(Clearwisdom.net) Two recent incidents have helped me better understand the power of a practitioner's righteous thoughts and how to use righteous thoughts to deal with what happens during cultivation.

Before I started to practice Falun Gong, I often suffered from mouth ulcers, sometimes very severe. This problem still existed after I started to practice. I always thought it was karma elimination, and I did not pay much attention to it. It happened again recently, much more severe this time.

I had to think about this problem calmly for the first time. Why did it always come up when I was diligently clarifying the truth and helping people quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations? Wasn't this clearly interference? If I did not eliminate this interference with my righteous thoughts, I was giving it the nod of approval. For two days, I held a strong thought when I was sending forth righteous thoughts, "I completely deny the sickness karma the old forces have placed in my path, and deny all the interference from the dark minions and the evil demons! I only follow what Master has arranged for me, and walk righteously and steadily on the Fa-rectification path!" I did this twice in three days, and I returned to a good state. It was amazing even to me who has practiced for ten years, because the severe sickness karma would usually last for at least two weeks before it went away.

Another incident had to do with doing the exercises in the morning. Sometimes I was still reluctant to rise after the alarm went off. There were so many reasons--"I am too sleepy," "I have a headache," "I feel dizzy," or "I wonder if it will be OK that I have only slept for about three hours." Even after I eventually got up, I felt terribly uncomfortable and would only feel better a while later after I adjusted myself. This time when I got up, all these human attachments came again into my mind. I immediately sat up and sent forth righteous thoughts, "I completely deny these thoughts. They are interference and not my true self. I want to behave righteously and I want to get up and do righteous things!" The interference diminished when my righteous thoughts arose. The uncomfortable feelings disappeared in no time.

To those fellow practitioners who might have the same experiences, I would like to tell you that we should think of this: fighting interference with our human thinking and efforts is like a man fighting with an evil demon; using our righteous thoughts to eliminate interference is using our divine power to banish the evil forever. The difference between these two is the basis from which we operate [being based on the Fa] and is the difference between humans and gods. The effect, of course, will be remarkably different, too.

In fact, clarifying the truth and helping people quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations also work the same way. The effect will usually be negative if we do it with human attachments. Being frightened, unsteady, unsure, or less-than-determined will turn people off from the message we are trying to impart to them. Our efforts then act like impenetrable walls. By contrast, our determined tone, compassionate expression, and gracious words are demonstrations of our divine nature, are the extensions of our righteous thoughts, and are the magic weapons we use to offer sentient beings salvation.

I truly hope all fellow practitioners will study the Fa diligently, strengthen righteous thoughts, believe in Master and the Fa, and walk every step on our Fa-rectification cultivation path righteously, thus increasing our mighty virtue and lessening any regrets.