In Every Step of My Cultivation Path, There is a Battle Between Good and Evil

By a Falun Dafa practitioner from Heilongjiang Province, China

(Clearwisdom.net) Years ago, I used to suffer from many serious diseases and was on the verge of death. After I started practicing Falun Dafa, I felt I had been given a second life. On my cultivation path of the past 10 years, I have passed many tests of life and death. I deeply know that I am far away from the requirements and standards of Falun Dafa, and that cultivation is a very serious matter. Falun Dafa is profoundly miraculous. There have been many times during the tribulations I encountered that I stumbled and could not keep a clear mind, yet I always felt Teacher Li's presence and protection. Only through studying the Fa a lot and keeping a strong righteous mind, was I able to walk each step of my cultivation path well. I feel that a battle between good and evil is happening all the time during my cultivation.

My understanding is, as practitioners, when we analyze a situation and try to make a decision, a battle between good and evil starts: one minute I think I should do something this way and the next minute I think it should be done another way. If a practitioner studies the Fa a lot, he/she will think about the issue for a short while; practitioners who do not study the Fa much could think about the issue for days before reaching a decision. The power of Dafa can manifest itself if one studies the Fa a lot and as a result becomes filled with more Fa and righteous thoughts. Then, the final decision must also be righteous; otherwise, human attachments take over and the evil can take advantage of the loophole, and the practitioner will fail the tribulation or the test.

After a practitioner makes a decision, if he/she is able to act according to the righteous thoughts in spite of the interferences and maintain a calm mind without being affected by the environment, then in the battle between good and evil, good wins. If a practitioner flinches, or acts according to ordinary people's notions and "steers according to the wind," then good loses to evil in the battle.

Because the Fa has different requirements for cultivators at different levels, a practitioner needs to be diligent all the way along his/her path of cultivation. In cultivation at a lower level, one might meet the requirement of the lower level Fa; yet when the standard also elevates as the practitioner improves, the decisions on how to handle similar issues should be made differently. If one makes a decision based solely on previous experiences, the decision is likely to be wrong (and thus the evil can take advantage of the loophole), since this is actually a new test. Only when one bases his/her judgment on the current cultivation level and uses Dafa principles to guide every action and every word, can he/she win the battle.

Every test or tribulation we meet during our cultivation is a battle between good and evil. If one has strong righteous thoughts, which meet the requirements of Dafa principles, one can immediately defeat the evil and manifest Dafa's great power. No matter how big the test seems to be, one can pass it safely. However, one should not let one's guard down and forget those righteous thoughts we had. I feel that some righteous thoughts I had were immense wishes: only when I actually put the thoughts to practice in my actions later, could I walk my cultivation path well.

From the beginning of my cultivation until now, whenever my xinxing and actions did not meet the requirement of the Fa at of my level, I encountered interference from the sickness evil. In 1998 during my personal cultivation, I was moved by human sentiments on one occasion. As a result, a serious sickness state occurred and I stayed in a lethargic sleep on the sofa for 4 days and 4 nights. Before I woke up, I had a dream in which I asked my mother, "What should I do since I have been sleepy for such a long time?" She replied, "The you should prepare a box to collect your bone-ashes." Her words frightened me and woke me up: I suddenly sat up and said to myself, "The evil wants to kill me!" I thought I had done things that did not meet the requirement of the Fa, and I held a thought: I will relinquish my attachments to fame, self-interest, and human sentiments and follow Teacher on my cultivation path and do well in the future. The righteous thought made my mind clear immediately -- it was miraculous: I could walk right away, and half an hour later, everything was back to normal, as if I had never been sick.

I clearly know that my life has been extended so that I can practice cultivation, so I study the Fa a lot and try to be strict with myself using the Dafa principles I have enlightened to at different levels. Yet the sickness-karma eliminating state still occurred from time to time. So I came to understand that at every minute on my cultivation path, there was a battle between good and evil. Every time the sickness state occurred, I looked inward and quickly found my shortcomings. When my xinxing elevates, the sickness state immediately disappears. After seeing this happen several times, my family understood Dafa's miraculous power and got used to my situation. Yet for me, every time the sickness state happened, I knew it was a test to see if I was firm in my belief. It also showed me how serious cultivation is. I made up my mind to relinquish my attachments to fame, self-interest, and human sentiments and follow Teacher on my cultivation path in the future. The righteous thoughts are a great wish, and to actually achieve them is not easy.

In February 2001, the police abducted me from my home and took me to a brainwashing center. At that time, I thought, "This is a good opportunity for me to clarify the truth to them, so I should go." It was the first time that the place was used for brainwashing, so I did not expect the environment to be so evil. The building was heavily guarded and looked like a prison; the persecutors brainwashed the practitioners to "help" them, and treated the practitioners like soldiers. From the first day I arrived at the place, a sickness state occurred in my body. I clenched my teeth and held myself strong while enduring the suffering. For the first 30 days, I had strong righteous thoughts: I clarified the truth to whomever I met. Later on, a relative of mine went to "help and educate" me, telling me that I should stop talking (clarifying the truth), and that everyone knew my situation and thus I would be released. The evil side prevailed in me for a few days, and I stopped clarifying the truth to the people around me. Yet the battle in me between good and evil continued, and the good side prevailed at last: I realized that I should not stop clarifying the truth, and that I must walk my cultivation path well. After that, I clarified the truth to the "helper" and said what I should without reservation. Shortly after the "helper" left, a serious sickness state occurred again. I suddenly felt my heart was beating too fast, and I became shaky and then lost consciousness. The persecutors immediately notified my family members to take me to a hospital. They also notified my work unit that I had "swallowed some poison in an attempt to commit a suicide." In the hospital, my family asked me loudly, "Do you want to stay in the hospital or go home? If you don't want to stay here, then shake your head." With all the strength I could manage, I shook my head, after which I lost consciousness again. Like that, I was sent home. Later that same day, I gradually woke up only to realize that half of my body was paralyzed and my brain did not work well, as if I had suffered a stroke. However, over the years, I had developed a strong thought in various dangerous situations: I will be fine, and the condition will pass shortly. Because I had the righteous thought and firmly believed in Teacher and Falun Dafa, after studying the Fa and practicing the exercises for a little over a month, I completely recovered.

I frequently experience the sleepy and lethargic condition. For the past few days, I have had a fever and felt sleepy and lethargic. I also have had a lot of nasal mucus, and sometimes there was blood in the mucus. I persist in reading Dafa books. If I cannot open my eyes, I recite Hong Yin. When I am awake, I send forth righteous thoughts every hour. Yesterday, when I suggested to my child that he should practice Falun Gong, to my surprise he said: "You have been practicing for so many years, yet you are still in poor health." I immediately realized that the evil was taking advantage of my loophole. I said that in Zhuan Falun, Teacher said, "There is a criterion, however, that the life prolonged beyond your predestined time to live is completely reserved for your practice. If your mind goes wrong a little bit, your life will be in danger because your lifetime should have long been over." (Zhuan Falun) I told him that I had not done well as a practitioner.

Because I did not do well, I experienced an improper sickness state. My son stopped arguing with me. I think in this battle, good won over the evil. Today, I am back to normal.

So I came to understand that in the path of cultivation, battles between good and evil happen all the time. If a practitioner can study the Fa a lot, have strong righteous thoughts, firmly believe in Teacher and Dafa, and attentively do the three things practitioners should do, then one righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/4/28/100521.html

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