Q&A 29 on the Contemplative Practice of the Four Establishments of Mindfulness

Question: I have a realization: when I sometimes feel tired and irritable, I easily fall into slackness, feeling that I am not in the right state at all. How can I adjust myself out of this?

Answer: Everyone has a lot of karmic obstructions. When obstructive conditions arise, cultivation inevitably becomes difficult, and slackness will appear. The process of cultivation is one of advancing and retreating—sometimes diligent, sometimes slack. After karmic obstructions arise, irritable emotions will appear; at such times one cannot concentrate and cannot be diligent, and so one slackens off. When this situation occurs, you should intensify your recitation of the Śūraṅgama Mantra, using the power of the Śūraṅgama Mantra to eliminate karmic obstructions, strengthen your resolve for the Path, and accelerate your cultivation. The power of the mantra is very great. Relying solely on your own strength, it is very difficult to achieve accomplishment in cultivation; you must rely on the blessing power of all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharma-protecting deities to shield us from a portion of our karmic obstructions so that we are not disturbed. Only after some karmic obstructions have been removed can you keep advancing diligently, and only in the end can you achieve some accomplishment. Therefore, before seeing the Path, never interrupt your recitation of the Śūraṅgama Mantra. Set yourself a fixed number of recitations and persist every day. The blessing power of the mantra is very great; once you become accustomed to it, you will experience unexpected effects, and you will change without even realizing it.