(Minghui.org) We practitioners outside China tend to let our guard down when it comes to recognizing the tricks the old forces can play on us. This was highlighted when we lost a practitioner who played an important role in our media due to symptoms of illness karma.

Two incidents occurred within 15 days to two practitioners who work for our media. One resulted in a tragic loss and the other a close escape. The two results could not have been more stark in highlighting the importance of recognizing sudden, unusual physical symptoms as a sign of the old forces’ interference and treating them with due seriousness.

A few days ago, I received a call from a practitioner who writes for our media. She told me she had a few interviews lined up but that an unusually severe headache was bothering her. She asked me to send righteous thoughts for her. I immediately finished my urgent matters at hand, skipped dinner, and sent righteous thoughts for her until after 8 p.m. She said she felt better. She sent me the first part of her article and told me she’d continue working on the second part. I felt relieved and went to bed around 10 p.m. Just before 11 p.m., I missed a few text messages from her. She told me her heart hurt, so she did the exercises for two hours. At 11:50 p.m., her heart stopped beating intermittently. Her hands and feet were freezing cold even though she wore several layers of clothing and covered herself with a blanket. When her headache persisted, she called another practitioner.

This other practitioner’s husband had passed away suddenly ten days before. Her husband was a veteran practitioner who began practicing before July 1999. In the few days before he passed away, he stayed up late each night to finish his news articles. A few hours after he finished, he told his wife and children that he was not feeling well. He even commented that his symptoms felt different from previous “illness symptoms” he experienced before. She did not think much about her husband’s condition at the time. An hour after she checked on him, he passed away. His cell phone still showed the last article he wrote.

She deeply regretted not recognizing the old forces’ interference for what it was. Sickness karma befalling any practitioners at a time when they play an important role in validating the Fa should be treated as interference. She regretted not taking his condition seriously by sending righteous thoughts for him. It was a tragic loss of life and a setback for the media team as his prolific contributions would be no more.

So when the practitioner with the headache called her, she immediately understood the gravity of the situation. She had her son go get this practitioner and bring her to her house. She also asked me to come over to help send righteous thoughts. When I arrived, the practitioner besieged by the headache was in bed. She said her headache was really bad. When she missed the word “mie” (eliminate) as she recited the formula to eliminate the evil, the practitioner’s son reminded her to say it clearly. Her headache kept getting worse so we decided to send righteous thoughts toward her head. Soon my own head was spinning, but I remembered what Master said,

“If anyone could harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

“...the Fa will be with you when your thoughts are righteous, and this is the greatest assurance.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X)

I was encouraged and kept sending righteous thoughts. I soon felt better. Around 2 a.m., the practitioner’s condition improved greatly. Her body felt warm and she slept soundly. Only then did we take a break.

The next day, she insisted on working on her article. We notified several practitioners who were not at work to continue sending righteous thoughts for her. She had a good night's sleep after finishing her article and went back to work the next day. She is now more diligent in her cultivation by putting more time and effort into Fa study, sending righteous thoughts, and doing the exercises.

The practitioner who lost her husband said that, when he mentioned feeling unwell, he appeared very calm. He merely said he’d never felt like that before. She advised him to concentrate on studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and sending righteous thoughts. But he said he could not concentrate. In hindsight, that was when the old forces were targeting him, throwing everything at him to bring him down. He might still be around if only other practitioners had come to his rescue at that critical moment when he was too weak to save himself. The evil tortured and broke him while we failed to come to his aid in time. I felt we abandoned him when he needed us.

With this article, I hope to raise awareness about the danger of the less conspicuous forms of persecution faced by practitioners outside China and that we must do our utmost to help.

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)