(Clearwisdom.net) Several years ago I repeatedly saw the manifestations of my own thoughts in another dimension. I would like to share this experience with my fellow practitioners. It was over a period of a couple of nights, around the time that I typically performed the exercises, that this kind of thought came up: "I'm so tired today. I'll make up for it by doing the exercises tomorrow morning" or "It's still early. I'll rest a bit first." On these occasions I succumbed to the persuasiveness of those thoughts. One day I enlightened to understand that this kind of thought didn't originate from me. Rather, it was a corrupted substance formed out of my human concepts and laziness. When these substances manifest themselves, it is an opportunity to make a breakthrough and eliminate them. If I succumbed their influence, I would be strengthening them. When I understood this, I was no longer under their control.
Doing the sitting meditation, I was usually quite good at the start. After a while, a thought would suddenly spring up: "This is good enough. I've sat in meditation long enough now!" As I complied with this thought and began to move my hands out of the meditation position, an odd kite-like creature sprang into view. Its face resembled that of an old woman and its body appeared to be a giant centipede. I could see that it was happily shaking its head, smiling and wagging its tail. I thought, "So this is the being responsible for all this! I won't let you manipulate me anymore!" Once I had this thought, the creature appeared to be in terrible pain as it melted away.
Another time, when I finished watching the weather forecast on TV, I changed the channel and saw a spy-themed television drama on another channel. A few intelligence personnel were planning something. One of them looked and sounded very intelligent. I thought to myself, "This actor has an appealing appearance." As I practiced the sitting meditation that night, my mind stirred as I thought of that person. Then I started thinking, "What is his name? Why can't I recall it?" After I had this one thought, a fish-like creature with a giant head appeared. As it repeatedly opened and closed its mouth, I noticed that its mouth took up most of its head. Seeing this, I recalled a phrase from Teacher in Zhuan Falun, "...preserving the good part and removing the bad part..." Then the creature disappeared.
After a little while, my mind again stirred up thoughts of ordinary human matters, and I once again was manipulated.
Sitting in meditation, my mind began to wander: "How should I arrange the furniture in my home? What should I prepare for my daughter's dowry?" As I became entranced in these thoughts, I suddenly saw an expanse of tainted waters coming together to form a vast sea. There were many children struggling to remain afloat in the tainted body of water. As they fought to get to the surface, I saw two or three ropes tied around their necks, dragging them back down again. Sitting on the surface of the water was a goddess, who appeared to be extending her hand in an attempt to rescue the children. However, she remained still, holding her posture, as though she was a statue. After seeing this tragic scene, I sadly thought to myself, "It's because I couldn't cultivate myself well enough that sentient beings are in danger. I don't want human thoughts! I can't let down all those sentient beings who are depending on me." When I had this thought, I could see the goddess raising her arm, saving the children one by one.
Then I thought, "I must write down my experience to remind fellow practitioners that we have to place importance on our every thought." But I became lax once again and thought not to write anything. I thought, "Everyone is so steadfast and making progress in cultivation, and I am still struggling with these human thoughts and attachments. Wouldn't it be too embarrassing for me to share? Maybe I shouldn't write anything." That night I had a dream. In the dream there was a conference, and I was responsible for providing lunch for everyone. I saw that there were so many people attending. It was almost lunchtime, but I was still standing there, guarding a large bowl of fermented dough, and casually staring at the large pot of boiling water. It looked as if I wasn't going to cook the dough. I was breaking my promise.
This led me to enlighten to the following: That one thought I had about sharing my experience with fellow practitioners was also a promise to practitioners. This promise also had its manifestation in another dimension. It's likely that there are practitioners out there who are in need and waiting for this reminder.
Fellow practitioners, my apologies! Today I am writing my experiences down. I hope we can understand and realize the importance of eliminating our own bad thoughts in our minds, treat cultivation with seriousness, and never break our vows!
