The Power of Righteous Thoughts

[PureInsight.org] Since obtaining the Fa in March 1998, I have been cultivating Falun Dafa for 26 years. When I take a moment to quietly reflect, I ask myself: what has sustained me through all these years of trials and tribulations? I believe it is my unwavering faith in the Fa, supported by righteous thoughts.

I would like to share three personal experiences to express my understanding of the power of righteous thoughts:

1. Righteous Thoughts Can Dissolve Evil

The first time I truly experienced the power of sending forth righteous thoughts was before I went abroad. While I was still in China, for safety concerns, I kept one-on-one contact with a fellow practitioner. One practitioner I frequently communicated with had been on the evil’s blacklist because his home had been ransacked during the early stages of the persecution. One day, he suddenly called me and said that he was notified that higher-ups would meet with him the next day. During that time, many people were arrested during such talks. When he spoke to me, I could sense his fear and anxiety through his tone. I comforted him by quoting Master’s words in Master-Disciple Grace from Hong Yin II, "Disciples’ righteous thoughts are strong, Master has the power to turn the tide” and Master’s words in Zhuan Falun, "If anyone can harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe."

These words came to my mind instantly, and I used them to encourage him. I then told him, "Don’t sleep tonight; just send forth righteous thoughts. I will help you send forth righteous thoughts as well!" I said this almost instinctively. While speaking, I felt my entire body tremble, as if the cells in my body were vibrating. Honestly, I had never been arrested by the evil forces myself, and this was the first time I encountered such a situation. I wasn’t sure where my righteous thoughts came from—it just came out naturally.

I stayed up the whole night, sitting on my bed and sending forth righteous thoughts for my fellow practitioner. Although my celestial vision wasn’t open and I wasn't sure of my capabilities, I kept thinking, "I must use my energy to protect him." I imagined forming a protective shield around his body, preventing the evil forces from approaching him. Despite being extremely tired, I forced myself to stay awake and kept sending forth righteous thoughts throughout the night. Just before dawn, I became too exhausted and lay down to rest briefly. At that moment, Master’s Spiritual Body suddenly appeared. I thought to myself, "This is great! Master is here, my fellow practitioner will definitely be fine!"

The next morning, I took the bus to my office as usual. For the first time in my life, I fell asleep on the bus because I was so exhausted. Around noon, that practitioner called me, sounding very excited. He said, "It is alright! They left!" He explained, "Those people were acting strangely. They stood far away from me, seemingly afraid to come closer. They quickly said a few words and then left, as if they were scared of something." I calmly told him, "I placed a protective shield around your body." He replied: "That explains it! I felt as though something was surrounding me!"

This experience left a deep impression on me. It was the first time I truly understood the immense power of righteous thoughts.

2. Righteous Thoughts Can Save Sentient Beings

Among my relatives and friends, I have always tried my best to persuade those I could reach to withdraw from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and its affiliated organizations. Most of my relatives agreed to withdraw, but my older sister was an exception. She firmly refused, and wouldn’t even listen. Every time I brought it up, she would immediately stop me, and if I persisted, she would become angry and confrontational. I felt very troubled and powerless. After I moved abroad, although I could call my sister regularly, every time I brought up this topic, she would shut me down. At one point, I even thought about giving up on her and eventually stopped trying to persuade her altogether.

An older practitioner and his wife both practice cultivation, but their daughter didn’t practice and didn’t understand their belief. However, to everyone’s surprise, their daughter eventually obtained the Fa and even began contributing to Dafa-related efforts. I asked him how he managed to guide his daughter into Dafa. "What’s your secret?" I asked. "How did you persuade her?" He said he didn’t have any special method. He simply sent forth righteous thoughts for his daughter every day for a month, and then she obtained the Fa. I thought I should try the same approach with my sister and see if it worked after learning it.

From then on, whenever I sent forth righteous thoughts, I added a thought for my sister, "Eliminate the evil elements interfering with her understanding of the truth about Dafa and preventing her from withdrawing from the CCP. Clear away the old forces’ persecution of my sister." To be honest, I didn’t have any hopes, just sending forth righteous thoughts for about a month. One day, during a phone call with my sister, she began sharing her troubles with me. I seized the opportunity and said, "How about I help you withdraw from the CCP? That way, things will go more smoothly for you in the future." To my surprise, she readily agreed! I suggested a pseudonym for her, one I had thought of long ago, and she liked it very much. I didn’t have to make any complicated arguments or explain much—I just said, "Let’s do this," and she agreed. I was overjoyed! I felt like running outside and shouting for joy. It truly showed me how effective sending forth righteous thoughts can be!

3. Righteous Thoughts Can Eliminate Interference

For many years, I have been clarifying the truth on social media, which involves long hours in front of computers and phones—a strain on the eyes. However, I managed to maintain good eye health through consistent Fa study and exercise. In 2019, during the Hong Kong protests, the media I was working for had frontline reporters capturing first hand photos. My job was to upload and publish these photos and news stories as quickly as possible. I worked 11 straight hours in front of the computer. After that, my eyes began to feel noticeably uncomfortable—dry, sore, and occasionally sharp pain, which would come and go. This discomfort persisted for years. Many times, I considered taking a break from my projects, thinking, I can’t sacrifice my eyes for this work. Yet, out of a sense of responsibility, I pushed through, fighting the discomfort daily. Despite sending forth righteous thoughts regularly, the problem persisted. I tried many conventional methods to alleviate eye strain, but none of them worked.

One night, before bed, I drank a cup of coffee and ended up unable to sleep. Lying in bed, I thought it was a waste of time and decided to get up and work. I turned on my computer and started working, completely forgetting how much my eyes had been bothering me earlier. At that moment, I thought to myself: I am a Dafa disciple. How could my eyes have any issues? This is interference with my truth-clarification work, and I cannot acknowledge it! I worked through the entire night without feeling any discomfort in my eyes. As dawn approached, I started to feel sleepy and went back to bed. At that moment, Master’s Spiritual Body appeared again. Master used powerful energy to cleanse my eyes. The energy was stronger than an electric current, washing over my eyes. Instantly, my eyes felt much better!

I was deeply moved. Master had always been looking after me! Although Master had shown me many miracles before, my understanding had been limited. Why had my eyes not improved despite sending forth righteous thoughts for so long? It was because, although I was sending forth righteous thoughts, I still harbored worry and fear about my eyes. When I suddenly let go of all my concerns and felt a pure heart to save people, it was like Master said in What’s There to Fear from Hong Yin II, "Once your thought is righteous, evil will collapse". The illusion of illness dissolved instantly. As Master also taught in Don’t Be Sad from Hong Yin II, "Calmly reflect on how many attachments you have; As you get rid of human mentality, evil is naturally defeated". Once I let go of my human attachments, the evil had no opportunity to exploit them. Even though my eyes occasionally still feel uncomfortable, I am no longer worried because I know Master, like a compassionate father, is always watching over me.

Through years of cultivation, my greatest realization is this: it is essential to persist in sending forth righteous thoughts daily and maintaining them at all times. With sufficient righteous thoughts, one can overcome all trials and tribulations. The power of righteous thoughts is immense—it can dissolve evil, save sentient beings, and eliminate interference!

Finally, I would like to share a passage from Master’s Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference to encourage everyone, "No matter how much I say, you still have to walk the path of cultivation yourselves. To walk this path well and progress to its end—nothing is more extraordinary. I say that because during the journey you will have hardships, tests of every sort, unforeseen ordeals, and you will have unexpected interference from all kinds of attachments and emotion. The interference will come from family, society, good friends, and even fellow cultivators. And along with this there is interference from changes in the state of human society and from human notions that were formed in society. All of those things can drag you back to being like an ordinary person. But if you can break through all of it, you can advance towards godhood. So as a cultivator, what is truly remarkable is when you can be steadfast and have righteous thoughts so firm that nothing can sway you. Be solid and firm like diamond, or granite, and then nothing can affect you—evil will be afraid at the mere sight of you. If upon encountering trying circumstances your thinking can be truly righteous, then, when faced with the evil’s persecution and when faced with interference, just one sentence of yours fortified with steadfast righteous thoughts can instantly make the evil disintegrate (applause), and it will make those who are being used by the evil turn and flee, it will make the evil’s persecution of you dissolve, and it will make the evil’s interfering with you disappear without a trace. One thought born of righteous faith is all it takes. And whoever can hold firm that righteous thought and go the distance will become a magnificent god forged by Dafa."

Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/294461