When cultivation reaches a certain stage, one must repay the karmic debts of cause and effect.

Ru Chun: During this period I wanted to properly replenish my meditative concentration, so I reduced my contact with people and affairs quite a bit. For a while the results were quite good—my mind was fairly tranquil, my meditative concentration improved somewhat, I sweated a lot, and my body felt much lighter. But over the past half month or so, things have been terrible. Within half an hour of sitting, my legs hurt badly. I sit for about an hour in the morning and evening, barely enduring by switching legs midway. As you can imagine, the results have been very poor—not even a shadow of meditative concentration. Thoughts fly about wildly, I feel drowsy and heavy, and my legs and ankles have become swollen.

The doctor said I have heavy cold-dampness. I've tried acupuncture, moxibustion, and medicine, but none worked well. Feeling very anxious, I recited the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra and the Śūraṅgama Mantra, hoping for the Buddha's blessings. I also spoke with my manas: No matter how you object, I can never return to worldly pursuits and rush about exhaustingly as before. You and I should both understand that it is a road of no return. If my condition doesn't improve, I'll have no choice but to begin fasting—hunger is not a pleasant taste. When afflictions arise, I reconcile with myself and with others, thinking that we are all ordinary beings (pṛthagjana), all selfish, all prone to mistakes—there's nothing worth blaming. I examine whether my anger is obstructing the Path. I wonder if any Dharma brothers and sisters have had similar experiences, and whether there are good methods to counteract this?

Assessment: This is a phenomenon arising when the qi meridians reach the legs and begin adjusting them. Because the legs carry heavy dampness, it affects meditative concentration; progress and regression in meditation is a normal phenomenon, and once the qi meridians pass through, it will be fine. Combining treatment with traditional Chinese medicine methods can speed up the adjustment process, and contemplation methods can also be used.

Working on the body—that is technique; working on the mind—that is the Path. Having technique does not necessarily mean having the Path, but if one has the Path, there is no worry about technique. Working on the mind means correctly recognizing the falsity and unreality of one's own and others' five aggregates (pañca-skandha), their suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self; correctly recognizing the dialectical relationship between cause and effect; understanding the prior causes of oneself and others, willingly accepting the later fruits, understanding that extinguishing causes ends fruits so no new misfortune is created—only then will there be a day of escaping suffering. If not so, whenever karmic obstructions arrive, they will knock all the technique one has cultivated back to its original form; what has been cultivated will be nearly exhausted, and one returns without achievement. With prior causes, how can one not receive later fruits? Who can receive retribution and fruits on one's behalf? If the mind does not change and karma is not severed, can the fruits of retribution ever be fully received? 

Ru Chun: The next night before sleep, I was thinking about karmic obstructions and how to dissolve karma, and thinking, thinking, I fell asleep. I dreamed I was taking my child to school when it began to rain, so I went back to get an umbrella. By the time I brought the umbrella back, heavy snow was falling from the sky—such big, big snowflakes, like popcorn or like shaved wood shavings, drifting down from the sky strand by strand. The rain and snow formed a puddle on the ground. I thought, how icy this water must be, but I still ran over barefoot and soaked my feet in the icy water, which was nearly up to my knees. After a good while, I saw a red plum tree by the water. Though pressed down by thick snow, its red petals were still visible. I found it so beautiful that I came up out of the water and wanted to take a photo, but I couldn't find my phone, and then I woke up.

Assessment: This is a dream of imagery. The rain and snow in the dream represent water-dampness; stepping one's legs and feet into the puddle represents severe dampness in the legs and feet that needs to be removed. How to remove it? First, one must come out of the puddle and stop soaking in the water. Thus the red plum by the water attracted her over, and she came out of the puddle. But this is not yet finished; we don't know how this karmic obstruction issue will be handled later in the dream. When cultivation reaches a certain point, one will certainly have to repay the debts of cause and effect.