(Minghui.org) I am 59 years old this year. Five people in my family practice Falun Dafa, and I would like to share what happened after my younger brother, Chen, had several life-threatening strokes.
Chen was a long-distance truck driver. Although he’d started to practice Falun Dafa before the persecution began on July 20, 1999, he had not studied the teachings much or gained a deep understanding of them, so he gave up practicing.
In 2003, Chen had a stroke due to high blood pressure. He was operated on and hospitalized twice, but he was left with serious complications. He slurred his speech and had difficulty walking, not to mention driving.
My eldest brother, my youngest brother, and I all urged Chen to return to Dafa. We told him, “Only Master can save you. Master has never given up on you—you survived a brain hemorrhage for so many days, and then you were out of danger. Dafa is supernatural and omnipotent.” So Chen decided to start practicing again.
At first, my eldest brother and youngest brother studied the Fa with Chen every day. He stumbled as he read, but I encouraged him, saying, “The less smoothly you read, the more you need to read. You need to read more.” By studying regularly for a month, Chen completely recovered.
Chen was then able to drive cargo trucks again. He was diligent, doing the exercises and studying the Fa every day and looking inward during conflicts.
As time went by, however, Chen again slacked off in his cultivation and became addicted to his cell phone.
Around 10 p.m. on June 27 last year, Chen suddenly collapsed and became unconscious. His family rushed him to the hospital. When my youngest brother called me, I was very worried. I thought, “Chen is the breadwinner in his family. Although his only daughter is working, she isn’t married yet. How will they manage?”
At 11:55 p.m., my alarm to remind me to send righteous thoughts rang. I suddenly snapped awake: “I am a practitioner. I must send righteous thoughts to completely negate the arrangements of the old forces and beg Master to save Chen.” I sent righteous thoughts for over an hour.
I did not sleep at all that night. I looked inward unconditionally and uncovered many attachments. I discarded them and resolved to eliminate all human notions that surfaced while letting go of sentimentality (qing) for my brother.
The next day, I called my youngest brother to ask about Chen and learned that he was in a coma in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). I felt my whole body tremble, and I was utterly drained of strength at work.
A coworker told me about a relative who had spent 500,000 yuan after a stroke, only to end up a vegetable and die a few months later, and I was reminded of those who’d died on the operating table. But I rejected those negative ideas and thought, “Chen is being looked after by Master. He is not subject to the old forces. Even if he has attachments, he should only be rectified within the Fa. The old forces are not worthy of persecuting his physical body.” I again sent righteous thoughts to strengthen Chen’s righteous thoughts.
During those several days, I was in low spirits. When a fellow practitioner heard about the situation, he pointed out that I was unable to let go of affection for family. I replied, “I’ve tried not to think about it, but negative thoughts keep bubbling up.” The practitioner reminded me, “Chen is a practitioner under Master’s care. Hand him over to Master.”
Early the next morning, I went to see Chen. The journey itself was like a process of cultivating my mind. It was not raining when I left, but it soon began to pour. I could not find a taxi and got thoroughly soaked. I sent righteous thoughts to clear away all evil entities and old-force factors that were trying to keep me from going to help a fellow practitioner.
For six days, I stayed at Chen’s house and visited him in the ICU every day. He was still in a deep coma, and there were tubes all over him. But I was at peace and thought, “Let all lives within his dimensions remember ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ and eliminate all evil entities and factors that are hindering Chen’s salvation.” I begged Master to grant him another chance—a chance to resume cultivating and be diligent once again.
I then said loudly to Chen, “You do not belong in hell. You are under Master’s care. Your main consciousness must return to your physical body so that you can take charge of yourself. Make the decision not to give up on your body under any circumstances, because you have not yet completed your mission. You must wake up! Do not have any negative impact on Dafa. For the sake of saving sentient beings in our area, you must wake up!” My eldest and youngest brothers also helped Chen strengthen his righteous thoughts.
Two weeks passed, and Chen still had not regained consciousness. When my six-day leave ended, I had to return to work. Five days later, my youngest brother called to say that Chen had still not woken up, and the doctors wanted to take him off life support.
His family refused to give up on him and asked that he be transferred to a regular ward. The doctors said they had to either discharge him or keep him in the ICU. They warned us that, if Chen’s oxygen was disconnected, he would go into convulsions and that he wouldn’t survive for more than three days, even with emergency care, so his family decided to take him home.
Relatives and friends came to see Chen in what everyone assumed were his final days. A thought then came to my mind: “All of this is a false illusion, and I do not acknowledge it!”
We three siblings shared our understanding that we must not fall into the old forces’ trap to destroy the sentient beings in our area and cause them to commit sins against Dafa, even as the old forces were testing our steadfastness in Dafa to see if we would continue to cultivate. We declared, “No matter what, we will firmly cultivate in Dafa and completely believe in Master. Our hearts will not be moved by this situation; let everything take its natural course. We will carry on with our daily routines, leaving Chen entirely in Master’s care, because whatever Master arranges for him is the best.”
Every relative remarked that Chen did not look like he was critically ill—his body showed no signs of wasting, and his face glowed with a healthy color. He looked as if he were just sleeping and would surely wake up.
That afternoon, after the had relatives left, we three siblings sent righteous thoughts and played recordings of Master’s Fa lectures for Chen. We didn’t sleep that night. We sent righteous thoughts at the top of every hour, begging Master to save him and grant him another opportunity to cultivate, while telling his conscious side to ask Master for help and admit his mistakes to Master.
At dawn, Chen opened his eyes, filled with tears. At that moment, I was overwhelmed with the immense power of Dafa and Master’s boundless might and endless compassion.
After breakfast, Chen’s wife and daughter asked that he go back to the hospital. We had him admitted to a regular ward and played Master’s Fa lectures for him 24 hours a day without interruption. Chen fully regained consciousness in two days. The other patients in the ward all said it was absolutely miraculous.
Twenty days later, Chen was discharged from the hospital. When he left, the doctors, nurses, and other patients all said that they had never seen such close and supportive siblings. They were deeply moved.
I realized that cultivation is incredibly serious after Chen’s experiences with the test of life and death. Our every thought and action must align with the requirements of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. No matter what trials or tribulations we encounter, we must maintain unwavering faith in Master and Dafa.