(Minghui.org) When sending forth righteous thoughts with other practitioners several days ago, one of them asked me if I lacked sleep since I dozed off a lot. I was surprised, thinking it wasn't that bad. “But you have been like this for a long time,” she said.
This made me alert. Although I thought I was clear-minded when sending forth righteous thoughts, another practitioner who lives with me had also pointed out this problem to me. Not only that, she said I was like that (sleepy) when doing the sitting meditation. I was not convinced and even argued with her many times.
Correcting the Exercise Movements
In fact, I also tried to improve this myself in the past and even looked within for attachments. But it did not work, and the practitioner who lives with me said I still remained the same. Since I could not improve, I wondered if the other practitioner was too attached to my problems.
Nonetheless, since another practitioner had also mentioned this, I realized that I have to take it seriously. So when I started to do the exercises, I turned on the video recording function on my cell phone. After finishing up all five sets of exercises and reviewing the video, I was shocked—only part of the standing exercises were probably okay, and during both the second and fifth set I looked like I was taking a nap. This surprised me since I had been reminding myself to stay awake this time because I was filming myself. How could that happen? How could other practitioners who saw me this way not point this out to me?
The next day, I paid extra attention to this problem, and in the parts where I tended to doze off, I even opened my eyes. After finishing the exercises, I felt that my entire body was warm. I'd had such a feeling a long time ago, but it diminished over time, probably due to my dozing off.
Attachment to Comfort
Another issue with me is that, for quite a long time, I had difficulty sitting with both legs crossed in the full lotus position during meditation. In the past several years, sometimes I could do it and sometimes not. I'd also tried to look inward on this issue, but there was hardly any improvement. This time, I also paid special attention to this. As a result, I was able to sit in meditation with both legs crossed. In the past, one of my legs often came down. But because I paid extra attention to my body position, such as keeping my back straight, my leg was all right, and I could feel that my righteous thoughts were strong.
In this way, I finally identified my attachment to seeking comfort and my lack of a strong main consciousness. I more or less knew this previously but did not take it seriously. As time went by, I simply lived with it. Plus, sitting in meditation with just one leg crossed was less painful, so I took the easy path and just let it be.
Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
I also had the same mindset for sending forth righteous thoughts. I did not realize it even after dozing off. Master said, “They lose all self-awareness and turn their bodies over to other beings or forces, like their subconscious or foreign energies, which make them act in bizarre ways.” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I learned a lot from this experience. My understanding is that, as Fa-rectification is close to the end, Master is worried about those of us who have not been diligent. But we did not realize it and even thought we were doing alright and were unwilling to change ourselves. Master does not want us to fall behind, and he arranged other practitioners to point out our problems for us. Reflecting on this, I am really grateful to Master for his compassion and sincerely regret my sloppiness.
Improving as a Group
Here I would like to remind practitioners who have also neglected this issue to truly pay attention to it. This includes letting go of the attachment to comfort, strengthening the main consciousness, and joining the morning exercises. Without an opportunity for group exercises in mainland China, I think we can at least check on each other after group Fa-study. Or we can record video of our own exercises and review them afterwards.
Cultivation is serious, and many of us lack physical improvement because of the above reasons. To achieve a better appearance as Dafa disciples, some practitioners dye their hair or apply cosmetics. Even with that, I noticed that some practitioners still appear older than non-practitioners. I think we need to take this seriously.
Master said,
“If I’m allowed to tease a little, I’d say that young women will naturally achieve the beautiful skin tone they’re always after, provided they sincerely do mind-body practice—and without needing to go to the lengths they once did.” (The Fifth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
We have all read these words, but I do not know how many of us actually act upon them.
The opportunity for cultivation practice is very limited and precious. I hope that we can all do better and improve as one body.
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Category: Improving Oneself
