(Minghui.org) The outbreak of the CCP virus (COVID-19) changed the world. For Dafa disciples, how to handle this virus is closely related to our understanding of the Fa, and our understanding has to be tested by true cultivation. I would like to share my understanding regarding this virus and how it related to my cultivation.
When the CCP virus first emerged, I believed that the virus was created by the Chinese Communist Party and is harmful to people. The world was facing a catastrophe, but the virus could not harm me because I have the protection of Master.
As cultivators, we all understand that when we began practicing Falun Dafa, our bodies are purified; if we have symptoms of illness, it is related to our cultivation, such as we are going through karma elimination, passing a test, or being persecuted by the old forces.
As cultivators, the virus should not affect us at all, since our energy and gong developed from cultivation will eliminate it. Even in the case of a cultivator who is not very diligent, we still have Master’s protection. So I carried out my Dafa project like usual, not worried whether I would be infected. I did not believe it had anything to do with Dafa cultivation.
However, some fellow practitioners, including those I thought were very diligent, developed symptoms of the CCP virus. Some were quite serious, and some even passed away. This caused a big impact to my understanding of the CCP virus and forced me to take a deeper look at the virus from the basis of the Fa.
Through Fa study, I realized that the Fa creates extremely high level beings and also creates viruses to eliminate evil. The virus comes to target the evil elements of the CCP and the wicked and irredeemable lives, but of course not Dafa disciples.
But, do we have anything within our bodies befitting the evil elements? If those elements haven’t been rectified yet, will they be affected by the virus? Will the symptoms of the virus manifest in our bodies? From my understanding of the Fa, I believed so.
Recently I have further realized while we as cultivators shouldn’t be afraid of the virus, how we look at the virus is something for us to cultivate.
Master told us:
“True Dafa disciples have higher energy and are able to destroy karma and germs…” (“Stay Rational”)
The CCP virus cannot survive in the environment of Dafa disciples, so how can Dafa disciples be afraid of it? However, if we have omissions in our practice and don’t have a clear understanding of the Fa, it may be very difficult to past tests regarding the virus.
Looking back on my understanding of the CCP virus, I felt it was a gradual cultivation process for me along each step.
Shortly after the pandemic broke out, when I heard that several friends of mine were infected and especially some of their family members passed away because of the virus, I could not help but feel being plagued by fear. I had to constantly remind myself: “I am a Dafa practitioner. I will not be infected!” It took a while to calm down and the fear was so real.
I thought I passed the test and I would not be afraid again when facing the virus in the future. But I was wrong.
Recently I heard that fellow practitioner Fang was going through serious sickness karma because of the CCP virus and needed help. I did not hesitate and decided to help her. I knocked on her door for a long time and heard some noise behind the door. I gently pushed the door and found it was open, but I did not see anyone. I looked again. Fang had collapsed behind the door. I reached out to her. But before I touched her, one thought popped up: “Do I want to touch her?” I immediately realized the meaning behind the thought: “She is infected with the CCP virus, will I be infected too?”
Obviously, the idea of “being infected” that flashed in my mind showed that I was still afraid of the virus. The good thing is, in less than a second, I negated the inappropriate thought. I picked her up and helped her back to her room.
Fang was said to be infected by another fellow practitioner when she went to help promote Shen Yun Performing Arts out of town. When she returned home, her symptoms got worse, and later her husband also had symptoms, but much less serious compared to her.
Her husband, who also practices Dafa, did not handle it well. Since he felt short of breath, he asked fellow practitioners to take him to the hospital. He tested positive for CVOID-19. He was on a ventilator and felt better. He called his wife and told her that the shortness of breath was relieved by ventilator and advised her to come to the hospital too. She told him that she wanted to pass this test with righteous thoughts and declined the trip to the hospital.
Anther fellow practitioner Hui came to join me to help Fang. We sent forth righteous thoughts and did the exercises with Fang. Initially, Fang could only lie on the ground and pant rapidly. She was unable to move for hours and could not sit up at all. Hui spent several nights there studying Fa, exercising and sending forth righteous thoughts. She ate and slept there, with no concern whether she would be infected with the virus.
We both encouraged Fang that whether it was the old forces’ persecution or not, she still needed to look within. Even if she didn’t have any appetite, she still needed to force herself to eat. When she could not sit up, she could lean against the wall to send forth righteous thoughts. If she could not stand up, she can do the sitting meditation first. Once she could stand, she can do one movement at a time. If she was not steady, she could sit down and take a break, before she went on to the next movement. Even when she could not read the Fa herself, she could still listen to us reading. When she could read, she did so one sentence at a time. In short, she did everything she could to negate the persecution.
She persevered in doing all these with us, a little bit at a time. She was making progress every day. By the fourth day, she had completely recovered!
Later Fang told me that she never believed that she was “infected.” She is a Dafa disciple. She went through such a hard tribulation because the old forces seized upon her loopholes. It was a form of persecution. During the process of sickness karma, she looked within and realized there were still many attachments there.
She found she still had the attachment to lust – she was obsessed with watching romance videos and spending money buying beautiful clothes. She felt resentment towards her husband and blamed him for focusing on doing his personal business and did not cultivate diligently (which in fact reflects her own attachment to profit and a comfortable life). She often complained about those who did not conform to her ideas. She also found herself being attached too much to sentimentality. She cared too much about her grandson that her own truth-clarification was affected a few times.
Believing in Master and the Fa was the most profound experience she had this time. She used to think that she had faith, but after this ordeal, she felt that her righteous faith in Master and Dafa was in a higher and deeper realm. She felt that her life was dissolved in Dafa.
Her husband was discharged after three weeks in the hospital. He did not recover totally and still needs to be on the ventilator at times.
Through this couple’s handling of the virus, I saw two different attitudes and results. Through cultivating oneself and ascending in the Fa, the wife quickly got out of the ordeal and recovered completely; however, the husband chose to seek medical treatment to solve the problem. Yet he was still not fully recovered weeks later. Hopefully he could learn from the experience of his wife and take this as an opportunity to improve.
I realized that although the CCP virus might be used by higher beings to target evil and wicked people, the old forces may also use it to persecute us practitioners, and the righteous gods may use it to test and examine us.
In short, anything is possible because we are still cultivating. We should focus on doing well Dafa disciples' three things; understand the Fa on the basis of the Fa, and carry out the understandings of the Fa through our actions. The most important is to believe in Master and the Fa and lay a solid foundation for us in cultivation, while establishing Dafa disciples’ mighty virtue.
Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s current understanding meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)