(Minghui.org) Many areas in China have been hit with a new wave of COVID infections recently. The virus spread so quickly that many people did not know how to react. Even in the small city where I live, many people around me tested positive in just a few days.
Both my husband and I are Falun Dafa practitioners. We met up with two other practitioners the other day. One practitioner said all her family members had been infected and she herself also had the symptoms of fever, body chills, and coarse voice. The other practitioner was experiencing flu-like symptoms.
My husband and I have retired, and we hardly go out nowadays. Knowing the recent surge of COVID cases, I buy more groceries than usual to last us longer every time I go shopping. I thought we were protected well from the virus, so I was shocked when I learned the two practitioners both had symptoms. While I didn’t say it out loud, I became nervous and worried that my husband and I would be infected.
I also knew this is a test for us practitioners. So after returning home, I reflected on this matter, and below are some of my understandings.
Incorrect Thoughts
From Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) teachings, we know practitioners would not have illnesses. So even if we exhibit COVID-like symptoms, they are indeed different from those of everyday people on a deeper level. The two practitioners my husband and I ran into thus had no virus, and there was no issue of getting infected by them. Even if we have close contact with non-practitioners, their virus, which is the result of their karma, would not casually come onto our bodies as Master would not allow that to happen. I realized my fear of infections in itself was a manifestation of my lack of faith in Dafa and Master. At that moment, I failed to treat myself as a cultivator and had an unrighteous mind.
Looking back, I realized that I had watched so much everyday people’s news that my mind was preoccupied by the fear of the virus. I always reminded myself to put on a mask before going out and cleaning my hands upon returning home. I forgot I am a Dafa practitioner and still harbored many human notions.
As a practitioner, having fear of illnesses may actually invite illnesses. Master has sacrificed for us tremendously to give us more time to save people; otherwise, the Fa-rectification period could have ended already. Having fear will not help me with anything. Plus, it is arranged by the old forces to impede my cultivation and the saving of sentient beings. Therefore, I cannot acknowledge it.
One of the two practitioners I saw the other day said that she was the only one in her family who was not vaccinated. She thought it would help show the health benefits of Dafa if she stayed healthy without being vaccinated, only to have the same symptoms as her family the following day. She was helpless. Some other practitioners in my Fa-study group also had similar situations. This rendered them unable to go out to tell people about Falun Dafa and clarify the defamatory propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Given these, I studied all the lectures from Master since the pandemic started, especially “Stay Rational” published in March 2020. My mind is clearer now.
Be Clear About Our Mission and Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
Master said, “But a pandemic like the current Chinese Communist Virus (or “Wuhan Virus”) comes with a purpose behind it, and it has targets. It is here to weed out members of the Party and those who have sided with it.” (“Stay Rational”)
If we practitioners have elements associated with the CCP, the old forces could take advantage of it and make us appear to have COVID-like symptoms. But we cannot acknowledge the old forces’ arrangements, since we improve ourselves based on Dafa teachings, including eliminating elements related to the CCP Party culture.
One of the two practitioners I saw agreed with me and said her situation was a process of eliminating karma. While I concurred with her with regard to karma elimination, I believe her “catching the virus” will not help us save people, so we cannot acknowledge that. After all, if we get infected during the pandemic like everyday people, how could we make non-practitioners believe that quitting the CCP and reciting the phrases “Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” will help them stay safe in the pandemic? We practitioners have the mission of saving people, so we cannot acknowledge such interference. After coming to this understanding, all my doubts and fear were gone and I became calmer.
One or two days after meeting those two practitioners, my husband also had the symptoms of fever, sore throat, and body chills. He had to lie in bed. I read Master’s lectures to him. But he fell asleep instead of listening to the lectures. It must be interference. When sending forth righteous thoughts, I focused on eliminating the old forces’ interferences of practitioners who were made to suffer COVID symptoms. Recently, the Chinese Minghui Radio also had an episode on sending forth righteous thoughts and it helped me a lot. Jiang Zemin, the former CCP leader who launched the persecution against Falun Dafa, recently died. Soon China was hit with a new wave of COVID cases. All these are opportunities for us to save people. There are many obituaries in the news these days and the real death toll could be much higher. Time is short and we practitioners must make the best use of it.
Three Dreams
In the past few days, I had three dreams. In the first one, I saw some boxes cluttered in one dimension, each with five or six people lying in them. All of them were on the verge of death. I randomly opened a box and knew two of the people in it. One was my aunt and another was the father of a fellow practitioner. My aunt was a kindhearted person, but she did not believe Falun Dafa, nor did she agree to quit the CCP. The fellow practitioner’s father did not agree with Dafa either.
Another dream was a scene after a major flood. There were some corpses on the grass with feet stretching out. When walking on the desolate beach, I had to be careful not to step on the bodies. The message in the dream was that many people had died in the flood and most bodies had already been carried away.
In contrast to the first two dreams about the urgency of saving people, the third one was about the seriousness of cultivation. Several of us were walking on the main road, which had side roads branching out but still merging back to the main road. Since it seemed more fun taking the side roads occasionally, we tried side roads from time to time. But the last side road turned out to be a dead end. It did not lead to the main road, nor did it continue. Rather it stopped at a graveyard. From this dream, I learned that we must be serious about our cultivation practice and cannot deviate from Dafa at any moment. There are probably no second chances.
Above are some of my thoughts, which may not be correct. Please point out anything inappropriate.
Editor's note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: Improving Oneself
