November 30, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net) In the past when I sent righteous thoughts, I would hold my palm erect and recite the Fa-rectification verses while holding one thought, namely, to eliminate all the evil elements that are trying to destroy Dafa in other dimensions. Since I was not enlightened enough, sometimes my thoughts would wander about when the righteous thoughts were not pure, or I would fall asleep. Repeatedly trying to be sober and keeping righteous thoughts would make it a little bit better, but wandering thoughts often kept occurring.
Working on this state, I felt that I should first improve my understanding of the Fa principles. Master has said in the Fa:
"Namely, as you know, we are eliminating the evil at set times, that is, we're sending forth righteous thoughts. In the past it wasn't called 'sending forth righteous thoughts,' it was 'divine powers'--using divine powers, Buddha Fa's divine powers. Everyday people have referred to it as 'supernormal abilities.' So why do I call it sending forth righteous thoughts? Since you're doing Dafa cultivation, everything should be the most magnificent and the purest. None of the things we do are just about your personal cultivation. We have to also consider the Fa, and we have to consider the new beings of the future, and, at the same time, we have to consider the form of beings in the future. Because you're laying a foundation for them, the path we take has to be righteous."
(Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.)
I looked inside myself to find out why my thoughts were not pure. The thought I tried to focus on while sending forth righteous thoughts was eliminating all evil, so where was my omission? Master had said in the Fa:
"it was 'divine powers'--using divine powers, Buddha Fa's divine powers. Everyday people have referred to it as 'supernormal abilities.'"
I came to understand that, if sending forth righteous thoughts was only for eliminating the evil, using divine powers would be enough. The responsibility of Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period is to lay a foundation for the future beings, and thus is magnificent. To eliminate the evil is our means, to save the beings of the future is our ultimate goal. It is hence necessary to clear one's mind based on the Fa principles in order to keep pure thoughts.
Looking inside myself again, I found that I had an omission that was causing the impure thought. Master has said in "Buddha-Nature and Demon-Nature" (Essentials for Further Advancement) article:
"The same applies to human beings, who possess Buddha-nature and demon-nature at the same time. What one does without moral obligations and constraints is of demon-nature. Cultivating Buddhahood is to eliminate your demon-nature and strengthen and increase your Buddha-nature."
[...]
"The nature of the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren, manifests in different ways at different levels. The two different kinds of substances within certain levels of the universe also have different manifesting forms at different levels. The lower the level, the more marked the mutual-opposition, and thus the distinction between good and bad. The virtuous becomes more virtuous, while the evil becomes more evil. The dual nature in the same physical subject also becomes more complicated and changeable. This is exactly what Buddha referred to when he said, 'Everything has Buddha-nature.' In fact, everything has demon-nature as well."
Since our main body is cultivating in the Three Realms, all sorts of human notions are present within the human world's surface layer, and so is demon nature. Thus when we send forth righteous thoughts, with one thought to eliminate the evil, if the thought is not pure enough, we could easily be taken advantage of by demons. Therefore one may have wandering thoughts, not concentrate well, be full of other thoughts or be subject to external interference.
Having found the omission, we can then correct it with the Fa. Master had taught us clearly: "Cultivating Buddhahood is to eliminate your demon-nature and strengthen and increase your Buddha-nature." ("Buddha-Nature and Demon-Nature," Essentials for Further Advancement) In cultivating Buddhahood, one should cultivate a benevolent heart, so I changed my usual way of sending forth righteous thoughts. When sending righteous thoughts, I first sat in the lotus position and eliminated my own thought karma and bad materials in my own space. Then I thought about all the beings in the universe who were eagerly waiting to be saved. I then added a thought, "Don't worry, I shall use my Gong to eliminate all the evil that tries to destroy Dafa, so that you can be saved." At this point I naturally moved on to the lotus hand gesture, and quietly recited: "Completely eliminate all the evil in the universe that tries to destroy Dafa, encompassing all and leaving out none. The Fa rectifies the cosmos, the evil is completely eliminated. Mie!" At this moment the one thought was not just to eliminate the evil, but also to save innocent beings: eliminate one layer of evil, and save one layer of beings. All of a sudden I felt that the lotus hand gesture had transformed into a Fa-boat, loaded with many beings. I felt that my heart was filled with peace and benevolence, and that my whole body was illuminated with rays of mercy. Since I had the thought of saving sentient beings, there were no impure thoughts, and no wandering thoughts either. Time passed by quickly - 10 minutes, half an hour - but I still held the hand gesture, unwilling to leave.
The above is my little bit of understanding from the boundless Dafa. Fellow practitioners, kindly point out my omissions.