(Clearwisdom.net) Lately, one of the most frequently discussed topics during experience sharing has been how to send forth the purest and most powerful righteous thoughts. I believe we should never forget one sentence that Teacher told us, "One's gong level is as high as one's xinxing level." Teacher told us the story about a practitioner who fell to the ground after being hit by an automobile, and was not hurt at all because her xinxing was at the right level.
"We have said that good or evil comes from a person's spontaneous thought, and the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences. With her old age, if she were an everyday person, how could she not be injured? Yet her skin was not even scratched. Good or evil comes from that instant thought. If she were lying down there claiming, 'Ugh, I feel terrible. Something is wrong here and there.' Then, her bones might really have been fractured, and she would be paralyzed. No matter how much money she was paid, how could she be comfortable being hospitalized for the rest of her life?" ("Upgrading Xinxing," Lecture 4 of Zhuan Falun)
We can see from this story how crucial a person's spontaneous thoughts can be. Many different consequences can result from different thoughts. Wasn't the outcome of this incident determined by her thought? Nevertheless, this was merely the effect of her spontaneous thought during personal cultivation. What about cultivation during Fa-rectification? The consequences will be enormous, based on whether our spontaneous thoughts are pure, and to what degree we can purify our thoughts.
Teacher told us in "Touring North America to Teach the Fa,"
"When Dafa disciples send forth righteous thoughts, pure and righteous thoughts, to clean out the evil's persecution of them, that's allowed--the old Fa-principles include principles like that as well. This is the same idea as approaching cultivation with righteous thoughts, or as saving sentient beings with righteous thoughts."
Teacher also told us in "Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference,"
"...when we eliminate evil you should keep in mind that if you have the intention of showing off, have ordinary human fears, or have impure thoughts, you won't be able to achieve the goal. Why do you have an ability like this? It's only because you are a great cultivator. So when you send forth that thought it couldn't have been sent by anyone but a great cultivator."
When I wrote the article "Purifying Our Righteous Thoughts, Part I,Part II"áá my understanding of sending forth righteous thoughts was that it was to "safeguard the Fa of the universe," and that this was something that Dafa disciples were supposed to do. Sometime later, the concept of, "we are supposed to do so" or "we should just do it" displayed its enormous inner meaning to me.
I suddenly realized that this single spontaneous thought of "should just do it" is extremely simple and unadorned, yet it is the genuine cultivation state during the Fa-rectification where there is no desire or pursuit. It is truly great, truly brilliant and magnificent, genuinely firm and indomitable, and it thoroughly represents the state of a Dafa disciple. This is a manifestation of our true nature through Fa cultivation: totally selfless, immaculately pure without any loopholes to exploit or any weaknesses to take advantage of. This manifests the realm of our total devotion to sentient beings.
If we always hold the thought that as Dafa disciples we "should just do it" with respect to any task that we initiate, ignore all lingering thoughts, seek nothing in return-- simply "should just do it--" then we are accomplishing it with the power of the Fa, and we are assisting Teacher to rectify the Fa with the purest effort of all. This thought, "supposed to," originates from the Fa, and it possesses all the power of the Fa due to its purity and selflessness. This thought also reflects the infinite and boundless meaning and the mechanism of saving sentient beings with compassion and safeguarding the Fa of the universe.
When I read Teacher's lectures again, I discovered that Teacher has repeatedly unveiled to us that our single spontaneous thought when handling any task is " we are supposed to do so or we should do it."
"Our students are truly remarkable. A while ago, you all did a lot of things that you were supposed to do for Fa-rectification. In this recent period of time, many of you have been doing a lot of work to clarify the truth to the world's people. As a Dafa disciple, a particle of this Great Fa of the cosmos, you should do that. When people damage the Fa... of course, no one can damage the Fa--how could the Fa of the cosmos be damaged by human beings? No one is able to damage it... But when someone comes to persecute the Fa, what should you, a disciple, a particle of Dafa, do? Shouldn't you let the truth be known and make people aware of the facts? This is looking at it in terms of you. You are a particle of Dafa, so you should play this role." ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference")
"In the past, in whatever we were doing you would think, "How can I study the Fa well? How should I work for Dafa? How can I improve myself? How can I do better?" You always felt that you were learning Dafa, rather than that you were a part of Dafa. After this year I find that you've completely changed. You no longer think as you used to. No matter what you do for Dafa and no matter what it is you're doing, you are placing yourselves in Dafa instead of thinking about "I want to do something for Dafa" or "I want to improve myself in this way or that way" as you did before. No matter what you do, you aren't thinking that you're doing something for Dafa, about how you should do things for Dafa, or "how can I do things well for this Fa." Instead, you are placing yourselves in Dafa. Like a particle of Dafa, [you feel that] no matter what it is, you should just do it. Even though you aren't conscious of it or expressing it clearly in words, that is in fact how your actions already are. This is the biggest change I see in you after this year. In other words, you are completely in the Fa already." ("Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America")
"In the face of life and death, students have had the courage to step forward--step forward as they lose everything possible--and do everything that's magnificent, what a Dafa disciple should do." ("Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America")
"You should just do well over here with what you're supposed to do. This is why you obtained the Fa outside of China." ("Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America")
"Our students are remarkable--truly remarkable! You've tried your best to do what you're supposed to do." ("Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America")
"So, as Dafa disciples, you have been bestowed with a great, historic mission. This is different, then, from strictly personal cultivation. You need to safeguard the Fa, you need to validate the Fa, and when the Fa is persecuted you expose the evil and do better embodying Dafa--this is what you should do. And you have in fact done this really well-- Master sees this very clearly." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference")
"Every Dafa disciple who's been able to keep up with Dafa's progress has done what he should do." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference")
"As for how much longer this tribulation will last, I don't think you should think about these things much. And don't think about whether you can reach Consummation, either, because any desire you have can become an attachment and can be used by the evil. As soon as that kind of thought emerges, the evil might conjure a false image for you, and this will then cause interference. ... Get rid of any attachment you have, and don't think about anything. Just do everything a Dafa disciple should do, and everything will be covered." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference")
As long as we cultivate in the human world, we have both the side in us that has cultivated well, as well as the side that has not cultivated well. Human sentimentality may surface from time to time from the side that has not cultivated well, interferring with our righteous thoughts. Once we understand rationally the meaning of "No matter what it is, you should just do it," this will be very significant in getting rid of the interference and reinforcing our righteous faith.
This is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out any deficiencies.
