Why does spirit interference occur? Will clearing external negative energy prevent its return?

Removing external interference does not necessarily resolve the whole problem. During services, I take time to understand how the situation arose and why it returned. If life, thinking and habits remain unchanged, addressing only the immediate condition may leave someone returning to the same state later.

Within my faith, spirit interference has causes. Sometimes it relates to offending unseen beings. When I first encountered spiritual practice, I heard stories of nighttime pranks and casually urinating at graves leading to harmful influences. Those were stories I heard then, not cases I personally investigated. Even if someone thinks they simply have poor luck, I want to understand further rather than stop at “I picked something up.”

In my understanding of energy, physical, emotional and spiritual depletion, prolonged unhappiness or ongoing conflict can also make someone more susceptible to external influences. I said early on that these difficulties are not restricted to one fixed constitution; everyone has weaker periods. Some people repeatedly encounter unfavorable energy, some seek spiritual powers without knowing what they contact, some are sensitive and others less aware. Constitution or stories alone cannot establish a conclusion. We seek causes to know what can change, not to blame the person asking for help.

We met a child who had been bullied when young. The mother knew but thought it was ordinary children’s play and did not address it seriously. Hurt accumulated, and the child later resented the parents’ lack of care and even gave up on themselves. When help was sought, what we understood religiously as external negativity might be addressed through purification and rites for the deceased. Yet the long-suppressed experiences remained. That is what I wanted to explore further from the perspective of inner demons. Sending an unseen being away does not mean the child’s hurt disappears.

I also discussed a friend with severe emotional difficulties who used a camera so a boyfriend and friends could know if impulsive behavior arose and come to help promptly. That described a particular help-seeking situation, not a care method for everyone to copy. Through divination and conversation in religious service, I explore the roots of unhappiness: perhaps bullying at school that continued into the workplace. We cannot address only surface events. Feeling a force in the body also does not justify rushing to call it spirit interference or the spirit pressing the body.

These are religious understandings of individual cases. They do not mean every mental disturbance arises from spirit interference or the same childhood experience, and cannot diagnose strangers. Explain the situation clearly when seeking help. Notice when you are especially tired, what you cannot let go and which interactions consistently drain you. Daily routines, ideas and possible actions need adjustment together. A cleaned room needs cleaning again if dust is brought in daily. Changing thoughts and building confidence take long practice. “Be happy” cannot require immediate recovery. Gradually learning self-care reduces dependence on repeated intervention whenever you feel unwell.

Two related statements in the program about what to do first when spirit interference or negativity is present are retained together. One said that an actual current negative condition still needs addressing: remove negativity first, like clearing half the dust. Another described cases of spirit interference or possession where deeper discussion suggested internal negative energy had attracted external negative energy. It said to address negativity first and then examine why it arose within. It also said that often the imbalance is in inner spiritual energy, making the key question how to cultivate the heart and where the difficulty lies, rather than whether to call it possession. Both discuss intervention and inner cultivation with different emphases. They remain side by side rather than being forced into one fixed sequence.

I use “when inner demons do not arise, external demons cannot intrude” to express this direction: our service experience leads us to continue understanding the person’s inner world, not focus only outside. This is a faith-based understanding of depletion in body, mind and spirit, and a reminder that inner issues cannot be skipped after a single intervention.

Sometimes a person’s prior condition must be considered alongside places visited and events encountered. Years ago, a mother from Pingtung sought help. Further questions revealed that her daughter had visited Bitan and fallen by the water. In that religious service, I connected those events with what I understood as interference. This was an interpretation of that case, not a rule that visiting water or falling inevitably brings spirit interference.

Yun Xi described how later exploration helped her recognize loneliness and unhappiness within, and motivated changes for herself and her daughter. Finding a cause did not immediately make everything better. She gradually practiced noticing and adjusting her reactions. This was her path, not proof everyone repeatedly feeling unwell shares the same childhood or family problems.

This also does not mean all interference has only an internal cause. In the same discussion, we mentioned accidental encounters without particular grievances. Explore the possibilities and where action can begin, rather than covering over someone’s experience with “it is all your own doing.”