(Minghui.org) Sickness is inevitable for ordinary people. For practitioners, sickness is not only a way to eliminate karma, but also a test. The key point of eliminating sickness karma is whether we believe in Master and the Fa. How firm one’s faith is also determines how well we pass the test of sickness karma.
Two years ago, I suddenly had a “stroke” and I could not move one side of my body. I knew very well that it was because my stubborn and yet-to-be-removed attachments had resulted in the old forces attempting to take my life.
At the critical moment, Master eliminated most of the karma for me, only leaving a little bit for me to endure. Master also allowed me to see the situation in hell in a half-awake state. When I woke up, my gratitude toward Master was beyond words.
It was just like what Master mentioned in his Fa teachings:
“...all the changes that have taken place that are beyond your wildest imagination—or [you see that] you have been scooped up from hell, cleansed, and even given all these magnificent things. How could you not cry?” (Teachings at the Conference in the Eastern U.S.)
I made up my mind to let go of the attachment to life and death and firmly believe in Master and Dafa. Three days later, I was able to move all my limbs freely and could drive again.
However, faith in Master and the Fa is not a temporary test, but a test at all times. After my “stroke,” although my body was apparently fine, one of my hands was always numb. My human thinking would surface at times: “Oh no, is there a blocked blood vessel? Is it caused by the narrowing of my cervical spine? Is my blood pressure too high?...” Upon reading what I just wrote, true cultivators would probably recognize right away that I had a problem with my faith. Master mentioned in many places in his Fa teachings that cultivators do not have illnesses and that sickness symptoms are just a false appearance to test us.
In another test, I had chest pain suddenly one year ago. It was excruciating and worsened at night. “Was it a heart attack?” I thought to myself.
A thought was screaming inside: “You are done with. It is a heart attack! Hurry up to go to the hospital. Maybe there is still hope.” I was terrified.
After a long while, my righteous thoughts surfaced: “I only follow Master’s arrangement, and I am not afraid of anything! Even if a cultivator passes away, he has reached consummation. Why do I worry?”
I figured: “If it is a heart attack, I would have been gone already. I have been having this pain for over 24 hours and I am still alive. Cultivators have no illness, and it is a false appearance!” A week later, the chest pain was completely gone.
For non-cultivators who have an illness, they might pass away without treatment and the various treatments are meant to push back the karma. When we cultivators have “sickness karma” and pass it well, Master will help us eliminate the root of it, and our xinxing will also improve during the process.
When cultivators face sickness karma, we first of all need to realize that it is not an illness, but a false appearance. It is for us to elevator our xinxing and eliminate our attachments; secondly, we need to eliminate the attachment to life and death. If we are unable to eliminate this attachment, we will not have enough righteous thoughts to pass the “sickness” karma; thirdly, we need to seriously reflect on our cultivation state.
Nothing in this world happens by accident. Why do we experience the test of “sickness karma,” which may make us unable to study the Fa or even claim our life? The main reason, I believe, is caused by the unwillingness to let go of our attachments.
After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I had trouble quitting smoking, and I had back pain on and off for many years. One night, the pain was so excruciating that I was rolling in bed. My wife suggested I ask Master to help and also promise to quit smoking. So I knelt on the bed and made my promise to quit smoking. I fell asleep shortly after that. Days later, when I was urinating, a stone the size of a date pit fell out!
The back pain was gone, but I still had not quit smoking. Yet I was complacent: “Master removed my stone so it meant I passed this test.” My wife warned me that Dafa is compassionate but also serious – if I did not get rid of my attachments, the consequences could be serious.
Even though I knew the consequence, but facing my attachment, I still took a chance. Only after I had a “stroke,” did I wake up. No matter what, I did not dare to pick up a cigarette anymore. After all, I took such a big detour that almost discredited Dafa and brought irreparable losses.
Cultivation is a gradual process, and that is Master’s compassion for us. But it’d be utterly dangerous if we don’t take our attachments seriously, and even use ordinary people’s standards to gauge ourselves and feel complacent. Some of us may appear to be cultivating diligently but still harbor attachments deep down, which could imperil us as well.
Although there is a deep karmic relationship behind all the “sickness karma,” they all occur when we are unable to let go of our attachments for a long time. If we fail to look within and dig deeper to find the root cause of our attachment, the “sickness” might linger long-term. And if we slack off in our Fa study, our faith toward Dafa and Master might waver, we might even have doubts about Dafa and develop pessimism and disappointment, and we might either give up the practice or be dragged away by the old forces.
Fellow practitioners, I personally feel that the Fa-rectification has reached its final stage. There are still many fellow practitioners who are trapped there by “sickness karma” and can’t do anything.
There is no magic solution. As long as one takes one’s cultivation seriously, studies the Fa attentively, and lets go of the attachment to life and death, any problem will not be a problem.
This is my understanding at my level. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.