(Minghui.org)
Continued from: An Atheist Military Doctor Becomes a Falun Dafa Practitioner
As mentioned in Part 1 of this article, I used to suffer a myriad of severe chronic illnesses, including rheumatic heart disease, hepatitis B, early-stage cirrhosis and a herniated disc. I also suffered from sinusitis and gynecological problems.
As a physician who has won an army science and technology award, I knew there was no cure for these chronic health problems. Moreover, I was fully aware of their prognosis. Acute rheumatic myocarditis has a detrimental impact on the heart valve, leading to rheumatic valvular heart disease and eventually heart failure. Hepatitis B is a leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. A herniated disc causes radicular pain, which can be debilitating. There are treatments to mitigate the pain and prolong the patient's life, but there is no cure. A herniated disc can be surgically corrected, but the outcome is not guaranteed.
I looked up all the Chinese and English medical reports and learned that the only way to protect the heart valve from myocarditis was to avoid catching a cold after each treatment. In other words, I had to keep from getting a streptococcal infection. I had to have penicillin injections, as the oral liquid form was unavailable in China at the time.
I had been tormented by sickness for a long time, I could hardly endure the injection of penicillin twice a day for the rest of my life. It was either that or a foreseeable death. By the time I finally found Falun Gong, I had had penicillin injections daily for two years.
As for early-stage cirrhosis, it is an illness that the Chinese people are probably more familiar with because many people in China suffer from cirrhosis.
Gaining Wisdom from Practicing Falun Gong
I have learned from Falun Gong's teachings that illness is the physical manifestation of karma, a black substance one has obtained from doing wrong in the past. A severe or terminal illness with no cure is a reflection of substantial karma.
One of my patients, a legion chief of staff, was only 32 years old when he passed away. He spent his final days in the hospital. He and I had many long conversations, mostly about his enthusiasm and disappointments concerning qigong . When he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, his doctor told him to spend his remaining days doing what he liked. He decided to practice qigong in a desperate attempt to prolong his life.
He had a very promising start. Within two years, all the tumors in his lungs had disappeared. He claimed that his Heavenly Circuit had been opened through qigong practice, but that was when no qigong master was willing to guide him any further. He had sought a qigong master in many places, but each and every one refused to take him on as a disciple.
I was quite dumbfounded. How could those qigong masters sit and watch him die? But it became clear to me once I had read Zhuan Falun. Falun Gong's main study text.
Teacher said,
“When you say that you are going to practice cultivation, they will not let you do it, 'You want to practice cultivation and leave. When you’ve developed gong, we won’t be able to reach you or touch you.' They will not let it happen, and they will try everything to stop you from practicing cultivation. Accordingly, all kinds of methods will be used to interfere with you. They will even come to really kill you.”
“Genuine cultivation practice is not as easy as you imagine. Do you think that if you want to practice cultivation you’ll be able to make it? Once you want to truly practice cultivation, your life will be in danger right away and this issue will concern you immediately. Many qigong masters dare not teach students toward high levels. Why? They just cannot take care of this matter, and they cannot protect you.” (Zhuan Falun)
In other words, karma is the real reason why a man gets sick. Just as all men must pay for any debt, all men must pay for their karma. How can any qigong or medicine keep a man from paying for his karma? When a man regains his health, it may be that he has already repaid his karma through the suffering. When a man cannot be cured, it may be that he still has a lot of karma to repay. No medicine can fend off the necessity to pay for one's own karma.
I knew I didn't start practicing Falun Gong for the sake of my health. I wanted to return to my innocent self! I pledged to cultivate myself to become a better person and to become an enlightened being with great wisdom. I shall never give up no matter how challenging the path that lies before me. I knew that the meaning of life was for one to return to one's true, innocent self and that cultivation was the only path to one's salvation.
Teacher said,
“Since qigong has such a long history, what’s it for? Let me tell everyone that since we are of a great cultivation way in the Buddha School, we of course cultivate Buddhahood. In the Tao School, one of course cultivates the Tao to attain the Tao. Let me tell everyone that 'Buddha' is not a superstition. It is a word from Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. When it was introduced to China, it was called 'Fo Tuo.' There were also people who translated it as 'Fu Tu.' As the word was passed around, our Chinese people left out one character and called it 'Fo.' What does it mean in Chinese? It means 'an enlightened person,' one who has become enlightened through cultivation practice. What’s superstitious in this?
"Think about it, everyone: One can develop supernormal abilities through cultivation practice. In the world today, six supernormal abilities are recognized, yet they are not limited to these alone. I would say that over ten thousand genuine supernormal abilities exist. As a person sits there, without moving his hands or feet, he is able to do what others cannot do even with their hands and feet, and he can see the actual truth of each dimension in the universe. This person can see the truth of the universe and things that an everyday person cannot. Isn’t he a person who has attained the Tao through practicing cultivation? Isn’t he a great enlightened person? How can he be considered the same as an everyday person? Isn’t he an enlightened person through cultivation practice? Isn’t it correct to call him an enlightened person? In ancient Indian language he is called a Buddha. Actually, that is it. This is what qigong is for.” (Zhuan Falun)
Accepting and Practicing the Fa Truths
After I made up my mind to practice Falun Gong and I had finished reading Zhuan Falun for the very first time, I came down with a fever of 100.4 degrees and my body ached. It appeared that all my illnesses had suddenly surfaced. I had joint pain, chest pain, liver pain, and abdominal pain. I had difficulty breathing. I was very confused. Should I check into a hospital? Should I get intravenous injections? What if I had a heart attack? It would be fine if I were paying for my karma through physical pain, but what if it weren't?
After all, I had not started practicing Falun Gong yet. Besides, Zhuan Falun did not mention anything about fever when paying for one's karma. If I were not paying off karma, there would be severe consequences if I didn't get treatment. On the other hand, it was not very serious, although I hurt all over. Maybe I should take some medicine or go to the hospital? Forget it! I decided to follow Falun Gong's teachings. I would endure the pain that night and go seek advice from a Falun Gong practitioner the following day. After all, I would regret it if I should mistake it for an illness when Teacher was eliminating my karma.
I could hardly sleep because of these conflicting thoughts. By the next morning my fever had gone down, and it was completely gone that afternoon. Moreover, all the physical pain and discomfort completely disappeared. I felt great! I had not known what it was like to be free of illness for decades. I felt free of any burden. It was the most wonderful feeling, and I was so happy that I grinned at everyone.
I developed a healthy complexion. I felt energetic, cheerful, and optimistic. I was glad to help others, and I tried not to cherry-pick at work. I tried to be humble, and not to fight for my own interests. Towards the end-of-year review, many of my colleagues tried everything they could to get on the list of the top 30 employees of the year. I didn't do anything or approach anyone, but I ended up being the number one employee of the year.
I have since become completely healthy. I used to be frail, but now I am very strong. I used to find it challenging to chop a whole chicken into pieces, but now it is effortless.
Experiencing the Effects of Practicing Falun Gong
One day I sensed that Teacher was cleansing my body. I felt cool air flowing from the top of the head and exiting from under my feet. It took a long time for the cool air to completely exit my body. Since that day, I have been able shower in cold water in the summer.
It has been 17 years since I started practicing Falun Gong, and I have not come down with any illness during these years. I am a healthy, happy woman. People who haven't seen me for a long time are always impressed by how much better I look.
I can also see other dimensions with my Celestial Eye. Once day when I was doing the sitting meditation, I saw a giant, colorful Falun rotating before me. I could even see the pupil of a giant eye. That night, I felt my soul leaving and going through the walls and the roof. I looked back at my own body sleeping in bed under the quilt. It felt so real. I woke up when I returned to my body.
I have experienced the supernormal capabilities that Teacher has described in His teachings. One day I got a call at noon on a dark, cloudy day. She asked if the rain had reached here because it was raining cats and dogs one station away where she was. I looked up and saw large raindrops. It was definitely going to pour. I suddenly remembered a story of a practitioner who was working on something important for Falun Gong when it started to rain. She didn't even think when she waved at the dark clouds and said, “Clouds, move. Sun, come out.” The rain stopped right away. I did the same, and a wind immediately came from the opposite direction and blew the dark clouds away. The pouring rain stopped instantly. It became sunny yet it was pouring only a few miles away! I felt that the power of Buddha Fa is boundless.
Miracles, a Manifestation of Practicing Falun Gong
When Jiang Zemin, the former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), began to suppress Falun Gong in July 1999, the police arrested practitioners throughout China, despite the fact that China's own Constitution grants its citizens freedom of spiritual belief. I often heard police sirens roaming the streets in the middle of the night in the first few years. But as soon as I sent out a thought to silence the police siren, the noise would stop immediately. It never failed to work.
I was arrested one day while I was posting flyers with important facts about China's persecution of Falun Gong. The minute I entered the police station, I decided that no one would lay a finger on me. It worked. No police officer touched me. They handcuffed me to a long bench. I told the handcuffs to release me or they would commit a terrible sin. My hands slipped out of the handcuffs. A security guard who watched me was amazed. He swore that he would call me "mother" if I could free myself from the handcuffs again. He handcuffed me twice, tighter each time, but my hands slipped right out of them. He called me "mom" repeatedly that night.
After I was released, I started using my supernormal capabilities to protect myself from harm. One day the CCP clerk where I worked tried to report on me, but the report disappeared from his computer before it was submitted.
Teacher said,
“The Fa is merciful to all beings, but at the same time it's solemn and dignified.” (“Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
A cultivator must meet the cultivation standard before he is allowed to use his supernormal capabilities. I find myself unable to use any of my supernormal capabilities when I am selfish or alienated from Falun Gong's teachings. I learned my lesson the hard way.
A fellow practitioner and I went out together one day to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. A police car with its siren on was driving past us when I decided to show off my supernormal capabilities. I wanted to silence the police siren as I always did, but it did not work that day. In fact, it has never worked again.
The Buddha-school cultivation is the most solemn matter. No cultivator can get away with abusing the supernormal capabilities bestowed upon him.
Teacher said,
“Dafa can rectify the universe, so it certainly has the Fa’s power to repress evil, eliminate disorder, harmonize everything, and remain invincible.” (“Definitive Conclusion” in Essentials for Further Advancement)
Those who persecute cultivators will ultimately meet with retribution. Every practitioner will develop supernormal capabilities during his cultivation, but a cultivator must first be selfless to be able to use his supernormal capabilities because the universe is selfless and the Buddha Law is solemn.
