(Clearwisdom.net) Master told us to do our best in the three things: studying the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth. All three things are vitally interrelated. If any one of them is not done well, it will affect the other two. Studying the Fa is the basic foundation of Fa-rectification, but sending forth righteous thoughts is for eliminating interference by evil factors in other dimensions. If we do not pay attention to sending forth righteous thoughts, it will restrict our own cultivation and also affect the progress of all of us.

My wife and I started to practice Falun Gong in the spring of 1999. About one month later, all the illnesses I use to have such as hypertension, coronary disease, bone problems, varicosity, and ringworms were cured on their own. My whole body felt quite relaxed. During the years I had experienced the tribulations, I persisted in my faith in Master and Dafa and in sending forth righteous thoughts, especially doing so at midnight. Sending forth righteous thoughts during the set times is a critical xinxing test, so I make sure never to miss doing so. Through that I have gained some personal understandings of sending forth righteous thoughts and will cite some stories.

Restraining the facilitator with righteous thoughts

This happened a few days before the Chinese New Year of 2004. I joined in a city government conference. All of the seats in the auditorium were occupied. I anticipated that they would talk about the issue of Falun Gong, because they made a point of stressing the persecution of Falun Gong over the course of the year. I intentionally sat in the first row opposite the rostrum. Just as expected, the facilitator announced the conference's three agenda items. The first was summarizing this year's work, the second was the issue of Falun Gong, and the third was the tasks for next year. I sent forth righteous thoughts and asked Master to strengthen me in order to eliminate the evil factors behind those people in the other dimensions, so that they will skip over talking about Falun Gong and not make plans to further the persecution. As a result, the facilitator indeed did not say a word about Falun Gong.

Using righteous thoughts to save people from the CCP

This happened in the middle of October 2005. Chen was my neighbor and friend. I have clarified the truth to him quite a lot, given him a lot of Dafa materials and even let him read some of Master's articles. So as time went by, I assumed that he had learned the truth and had a positive perspective on Falun Gong, and had clearly seen through the CCP's lies. Chen was not a Party member, but half a year ago he was set to join the Party as an active member. His wife was a Party member, well educated, the only college graduate in her work unit, but had never been put in an important position. She was promoted to the position of deputy director, but was demoted soon after the department head changed. When I went to try to get her to withdraw from the CCP, she hesitated and wasn't sure. I then asked her to take her time to think about it, and said that we would discuss it later.

Chen was a high school graduate. After he was designated to be on the fast track to joining the CCP, I began to persuade him to withdraw from the CCP. When the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, I had him read it immediately. I kindly and somberly told him, "I would not harm you. This is for your benefit. At this critical point in your life, you should establish your position, opt for a good future and must not commit bad deeds. Once the time comes when all has been set, you will have no time for regrets."

However, one day the head of our district told me that Chen had filled out the form to join the CCP. How could this be? I was the Party branch secretary, so how come I did not know about this? When I went to ask him, he told me, "You are a Falun Gong veteran, so the director kept you out of the loop and so did I. In October the senior Party organization people had a talk with him, and everything was set.

That day, when I went to the office and sat down, the director took out Chen's registration form to let me have a look. I figured he thought the superiors had given their approval and there was no use of me objecting. Perhaps he wanted to see my attitude on the matter. I saw that in the section entitled, "Understandings Toward the Party", Chen wrote down his negative view of Dafa. He also wrote that he steadfastly believes in the CCP, and so on.

My heart sunk and wept for him. Could it be that what I said to him was useless? Perhaps he misunderstood or never understood the "Nine Commentaries." While I was looking at the form, Chen came in. Seeing I was looking at his form, he felt a little embarrassed. After I got home, I sat in meditation and sent forth powerful righteous thoughts toward the direction of my work unit, "Master, please help me. Joining the Party was not Chen's original idea, and I should deny all of the old forces' arrangements. I must save this young being."

I sent righteous thoughts for about half an hour. After that I was still anxious for him and went to his home. When Chen saw me, he was very glad and said, "I decided not to join after all. You are happy about this, right?" "How come you changed your mind so quickly?" I asked him. He told me, "After you left, something in my head told me not to join, so I ended up not doing it. They got upset with me, but it was my decision." I said, "Great, you made the right choice for your future."

In such a short time, a disaster for this sentient being was averted. This could only happen because of Master's benevolence. Just as it said in Zhuan Falun,

Quitting my official Party position

I was the Party branch secretary for about seven or eight years. I did not want to hold the position anymore and wanted to resign. Between October and November of 2005, the CCP launched a movement among the Party members to reinvigorate enthusiasm for Party ideology, whose name sounded like "keep fresh". However, people were so disillusioned that they said that even if the CCP was put into a refrigerator, it couldn't be "kept fresh." I thought that this was a good opportunity to resign my post.

The department picked me to head up this effort. I adamantly refused and told them that I could do any job except this one. They then changed their approach and said, "Just writing some materials and taking some notes will be fine." I replied, "No, I cannot do it either; I practice Falun Gong. The first principle of Falun Gong is truthfulness; I will never write those false declarations and make up lies." After that, they never brought the topic up again, but I still felt that I should not hold that post, so I wanted to resign.

At the beginning of November 2005, in the presence of the director, deputy director, clerks, and seven or eight other people, I made the formal request to resign my position. They got flustered and said that they could not make this decision without permission from their superiors. As Master said in Zhuan Falun,

"Good or evil comes from a person's spontaneous thought."

Two weeks later, a deputy secretary from the department in charge and I had a conversation, and I was able to resign the post. Once a Dafa disciple is resolute in doing something, nothing can stand in the way. Resigning the post felt so good and right.

Resigning from the CCP

When the "Nine Commentaries" was published, I resigned from the CCP through the Internet with an alias. However, I still felt like something was missing, and I thought that I must resign publicly. On December 23, 2005 I went to my original work unit. I sent forth righteous thoughts for 15 minutes before I set off in order to eliminate all the evil factors in other dimensions and clear away any interference.

The Party secretary that I met with was a very earnest person. When she commented on how healthy I looked at my age, I told her that it was because I practice Falun Gong. She said that she knew about that, and since Falun Gong is so good I can practice it at home. I told her the purpose of my visit: I had not paid the Party membership dues for about one year, and based on the Party charter I should no longer be a member of the Party. "Besides, it is unfair that you take the membership dues from my salary at the end of every year. You should not do that from now on." She said, "I have no objection if you want to resign from the Party. You can write an application, and then I will send it to the government and the commission." I told her, "The CCP is so corrupt that it does not have any prospect for survival, and by now almost 8 million people have resigned from the CCP. What are you waiting for?" She said that she was still young and the CCP pays her, so she would like to keep it this way temporarily. We talked for another hour. I explained to her about how the CCP is persecuting Falun Gong. She understood and told me that she wanted to practice Falun Gong later.

Restricting evil with righteous thoughts

At the end of 2005, a local coordinator was arrested. The next evening, several police officers came to my home and wanted to take me to the local police station. My wife stood at the door to deal with them. I went upstairs immediately, stood before Master's portrait and sent forth righteous thoughts. I asked for Master's help to have them leave, stop them from entering the courtyard and deny the arrangement of the old forces. About half an hour later, the policemen left. I anticipated that they would not give up. My family members suggested that I leave home to avoid them. I told them that I did not want to follow the old forces' arrangements. After all, what they want does not count, and with Master and the Fa to guide and protect me, what was I afraid of?

I thought that the police department had no right to arrest me, and nobody can harm me. The next evening, several more officers came. I kept on sending forth righteous thoughts to keep them from entering, and soon enough they left.

Sending forth righteous thoughts is a key to overcoming the persecution that Master has given to us. At critical times, let us not forget to send forth righteous thoughts and ask Master for help. As Master said in Zhuan Falun, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master" Therefore, studying the Fa well is a prerequisite of righteous thoughts. Only when we study the Fa in a well-grounded way, can we use righteous thoughts with ease. Sending forth righteous thoughts should not be done in isolation--all of the three things must be done well. We cannot send forth righteous thoughts just for the sake of sending forth righteous thoughts itself. Sending righteous thoughts is one of the requirements of Fa-rectification, so we must have a goal and aim for it.

These stories are some of my cultivation understandings. If there is anything improper, please point them out with compassion.