How to Deal with the Pain that Arises from the Sitting Meditation

By a practitioner from Tainan, Taiwan

I have mixed feelings about the fifth Falun Dafa exercise -- "Strengthening Divine Powers." I love it and yet fear it. While enjoying the miraculous sensations, I also suffer excruciating pain from the sitting meditation. For me, the pain reaches the limit of my tolerance. But I understand the significance of the suffering, I persevered and practiced every day. With time I could do the full lotus position instead of the half lotus position. I initially could only do it for five, ten, or thirty minutes. Now I manage to hold the full lotus position for one hour. However, the pain has not gone away with time. When I shared my experience with other practitioners, most of us agreed that it was right to just bear the pain. During my summer vacation, a Swedish practitioner joined our practice group. Upon seeing our expression while meditating, he said, "when doing sitting meditation, no matter how painful it is, we need to keep our body unmoved. Meanwhile we need to keep a serene countenance. We have to bear with the pain. Otherwise the people who pass by would never dare to join us upon seeing our expression." I agree with him. But I truly cannot control myself and I am unable to abstain from moving.

I asked him how to achieve this. He said: "Clear up our minds and upgrade our xinxing [Mind or heart nature; moral character]." I couldn't grasp what he meant. When conflicts and tribulations occur, we improve our xinxing and can easily overcome them. However, how can improving one's xinxing overcome the pain from sitting meditation? I did not enlighten to it.

On the third day, when the pain became increasingly unbearable, I kept in mind the words of this practitioner and put down my attachment. With the gradual abandonment of the attachment, I felt my heart become empty and my mind gradually rise above the pain and my level reached higher and higher until my heart became completely empty. At that time, my body felt weightless and very light but only my legs were not able to move. I clearly felt the separation between my spirit and physical body. Although I still felt the pain, my mind was somewhere higher above and the pain was unable to control it. I truly realised the sacred and solemn image of keeping a serene countenance and bearing a compassionate heart. With the pain of my legs, I deeply understood the meaning of "Hardship suffering treated as joy" ("Tempering One's Mind and Heart") and realised the magnificence of the fifth exercise. After overcoming this test, I took a big step forward and felt that it shouldn't matter if I further extended the time for the fifth exercise.

The above is an experience that I would like to sincerely share with other fellow practitioners. Only after overcoming the pain and suffering can we improve our level. Meanwhile we will have a deeper understanding of forbearance.