(Minghui.org) Usually, I am consciously aware that I’m cultivating in Falun Dafa, and can observe my thoughts regarding cultivation. However, for two weeks, I could only study the Fa and do the three things superficially, and not from the heart.
I tried to look inward at every thought of mine, but something stopped me from doing so. When I next attended group Fa study, I told other practitioners about my situation, and found that I had not been diligent in sending righteous thoughts.
After sending righteous thoughts at midnight one time, I noticed that evil substances in my dimension were interfering with me. Therefore, I started to send forth righteous thoughts for longer periods of time.
At the beginning, every minute was grueling and my thoughts were reluctant to continue sending forth righteous thoughts. But, knowing that evil substances were responsible for my not being able to send strong righteous thoughts, I strengthened them.
After an hour, my thought of refusing to send forth righteous thoughts disappeared, but I still felt that my dimension was not clean. Thus, I continued to send righteous thoughts. After two hours, I felt that the bad substances were being eliminated, and I decided to continue to send forth righteous thoughts until it was time to do the morning exercises. By that time, I found that large lumps of bad substances had disappeared from the back of my head.
Feeling much lighter, I looked inward further and found the reason why I had such a difficult time, and why so many practitioners are being persecuted by either being illegally arrested or experiencing severe sickness karma.
As the end of Fa-rectification is nearing, large numbers of old force beings are being destroyed, so they are fighting with all their might not to be eliminated.
As practitioners’ attachments are the only places where the old forces can seek refuge to delay their fate, they cling onto practitioners’ attachments for dear life. They then strengthen these attachments and drag down practitioners, thus worsening the persecution of that practitioner.
My mind became very clear after three hours of sending righteous thoughts. Then after practicing the five sets of exercises, I slept soundly and had a dream.
I was walking along a road in the dream, but gradually veered off and fell into a pool of dirty water. My head was fully submerged and I lost consciousness. When I came to I stood up, only to discover that the water was at chest height – it was not enough to make me drown. I tried to get out of the pool, but realized that I was wrapped in a blanket, which was soaked with the dirty water, making it very heavy. I unwrapped the blanket, threw it away and climbed out of the pool. Then I dreamed that I was eating from a bowl of rice, in which I discovered a few large cockroaches.
When I woke up, I understood what Master was trying to tell me. It is currently winter, and that big blanket was referring to the attachment of seeking comfort. Driven by this attachment, I gradually deviated from my path and fell into the pool of dirty water. The pool of dirty water represented the bad substances, and they filled up the space where I had the attachment of comfort, pinning me down and making me immobile. However, I couldn't figure out the significance of the rice and the cockroaches. But, it told me that there were bugs in my dimensional field.
That night I realized that I was no longer controlled by the attachment of seeking comfort. Three hours of sending forth righteous thoughts destroyed these bad substances, and I returned to my true cultivation state.
Since I returned to a good cultivation state, I became very clear about every thought that was not inline with the Fa. I was able to recognize my attachments and, no matter how strong they were, I could get rid of them. I could also feel that Master was by my side. When I can deny those stubborn attachments firmly, Master will help me to get rid of them.
In addition, when I look at every thought, I am able to differentiate which ones are forced upon me by the old forces, which ones are my own attachments, and which ones are due to my not being steadfast in the Fa. I was determined to continue strengthening my faith in Master and the Fa, and thus these attachments could no longer hold on to me.
When I go out to clarify the truth, if I have a little bit of fear in me, I will not ignore it. I will look inward and ask myself what am I afraid of. Am I afraid of being arrested and persecuted? These are arrangements made by the old forces. Thus, I will negate the old forces who are forcing this thought upon me. Being afraid is an attachment and I will eliminate it, as the one who is afraid is not me, it is the attachment, and I do not want this attachment. So, why am I worried about being arrested? Is it because I do not believe truly in Master and the Fa – Master is right beside me, protecting me. Thus, I reinforce my righteous thoughts about my belief in Master and the Fa.
There are so many attachments that I need to find and eliminate, such as having the fear of coming down with an illness. I must let it go, as it is pushed on me by the old forces.
There are times when I’m worried that something might happen to my child or my husband. As soon as I recognize this thought, as well as other wrong thoughts, I eliminate those that I should eliminate. Through my effort I eliminate the old forces, improve my xinxing, and strengthen my belief.
Negating the old forces should not only be done when we are faced with the persecution, but also when every thought of ours is being generated. We should analyze the thoughts in our minds and clearly understand them. This way we can find traces of the old forces and eliminate those that are behind these bad thoughts.
We need to negate the old forces in our minds, and in our environment – from our locale to the entire area in general.
The old forces have made arrangements for everyone’s every single thought, regarding every single matter, for every family member – everything is arranged. The old forces also arranged different kinds of attachments, and how people would behave when these attachments surface.
Practitioners keep cultivating, but they continue to face problems. This may be due to them operating under the old forces' arrangements. They must negate these arrangements and send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate them.
When the police arrest practitioners, or practitioners pass away due to sickness karma, all practitioners must cooperate as one body and negate anything that has the fingerprint of the old forces.
Doing Things Superficially
Many practitioners in our area only know how to do things superficially. They study the Fa, but do not cultivate. It is not a small matter if one does not know how to cultivate oneself. Just as shown in my dream, they are already being dragged down by the old forces.
If a practitioner does not find any attachments for an entire week, they must immediately become alert, as there must be a big problem in their cultivation. Overtime, one becomes insensitive to these issues, which should not happen at any cost.
Negating the Silent Agreement with the Old Forces
The number of practitioners that are being persecuted are increasing, which includes those who have passed away or were arrested. This is because they did not pay attention to their every thought, and they did not realize that this was the doing of the old forces.
When our thoughts just let things unfold, it is equivalent to silently agreeing to the old forces' arrangements. It is just as if we are afraid of being arrested, or afraid of coming down with an illness – we are already acknowledging the old forces’ arrangements, so they will be able to persecute us.
Importance of Sending Righteous Thoughts
Practitioners do not place enough importance on sending forth righteous thoughts. Sometimes, practitioners just send righteous thoughts at the four set times, but that is insufficient. The frequency a practitioner should send righteous thoughts depends on the situation of the individual.
The four basic times are a must. However, sending forth righteous thoughts at these four times may not mean that we have achieved our goal in eliminating interference and attacks by the old forces.
When our cultivation state is not at its best, we may need to prolong the time and increase the frequency of sending forth righteous thoughts, until the evil beings in our dimension are cleared away thoroughly. This is really important.
Some practitioners have distracting thoughts when they send righteous thoughts, fall asleep, or go into the meditation state. They must to be aware of what they are doing.
Those who don't know how to send forth righteous thoughts must study more of Master’s lectures on this issue. If they cannot understand it after studying one time, they need to reread them until they gain a good understanding.
Persisting Until We Succeed
Some practitioners do not know how to cultivate. They are not able to differentiate which thoughts are forced upon them by the old forces, and which thoughts are due to attachments. Therefore, they do not know how to get rid of this kind of thinking.
For those that don't know how to deal with their attachments, such as fear, lust, desire, jealousy, selfishness, etc., they should understand that these attachments are difficult to eliminate.
If they feel that getting rid of them is very hard, they must continue with their efforts until they succeed. If we are persistent, Master will remove the bad substances for us.
Master said, “You put in the effort and your teacher will handle the rest.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Cultivation Process
Another fundamental problem that we need to face is – how deep is our belief in Master and the Fa?
Sometimes when I face a sudden problem, I panic. However, no matter what, I must keep reminding myself to believe in Master and the Fa, telling myself that nothing will go wrong as Master is beside me. I try to control myself to stop panicking, and let myself believe in Master.
This is the process where we keep improving ourselves and gradually strengthen our belief. From not fully believing to finally believing in Master and the Fa – this is part of the cultivation process.
Doing the Three Things
Doing the three things and studying the Fa must take precedence over everything else. Master said, “...it’s a must that you learn the Way of higher realms thoroughly...” (The Third Talk, Zhuan Falun).
Only when we learn the Fa thoroughly will we know how to cultivate and do well in everything on our cultivation path.