The Importance of Purifying One’s Heart Before One Can Exercise with a Calm Heart

(Minghui.org) While I was memorizing the Fa recently, I understood another level of the Fa. Dafa pointed out to me clearly how to do the exercises and cultivate myself. I am writing this to share with fellow practitioners and to also let it serve as a reminder to fellow practitioners who are facing a situation similar to mine.

I was memorizing the last segment of “Practicing Evil Cultivation” in Lecture Five of Zhuan Falun. Master said, 

“Qigong practice requires one to value de. In doing the exercises, if you do not think about good things, at least you should not think about bad things. It is best if you do not think about anything. This is because during low-level qigong practice, a foundation must be laid. This foundation will play a critical role, for human mind activities have quite a part to play. Think about it, everyone: What are you adding to your gong? How can what you are practicing be good? How can it not be black? How many people who practice qigong are without these kinds of ideas? Though you practice qigong all the time, why haven’t your illnesses gone away? Though some people do not have those bad thoughts at the exercise sites, they always practice qigong with an attachment to supernormal abilities, the pursuit for this or that, different mentalities, and a variety of strong desires. Actually, they have already practiced evil cultivation unknowingly. If you say that this person is practicing an evil way, he or she will be unhappy, “I was taught by a well-known qigong master.” But that well-known qigong master asked you to value de. Have you done it? During qigong practice, you always add some bad thoughts. How can you say your practice will yield good results? This is the problem, and it is unknowingly practicing evil cultivation—something very common.” (Lecture Five, Zhuan Falun)

Reflecting on this Fa, I found the shortcoming in my cultivation. All these years, I was seldom able to calm my heart down while practicing the exercises. While practicing the Falun Standing Stance, my mind was often busy with all sorts of worries, such as things that are waiting to be done, or how a matter should be done, etc.

I am passionate about writing essays, so I often thought about my manuscripts while I was doing the meditation. I thought about how the essays should be written, what content should be used, how to write the conclusion, etc. Through repeatedly improvising my thoughts about the manuscript, the initial draft would basically be formed. Sometimes when the desire to write essays acted up, I would not be able to control myself and I would do heshi (put my palms together) and end the meditation so that I could turn on my computer and start writing.

Through memorizing the Fa, I have a clearer understanding of the Fa. I seemed to have realized that this kind of behavior is actually practicing evil cultivation without realizing it. No wonder my body condition fluctuated. It was because I did not abide by the standards of a practitioner and my behavior was a far cry from the standards of the Fa. In reality, I had already deviated from my cultivation path, which led to some problems, but I was still unaware of it. Although I did the exercises every day, my gong was not growing.

After reflecting deeply, I finally understood that my desire was so strong that I could not calm myself down and would keep “writing” the essay while I was practicing the exercises. I would finally rush off to write out the essay without finishing the exercises. Isn’t this desire a form of attachment? Isn’t this an attachment that a cultivator should get rid of?

After having a clear understanding of this Fa principle, I found the shortcomings in my cultivation and a change happened in my heart. Quietly in my heart, I became determined to correct myself strictly based on the Fa. I would no longer let my thoughts run wild. I should get rid of those delusions and try my best to attain the standard that Master has mentioned in his lectures.

While practicing the fifth set of exercises, if bad thoughts came into my mind, I warned them, “You are not allowed to disturb me when I am doing the exercises. You should leave quickly or I am obliged to get rid of you.” Once the righteous thought emerged, the left side of my head started to hurt, followed by the right side. I knew that Master was helping me get rid of the bad matter. However, this matter cannot take it in its stride, so it causes my head to hurt.

After suffering from the pain for a while, I really became able to calm down. Furthermore, I sat with a dignified posture. I have felt a Falun spinning on my palm and my whole body felt very comfortable. When a bad image appeared in front of me, I immediately got rid of it and said, “I will not acknowledge you and I do not want you. I want to get rid of you thoroughly.”

Before writing this sharing article, thoughts about how this essay should be written, what title should be used, etc., kept coming into my mind. I sent out a strong righteous thought, “You should not create disturbances for me. I am a Dafa practitioner and I want to do the exercises.” Every time after I finish sending these righteous thoughts, a Falun will spin above my head. I know deep down that this is the Falun from Master helping get rid of my sentient attachments and distracting thoughts. After that, my mind will become clear. The bad matter is eliminated and my heart is thus able to calm down.

While practicing the second set of exercises, if a sentient thought appears in my mind, I will catch hold of it and get rid of it immediately. Whatever sentient thoughts appear, I will get rid of them. Continuously getting rid of these thoughts, I have felt that my mind is not only quiet, it is also empty. There are no more disturbances. At that same time, my body is also wrapped by a form of miraculous energy that no words can describe. My whole body feels so warm.

While I am sending forth righteous thoughts, I sit upright with a solemn heart. Once a bad thought appears, I will treat it with righteous thoughts, “You are not allowed to create disturbances. I want to get rid of you, disintegrate you, and destroy you.” With that, I am able to get into a quiet mode and settle my heart down. My whole body seems surrounded by a strong form of warmth.

Only by abiding by Dafa’s requirements to do the exercises is the righteous path or way. I have understood a level of this Fa. Only with a clean heart can we calm our minds and truly obtain the gong, ultimately leading to a positive change in our bodies. Our bodies will be able to attain the state of feeling very light. We will not get tired when working and will always be full of energy.