(Minghui.org) Master emphasized that sending forth righteous thoughts is one the three things Falun Gong practitioners must do. Besides sending forth righteous thoughts four times a day with other practitioners on a global scale and at Fa study, I rarely did so by myself. A few cultivation experiences in recent years enlightened me to the fact that sending forth righteous thoughts is vital in our cultivation.

Staying True to Falun Dafa

One evening in the summer of 2014, I had a hard time breathing when I lay down to sleep. Changing positions and sitting up did not help. It got so bad that I was covered in sweat from trying to breathe.

Why was this happening? Who should I call for help? It was already late into the night, and the practitioner who lives closest to me was still a 20-minute bus ride away. Besides, I knew I should not ask for outside help, but instead should search within myself for the cause.

Master said:

“For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference, Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IX)

Looking back at everything that happened over the past few days, I found the loophole. While I was cleaning my grandson's room earlier that day, a book titled The Classic of Mountains and Seas caught my attention. Judging by the title, I thought that the book was likely a cultivation book. Out of curiosity, I started reading it and became totally absorbed by the stories in the book. I finished reading it in one go.

Master said in Zhuan Falun:

“Usually, it is better not to read even the classic books mentioned above or other related classic scriptures, as it involves the issue of being single-minded in one practice.”

Reading that book was a mistake. I have been reading Zhuan Falun for over 20 years. Why didn't I obey Master's words? Not only did I forget to stay true to Falun Dafa, furthermore, I was not being respectful of Master and the Fa. The evil wanted to use my curiosity to destroy me.

I immediately asked Master for help and started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate and deny any arrangements made by the old forces.

After an hour of sending forth righteous thoughts continuously, I completely recovered.

Having Strong Righteous Thoughts

Prior to practicing Falun Dafa, I was allergic to UV light. In the summer time, I had to shield my entire body from the sun; otherwise I would develop an itchy rash. This skin condition went away after I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1995.

I noticed that the skin on my right forearm started to show signs of this allergic reaction again in 2012. One day in the summer of 2014, the itchiness on my right arm became unbearable, especially when I was outside under the sun. This was very distracting when I was talking to people about Falun Dafa and the persecution. I rolled up my shirt sleeves and said to my arm, “I am a Dafa practitioner, the sun is my friend, it will shine on you to burn you out!” The itching immediately went away and never came back. It was just as Master said in “The Master-Disciple Bond” from Hong Yin II:

“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”

Correcting My Mindset

A practitioner I knew passed away in 2017. Instead of looking for the root causes of her departing: for example, if she had attachments or perhaps if there were loopholes in our local group as a whole, I instead related her situation to mine. I was a few years older than her, would the same thing happen to me? This thought flashed through my mind, and it was seized upon by the evil forces.

Afterwards, I became constantly hungry and thirsty. Being a physician, I recognized these as symptoms of diabetes. Yet I knew that we should not have these kind of problems since we are practitioners; therefore, these symptoms must be caused by my xinxing.

Not knowing how I should improve my xinxing, I wished I could talk to other practitioners. The practitioners I usually spend time with were busy. Master said in “Expounding on the Fa” in Essentials for Further Advancement:

“You should also be clear that “natural” does not exist, and “the inevitable” has reasons behind it.”

I realized that I needed to improve my cultivation. My attachments to self interest, fear, and the desire for an easy way out all needed to be eliminated. I was afraid of losing my health and wanted other practitioners to help me. All those thoughts did not align with the Fa. The evil forces were using them to harm me.

The next day, I ran into some local practitioners. By then, I no longer needed their assistance. Instead, I shared my thought process with them. Looking within oneself has miraculous power! That is, my symptoms had improved, but were not completely gone. I continued to send forth righteous thoughts to completely eliminate the interference.

I remembered what Master said in “Expounding on the Fa”, Essentials for Further Advancement:

“For a long period of time the sentient beings in Dafa, especially the disciples, have had a misunderstanding of the Fa at various levels regarding xinxing improvement. Whenever a tribulation comes, you do not see it with the side of your original nature but view it completely with your human side. Evil demons then capitalize on this point and inflict endless interference and damage, leaving students in long-term tribulations. As a matter of fact, this results from an inadequate understanding of the Fa by your human side. You have humanly restrained your divine side; in other words, you have restrained the parts that have been successfully cultivated and have prevented them from doing Fa-rectification. How can the uncultivated side restrain your main thoughts or the side that has already attained the Fa? Having humanly fostered the evil demons, you allow them to capitalize on the loopholes in the Fa. When a tribulation arrives, if you, a disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm or be determined to meet different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to pass the test. If it continues endlessly and if there do not exist other problems in your xinxing or conduct, it must be that the evil demons are capitalizing on the weak spots caused by your lack of control. After all, a cultivator is not an ordinary human. So why doesn’t the side of you that is your original nature rectify the Fa?”

I felt that passage directly captured my situation. After circling in this phase for about five months, my daughter-in-law finally said to me, “Mom, why are you always hungry these days? I always see you eating, didn't you just have dinner?”

“You noticed?” I replied.

“I noticed a long time ago, I just didn't say anything.”

“Well then, keep those thoughts to yourself, and don't mention it to anyone. I am a Dafa practitioner, so I don't get sick. I wasn't thinking straight for a moment, and the evil took advantage of me. I have Master and the Fa, I will be fine tomorrow.”

Like magic, my symptoms were completely gone the next day. Master helped me to eliminate the evil force.

A similar incident occurred again in 2018. While I was reading an article about a practitioner who went through sickness karma, the thought of going through sickness karma myself went through my mind again. I started to feel dizzy and nauseous and had to lie down on the sofa. Soon I was throwing up and had diarrhea. Other practitioners from my study group visited me and helped me find the loophole in my mindset. After some strong righteous thoughts, I recovered.

I twice compared myself with other practitioners' suffering sickness karma, and twice I was affected by the evil forces.

Like Master said in the poem “Unimpededin Hong Yin II:

“The paths of cultivation are variedBut none is outside the Great LawWhen one is attached to nothingThe path underfoot is naturally smooth”

Every practitioner has a different cultivation path. We must remain on our own path and not compare ourselves too much with others. What we should focus on when reading other practitioners' articles are how the other practitioners do the three things well by believing in Master and Dafa, and let them encourage us to be diligent practitioners. We must be clear that everything in our lives happens based on the Fa, and must not let our human hearts lead our thoughts astray.