How to overcome drowsiness in the process of studying Buddhism and practicing Buddhism?

In fact, lethargy is also a thought, but the difference is that it is more stubborn and powerful than ordinary thoughts, and when he comes, he seems to be unable to see his boundaries, as if he is shrouded in an endless cover.

You can use the same method as ordinary thoughts to ** him, and you will find that in fact, he is also changing in life and death, but he has a longer cycle of birth and death change than ordinary thoughts. You will find that he is also a delusion without self.

Question: I like to study the scriptures and teachings, and I can't release the books with my hands, and I enjoy them with relish; And when you chant the Buddha in the name, you are either drowsy or dropped, what is the reason for this phenomenon? How is it treated?

Venerable Da'an replied: It is understandable that most of the cultural people who study Buddhism are happy to study the teachings, and they always want to get the great support from the scriptures and get real use. However, figuring out the true meaning of Wang Qi's Buddhist scriptures with the heart of life and death often pushes farther and farther. Therefore, it is advisable to start with real cultivation and hard work.

The Pure Land Dharma Sect believes in the three types of food, among which the recitation of the Buddha by name is the fulfillment of the vow. Since we have no beginning, we have always begged for a life in a pile of delusional thoughts, so when we first started reciting the Buddha, we were either troubled by a fog-like drowsiness, or the distracting thoughts were surging, and the Buddha's name was washed away without a trace. Coupled with the inherent habit of slackness and relaxation, there will be a lack of the courage to go into battle with one person and ten thousand enemies, and chanting Buddha will follow the same path.

I have been wandering for several years, but I have not received the slightest joy of reciting the Dharma.

It is necessary to know that reading the scriptures and teaching is like reading a prescription, and holding the name and reciting the Buddha's prescription is taking medicine. Yin Zu taught, a person who truly recites the Buddha honestly, has one minute to read the scriptures, and nine minutes to recite the Buddha. The intention is to let us enter from the recitation of the Buddha and the practice of holding the tent.

Therefore, cultural people should learn Buddhism from the perspective of difficulty and common things. Set the number of Buddhas to recite every day, or 10,000, or 20,000, or 30,000; In addition, there are a number of Buddha worships. All homework is recorded in the book and checked regularly.

If you have the opportunity, you can participate in the Seven Diligence Buddhas, or the Millions of Buddhas. In short, it is to make the Buddha name from raw to mature, and then stop contemplating and moving, fixing wisdom, etc., and the effort is effective. At this time, reading the scriptures and teachings, the heart is naturally bright, and the tacit understanding is in the heart.

Drowsiness is when the state of meditation becomes very heavy, unclear, cloudy, sluggish, and sometimes the practitioner becomes drowsy, and feels very heavy and lacks clarity, which is the first obstacle to meditation.

The second obstacle is hyperactivity or dropping, that is, the mind of the practitioner is too excited, has too many thoughts of the past, or the thoughts are constant and so intense that the mind cannot be absorbed.

There are six difficulties or obstacles to meditation.

The first is over-desire.

The second obstacle is having a sense of resentment.

The third obstacle to meditation is lethargy.

The fourth obstacle to meditation is drowsiness.

The fifth obstacle is hyperactivity or dropping.

The sixth obstacle is remorse.

Suggestion: When we start to meditate, it is better to do many short meditations than a few long meditations. This is important.

Only by strictly observing the precepts can we gradually eliminate the delusions in our hearts and purify our hearts.

For people who have too many delusions, there are two general treatments.

One is meditation in motion, which is to be aware of one's own body movements, such as deliberately moving one's arms, and then focusing on the sensation of moving arms, so that one can gain a certain amount of concentration to deal with delusions.

The other is to treat delusions with delusions, that is, to think of a fixed thing, such as reciting the ten names of the Buddha, the Heart Sutra, the recitation of death, etc., not too short, too short the heart is easy to be tight, not too long, too long is easy to scatter, you need to adjust according to your own delusional state, the more delusions, you should choose the least number of words to recite.

Fushimi can be confused by worshipping and confessing.

Practicing is not about getting rid of delusions.

This is a phenomenon that has been common to ordinary people since ancient times. When meditating, after sitting for a long time, you will doze off, and even sleep and snore, which we often hear is a phenomenon of "drowsiness". The other one is "dropping".

What is a drop? There are a lot of delusions; When you don't recite the Buddha, you don't seem to have delusions, but when you recite the Buddha, all the delusions and miscellaneous thoughts arise. You must know that this delusional distraction decision is not made by reciting the Buddha, but that your mind is so chaotic that you don't notice it.

Now I want to retract my heart, and I found out about this harvest. These two are very common phenomena.

How to deal with it? Among the 37 products, the "Seven Bodhi Points" are the methods of treatment, and you should study and study them yourself. To deal with drowsiness, if you feel that you are feeling drowsy when you sit, stand up.

What does standing up? Sutra walking, circumambulation of the Buddha, this antithesis. The other way is to go to the Buddha statue and worship the Buddha, which is the way to cure drowsiness.

As for dropping, it is more difficult than dealing with lethargy, but one of the highest principles is to let go of delusions. How easy is it to let go? The more you want to let go, the more delusions you have.

That's why Gu Dade taught us that at this time, we should concentrate all our minds on the Buddha's name. Although delusions arise at the same time, they don't have to be ignored, and it doesn't matter; Delusions and Buddha names are at the same time, we focus on the Buddha name, don't pay attention to delusions, after a long time, delusions will naturally be less. It's a good way to go and experiment.

Venerable Daan replied:

This is the case for all living beings. There is a side called: Lonely and lonely, lonely and lonely.

That is, when you are in silence and tranquility, you can still have such a contemplative power, that is, you are sympathetic, and your mind is very clear. In the same way, when you are contemplating, you can still stop. This is the practice, which is called the holding of wisdom and the double luck of wisdom.

But ordinary beings have an obstacle to their cultivation, and when they stop, they become drowsy; As soon as he wakes up, he drops, that is, he is delusional. So it's not right to fly in silence and drowsiness, and to think about flying in a panic. There must be loneliness in the loneliness, and there must be compassion in the loneliness, and this needs to be trained by the mind.

Therefore, when we focus on the Buddha name, we can go through the history alone, recite and hear this Buddha name clearly, and there is a meditation in it. Chanting the Buddha's name will not recite the five desires and six dusts, this is the stop. When I recite this Buddha name, I know that I have pronounced it, and I also know that I have listened to it, forming an internal circulation between the heart, mouth, and ears, which is the view.

The relationship between stopping and contemplating, between silence and melancholy, should be slowly experienced and trained.