An experience repeated over the last two days has made a deep impression upon me as to the responsibility we each share in sending righteous thoughts at the set times.
The first episode I wish to relate occurred yesterday during morning practice. We have a practice site at my campus, and we gather each morning for an hour of standing exercises and an hour of meditation. Usually the weather never interferes with our routine, though it may, such as in the dead of winter, pose challenges (we are located in the northeast part of the country). For example, on days when it happens to rain, it inevitably will have already started raining by the time we arrive for practice -- allowing us to go to a nearby, covered gazebo for practice -- or it will hold off until we are done. Thus, we can do the full two hours of practice without the disruption of having to shift locations midway through or getting soaked.
But yesterday, several minutes into the second exercise (Falun Standing Stance), the weather took a sudden turn for the worse. A biting, unseasonable wind kicked up, piercing our thinly-clothed bodies, and rain started to descend upon us. Soon the rain had grown significant.
I silently asked Master for help, asking for his assistance in removing this if it was indeed interference and allowing us to continue to do this rightful task of practice. Immediately the wind stopped, though the rain did continue. One thought filled my mind: "You will see that in fact nothing can 'escape from the Tathagata's palm'"! Master was, as always, ultimately in control. What seemed like chaos was actually something given to us to cultivate through and rectify. Upon realizing this, the wind resumed, fierce like before.
I then looked within, seeking to find my omissions. Surely there was something on my, or the group's part that was deficient. It then occurred to me that I had overslept that morning and barely made it to the practice site on time. I had missed the global, joint sending of righteous thoughts, which takes place at 6:00 a.m. in our region. Might not the nasty weather, then, be a mass of something evil or warped that I was responsible for and supposed to have eliminated earlier that morning but failed to as I slept away? Something on some level told me: "Yes." I then proceeded to send righteous thoughts in other dimensions as my body here continued to do the wheel-holding positions. I could vaguely see my body on the other side, poised and magnificent, rectifying a portion of the cosmos. I asked Master to allow my powers to exceed the limits of time, if it be possible or appropriate, such that my sending righteous thoughts at that moment were as if at 6:00 a.m. where they should have been.
Immediately the wind ceased again. And this time, the rain as well. Within a minute or two not a single drop fell. It remained this way for the next hour and half, allowing us to complete our session without this added ordeal.
This made quite an impression upon me. The words Master shared with us just a few weeks earlier came to mind:
"If you say that you really can't [stop working], then it's okay for you to continue with your work and make it up later. But that said, when Dafa disciples around the world send righteous thoughts together at the same time, the power is boundless. So, if each person had been able to handle this matter with very strong righteous thoughts and been doing it very well from the beginning, then perhaps there would be no evil remaining now. It's precisely because many practitioners have been interfered with by one thing or another that it hasn't been done well." ("Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference")
Had I really, fully, on a fundamental level taken Master's words to heart? Had I really grasped on deeper levels the significance of this passage of Fa? If I had, I would not have overslept that morning and encountered this lesson. Nonetheless, I was in awe of Master's immense compassion and patience. Indeed, I have missed far too many of the global sending righteous thoughts times for various, poor reasons -- the biggest one being complacency, thinking that having worked through the night I needed "some rest" and "deserved a little sleep" for all the work I had done. Looking back, this is really a statement of poor xinxing. I was treating myself as a human being, and indulging my human side, human thoughts, and remaining factors that long for comfort. In a word, it was about self. Meanwhile, the evil that we fail to eliminate when we miss righteous thoughts is precisely the same evil that interferes with the salvation of sentient beings and perpetrates terrible sins against the Fa. It is possible that the evil, if not eliminated, might have gone on to do something vile in our area? I am filled with regret thinking about how many times this might have been the case, unbeknownst to myself and others. I will be far stricter with myself henceforth.
After we finished the meditation, I shared with a fellow disciple what had occurred.
Surprisingly, this morning at the practice site the very same thing occurred, though just rain, and not wind. When the rain started this time, it occurred to me that I should have shared my experience with more fellow practitioners from our site, in case not sending righteous thoughts in the morning was an issue for them. Indeed, this morning five out of the six other regulars were not there, and usually someone's not coming means he or she slept in. This time, then, I didn't send righteous thoughts much in regards to the rain, and just made a point mentally to discuss the issue with others later.
Lo and behold, after several minutes of increasing intensity, the rain stopped. By the end of our session, the sun was even peeking through the patches of blue that had appeared overhead in the sky. The other regular practitioner who was there with me this morning then shared that today, it was his turn to oversleep, and this problem only really dawned on him when the rain set in. However, he was quick to recall my experience of the previous day, and sent strong righteous thoughts in other dimensions upon realizing his omission. Thus, the change in weather once again. Afterward he shared how our conversation the day before had made his enlightenment possible, so I thought I would commit this to paper in case it might be helpful to other fellow disciples.
The above is only my limited understanding in cultivation, so please point out any shortcomings.
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Category: Journeys of Cultivation
