(Clearwisdom.net) I am a young female practitioner. I began my practice early in 1999. At that time I was in grade six. Later that year in July the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started its persecution of Falun Gong.
Even though the CCP did not allow the practice of Dafa, my mother told me that Dafa was good, and so we continued with our practice at home. We studied the Fa every day, and I learned to exercise patience in school. I knew I could do well in school if I read one chapter of Zhuan Falun every day. When a new article came out, I read it, too. Generally, I did the first four exercises every day and used school work as an excuse not to do more. My parents were more diligent than I, but I never quit practicing over the last ten years.
In college I continued with my Fa-study, but I treated it like a task to be completed. I wasn't serious in following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in my daily life. Like many college girls I got on the Internet, made love, and had fun with friends. I did tell my boyfriend about Dafa and got him to make the three withdrawals, but I did it in an everyday person's way. I didn't give him the opportunity to appreciate Dafa. Later we parted for other reasons and now I regret that I didn't help him have a better impression of Dafa. I hope that other practitioners will adhere to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance closely in their daily lives, so that they won't have the same regrets I do.
From fellow practitioners I often hear about how to cultivate and validate the Fa, including from the Fifth Internet Experience Sharing Conference for Practitioners in China on the Minghui (Chinese version of Clearwisdom) website. I liked all those articles and feel that I am in a better environment than most of the authors. However, I had not done much in terms of "clarifying the facts" and made no great effort in Fa-study. I am truly ashamed of myself.
This is the first time I have written an article. The reason I am doing it is because I noticed a particular situation. Many practitioners my age who started cultivating before the persecution began in July 1999 had either quit or were doing minimal Fa-study. If a good number of them return to serious practice, it would be very helpful in terms of preparing truth clarifying fact sheets, downloading materials, and more. Practitioners in my age group are more adept with electronics than the older folks, and it is also easier for the younger group to speak to people of their own generation. However, many of the young practitioners I know have quit cultivating, even though their parents are still diligent practitioners. Also, the parents are not pushing their children to study Dafa like they did before the persecution. Why is that? Is it because they have too much homework to do? No, not for a real practitioner. Maybe the parents feel that knowing "Dafa is good" is all that is needed. The parents may also feel that their children don't want to listen to them. However, I feel that this group of young practitioners belongs to the Fa-rectification period not the later period. Their job is to assist Master in the Fa-rectification period and complete their historical mission to save sentient beings. As a member of the family of practitioners, the person has obtained the Fa and hence has a responsibility to assist Master in Fa-rectification. A reorientation towards seeking a better material life can't be their true purpose. I believe that the life of a practitioner is pre-arranged by Master and hence he will not lose anything that belongs to him. However, some of these young practitioners will pray for Master's help when they need to make a good grade or to find a good school but don't give much thought to saving sentient beings or doing the three things well. I think they should be ashamed of themselves. I also feel that their parents are responsible for providing them with guidance.
What I am hoping for is that their parents will recognize that what is best for their children is returning to diligent cultivation. The young practitioners should learn to focus more on Fa-study and on improving their character. They should be serious about their own cultivation and about saving their friends, classmates, and the general public, thus becoming true disciples during the Fa-rectification period. I hope we all can fulfill our mission during this historical period and help every practitioner remind every other practitioner to make sure that no practitioner is left behind.
