What I Now Understand about the Pain in My Legs During Meditation

(Minghui.org) My legs have been quite stiff since I was young, and although I know this is a human notion, I have still suffered quite a lot during my meditation sessions.

After I started cultivating Falun Dafa, it took me half a year to sit with my legs in the full lotus position. My legs hurt during the meditation, and for the first decade or more of my cultivation I was slightly unwilling to do the meditation and would give in to laziness at times. During recent years, I have strengthened my Fa study and practicing of the exercises, and I now meditate almost every day. I made a breakthrough and it is no longer difficult for me to meditate for an hour.

During my meditation sessions, I have had many miraculous experiences. I could even meditate for an hour and a half. But can the path of cultivation always be smooth-sailing? My legs ached again recently when I meditated. One morning, I overcame the state of experiencing pain in my legs when I meditated. I had been hearing that some veteran practitioners I knew, who are very diligent in their cultivation, had also had this problem, so I would like to share my experience and hope that it may serve as some inspiration to fellow practitioners.

If veteran practitioners who have been cultivating for a long time experience pain in our legs frequently when we meditate, even to the extent that we cannot continue until the exercise music finishes, we should look within more to see if it is time for us to improve our xinxing. Or is it because we have fallen behind in our Fa study recently and we cannot calm down? My experience is that if I study the Fa well and do not have many attachments, it will be very easy for me to calm down, and I will even be able to enter the state of tranquility during meditation. While in tranquility, I will feel that my body is in another dimension and I will not really feel pain in my legs, because the pain belongs to my human body in this dimension.

Although I had been putting effort into looking within and studying the Fa, my legs still hurt when I meditated recently. Sometimes, the pain was really intolerable. Two days ago, I meditated in the morning until the 40-minute mark when my legs started to hurt. When I tried to calm down, I felt that I seemed to have entered my own microscopic world. I had a similar experience when I was doing the Falun Standing Stance for two hours. When my arms hurt, I calmed down and entered into a state of tranquility (jing) and concentration (ding). That way, I would not focus on my human body and I would thus not feel much pain.

Pain itself is not frightening. I understand that pain is not the critical part of the problem. The critical part of the problem is the irritability that comes with the pain. Catching and getting rid of the attachment of being irritated by the pain is the crux.

We all know that there are elements within the Three Realms that are created to impose restrictions on human beings. For example, aging, illness, and death, and, likewise, pain. When the pain takes over in the human body, cultivators can supersede it. I understand that our body is constructed with a built-in ability to feel pain. When we do not feel pain and are able to supersede it, we will not be moved by these lowly elements. In order to attain this level, our thoughts must first supersede human notions. How can we supersede the human level when we have the attachment of being afraid of pain?!

So when the pain in my legs attacked me, I caught hold of the attachment that made me feel irritated and the fear of the pain and separated myself from it. I understood that karma was causing that pain, and karma was also feeling the pain. I need not feel that pain. I got rid of the human attachment that makes me waver because of the pain. Even though my legs might still hurt, that pain will no longer disturb my mind. I can remain unmoved by the pain, and I am naturally able to continue with my meditation without feeling that it is intolerable.

The day before yesterday I was still tolerating unbearable pain, and up to the very last minute, I was still taking it bit by bit. But now that I have changed my thoughts, the change is really very obvious. I lament that, all this time, it was human notions obstructing me. I have experienced the mysterious and miraculous nature of Dafa.

The above is my understanding at my current level. Kindly let me know if there is any room for improvement.

Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)