Defeating "Sleep Demons"

(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I have been constantly interfered with by "sleep demons" while I was studying the Fa or doing the exercises. It was very hard to get rid of them. Although I kept sending forth righteous thoughts every day, I always felt sleepy. I had no way to control it, so I gave myself reasons to defend my need for more sleep. I have heard that many practitioners have similar disturbances as well.

One day, I suddenly realized that in places like prisons and labor camps, the evil cruelly persecutes Dafa practitioners' physical bodies in order to wear down their firm belief. Fatigue is one of the most insidious methods of persecution that the old forces have adopted. It is very hard to discern. It directly prevents us from studying the Fa and doing the exercises. When we send forth righteous thoughts toward "sleep demons," just like toward the evil dens, we can eliminate this serious interference.

The following are excerpts from my diary about eliminating the interference of "sleep demons."

At noon on July 20, I kept sending forth righteous thoughts for an hour and a half. I was very sleepy, and I fell asleep right after I finished saying, "Eliminate the interference from sleep demons with righteous thoughts." After a couple of seconds, I suddenly opened my eyes and forced myself awake, and again sent forth righteous thoughts. I fell asleep again. I kept doing this for an hour and a half. I was panting with exhaustion. After an hour and a half, I felt different. I felt pain in my chest. I enlightened that this is to get rid of the root of the attachment to "seeking comfort."

At noon on July 24, I again kept sending forth righteous thoughts for over two hours and it was similar to the first day.

On July 25, in two sessions I sent forth righteous thoughts for about three hours. When the three hours was almost up, I felt my head enlarge. I felt as if something burst out through the skin of my head, and the muscles on the back of my neck became stiff. After that, the skin on my head and the muscles in my face started to become stiff, and my head shook a little bit. Then, my chest swelled, and I felt nauseous but could not vomit. After that, I gradually calmed down. My head was clear again and I did not feel sleepy any more. I enlightened that this was to get rid of the interference and to get rid of my attachments.

When I felt sleepy again, I thought, "Lie down and sleep for a while. It might be just a couple of minutes." But I did not. I eliminated that thought with a strong main consciousness. I insisted on not laying down to sleep.

On July 26, I kept sending forth righteous thoughts for over two hours. However, at night, my attachment to comfort overwhelmed me. I laid down at 9:00 p.m. and fell asleep right away. I woke up at 3:00 a.m.

I felt pain in my lower back when I woke up and realized that it was Master enlightening me that I am too lazy.

Master has endured everything for us. I even could not pass through this little tribulation. I was irritated. What can demons do to me if I sleep less? I could study the "Fa" more, do the exercises more, and do the three things more if I sleep less. This is what demons were trying to hinder.

On July 27, my status was much better. I used to be sleepy every noontime and spent the time sleeping. I felt much better today. I did the first four sets of exercises and studied a paragraph of a Fa lecture. I kept sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the sleep demons after I finished studying the Fa. I almost don't feel sleepy when I am sending forth righteous thoughts anymore.

Every day when I send forth the righteous thoughts to eliminate the sleep demons, I position myself on a slope in the shade in order to avoid going to sleep. I opened my eyes to send forth the righteous thoughts. There are many scars that looks like eyes and mouths on the poplar tree in my field of vision. Every day, I stared at those scars while sending forth righteous thoughts. Today, I stared at these scars as usual. After I finished sending forth the righteous thoughts, I suddenly found that the scars that used to look dead, suddenly looked like they were smiling. I didn't believe it in the beginning and thought it might be due to my own mind, so I blinked my eyes very hard and took a look at them again. They are smiling at me and it is indeed different now.

On this night my spirit was in excellent condition. I could concentrate on Fa study and sleep for only four hours at night.

On July 28, I got up at 2:30 a.m., practiced the exercises, and studied the Fa.

I used to think that when I felt sleepy, I could resist the need to sleep if I went out to take a walk. Today I enlightened that I could not solve this problem from the root with this method because "sleep" is brought out by the attachment of "seeking comfort." I could eliminate the interference only by striving forward in the Fa with very strong righteous thoughts.

The above is about my experience of defeating "sleep demons." I wanted to share this with fellow practitioners in order for us to strive forward further. Fellow practitioners, please point out anything incorrect with compassion.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/8/15/160886.html

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