(Minghui.org) A fellow Falun Dafa practitioner recently asked me to help send forth righteous thoughts for him, because he thought that he'd made some mistakes when clarifying the truth and was worried that he would be persecuted because of the mistakes.
He told me that he made a lot of assumptions that were all based on negative thoughts. I told him that he had to get rid of them, as it would cause many unnecessary troubles.
However, he thought that I didn't want to help him. He cried and begged me to help, and even said some nasty words. I was shocked!
I explained my reasoning, and promised to send forth righteous thoughts for him twice a day.
After he left, I reflected on what he told me. I have some thoughts that I'd like to share with practitioners.
A Practitioner Should Think of Master First
A test that every practitioner faces is whether he or she truly believes in Master. Behind every practitioner, there is Master's fashen, or even several. Master is always with us.
Master said,
“I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe.” (Zhuan Falun)
But this practitioner never thought of Master when he was in trouble. The person he first thought of was his mother, and then other practitioners.
Master is omnipotent. Why don't we ask Master for help? Isn't this a fundamental issue in cultivation?
Although this practitioner felt fearful after he clarified the truth in public, he didn't have fear before or while he was talking to people. Wouldn't Master protect him? I had similar experiences of developing fear after clarifying the truth. But every time, it was my own notions that brought on the fear.
Why do we have fear after talking to people about Falun Gong in public? I think there are two reasons.
First, we have not completely gotten rid of our attachment to fear. If we haven't done well in our cultivation at some point, we could easily develop fear. When our human notions surface, fear will dominate us.
Second, since the old forces see our fear in other dimensions, they will generate illusions, make one think over and over again about the things he or she didn't do well, and enhance the feeling of being afraid. Their purpose is to scare us off so that we don't dare to clarify the truth in public. The old forces try to destroy us. We should not be deceived by these illusions.
We should ask Master for help to overcome our fears. We should also find our human notions and eliminate them, and send righteous thoughts to reject the old forces' arrangements.
Master said,
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughts,Master has the power to turn back the tide.” (“The Master-Disciple Bond” from Hong Yin II)
If we have enough righteous thoughts, Master can do anything for us. If the evil then still dares to persecute us, Master can stop them.
It is Master Who Saves People
Master said,
“... it is the Fa that saves people, and only Master can do this thing. You merely help people with predestined relationships to obtain the Fa. Whether they can truly be saved still depends on whether they can reach Consummation through cultivation. Be careful: A Buddha will be shocked by such wild statements, intentional or not. Don’t create obstacles for your own cultivation practice. You must also cultivate your speech in this regard. I hope you can understand.” (“Don't Make Wild Statements” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Practitioners are all at different states in their cultivation, but we are all cultivating. If a practitioner is doing well in cultivation, he or she may be praised, and somebody may take him or her as a role model in cultivation. Although we all know that we should take the Fa as teacher, not any individual practitioner, some practitioners often forget this principle.
If we start to worship, idolize or rely on a diligent practitioner, knowingly or sub-consciously, we can bring damage to this practitioner.
Those practitioners who receive praise should not be moved. We should know that our abilities are given to us by Master and the Fa. We should know that “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Zhuan Falun)
It is Master who is saving people, and we are improving ourselves in the process.
If we cannot maintain our xinxing and think too highly of ourselves when receiving praise, or if we develop the show-off mentality and want other practitioners to follow us, we will be in danger. The old forces will take advantage of this loophole and persecute us.
Without Master and Dafa we are nothing. So, we should not think highly of ourselves, for it is dangerous, especially in the face of the persecution.
Do Not Think Negatively
A practitioner once told me that his mother always thinks she will be persecuted because she practices Falun Dafa, so she sends righteous thoughts to eliminate the imaginary persecution. It all comes from her thoughts. Wouldn't such negative thoughts have negative consequences? The imaginary persecution may become real. Isn't she giving the evil excuses to persecute her?
I once read an article published on Minghui.org, where the author said that his legs were swollen after going through a round of sickness karma. He was able to sit in the full lotus position at group Fa-study at a senior practitioner's house, but failed to do so when he was by himself or with other people. He wondered why, and asked the senior practitioner. The senior practitioner said she tried not to have any negative thoughts towards the author, as it may provide energy to the old forces and enhance the sickness karma. When other practitioners asked this senior practitioner if the author had recovered, she always spoke positively.
Practitioners' righteous thoughts are very important for fellow practitioners who are in the midst of tribulations. The consequences of positive and negative thoughts are very different.
Master said:
“The bigger you perceive the challenges to be, the harder things will be to carry out, since “the appearance stems from the mind.”” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting”, Teaching Fa at the Conference X)
Our minds can change the environment, so we need to keep righteous thoughts.
Living in a society that is full of negative thoughts, we should pay attention to getting rid of them, especially the habit of doubting everything.
Practitioners need to get rid of negative thoughts when sending righteous thoughts and in our daily lives. If we don't we will be feeding the evil, giving them reasons to persecute us. Whenever a negative thought arises, we should eliminate it immediately.
The above is my own understanding. Please correct me with compassion if something is incorrect.
Category: Improving Oneself
