(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1999, and up until about six months ago, I never felt or experienced much of anything when studying the Fa, doing exercises, or sending forth righteous thoughts.
Recently, Master must have opened something up for me that allowed me to experience the power behind the Fa sounds and music. This change also coincides with some big tribulations that I have been going through.
I think Master is encouraging me to forge ahead in cultivation faster and save more sentient beings before it's too late. This benevolent arrangement also naturally helped assimilate me to Master's recent teaching to "Cultivate as you did at the beginning, and you are sure to succeed!" ("Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference")
Back around 2003, after finding that my mind was wondering way too much when I was studying Zhuan Falun in English, I decided to read only Chinese because it forced me to stay completely focused.
Lately, when I read Chinese out loud and really study and take in every character and sentence, I feel strong energy rushing through my body. Sometimes it gets quite intense, as if all my cells are being sizzled in high energy matter, sometimes to the point where it's difficult to continue. The feeling is sharp, but also euphoric, and it often makes me giggle like a little child.
I used to have problems staying awake while reading, but now it's totally the opposite, and I just don't want to stop.
Recently, I came to the realization that I wasn't taking the formula for righteous thoughts very seriously. I was just mumbling it out as part of a formality. Sometimes, I wouldn't even remember if I had said it or not. One day, I decided to put strong focus on the words and to really feel the meaning, much in the way I was doing while reading Zhuan Falun in Chinese.
The effect was really powerful! For the first time, I felt like my gong (cultivation energy) was rushing out of my body to eliminate evil. When I really understood that I was helping Master rectify heaven and earth, the energy was even greater, and my body started shaking. I could feel that I was eliminating evil in the macrocosm and the microcosm simultaneously. I used to struggle to stay awake for the entire ten minutes, but now it's a completely different story, and I often continue past the ten minutes.
A few days ago, in the middle of doing the fifth exercise, I was pondering my not-so-good situation of not being in the state of ding (tranquility) for a very long time--almost ten years now! Over the years, I stopped doing all five exercises every day, and as Dafa project work became heavy, I had to really struggle to stay awake after only 15 minutes of sitting. How could I do well sending forth righteous thoughts if I didn't strengthen my supernormal powers? Just then, I recalled Master's teaching:
"We listen to the music to have it replace your chaotic thoughts; otherwise you’d have all kinds of thoughts. You would be thinking about this, thinking about that… Besides, this music is our Dafa’s music. There’s inner meaning as well as the magnificent Buddha Fa behind the music. So, when you listen to the music, it’s as if you’re listening to Buddha music or a Buddha’s voice—it serves that sort of function." ("Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference")
I had known this, and had tried it many times before, but this time I really focused my mind like I did when reading Zhuan Falun in Chinese. I put all my awareness into every tone coming out of the exercise music. Very quickly, the energy of the music penetrated all the cells in my body, and my mind became extremely clear. I hadn't felt this good doing the fifth exercise in a long time, and I felt very energetic afterwards. I now look forward to doing it every day.
These recent experiences have really helped me to cultivate as I did in the beginning.
Thank you, Master!Heshi