(Minghui.org) One day, several of us practitioners ran into each other unexpectedly. We thought it was a great opportunity to share with each other. So we talked about our experiences in our practice, including some confusion we had about some Dafa principles, as well as some other difficulties in cultivation.
Practitioner A is the kind of person who likes a clean and quiet house. However, her niece lives in her home and causes a lot of disruption. During our conversation, she kept saying that the child was impolite, did not follow any traditional values, and did not pay attention to hygiene. All the other practitioners present thought that she should look within and that she should think about why this person was living with her; also to check whether or not she was too obsessed with hygiene or whether she had enough tolerance. However, no matter what we said, Practitioner A still felt depressed and confused. She complained about it and felt helpless.
When we sent forth righteous thoughts, I suddenly realized that I had to clear my thinking: “Is it as easy as I always think to break through the environment now? Are there any concepts we need to change? Why can’t Practitioner A become aware even after we guided her?” After contemplating this for a while, I realized that all my thoughts were directed towards Practitioner A, because I subconsciously wanted to use the Fa to change her and tell her what to do. But I didn’t know how to deal with such lives that were lost in society, or how I should save them. Then my thoughts became clear. I wouldn’t ask her to change her environment. Facing the interference from the evil, we are a united whole. We should all do whatever we can to validate Dafa and save lives. It’s our responsibility. We cannot just watch and do nothing about another person's lack of righteous thoughts. After realizing this, I added one more thought when I sent forth righteous thoughts: "I want to clear the evil behind her and help her with the cultivated part of me in order to make up for her shortcomings. She can raise her level in her cultivation practice. Dafa is boundless. We don’t need anything offered by the evil. We can’t give the evil any chances to do more evil. What we should do is to display kindness and harmony to guide people." I then felt strong righteous thoughts emerge.
Later, Practitioner A was excited. She said, “I felt a lot of things going out from the top of my head at the end of our sending forth righteous thoughts. My brain became clearer and clearer. I felt enlightened.” I felt very gratified that what I gave was not negative. At the same time, I also thought about the whole environment and other practitioners who are persecuted. How much have I done to rectify the Fa? How much harm have I done with my old habitual thinking? Suddenly, I felt so ashamed about how I've done in the past, especially before all those sentient beings and Master's compassion.
I shared what I thought with the other practitioners present. Practitioner B had a similar feeling. She also shared some of her thoughts. She told us, “When I am at home, I will ask my mom to send righteous thoughts for me. Every time I'm not in a good state or I feel unwell, I call my mom. She tells me, ‘My dear daughter, what you are feeling is not actually you. We don’t admit it. I will help you send forth righteous thoughts. You will be fine soon.’ Then, as soon as she does that, I felt better. It works every time. However, it doesn’t work for my dad. When my father does not feel well, my mother thought that he was not practicing diligently, that he still drank, that he did not read the book, etc. After complaining, she then sent forth righteous thoughts for him. That’s not very effective.”
After hearing this, we were all quite moved. We know Practitioner B very well. She doesn’t read the books when she gets busy. She also has many attachments. She did not clarify the truth or distribute truth clarification materials. The reason righteous thoughts worked well on her was because her mother’s thoughts were pure. Her mother did not think of her shortcomings. What her mother thought of first was to deny the illusion caused by the evil. Then her mother thought about protecting the righteous Fa and clearing the evil. But her shortcoming was not cultivated away when facing tribulations. We all thought that it is already very late for us to realize this. We sent forth righteous thoughts for the practitioners who are persecuted severely, some of whom were illegally sentenced and some who were separated from the group. We thought that it was because our first thoughts were not to protect the righteous Fa and that we paid too much attention to the illusion caused by the evil. We mistook the illusion for practitioners’ shortcomings. We clung to their shortcomings, and then when we sent forth righteous thoughts, it had human thinking mixed in. The thoughts were not pure and so they did not work well.
Realizing all of this, I stopped focusing on others' shortcomings. I also realized that in the very last period of Fa-rectification, these shortcomings are being exploited by the evil to separate practitioners from the whole, and they are what the evil uses to weaken our righteous thoughts. If we only think of others’ shortcomings, we can’t transcend ourselves, nor can we have sympathy or understanding, not to mention compassion and mercy. For some of us, it seems we still wrongly acknowledge the persecution. We found that we have been burdened with attachments and laziness, and our thoughts have not been on the Fa. Therefore, the effect of eliminating the evil and saving people has greatly decreased.
It seems we're currently nearing the conclusion of the last stage of Fa-rectification. We should know how to deal with the last remaining evil. Dafa can save all lives. As Dafa practitioners, eliminating the evil is our responsibility. We must recognize the evil and find where it is and then send forth righteous thoughts towards it. No matter how things manifest in the human realm, we should not stop sending forth righteous thoughts until the evil is cleared.
Above is just my understanding. Please point out anything inappropriate.
