(Clearwisdom.net)
Teacher said:
"If upon encountering trying circumstances your thinking can be truly righteous, then, when faced with the evil's persecution and when faced with interference, just one sentence of yours fortified with steadfast righteous thoughts can instantly make the evil disintegrate (applause), and it will make those who are being used by the evil turn and flee, it will make the evil's persecution of you dissolve, and it will make the evil's interfering with you disappear without a trace." ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference" February 26, 2005)
Teacher's words reminded me of several things that had happened in the past.
1. My parents believed the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) propaganda about Falun Gong and tried to interfere with my cultivation. In early 2000, whenever they saw me reading a Dafa book, they would rip it apart. They hit me if I practiced the Falun Gong exercises. My mother constantly threatened me by saying, "You're insane! Sooner or later you'll be sent to a mental hospital."
At that time I had been practicing Falun Gong for less than a year and was a bit afraid of what my mother said. So I went to a fellow practitioner's home to ask her what she thought about this. She peacefully said, "Why are you afraid? Don't you have Teacher looking after you? How is it possible that an everyday person can do anything to you?" What she said woke me up immediately.
As soon as I returned home, my mother shouted at me, "I'll send you to the mental hospital today!" I calmly and fearlessly confronted her for the first time, "Who do you think you are? Do you think you can do that successfully? Why do you think you can do whatever you want without any problem? I have Teacher's protection!" At that moment I had only one thought, "I have Teacher looking after me, so you can't touch me!" She looked stunned and quietly slipped away without saying a word. Since then she has stopped threatening to send me to a mental hospital.
In August 2001, I was doing the exercises immediately after I got home from the brainwashing center. When my mother was about to hit me, I said to her, "Why won't you let me do the exercises? I must do them." I then continued. She got scared and suddenly embraced me while pleading, "When you do the exercises, I can't breathe. I feel like I am going to die." I did not stop. However, I did send righteous thoughts toward her when I saw her shaking and she screamed that she was suffering. All of a sudden, in about 30 seconds, she howled like an animal and then lost consciousness on the bed. Two hours later, she woke up and said, "I had a good sleep and feel great!" Since that time, she has not interfered with my studying the Fa or doing the exercises. From this experience, I understood that the energy practitioners generate when doing the exercises does actually disintegrate the evil.
2. In early 2003, I went to deliver truth-clarification materials to a practitioner's home. I didn't realize that she was being closely monitored by the police. After I left her home, two plainclothes officers followed me on their bikes. One of them was next to me, talking on the phone to the other officer, "I got her. She's right next to me." I wasn't afraid, but only thought about getting rid of the officer. At one point, I didn't see the officer anymore, so I let my guard down. However, when I stopped at a red light and turned my head around, I saw him again looking at me with a sinister smile. At that moment, I felt a little scared and wondered how I could not have see him since he had been tailing me for a long time. I immediately sent forth a righteous thought, "As soon as the light turns green, make him peddle vigorously ahead of me and never turn around."
When the traffic light turned green, the officer started to peddle his bike like a madman, riding very fast without turning around and leaving me so far behind that I was somewhat startled. I finally reached my office after taking a detour.
I encountered that situation because my mind at that time was more on business and how to make money instead of focusing on cultivation. But when faced with danger, if I have strong righteous thoughts, the problem is usually resolved. I had just been released from prison and had not studied the Fa for three years. As a result, I felt very depressed. Sometimes, I thought of going out to clarify the truth, but I was afraid of being persecuted again. Recalling the experience I went through, I came to comprehend, "In dealing with danger, there's no need to be afraid as long as you have righteous thoughts. After your state of mind is adjusted a little, the danger will be dissolved."
3. After I started practicing, I did not read Zhuan Falun that much because I could not comprehend its higher meaning. Instead, I preferred to read Teacher's Fa teachings from different areas. I thought that my understanding of the Fa was very clear, but somehow in the process of cultivation, I became less firm. As a result, this caused me to be persecuted many times. After I was released from prison, I was determined to read three chapters of Zhuan Falun every day, compared to what I used to read--one chapter every few days. Although there was much interference, I read three chapters per day, word for word. When sending forth righteous thoughts, I felt as though I was sitting on the clouds feeling ever so peaceful. All everyday thoughts and thought karma disappeared, and only my true self was sending forth righteous thoughts. At that moment, I only had compassion and no fear. In my mind, a strong voice would call out, "I want to be a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification period, I want to be Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification period!"
The difficult problems I had and my postnatal notions that seemed hard to eliminate turned out to be nothing. I came to understand that compassionate Teacher wants me to be in a state of mind without any attachment, to be more selfless and compassionate, and to have the very thought of saving sentient beings.
After I focused on reading Zhuan Falun, my previous attachments and all thought karma disappeared. When sending forth righteous thoughts, I have become more firm, even though my comprehension of the Fa is still at a low level.
4. Several days ago, I suffered from sickness karma. I was previously unclear about the old forces interference with Fa-rectification and why Teacher had mentioned that the old forces were real evil. After reading Teacher's Fa teachings after 1999, I recognized that the old forces view personal cultivation as being more important than Fa-rectification or saving sentient beings. I was shocked when I realized, "Haven't I been like that? What's the difference between the old forces and myself? I have been unwilling to do truth clarification." I felt ashamed of myself. When I thought of the problems I had, my sickness karma disappeared. The reason I had sickness karma this time was because I didn't let go of my attachments to worrying about not having sufficient time to cultivate and thinking about the persecution I should not have suffered. I was treading on a crooked path. Whatever I had in mind was nothing but selfishness, causing the evil to take advantage of my loopholes. When I dug out my problems and eliminated them, the evil dissolved. Therefore, in order to negate the old forces, correcting oneself is the best solution.
For some practitioners, the most difficult thing to do is letting go of themselves. The shadows of their mistakes follow them everywhere, causing them not to be motivated to do truth clarification. Isn't it the old forces' interference? They are causing you to not do well in truth clarification and ruining you in the process. The root of the interference is due to selfishness. Frankly, it is because you worry too much about yourself. The other day, I sent forth this one thought, "Whatever and however I did in the past, I will no longer spend time thinking about it. I will completely entrust Teacher with my future and do whatever I should do." Ever since I sent out this thought, the interference that caused me not to do well in the past disappeared.
The above are my personal experiences. Please kindly correct my errors.
May 4, 2008
