Righteous Thoughts at Key Moments in My Cultivation

(Minghui.org) I am a 59-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner who started cultivation practice in 1996. Master taught us:

“Send righteous thoughts, and rotten demons explode” (“What’s to Fear?” Hong Yin II)

In this article I will share about the power of righteous thoughts at several key moments in my cultivation.

I had a dream when I was five years old: I was in a vertical, cylindrical, tunnel-like structure. It was like an elevator taking me from a distant place to the bottom of the tunnel. There seemed to be a rumbling sound as I fell. When I reached the bottom, I felt deeply that I had left home and would never return. I cried so hard that I woke up crying, and I couldn’t calm down for a long time.

I often thought of this dream, and it was not until I read Zhuan Falun that I understood the meaning of the dream: being a human is not the goal; the goal of being a human is to return to one’s original nature. So I decided to cultivate in Falun Dafa. I work in a public institution, and many of my colleagues strive for fame and fortune. Since practicing Falun Dafa, I’ve become a completely different person. I strive to live up to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and to never be greedy or possessive.

Appealing for Dafa in Beijing

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Dafa in July 1999. In July 2000, I visited Beijing and, along with several fellow practitioners, unfurled a banner that read “Falun Dafa Is the righteous Fa” in Tiananmen Square. A group of policemen beat me and dragged me into a police van. Blood streamed from my head and my face, and the front of my shirt was covered in blood. Many practitioners from across the country and I were illegally detained in the corridor of the Tiananmen Police Station. I was standing in the hallway, feeling dizzy from the excessive blood loss. My vision was blurry, and I felt like I was about to faint. I thought, “I’m a Falun Dafa practitioner. I’m fine.” With that righteous thought, my mind immediately cleared. I felt Master’s protection and the power of Dafa.

Second Appeal in Beijing

On October 1, 2000, I went to Tiananmen Square again and unfurled a banner that read “Falun Dafa Is Good” with fellow practitioners. After being brutally beaten by the police, five practitioners, including me, were arrested and detained in a conference room at a police station in Changping District in Beijing. The five of us decided that we should practice the exercises. We began around 9 p.m. Seeing us doing the exercises, a group of policemen came in and started to beat a fellow practitioner from Shandong. I opened my eyes after hearing the noise and saw two police officers holding him up while another officer punched him in the stomach, causing him to retch. Without thinking, I shouted, “Stop hitting him!”

Hearing my shout, a very young police officer raised his hand and slapped me hard across my face. I didn’t feel any pain at the time. I looked at the young officer, and he looked back at me. He stopped hitting me. One of the officers said, “We’re done with it,” and they left. We continued practicing the exercises.

When we practiced the fifth exercise, the meditation, I felt an energy mechanism driving my arms to move for the first time. I realized that we did the right thing and that Master is always beside us, encouraging us.

In the Detention Center

Because I refused to give my name, I was transferred to a detention center the next day [Editor’s note: because of the CCP’s policy of implication, Falun Gong practitioners often refused to reveal their names after being arrested, in order to protect family members, friends, and work associates]. The detention center was crowded, so I was made to sleep on a cement platform beside the toilet. One night, half asleep, I saw a man in a white robe squatting beside me, writing something down in a notebook. When he noticed that I was looking at him, he stood up and left. I could hear the rustling of his clothes as he left. I realized that everything Falun Dafa practitioners do is recorded.

I went on a hunger strike in protest of the illegal detention. On the eighth day, a guard called me out and asked, “What do you want?” I replied, “Let me go.” On the ninth day, a guard called out my number (they assigned numbers to Falun Dafa practitioners who refused to give their names) and drove me to the train station and released me.

My resolute words convinced the police to release me. I realized that my thought, which was in line with my refusal to acknowledge the evil’s arrangements, led Master to rescue me. I returned home safely under Master’s protection.

In Prison

I was illegally sentenced to prison for printing truth-clarification materials a few years later. Being able to study the Fa in prison is truly precious to a Dafa disciple. Master would arrange opportunities to let a practitioner receive Dafa books and new scriptures if the practitioner had a righteous mindset.

The guards assigned inmates to monitor Dafa practitioners. One night, a particularly vicious prisoner in my cell sat on a chair right in front of my bed near my head. I lay under my blanket every day to study the Fa. I thought to myself, “What should I do today?” I determined that I should study the Fa no matter what, so I resolutely began studying the Fa. I finished my Fa study and remained undetected. I realized that as long as disciples are steadfast, Master can do anything for them.

Another time, I had Master’s scriptures hidden in my blanket. The prison guards had inmates monitoring us to ensure our blankets met prison standards. A prisoner in charge took a pair of scissors and was going to cut open my blanket. I begged Master for protection and also made up my mind. Another inmate said, “Just fold the blanket; no need to open it up.” Hearing this, the prisoner in charge said, “Alright,” and stopped. Thus, the scriptures were preserved. When I was later released from prison, I left the scriptures to another detained practitioner.

Resisting the Old Forces

There were many evil factors in prison. One time, I was lying in bed, and my head seemed to be controlled. There was no one standing at the head of my bed in this space, but I clearly felt that the warden of my prison area was standing above me. I resisted it. Master’s Fa then struck me:

“Dafa can rectify the universe, so it certainly has the Fa’s power to repress evil, eliminate disorder, harmonize everything, and remain invincible.” (“Definitive Conclusion,” Essentials For Further Advancement)

I saw the warden explode above my head, and my mind became clear and calm.

One time, I felt that something very bad was pressed into my liver, and my thoughts flashed with “liver cancer.” I immediately realized this was persecution and refused to acknowledge it. I sent forth righteous thoughts toward my liver, focusing on the word “eliminate,” clearing away the bad elements, and refusing to acknowledge the negative thoughts. The symptoms soon disappeared.

Once, when I was sleeping, I felt like a large hand was tightly gripping my heart, and I was suffocating. I sent forth righteous thoughts toward it, concentrating my thoughts on it, and the symptoms soon disappeared.

While in prison, I also had a vivid dream: I seemed to be undergoing surgery in a hospital. A doctor was holding a stainless steel tray with a heart on it. I looked over and saw pus all over the heart. I thought it was my heart, because I had suffered from serious heart disease before I started practicing Falun Dafa.

I have come to a realization that Master can do anything for us as long as disciples maintain righteous thoughts. Thank you, Master!