(Minghui.org) The mission of Falun Dafa practitioners to uphold the momentum of Fa-rectification remains, depite dramatic changes in the situation during recent years.
From my understanding, Dafa has given practitioners divine power, and had we met the standard, the persecution within the Three Realms arranged by the old forces would have failed to continue. The past 20-plus years might have unfolded differently, and more sentient beings could have been saved.
It is therefore crucial that we fully understand the Dafa teachings. Many practitioners around me have said that they neither see nor feel anything when sending forth righteous thoughts. Over time, some have considered it as just completing a task. In addition, all kinds of distractions and impure thoughts have interfered with our sending forth righteous thoughts.
Some practitioners can feel strong energy when sending forth righteous thoughts, and they also help others who are going through sickness karma. However, when these practitioners themselves have interference or go through sickness karma, they often feel helpless.
We also often remind each other to help with sending forth righteous thoughts when we encounter various issues. Of course, there is nothing wrong in doing so. But if a practitioner does not do well in sending forth righteous thoughts on a daily basis, he may be viewing it as a tool used for emergencies—but in reality, it is more than that.
When looking within on this issue, I realized that we often talk about telling people the facts about Dafa and the persecution in China. There are many stories about how we validate Dafa, and many are very touching. This is the case in my area.
However, compared to the extensive discussions on studying Dafa’s teachings and telling people the facts, I have noticed that our sharing on sending forth righteous thoughts is rather limited. This occurs in both large and small group sharings.
Over the past 10-plus years, I often missed sending righteous thoughts; even when I made it, my hand often tilted. The loss is significant, and I often regret it.
I recall that some time ago, two practitioners in my area often shared their understandings on sending forth righteous thoughts, and I would reflect on my own situation. Over time I came to realize that on the surface it was because I paid little attention to sending forth righteous thoughts. In reality, it was because I failed to take cultivation seriously. I was not truly following Master’s teachings.
Unlike studying Dafa’s teachings or clarifying the truth about Dafa, I often feel, based on my human notions, that sending forth thoughts does not produce tangible results. As a result, over time, a large amount of degenerate substances and vicious elements have accumulated in my dimension. This has caused huge pressure for me, and created excuses for the vicious elements to interfere.
Having faith in Master Li (founder of Falun Dafa) and Dafa is a fundamental issue. As a Dafa disciple, I study Dafa teachings every day and I am determined in cultivation practice. However, living in the secular world with a human body, I am still influenced by human notions.
Since I began practicing Dafa about 30 years ago, I have read Zhuan Falun every day—over 10,000 days in total. Yet, how often have I truly attempted to direct supernormal abilities with my consciousness? While I was supposed to do so when sending forth righteous thoughts, my poor understanding of Dafa’s teachings and the lack of visible results meant that I rarely, if ever, consciously directed supernormal abilities.
Master said:
“I’ll tell you, for years I have been continually saying that Dafa disciples’ abilities are tremendous, yet many people don’t believe this since those abilities were not allowed to be seen. Under the effect of righteous thoughts, everything around you, as well as you yourself, will undergo changes. Yet you have never thought to give it a try.” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume XI)
I asked myself: why didn’t I give it a try after practicing Dafa for so many years? Why didn’t I follow it since Master had pointed it out clearly? Plus, hardly any practitioners around me had discussed this.
Master also said:
“The disciples who for the time being aren’t able to see other dimensions can focus powerful thoughts in saying the word mie after they finish saying the formula. The mie word needs to be so strong that it’s as large as the cosmic body, encompassing everything and leaving out nothing in any dimension.” (“Righteous Thoughts,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress III)
For over twenty years, I have been a practitioner “who for the time being isn’t able to see other dimensions.” But were my righteous thoughts “so strong that it’s as large as the cosmic body, encompassing everything and leaving out nothing in any dimension”? And why did “for the time being” last more than 20 years?
From Dafa teachings I have come to understand that everything done in the past was in preparation for this final moment. In Zhuan Falun, Master specifically discusses the celestial eye. I believe these teachings may help us to better assist Master with Fa-rectification.
About two years ago, I basically stopped tilting my hand when sending forth righteous thoughts. In addition, Zhuan Falun and Master’s other lectures have enlightened me—either directly or indirectly—on the issue of sending forth righteous thoughts.
As a result, I can now see scenes with my celestial eye more often. Over the past twenty-plus years, I have occasionally seen striking scenes through my celestial eye while sending righteous thoughts. However, they were just fleeting. I made an effort to strengthen this ability by deepening my understanding based on the Fa. Since then I have been able to see scenes during righteous thoughts more often. In one month alone, I was able to see visions four times, with each one lasting about an hour.
I think this was encouragement from Master for me to do better. Admittedly, during that one hour that I was able to see scenes through my celestial eye, I saw mostly dense, oppressive evil elements. This occurred because I had not done well with sending forth righteous thoughts in the past. Still, right now I am able to experience the power of righteous thoughts. For example, there were scenes of artillery fire blasting in the distance, or beams of energy radiating from my body.
At other times—such as when I found myself mired deep within a black quagmire, after continuously sending righteous thoughts, the mud in the mire would crack and dry up, and the blackness would transform into an earthy brown hue. On one occasion, within the span of just 80 minutes, I experienced five intense battles between righteousness and evil, culminating in a final scene of radiant light. Naturally, there were also numerous instances of incredibly beautiful and sublime scenes. Accompanying all of this was a recurring “roller coaster” ride through various states of mind while sending righteous thoughts. That is, sometimes I did well and sometimes did very poorly.
In summary, sending forth righteous thoughts is very important and I need to do better. Below are a few ideas I have.
In Fa Teaching Given at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference, Master told us about sending forth righteous thoughts and gave us the divine power. I think Master also gave us the ability to protect ourselves in this process.
When degenerated substances were pushed into the Three Realms from higher levels, our dimensions may have also been affected. Although Master Li has cleared the fundamental interference, we have to do our part. Additionally, we carry degenerated substances from previous life cycles, so we must cleanse them as well.
I once experienced a bout of severe sickness karma. After a while, I was able to calm down and send forth righteous thoughts. At that moment, I saw the muzzle of a machine gun spewing out a continuous stream of fire. Instantly, three dragons flew out of my body and charged forward, and the machine gun vanished into thin air. It was then that I realized those dragons would have been powerless had I not sent forth righteous thoughts.
Sending forth righteous thoughts is also a process of purifying ourselves. In addition to sickness karma, our karma and vicious substances may manifest as various forms of interference, including financial and family issues, or challenges in our surrounding environment. These interferences can negatively affect both ourselves and other practitioners.
We therefore need to send strong righteous thoughts to eliminate such interference that targets us and other practitioners. Particularly in the final steps of our cultivation, the few remaining vicious elements may exploit our omissions to cause damage. Thus, it is essential to do the three things well, including sending forth righteous thoughts and studying the teachings of Dafa.
According to Dafa’s teachings, the human body is a small universe. When we send forth righteous thoughts, we help save sentient beings within this small universe; otherwise, they may suffer helplessly from the harmful or impure substances.
Cultivation practice is a journey of transitioning from a human being to a divine being. When sending forth righteous thoughts, we suppress our human side so that the divine aspect of our main consciousness can dominate.
Of course, we also need to cultivate ourselves and clarify the truth, and these three aspects complement each other. For example, when sending forth righteous thoughts effectively, I notice greater progress in my Fa study. This may be because sending forth righteous thoughts eliminates many interfering elements. Furthermore, sending forth righteous thoughts negates the old forces’ arrangements.
Master said:
“The evil people act as they do because evil is propping them up from behind. Yet you always look at how bad that person at the surface is, how evil he is, how that evil policeman is so this or that, or how somebody’s behavior is just so irrational. You always fix your gaze on the surface. I’ve always told you that this human body here is just like an article of clothing, and that what really controls a person is his soul—be it his master soul or subordinate soul. And it’s not just the soul that can control a person. There are all sorts of intelligent entities that can also control a human being. It is not the beings at the surface that are doing evil to Dafa disciples. When you have addressed the factors behind the scenes, take another look at the surface and see what happens. With no factors at work behind the scenes, a human being will do whatever you tell him to. You are a cultivator and someone with extraordinary abilities, and you are a being who is walking the path to divinity. Whereas that being is an ordinary human, and he is powerless. So you shouldn’t always fix your gaze on the person at the surface. Only when you deal with the factors behind the scenes will you manage to resolve the problem at the root. Only then will you cause a given situation, or that person, to change.” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume XI)
As one of the three things Master requires of us, sending forth righteous thoughts is also part of our efforts to validate Dafa. So we have to do well regardless. It is more so with the current situation, with various forms of interference happening inside and outside China.
I would like to conclude my sharing with words from Master:
“To reduce the losses, and to save sentient beings, put your Dafa disciples’ powerful righteous thoughts to full use! Show your Mighty Virtue!” (“Righteous Thoughts,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress III)
The above reflects my personal understanding. Please point out any aspects inconsistent with Dafa’s teachings.