Righteous Thoughts and Actions Arise from Righteous Minds

By a Falun Dafa practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) I was illegally arrested and taken to a brainwashing center in 2002. Later, they sent me to a mental hospital to further persecute me. When I was released, I did not try to understand these events based on the Fa. Instead, I always thought of what actions I could take to avoid being arrested again, so my thoughts were trapped within the old forces' arrangements, and I could not free myself.

I read an article on the Minghui (Chinese version of Clearwisdom) website in 2005 about a fellow practitioner who walked out of the brainwashing center by using righteous thoughts. At the beginning, she felt that the course of events was not too bad. However, she later better understood the events according to the Fa and realized that she was arrested because she had an omission. When I first read the article, I could not accept what she was saying. I believed that being arrested was a cultivation test and was unavoidable because of the existence of evil. I also thought that it was extraordinary that practitioners could walk out of an evil den by making their minds righteous. Later, I shared experiences with a fellow practitioner. She told me a story: She went with several practitioners to Beijing to validate the Fa in 2000 and was arrested. The persecutors hung her by her handcuffed wrists for two days. When they took her down, she fell asleep and had a dream in which she was sliding down a stairway. Right away, she realized that she had been arrested because she had attachments and omissions. Brainwashing centers, forced labor camps and jails are not places for cultivators, and we should not be there. Later, they released her unconditionally.

The practitioner's story made me realize that Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners should cultivate righteously and act within the Fa at all times. If they do so, they will never be arrested. I knew that I should not stay down after I stumble. However, I just could not rise out of the mentality. Later, after I began to study the Fa, do the exercises, send forth righteous thoughts, share experiences with fellow practitioners and evaluate my thoughts according the Fa, I realized that I was unconsciously accepting the old forces arrangements. I contemplated the time that I had been persecuted. I realized that Teacher had protected me and had constantly given me hints, wisdom and strength. Below are several stories about the power of a righteous mind.

In 2002, the leader of my work unit deceived me, and I was sent to a brainwashing center. I started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all evil elements. I did not drink anything during the first day and just sent forth righteous thoughts. I refused to talk to anyone or answer any questions. I did not care if the questioners were psychologists, police officers, or my family members. I did not pay any attention to them. Sometimes, only a handful of people came, other times they came by the dozens. I just continued to send forth righteous thoughts. Every day we were forced to watch videos that slandered Dafa. Each time a video finished playing, I saw the image of a piece of paper flickering in the air. On it was Teacher's article "True Nature Revealed:"

"Steadfastly cultivate Dafa, the will unflinching
The raising of levels is what's fundamental
In the face of tests one's true nature is revealed
Achieve Consummation, becoming a Buddha, Dao, or God"

(Essentials for Further Advancement II)

I realized that Teacher was giving me hints to keep my mind righteous. Sometimes the image remained for a long time, and I recited the poem in my mind.

One time an official at the brainwashing center grabbed my shoulder, held my arms and ordered a large man and others to force my hand to write something cursing Teacher and Dafa. At the beginning, I thought to myself, "Even if you forced me to write, I won't accept it." After they forced me to write the first sentence, one of them laughed wildly, "It's coming! It's coming! Write it again." I realized instantly that if I kept writing, I was cooperating with the evil. I should never let them force me to write. As soon as I sent forth righteous thoughts, they released my hands and said that they were too tired. I was able to negate the old forces' arrangement with my righteous mind. During critical moments, Teacher used different methods to give me hints, enabling me to improve my righteous thoughts.

Another example was when several thugs were trying "reform" me. I did not pay attention to them during several hours of harassment. Instead, I just kept sending forth righteous thoughts. They became anxious and threatened me, "If you refuse to be reformed, we'll send you to the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp." Facing the dire threat, I laughed loudly. A fellow practitioner sternly said to me, "What are you doing?" I immediately stopped laughing. My mind went blank, and I realized that Teacher was again hinting to me. I needed to understand all situations based on the Fa and take all actions within the Fa. I realized that a strong, righteous mind comes from the Fa and that the minds of cultivators cannot wander away from the Fa. Teacher said,

"When you encounter ordeals during your cultivation, you have got to cultivate yourself and look at yourself--that doesn't mean acknowledging the ordeals arranged by the old forces and trying to do well amidst the ordeals they've arranged, that's not the case. We negate even the very emergence of the old forces and everything that they've arranged; we don't even acknowledge their existence. We're fundamentally negating all of their things, and all of, and only, the things you do while negating and getting rid of them is mighty-virtue. It's not that you're cultivating amidst the ordeals they created. Rather, you are to walk your own path well while not acknowledging them, not even acknowledging the elimination of their ordeals' manifestations." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference")

When the brainwashing session was about to end, a warden and some guards came to threaten me. I kept my mind strong and righteous and did not say a word. One of them was very ferocious and was determined to intimidate me. I glanced at him and then heard him say, "Ayah, my eyes hurt!" He ran out of the room and went to a hospital. When he came back, he waved his hand in front of my eyes, back and forth. When I looked at him again, he jumped up and shouted, "Why do my eyes hurt so badly!" He then abruptly left.

So many miracles happen during cultivation. Even in several days and nights, I could not possibly recount all of the ones I've experienced. I cited several stories to show the mighty power of the Fa. Teacher said, "Once your thoughts are righteous, the evils will collapse" (from "What's There to Fear," Hong Yin II, provisional translation).

Dafa disciples must follow Teacher's requirements to totally negate the old forces' arrangements. We need to live by the Fa principles and use the Fa to judge things. I also realized the importance of attending group study.

While writing this article, I truly experienced what other practitioners have said, that the process of writing an article is also a process of Fa validation, which is also a process through which I can improve myself.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/12/8/116085.html

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