending forth righteous thoughts with one hand erected. She seemed very firm in Dafa. But she yielded to the perpetrators three days later, and signed statements to renounce her faith in Dafa. She blindly believed the lie that if she did not stop cultivating in Dafa, Master Li would suffer more; but if she stopped, Master would be liberated and suffer less. So she readily agreed to sign the statements.
Another practitioner, Ju, on the other hand, walked into the prison with a smile on her face. She even nodded at the guards and showed no hostility at all. For over a year, the prison staff could not make her renounce Dafa no matter how hard they tried. In addition, she clarified the facts to all the detainees and guards. As a result of that, they all liked her and even helped her distribute Master’s new scriptures.
She was eventually transferred to another ward, and is currently under strict surveillance. The prison management has assembled a team of over 30 people just to make her renounce her faith. They even transferred guards from two Falun Gong task forces in a male prison to the woman's prison to pressure her, but to no avail. To CCP officials, she is one of the most “stubborn” Dafa practitioners in this prison.
The first practitioner had strong human affection for Master, but she was very confused in terms of Dafa teachings. The second practitioner had a solid foundation in Dafa’s principles, which helped her to remain clearheaded and steadfast in Dafa.
This highlights the importance of keeping “a rational, true understanding of Dafa” as mentioned above.
In Zhuan Falun, Master explained to us that karma and virtue are matter. Although Master has taught us about sickness karma many times, some practitioners who remained steadfast with Dafa in prison ended up succumbing to sickness karma. Some have even lost their precious physical bodies upon release from prison, and it is a great loss. So why is sickness karma so hard to break through?
Based on Fa-study, my understanding is that everyday people and Dafa disciples have totally different interpretations about the cause of illness. Humanity’s search for it remains at the superficial level, focusing on the symptoms. The cause of a cough was an infection, diarrhea was due to contaminated food or a virus, and a high fever was perhaps also from an infection.
Therefore, people rely on medicines unilaterally to get rid of pathogens, as humans believe that diseases are imported from their diet and surroundings.
However, Dafa’s teachings have helped me understand that these notions were the human logic that Master mentions in “Cautionary Advice.”
The source of illness, as practitioners understand it, is karma—an internal cause from within ourselves. When ordinary people get sick, they must seek medical treatment. Whereas when a cultivator has sickness karma, he should deal with the tribulation in accordance with Dafa—that is, addressing his own internal causes.
Master said, “If you do not change the human logic that you, as an ordinary human, have formed deep in your bones over thousands of years, you will be unable to break away from this superficial human shell and reach Consummation.” (“Cautionary Advice,”)
Genuine Dafa disciples do not get sick. If a cultivator thinks he is sick, he still resides at the level of human notions, and can only be considered an everyday person. Master has purified our bodies and elevated us to a disease-free state. Any physical abnormality or discomfort is the manifestation of karma in this dimension. Therefore, with a rational understanding and solid faith in Dafa, I was able to overcome many bouts of illness karma over the years.
Master’s teachings help me to understand illness karma from a rational point of view, and I know how to overcome the tribulations of illness karma. Now, I no longer worry about becoming ill.