(Clearwisdom.net) We have a middle-aged practitioner in our area. Once he felt sick, as if he had caught a bad cold. He felt chilly inside and out, and his heart was uncomfortable as well. While he was feeling like this, he received a copy of Teacher's article, "Descending to the Earthly World." (http://clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/2/6/) He picked up the article and tried to memorize it. Because he hadn't had much education, it took him a while to be able to remember the article. By the time he memorized the article, he realized he felt well and he had broken through the illness karma. He didn't realize when he had gotten well, but, a few years have passed since then, and he has never had any other illness karma. Personally, I think he got well because he studied the Fa without any pursuit. It's just as Teacher said, "Pursue nothing and gain naturally!" (From "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")

We also have an elderly practitioner who is in her eighties. One morning, she planned to visit a few friends to clarify the truth to them. On her way to her friends' home, she felt a chilly wind blow into her body from her back. She didn't think about it at the time and still visited two of her friends. In the afternoon, she felt pain in her back as if countless needles were piercing her. Her stomach and chest hurt as well. She lay down and couldn't get up again. That night, her son, who didn't practice Falun Dafa, called a doctor to come to her home. The doctor wanted to take her temperature. She said, "I'm not sick. There's no need to take my temperature." No matter what her son and the doctor said, she refused to have her temperature taken. Eventually, her son had to send the doctor away. She bore the pain for the whole night and was so exhausted that she couldn't focus or send forth righteous thoughts.

The next morning, she thought, "I need to look inside. This happened to me probably because I spent too much time working while neglecting my Fa study." She also remembered Teacher mentioning that some practitioners cried and called for their mothers during tribulations instead of calling for Teacher for help, since they took themselves to be everyday people. She said, "Oh, why don't I call Teacher for help!" she said in her heart, "Teacher, I am a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. I shouldn't have such huge illness karma. I would be able to get through if it were a smaller tribulation. This must be interference from the evil. Teacher, please help me." After a while, she didn't feel the pain in her chest and back. She felt her body lighten up, but she still felt weak and wanted to lie down.

On the third day, I went to visit her and saw her lying on the bed. I said, "Please do not think of yourself as an elderly person and don't treat yourself as a patient. As practitioners, we know we won't get sick. We are eliminating karma now. After July 20 1999, Teacher pushed us to the highest level we could reach. We have passed the stage of personal cultivation. Now we are validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. We are not here to bear suffering. Besides, even if we still have some karma, we should be able to break through it. As long as it doesn't interfere with us doing the three things well, we can bear it. Otherwise, we need to make corrections in ourselves and eliminate the interference from other dimensions. Remember; don't think yourself as a senior. The Buddha Fa is supernormal. We need to hold ourselves to the Fa principles at higher levels instead of everyday people's notions."

She sat up while I was talking, and we sent forth righteous thoughts together. We were very focused and sent forth strong righteous thoughts. She entered tranquility and sent forth righteous thoughts for about forty minutes. When I finished, she was still sending forth righteous thoughts. After that, her illness karma was gone.

This practitioner had omissions. However, she came to understand many Fa principles after that. In fact, illness karma is made to look like an illness because you wouldn't "...get flipped upside down, float up, and hang in the air, getting yanked up into the air to suffer" ("The Fourth Talk," Zhuan Falun). We have to become enlightened to Fa principles when things appear unclear. The difference between everyday people and gods might be only one thought. Yet that one thought emerges only after a long time of cultivation, Fa study and enlightenment.

The above is my personal understanding. I shared these two stories with you so we can discuss this topic more.