(Clearwisdom.net) During the process of my cultivation, I have frequently been bothered by thought karma. Sometimes while I lie in bed or when I am quietly alone, bad thoughts flood my mind. I remind myself that I am a Falun Gong practitioner and I cannot let my thoughts run wild. After a while, the bad thoughts come again. For a period of time, this also disturbed me so much that I was not at peace with myself. I thought that since my thought karma was so powerful, it must be that I was not diligent enough in my Fa study. I must study and assimilate to the Fa more. Thus, I studied the Fa continuously. I fed my brain with the Fa and slowly I could feel that the thought karma was not as strong as before. However, when I was not noticing, the bad thoughts still appeared in my mind. These bad thoughts would lead the mind astray. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate them and when I stopped, they came back again.
Master said,
"Since everything in other dimensions has life, karma is also the same. When one begins to practice cultivation in a righteous way, one must eliminate one's karma. Eliminating karma means having karma wiped out and transformed. Of course, karma will resist, and so one will have tribulations and obstacles." (Zhuan Falun)
I have a deep understanding of this. The thought karma has a life of its own. Once bad thoughts surface, if we don't immediately send righteous thoughts to eliminate them, these bad thoughts will grow very quickly like a living thing. They will very quickly take over your mind. Later, even if I reminded myself that I was a Falun Gong practitioner, it wasn't easy to turn things around. Subsequently, when these bad thoughts started to sprout, I quickly sent righteous thoughts to eliminate them. I would usually concentrate on the word "Mie" (eliminate) and they would be gone with one thought. In fact if your heart is righteous, it is very easy to eliminate evil. In the past I let my bad thoughts go wild because I didn't rectify my heart and didn't differentiate myself from the evil. The bad thoughts thus took over my mind very quickly.
I have this understanding: The reason I was interfered with over an extended time by thought karma is because I did not send righteous thoughts to eliminate these thoughts on a timely basis. In the past I would usually be interfered with by sleepiness. I felt sleepy when I was studying the Fa or practicing the exercises. I tried my best to persist but I felt that my head was very heavy. It was as though there was a heavy weight on it. I ignored it and continued studying the Fa. My head would later start to hurt, but I did not give in and after enduring it for a while, I would suddenly feel much better. It must be that our compassionate Master saw my determination and helped me eliminate the bad things.
I would like to mention this paragraph in Master's Fa,
"As a student, if his mind is filled with nothing but Dafa, this person is definitely a genuine cultivator. So you must have a clear understanding on the matter of studying the Fa. Reading the books more and studying the books more is the key to truly elevating yourself. To put it more simply, as long as you read Dafa, you are changing; as long as you read Dafa, you are elevating. The boundless content of Dafa plus the supplementary means--the exercises--will enable you to reach Consummation." ("Melt Into the Fa" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Studying the Fa is the fundamental means of improving. As long as we study the Fa well, there is no problem that cannot be solved.