(Minghui.org) I experienced symptoms of the COVID-19 virus in January 2022. Three months after overcoming this life and death ordeal, I decided to write down and share my experience with everyone.
I woke up one morning with a fever and cough that was so bad my chest began to hurt. I lost my appetite and my body felt limp and weak. My mouth remained dry, no matter how much water I drank. Walking short distances left me breathlessly gasping for air, and my calves and feet became swollen. Ulcers started growing in my mouth, and I lost the strength to chew even vegetables. Eventually, I just swallowed whatever I ate whole.
Faced with this sudden ordeal, I was at a loss. I thought, “I am so uncomfortable. I need to recover quickly. Otherwise won’t this prevent me from doing well the three things a Falun Dafa practitioner should do?” My daughter suggested, “I can give you some medicine to relieve your cough.” I immediately agreed, but two days later I knew that taking medicine was not right and I needed to stop. I felt that I could not handle this situation in the same way as an everyday person. These human thoughts and notions were the root cause of the problem.
The moment we enter Falun Dafa cultivation practice, Master cleanses and removes the diseases in our bodies. Any serious illness karma that occurs thereafter comes from the old forces. If we look inward and remove our human attachments, the old forces will have no gaps to take advantage of.
It is said that we should believe in Master Li and the Fa, and deny the old forces’ arrangements, which are all illusions anyway. However, real thoughts and actions may not mirror our words. Deep inside, I continued to regard my condition as an everyday person’s illness.
The key to passing this test was to raise my character. Without eliminating character flaws, blindly tolerating this illness tribulation was a form of acknowledging the persecution arranged by the old forces. The longer the situation persists, the harder it becomes to break through.
Because I did not understand this, my symptoms persisted for a month. I begged Master, “This disciple has not understood. Master, please enlighten me.” I hoped Master would guide me to the solution for my situation as I studied the Fa and cultivated myself.
After calming down, I read some experience sharing articles from fellow practitioners and reflected on myself. Gradually, I found some of my human attachments. I used to think that, as a cultivator, I would never be infected with the COVID-19 virus. This thought, linked to my attachment of fear and showing off, was not right. I started cultivating in Dafa in order to heal my illnesses, thus, early on I had already developed the notion that, “After cultivating Dafa, there will be no sickness or death.” Only now did I realize that these were fundamental attachments to be eliminated.
Happiness over material gain, resentment against my family members, my acceptance of only positive feedback, attachment to beauty, comfort and greed, such attachments continued to surface despite many years of cultivation. Once exposed, I firmly rejected them. These attachments would only burden me on my cultivation path.
Immediately, I felt stronger after recognizing that my symptoms were illusions, completely denying these arrangements and eliminating my attachments. After twenty-four days of torment, my appetite returned, and I was able to sleep well.
Since I was no longer coughing, nor suffering from symptoms of illness karma, I thought to resume my regular truth-clarification work at the tourist site. However, I soon realized that acknowledging the reality of these symptoms, even this way, was also considered admitting to the old forces’ arrangements.
My husband is not a Falun Dafa practitioner. Three days after my first symptoms, he too started showing similar signs of infection and believed that I had passed the infection to him. I told him that according to our Master,
“Genuine Dafa disciples all carry energy and are themselves beings who eliminate karma and eradicate germs. They are the envoys of salvation at the end times.” (“Rationality”)
I told my husband that viruses cannot survive on the bodies of Falun Dafa practitioners. We only show the false appearance of being infected. I told him that his illness was not passed to him through me. My husband accepted my words. After taking medicine and reciting “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” he was completely cured within ten days.
This tribulation made me cherish the limited time I have left for cultivation even more. I have started to pay more attention to eliminating my negative thoughts and human attachments. I am more concerned about whether my actions, speech and mind conform to the principles of the Fa. I am more diligent about concentrating while studying the Fa, and I focus intently when sending righteous thoughts. I seize every opportunity to save sentient beings. Towards the end, higher and higher standards are being demanded of practitioners. We must be strict with ourselves and face our attachments squarely. The key is to discover them in time and get rid of them.
I am grateful to Master for giving me this opportunity to identify and abandon my attachments and human notions. I also understand how serious and sacred cultivation is.
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Category: Improving Oneself
