(Minghui.org) Among the three things required by Teacher, I always regarded sending forth righteous thoughts to be the easiest. However, as I have become stricter with myself and have begun to hold myself to a higher standard, I find that this is not the case.
For instance, when I sent forth righteous thoughts in the past, I had thoughts related to fame, self-interest and sentimentality. I had always been interfered with by those uncontrollable wandering thoughts until this February, when I was determined to eliminate those thoughts from my mind.
Teacher said,
“They’re karma and notions that you’ve acquired throughout your life. That’s why you should regard them as a third party: “You keep on thinking, and I’ll watch you do that.” This time, you jump out of them. If you can truly distinguish them, this equates to your having made a clean break from them and your having found yourself. This is also practicing cultivation and doing so can remove them quickly. If you can truly discern them, they will be scared since it’s time for them to be eliminated.” (Lecture at the First Conference in North America)
After I distinguished between me and the third party, many of those wandering thoughts were eliminated.
Meanwhile, I have become more alert to my wandering thoughts. As soon as they surface, I drive them out without hesitating. Because the duration for the global sending forth righteous thoughts is only 15 minutes, I cannot afford to allow those wandering thoughts to stay in my mind for even a few minutes.
After reviewing the article “Righteous Thoughts,” I still felt that I fell short when compared to Teacher’s requirement. For instance, I could not always make all four times for the global sending forth righteous thoughts. Mealtimes at my workplace (a private enterprise) are at 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. As a result, I missed sending forth righteous thoughts at those two time periods for the past 10 plus years, and only made them up at a more convenient time.
A fellow practitioner suggested that I set an alarm on my cell phone and send forth righteous thoughts without sitting in the lotus position or doing the hand gestures. The result was incredible. The powerful thoughts surpassed my imagination.
In the past, I always felt that I could only send forth righteous thoughts if I was sitting in the lotus position and doing the hand gesture. My experiences proved that what’s said in the Minghui editorial is true, “… sending forth righteous thoughts can be done in any environment. It doesn't have to be in the sitting meditation, and it can be done with the eyes open or closed. It's not absolutely required to do the hand gestures ...”
Although my wandering thoughts had largely been controlled, they were far from being completely eliminated. I needed to be patient. Sometimes those thoughts were hidden and unnoticeable. They were in the form of things related to my work, Dafa work or cultivation. I used to treat them as normal thoughts. However, I realized that I should not allow those thoughts either. I told myself to hold those thoughts until I was finished sending forth righteous thoughts.
In regard to sending forth righteous thoughts, Teacher said,
“… your mind has to be absolutely clear and rational, the force of your thoughts needs to be focused and strong, with an air of supremacy and of destroying all evil in the cosmos.” (“Righteous Thoughts” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
Despite my progress, I still can’t achieve the state of “air of supremacy” and “The mie word needs to be so strong that it’s as large as the cosmic body” (“Righteous Thoughts”). I felt that it is not that easy to truly do well in sending forth righteous thoughts.
Ever since I paid attention to the issue of sending forth righteous thoughts, I have been able to make good progress in my cultivation. I firmly believe that the stricter I am with myself, the closer I am to the requirements of Teacher.
From my experience, another important component to doing well in sending forth righteous thoughts is studying the Fa well. The Fa is the foundation. Only after studying the Fa well, can one upgrade ones realm and fundamentally eliminate various interference. If we only rely on grasping the superficial techniques in sending forth righteous thoughts, we can only achieve the formality and can’t reach the state required by Teacher,
“… your mind has to be absolutely clear and rational, the force of your thoughts needs to be focused and strong ...” (“Righteous Thoughts” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
This is the essence of sending forth righteous thoughts.