(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1998 when I was 18. The persecution started less than a year after that. In all these years, I haven't been diligent about studying the Fa. I didn’t have a clear understanding of the Fa and thought that doing things was cultivation. As a result, many attachments almost became second nature and were hard to get rid of.
For example, I had the attachment to comfort: I liked to sleep a lot and get up late. Even though I slept a lot, my head still felt heavy and muddled. In the past, I believed that gong would automatically increase when one's xinxing improved. I didn’t practice the exercises much at all. I would just do some whenever I remembered, and would usually only do the shorter ones: “Buddha Stretching a Thousand Arms,” “Coursing Between the Two Poles,” and “Falun Cosmic Orbit.” I did the other exercises only occasionally. The one I did the least was the “Falun Standing Stance.”
I visited my mom (also a practitioner) during a week-long holiday in October 2013. She encouraged me to get up early and do the exercises at the time when practitioners around the world did them together. Thus, we got up at 3:40 a.m. and did all five exercises.
Because I was on vacation, I was able to go back to sleep for another hour after sending forth righteous thoughts at 6 a.m. After several days, I felt pretty good. However, when the holidays were over, I couldn’t indulge in the extra hour of sleep anymore. I then let myself go again, doing one exercise one day and another exercise the next. Later, I simply gave up doing the exercises altogether.
Master saw that my husband and I were not diligent in our cultivation. He thus hinted to my mom to stay with us and help us. With her encouragement, we now all get up at 3:40 a.m. and do the exercises. In the evening, we read Master’s new articles. I also memorize the Fa when I have time during the day, one sentence at a time.
Recently, I've noticed that some strong attachments have been diminishing. Slowly I am able to recognize these attachments, and am not being controlled by them as much. My mind has become more peaceful. That’s a feeling I have not experienced in many years. I am able to study the Fa and let it seep into my heart. I have never had such a clear understanding of the Fa, even though I read some articles several times before.
Master said:
“What we are doing here is cultivation, and this is a process whereby lives are fundamentally transformed into high-level beings. What I am saying is, those in the audience here are all lives who are on their way to divinity.” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)
I can clearly feel the strong energy in my hands when I am doing the exercises. My hands feel warm. I feel energy flow through my arms when doing the “Holding the Wheel” exercise, as if I were really holding the Falun. I also feel the movement of energy during the “Coursing Between the Two Poles” and “Reinforcing Supernatural Powers” exercises.
At the beginning when I practiced the “Falun Cosmic Orbit” exercise, my mind was not calm. I would think of everything, from work issues to things going on at home. I didn’t notice my attachments, and my mind would wonder off. I didn’t follow Master’s instruction; I finished the movements before the instruction was over.
At that time, I didn’t feel anything while doing the exercise. That is because I had been in a very bad cultivation state for a long time. With the wisdom bestowed on me from the Fa, I became a director at a young age, soon after I started working. I was highly regarded by my boss. I became complacent and thought that I was better than others. Slowly, I sank into fame, self-interest and emotion.
I didn’t like to hear criticism and even felt uncomfortable if my boss praised others and not me. My mind was interfered with by competitiveness, jealousy and an incessant desire for fame. I could not calm down when studying the Fa and was always thinking about people and things that happened at work, especially people who were not nice to me. The interference was even stronger when I was doing the exercises.
I recently came across the following Fa:
“Some students become unhappy whenever they encounter conflicts or emotional turmoil. In that case, are you still cultivating? Cultivators look at things in just the opposite way. They see tribulations and suffering as good opportunities for improvement. [To cultivators] these are all good things, and the more there are and the faster they come, the faster the improvement. Some cultivators want to push them away and think, "Don't come." Whenever [conflicts and turmoil] come up they think that others have a problem with them and they can't stand it when others say anything negative about them. You just want to live a more pleasant life, but is that cultivation? Can you really cultivate that way? If to this day you still can't come around on this concept, then as your master, I don't know how you will ever move towards Consummation.” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005”)
I decided to change my notions, treating everything as a good thing and getting rid of resentment, competitiveness, jealousy, and attachments to showing off, fame, etc. When I noticed these attachments while doing the exercises, I immediately asked Master to strengthen me and tried to eliminate them. I also recited the Fa. My mind then quickly calmed down again.
Later on, my mind really became calm. I experienced “The Heart is Clear Like Pure Jade” (Chapter IV, Falun Gong). That was so rare for me. Now when I do the “Falun Cosmic Orbit” exercise, my hands follow the mechanisms within 4 inches of my body, according to Master’s instruction. I feel so comfortable, as if I were wrapped in a weightless blanket.
I am usually very busy at work from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. My work is half physical and half mental. Before, I often felt sleepy after lunch and before I started doing the exercises in the morning. Not only do I not feel sleepy anymore, but my mind is also clearer and I am more efficient at work.
In the past, it always took me several days to write the year-end report. This year, I finished the report in one morning. I feel that the Fa has increased my wisdom. I have experienced the extraordinariness of Dafa.
Master often gives me hints while I am doing the exercises. One day, I suddenly remembered a mistake I had made several years prior while doing the exercises. At the time, I didn’t handle myself well during a tribulation. I thought about stopping cultivation and even said, “I am not going to practice anymore.” Soon after, I realized that I was wrong and continued to practice, but I didn’t write any solemn declaration.
That evening, I went home and carefully recalled everything from the time I had started practicing Dafa to the present. I wrote down everything I had said and done that was not respectful to Master and Dafa. I truly felt like I was cleansing myself as I wrote all of this down. My mind became clearer, and my environment became purer.
One morning as I awoke, I saw a colorless Falun rotating above me. I felt so blessed, because in the nine years of my cultivation prior to this moment I had not seen a Falun even once.
One morning, I was very tired when my mom woke me up shortly after 3 a.m. When she saw me like that, she said, “Why not take a break today and start again tomorrow?” I happily agreed and went back to sleep. Then I heard the exercise music, as my mom and husband began doing the exercises. A line of characters appeared in front of my eyes, just like on a piece of paper: “The physical body transforms into a divine body.” The words “divine body” were particularly close to my eyes. I rolled off the bed right away and joined them.
Master is watching us at every moment. Thank you, Master! I dare not be lazy anymore; I can't be lazy.
I wanted to share my experience with other practitioners who like to sleep a lot. Master really encourages us, protects us and helps us to improve at every moment.
Please point out anything inappropriate. Heshi!
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Category: Improving Oneself
