(Clearwisdom.net) After I read the article by practitioners about missing sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight because of sleep, I think people should pay more attention to this issue. Time is very precious now! Sending forth righteous thoughts is of the utmost importance. How could we miss sending forth righteous thoughts due to sleep? During that time, isn't it better to study the Fa or do the exercises because it is quiet and there is less interference? Of course, everyone has his or her own schedule and the necessary sleep should be ensured. What I want to say here is: we should look at things based on the Fa and use our time wisely.

Some practitioners think they would be too tired with less sleep. If they go to sleep later or wake up earlier, they feel that they haven't had a good rest. As a practitioner, the fatigue in our bodies should not be a major concern. Our notions and long-term habits influence our thoughts. If you have the notion that less sleep will make you tired, then you will really be under the delusion that you feel very tired or sleepy. The dark minions will then use these notions and attachments to interfere and do damage. They have you waste time on sleep or other things, or feel tired and unable to focus when sending forth righteous thoughts or studying the Fa. I used to have a midday nap, otherwise I would feel tired for the whole afternoon. But later on, I thought it was not a proper state. We do not have enough time, so how could I spend precious time on sleep? Now I don't sleep any more at noon and have reduced my sleep time at night. The saved time is used to study the Fa or do Fa-rectification things. I feel even more energetic. Sometimes when I do feel tired, I know it is interference from the dark minions and should be rejected and eliminated with righteous thoughts. There was an article on the Clearwisdom website about one practitioner who only sleeps for two or three hours everyday, and then makes phone calls to clarify the truth after sending forth righteous thoughts at 12 a.m. The practitioner then feels more energetic and makes phone calls until 2 or 3 a.m.

The human environment can make people lazy and create attachments to comfort. Sometimes I think about our fellow practitioners in re-education centers, in jails or brainwashing classes who are still very determined despite their situation. The guards often deprive them of sleep, and frequently they are only allowed two or three hours of sleep per day. Sometimes they are not even allowed to sleep for several days, dozens of days or even longer, and are also subjected to torture. Less sleep doesn't account for anything, but they really want to study the Fa. However, they can only share a few words or sentences when talking with other practitioners or read the newspapers that slander Dafa. In comparison, practitioners outside of China have such a good environment, there are so many things waiting for us to do, and so many sentient beings are waiting for us to save them. But some people don't cherish the time. Actually, it is not just an issue of sleep. Some spend too much energy and time on irrelevant things, and some even focus pointlessly on sentiments or desires.

Of course, we have our daily lives, our jobs, and other things to do. We shouldn't go to an extreme. It is not necessarily true that things will be better with less sleep. Everyone should act accordingly. An adequate amount of sleep or rest should be guaranteed. The purpose of this article is to encourage us to use time wisely and strive forward diligently.

Let me quote from Master Li to encourage us:

"There is a small number of students who are privately becoming like buddies and pals--'we do things together, we're a little group'--and they often talk about a bunch of useless things, wasting large amounts of time. Right now every minute and every second is crucial. If you miss out during this period of time, you miss out on everything. History won't recur. The history of the cosmos and the Three Realms have gone through so many, long, long years--what have all the beings been waiting for? What are they all here for? For exactly these few years! Yet there are [Dafa] students who are squandering their lives during these few years, not seizing the time. And yet you are shouldering such huge responsibilities for all beings and for history!" ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference")

On September 02, 2004