| Published: Monday 13th July 2009 |
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By a Falun Gong Practitioner
I would like to share my experience regarding doing the exercises.
1. Fellow practitioners need to realize that doing the exercises is an important part of cultivation.
Master said in The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa (Chapter I The Characteristics of Falun Dafa),
"Falun Buddha Fa also includes cultivation of the body, which is accomplished by performing the exercise movements of the Great Consummation Way--a great high-level practice of the Buddha School. One purpose of the exercises is to strengthen a practitioner's supernormal abilities and energy mechanisms using his or her powerful gong potency (gongli), thus achieving "the Fa refines the practitioner." Another purpose is to evolve many living beings in a practitioner's body. In high-level cultivation practice, the Immortal Infant or Buddha-Body will be born, and many abilities will be developed. The exercise movements are necessary for transforming and cultivating these things. The exercises are part of the harmonization and perfection in our Dafa. So Dafa is a comprehensive mind-body cultivation system. It is also called "The Great Consummation Way." This Dafa thus requires both cultivation and exercises, with cultivation taking priority over the exercises. A person's gong will not increase if he merely does the exercises and fails to cultivate his xinxing (heart or mind nature, character). A person who only cultivates his xinxing and does not perform the exercises of the Great Consummation Way will find the growth of his gong potency impeded and his original-body (benti) unchanged."
2. Many practitioners do not do the exercises every day. This is the result of the attachment to the pursuit of comfort.
Master said in Zhuan Falun,
"Lao-zi said, "When the highest type of men hear the Dao, with diligence they will practice it. When average men hear the Dao, it seems some is kept and some is lost. When the lowest type of men hear the Dao, they laugh at it heartily. If they didn't laugh at it, it wouldn't be the Dao."
What do we want to be, the highest type of men or average men?
3. Some practitioners' exercise movements are not accurate. Practitioners can correct their movements by watching Master's exercise video or reading The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa. They can also ask fellow practitioners to help them out. We should follow Master's teaching and make sure every movement is accurate. New practitioners need to read The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa.
4. During the still meditation, some practitioners feel sleepy, some even fall asleep. Some practitioners cannot concentrate. We should not think about anything during the still meditation.
Master said in The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa (Chapter III Mechanics and Principles of the Exercise Movements),
"The still meditation requires sitting in meditation for a long time. During the meditation there should be no mental activity--don't think about anything. We've said that your main consciousness has to be aware, for this practice cultivates your own self. You should progress with an alert mind. How do we perform the meditation? We require that each of you must know that you are doing the exercise there, no matter how deeply you meditate. You absolutely should not enter into a state in which you're aware of nothing. So what particular state will occur? As you sit there you will feel wonderful and very comfortable, as if you were sitting inside an eggshell. You will be aware of yourself doing the exercise, but will feel that your entire body can't move. This definitely happens in our practice. And there's another state. During the meditation you might find that your legs disappear and you can't remember where they are. And you may find that your body, arms, and hands disappear, with only your head left. As you keep meditating, maybe you will find that even your head is gone, with only your mind--a trace of awareness--knowing that you are meditating there. You should maintain that slight awareness. It's sufficient if we can reach that state. Why? When you do the exercise in that state, your body undergoes full transformation. That is the optimum state, so we require that you achieve it. But you shouldn't fall asleep, get in a daze, or abandon that slight awareness. Your meditation will be in vain if you do those things, and it will be no better than sleeping and not meditating. After completing the exercise, your hands are put together in Heshi and you come out of stillness. Then you are done with the exercise."
5. Some practitioners have practiced for a long time and yet still cannot sit with both legs crossed, some even after several years of practice.
Master in The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa (Chapter III Mechanics and Principles of the Exercise Movements) says,
"This position can only be used as a transition, as a last resort, when you can't manage to sit with both legs crossed."
"We require you to sit with both legs crossed, which means that from the single-leg crossing position you pull the leg from underneath to the top, pull it from the outside, not the inside. That's the full-lotus position. "
I will share my experience with the still meditation as follows and hope this is helpful for young practitioners or practitioners who cannot sit with both legs crossed.
I remember that when I first started to practice the still meditation, even the single leg crossing was very painful. One time, it was so painful that I cried. But I was determined to continue no matter how painful it was. I could not let this precious opportunity slip by. Maybe Master noticed my thought, and encouraged me. I suddenly smelled a fragrance from another dimension, something very special and nice. Compared with that fragrance, any fragrance from this world is shabby. The fragrance made me forget about the pain. I felt joy under Master's benevolent protection.
Later in 1998 I found a practice site. Most practitioners there were young people. Almost all of them sat with both legs crossed during the still meditation. The environment was one of "striving forward diligently together." So, I started to sit with both legs crossed. I remember the first time when sitting with both legs crossed, the pain was so different. I closed my eyes and counted: one, two, three. After just three seconds, I took my leg off. Later, I started to sit with both legs crossed a little longer -- one minute, five minutes, ten minutes and fifteen minutes.
The fellow practitioners at that site encouraged me. When I first sat with both legs crossed for over half an hour, my legs were very painful, but I felt very happy. The other practitioners were all happy for me. The environment was very righteous, and we improved as a whole body. Later I sat with both legs crossed with no pain. Most of the time I can enter the tranquil state. When my xinxing improves, I can enter the tranquil state and feel the Falun adjusting my body. There are many Falun, some big, some small, some rotate slowly, some rotate very rapidly. It's wonderful. When I can pass a xinxing test well, I feel as if I were sitting inside an eggshell. It's very comfortable.
Due to the good effect of the exercises, my benti has transformed well. I look very young. Last year I changed my job. The engineer from that company asked me whether I had just graduated from college. I told him that I am close to forty years old. He was in shock and did not say anything for a while. Later he said that I didn't look like I was forty years old. When we had a 10-year class reunion, my classmates all said I did not change much. This year I met my high school teacher, and he said I was still like I was in high school. This wonder is created by Dafa -- it makes me young forever and benefits both mind and body.
Master has passed on such precious exercises to us. We need to understand their importance. Fellow practitioners, do we treasure this opportunity, which came after tens of millions of years of waiting? Do we cherish it?
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