(Clearwisdom.net) One day when I got out of bed, I wondered whether I could persist in doing the Falun Dafa exercises because the weather was getting colder. When I turned on the tape player, it wouldn't play the music. I said to the tape player, "I know I had a wrong thought, but you should not follow my thought. We should not let the old forces control us. Let me do the exercises." When I pushed the on button again, it worked. However, in the following days, the tape player began to slow down and it just stopped working. I knew it was my state of mind that caused it. I needed to find my mistake.

For quite some time I have not been serious about doing the exercises. I followed the music, but many times my mind wandered. Allowing my mind to wander indicated that my main consciousness was weak. A few days ago, when I opened Zhuan Falun, I felt very tired and wanted to sleep. I knew I was being controlled, so I refused to go to bed. Leaning against the sofa, I was in a daze. I heard people shouting, "At this point in time, who wants to practice Falun Gong?" I was pushed to say, "Whoever practices Falun Gong is a fool." When I finished saying that , I realized it was not really me saying it. I told myself that I am a practitioner and that I am not a fool. Then, I fell asleep and had a dream. I was walking barefoot on the gravel, which hurt my feet. I put on my shoes and arrived at a celery field. The field was covered by a layer of white dirt and I tried to clean it. Then someone pulled me from the field and I woke up. I then realized that I was trying to avoid doing hard work. I must study the Fa diligently in order to remove the dirt that covered me up. With this understanding, the feeling of sleepiness disappeared.

With a firm purpose, Master is helping me. Whenever I feel tired, I will be given hints. I realize that I should not always rely on Master's help. It's said in Zhuan Falun, "You say that you must be firm and sure-footed. With this determination, if you can indeed be firmly resolute at that point, you will naturally do well because your xinxing will have already improved." (Official translation) However, if we do not focus on making progress, Master cannot really help us. "Who can force you to change your heart?" (Zhuan Falun)

Now, I do the exercises every day. The player still doesn't work, but this forces me to memorize the proper sequence and steps of all the exercises. Furthermore, I am more focused on what I am doing and I have less random thoughts.

Practitioners who have a similar problem as I do, please focus when doing the exercises. Master said, "A complete cultivation practice of mind and body requires both cultivation and practice." (Zhuan Falun) If we do not do the exercises, we are not following Master's teaching. Furthermore, lack of focus has an adverse impact on transforming our body and strengthening our gong. Master told us that doing the exercises would make our righteous thoughts more powerful and this is needed when we try to clarify the facts to people. So from the standpoint of saving sentient beings, we also need to do the exercises.

Of course, I am not advocating that we not use the exercise tape. Both the music and the words contain gong and power. The point is that we must concentrate while doing the exercises. A lack of focus is a lack of respect for Master. Using the exercise tape to do the exercises is the best way.

The old forces will use every opportunity to interfere with our actions. By making sure that every one of our thoughts is righteous, we will become more firm and mature. This will scare the evil away.

This is my current understanding. If there is anything improper, please point it out.