(Minghui.org) Since some practitioners often feel sleepy when studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts, I'd like to share the following understandings.
One practitioner was very busy at work. Being no longer young, it was not easy for him to find a new job. Eventually he landed a job, but it was dirty and involved a lot of hardship. Moreover, the work day was 12 hours long.
He understood that as a cultivator of Falun Dafa, he needed to do well at his job. With this in mind, he worked hard all day, but after he finished working, he was exhausted. When he got home, he took care of the household chores. By the time he finished those, he was completely exhausted. As soon as he sat down, he would fall asleep immediately.
One has to work to support himself. However, the work one takes on can also involve one's attachments. It is not only because of the family responsibility that one works, but also because of desire and pursuit that one takes on so much work. In a word, if one is attached to sentimentality, fame, or pursuit, one can be taken advantage of by demons.
In one practitioner's case, his financial situation was not bad; however, seeing many wealthy people around him, he felt that he would be looked down upon by them. He developed a competitive mentality and ended up focusing on making money instead of his cultivation.
Spending tremendous amounts of time and effort, he was able to make more money, yet his financial gain was won at the expense of not doing the three things. This nullified all his extra effort to get ahead in order to avoid being looked down upon.
Sometimes one's own ideas and wishes are too strong, and for a period of time one has a strong desire to do or have something. This attachment causes one's mind to be preoccupied with the matter. This leads one to be led solely by said matter and one cannot take in the Fa when studying or focus clearly on the three things.
Once one gets over or satisfies that matter, one moves onto to the next desire or pursuit and indulges in that. Again, one feels tired when studying the Fa or sending forth righteous thoughts. The only time one is in high spirits and full of energy is when one is dealing with or focusing on the new attachment that is occupying one's mind.
As far as sentimentality, fear, jealousy, and show-off mentality are concerned, if one cannot fully let them go, they can easily cause one to be moved. They are all rooted in the selfish side of one's ego, which is composed of karma.
If one cannot set one's cultivation standpoint right and cultivates from the standpoint of self-cultivation, then no matter how much effort one puts into cultivation, one will be cultivating for the selfish part of one's ego. In that case, how could one possibly increase gong? How could it work to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate interference if one is cultivating from the standpoint of a body composed of karma?
Some practitioners have cultivated very diligently. They study the Fa and do the exercises on a daily basis. They also put a lot of time into truth-clarification; however, their main consciousnesses are not strong enough and they are easily led by their attachments.
When they study the Fa, they can’t take it into their hearts and feel sleepy. They can’t hold their palms upright when sending forth righteous thoughts.
One cannot gain anything when holding any kind of pursuit in cultivation. Such a purpose to cultivate is selfish and exists for the benefit of one's own self. For us to study the Fa and cultivate is to assimilate into Dafa and become selfless—a sage who always put others in the first place.
When we are trying to let go of attachment to self, we are on the cultivation path and heading in the correct direction. Our bodies are assimilating into Dafa and our main consciousnesses are becoming more and more free from humanness. Our energy naturally becomes more and more powerful. We therefore will not go wrong, and those various kinds of elements from the low level—sentimentality, fear, jealousy, and so forth—can no longer interfere with us.
When one holds a pursuit in cultivation for the sake of oneself, one's thoughts come from the black part that is composed of karma. In that case, one's main consciousness would not gain anything. One would be surrounded by all kinds of elements from the lower level dimension.
One's true self possesses one's true nature. It is assimilated to the characteristic of the universe.
Whereas in our day-to-day life, we have many ideas and thoughts that come from our own self-interest. They have nothing to do with our true self. They are generated by our fake selves and driven by all kinds of attachments or external lives.
Our main consciousnesses need to clearly distinguish the true self and fake self. Everything that does not comply with the Fa, such as being selfish, is derived from one's fake self. One must recognize and expel the fake self to the point of eliminating it in order to have one's true self play the dominant role.
The reason I write this article is based on my observation: Quite a few practitioners have been subjected to the interference of sleepiness. They have wanted to get rid of that condition, but couldn't. For some, this situation has lasted for many years. As a result, some have been persecuted to the point of being thrown into prison.
I would like to share my limited understanding for the purpose of overall elevation.