December 12, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net) I came across a practitioner who was not in a good cultivation state, saying that he would feel sleepy as soon as he began reading Dafa books and that the situation had existed for quite a long time. After hearing this, I felt the need to write out my shallow understanding, hoping to help those fellow practitioners who also have encountered this kind of interference. If there is anything improper in this article, please kindly point it out.
Some people's minds are very clear when doing other things, but once they pick up Dafa books, they feel sleepy. When they begin sending forth righteous thoughts, they feel drowsy. Some practitioners understand this situation with human notions, thinking that they simply do not have enough sleep and the situation will improve if they get more sleep. However, they do not recognize that they still often feel sleepy even if they get 8 or 10 hours of sleep a day, and this creates a passive and pessimistic attitude. I think we should treat this tribulation right from the Fa's perspective. Master Li has clearly talked about this problem in several places:
"Don't you feel sleepy as soon as you read the book, or become drowsy once you study the Fa? Let me tell you that those are gods at a level in this human dimension. If you can't break through them, you remain a human. They aren't intentionally doing anything to you -- they treat everyone like this. That's why people feel tired and sleepy. If you want to break away from being a human, you have to break through everything before you can make it. If you go along with them, they'll think you're just a human." (Falun Buddha Fa Lecture at the Assistants' Fa Conference in Changchun)
"Student: While reading Zhuan Falun, the same phenomenon happened several times: while reading through the book, my head suddenly felt heavy and I felt very sleepy. But I did not fall asleep. I felt my eyes were constantly drawn to a certain passage of the book. Suddenly another passage of words appeared in the book, but those words were not from Zhuan Falun.
Teacher: This is your thought karma severely interfering with you and not letting you read the book and study the Fa. It makes you feel sleepy and want to fall asleep. It makes you lose your righteous thoughts and righteous faith. When it gets anxious, it will even manifest itself to interfere with you, even causing words to appear in your head. Demons that damage Dafa also do this. When they get anxious, they'll even argue with you in your head, talk to you and not let you study. Isn't that obvious? Thought karma or external interference are at work and aren't letting you elevate yourself. That's because your improvement eliminates it. I've said that I would eliminate your karma. If it were truly eliminated, it would be truly disintegrated. Will it accept that? So it does everything it can to fight back. If you consider these things a part of you, then you won't be able to obtain the Fa because the Fa is given to you and absolutely can't be given to this karma. So, you need to overcome it. No matter how sleepy you get, you need to overcome, suppress and eliminate it. The moment you charge past this test is also the moment it's eliminated." (Lecture at the Australia Fa Conference)
Here I would like to talk more on the understanding of sending forth righteous thoughts.
Not long ago, I could not stay tranquil when sending forth righteous thoughts, and my emitted energy could not generate much impact. Then I calmed down and asked myself whether I truly treated myself as a Dafa particle and whether I was doing this with my heart.
"There are a few students who have always been reluctant to do things that are for destroying the evil and clarifying the truth -- as if that would be doing something for Master, or as if that would be putting in extra for Dafa." (Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples)
I suddenly woke up. I had only kept up with the form of sending forth righteous thoughts at set times.
"With a practitioner, his thoughts direct his abilities to do things." (Zhuan Falun)
I understood that I should have a clear understanding that the evils should not exist any longer and I must use all of my power to eliminate the evils and take responsibility for all positive factors of the universe. After I formed this clear concept, I could stay tranquil when sending forth righteous thoughts. I felt myself became huge and tall, my energy gradually encompassed the universe and the evils were destroyed instantly. We should always remember that we are Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners and many beings are waiting for us in order to be saved. There are many practitioners being persecuted for the great purpose of saving sentient beings. What kind of excuses can we have for not being clear and tranquil?
Let's study Master's words to encourage each other:
A Righteous God
With righteous thoughts and righteous actions
He is diligent without letting up
Eliminating demons that damage the Fa
He is good to all beings
