(Minghui.org) After reading the article, “Stepping Out of the Mire of Negative Thinking” (http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/2/15/131483.html ) I'd like to share my thoughts.
What is negative thinking? For practitioners, it's very simple. All thoughts that do not meet the standard of Dafa are negative thinking.
1. Signs of Negative Thinking
(a) Negative Thinking in Fa Study
Sometimes when I studied the Fa, I thought practitioner A always looks outward instead of looking inwards; practitioner B did not cultivate his speech; practitioner C was attached to self and benefits; and practitioner D hurt me before. All these thoughts were negative thinking.
(b) Negative Thinking in Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
I had negative thoughts when I sent forth righteous thoughts. Sometimes the negative thoughts were interference caused by the old forces. Our attachments may surface if we haven't eliminated them. For example, I don't have a job, and I sometimes become defensive when people ask me about this. My attachment to my son may cause me to worry about him. If I have an attachment to fear, then I'll constantly hear police sirens. If I have an attachment to hatred, I may remember people that hurt me before. If I have an attachment to food, I'll keep thinking about my favorite food or fruit.
Interference can assume different forms, and it's directly related to our attachments. If we no longer have attachments all the interference will disappear.
(c) Negative Thoughts While Clarifying the Truth
We may have negative thoughts when we tell people about Falun Dafa. For example, if we have the attachment of fear, we may fear being arrested. If we don't eliminate these thoughts, we may really be in danger. If an everyday person does not accept the facts when we tell them about the persecution, we may think this person is hopeless. If the number of people who quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations is good, we may think highly of ourselves. So we should pay attention to negative thoughts in truth clarification. As soon as we identify our negative thoughts, we should eliminate them at once.
2. The Dangers of Negative Thoughts
(a) The harm of Negative Thoughts in Fa Study
We should concentrate when we study the Fa. It's a waste of time and it's also being disrespectful of the Fa if we don't. If we aren't completely focused on what we are reading, we may not understand the deeper meanings and it will affect the other things that we should do.
(b) The Harm of Negative Thoughts in Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
If we have negative thoughts when we send forth righteous thoughts, we won't be able to concentrate. Then what we are sending out won't be righteous thoughts. If we have negative thoughts when we send forth righteous thoughts in a group, it may interfere with the whole group and will give the old force an excuse to persecute us.
3. The Root of Negative Thoughts
The cause of negative thoughts is the degenerate notion of selfishness. Some negative thoughts come from different dimensions. Master taught us,
“And all of the human ideas, as well as the variety of sources from which those ideas stem, that are bound up in that human thinking will serve to interfere with the person. Whichever kind of life form your thinking aligns with, that life form will immediately have an effect on you.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa- Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
4. How to Eliminate Negative Thoughts
(a) Study the Fa more and study the Fa well. If all of our thoughts are about Dafa, there won't be any loopholes and then any negative thoughts we may have won't be able to interfere with us.
(b) Send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the notions of selfishness and strengthen the element of selflessness to achieve the status of being pure.
After I kept sending forth righteous thoughts, I could feel the elements of selfishness fading. However sometimes I still had negative thoughts. Whenever I identified them, I would immediately eliminate them so they wouldn't exist in my dimensions.
(c) Look Inward
A few days ago, I heard that a fellow practitioner almost divorced her husband because of an investment he was considering. This practitioner had hurt me a few years ago. She had forgotten about it, but I remembered the incident and I couldn't forgive her. My feelings of anger towards her kept coming forward. I tried to look inward and eliminate this negative substance but it still exists.
After I heard her story I realized it wasn't a coincidence.
Master said: “The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference, July 2002”)
Although she hurt me before, I couldn't permit the old forces to persecute her and thus interfere with our saving sentient beings. I sent forth righteous thoughts for her so that we could form one body. I felt my resentment towards her and my attachment of jealousy disappear.
Master said, “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (“Lecture One” in Zhuan Falun)
Master resolved my anger towards her because of my thoughts of selflessness.
The next day, she came to my home and told me about her conflict with her husband. I asked her to come with me to another practitioner's home and we could share our experiences there. We looked inwards and eliminated our negative thoughts. We know that as long as we believe in Master and Dafa and improve as a whole, the evil will perish.
The next day, she told us her husband canceled his plan to invest in the project, and their relationship was harmonious once again.
(d) Eliminating selfishness
For example, when we hear that a practitioner has been arrested, we should immediately look inward, strengthen fellow practitioner's righteous thoughts and deny the old forces' arrangements. We are Master's disciples. Master doesn't acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, so neither should we. Even if our fellow practitioners have loopholes, they are raising their levels and eliminating attachments as they continue cultivating.
Another example: if we heard that a practitioner has an inappropriate relationship with a practitioner of the opposite sex, we should eliminate the negative thought of blaming them. We should look inward to see if we ourselves have the attachment of lust. We should help them with a compassionate heart. If we blame them, the negative thoughts will strengthen and continue to persecute them.
Master is in charge of everything. Our thoughts as one body are very important. If we aren't moved by fellow practitioners' negative behavior, if we look at fellow practitioners' positive side, if we improve together as one body, the practitioner will change in a positive way.
I felt my thoughts becoming pure after I eliminated my negative thoughts. Now when I think of fellow practitioners, I think that they are truly magnificent because they assist Master in Fa rectification. When I see ordinary people, I remember that they were once great beings from high levels. They came to this world to save the lives in their world. I don't have any excuses not to save them. Every time I think of this my tears begin flowing and I can feel my xinxing being upgraded.
Category: Improving Oneself
