(Clearwisdom.net) My little niece is eight years old now. She often surprises people, saying words that only an adult would say. She is a child with very strong predestined relationships with Dafa. Neither of her parents understands cultivation, nor do they allow her to cultivate Dafa. She often comes to my home, and I share cultivation stories with her.
Once she came to my home to play while I was reading Zhuan Falun. She curiously asked me, "Aunt, is this the book you said that teaches you how to be a good person?" I handed her the book and let her take a look. She talked to me seriously, "Aunt, I also want to cultivate Buddhahood! I just don't know how to cultivate. How wonderful it is to practice cultivation." I told her, "To cultivate, one needs to behave according to the principle of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance,' to be a good person, to become an even better person, and to finally reach the realm of selflessness and thinking of others before oneself."
Hearing this, she thought for a little while and then excitedly said, "Aunt, I realized five points." She counted her fingers and said, "No. 1, if you don't cultivate Buddhahood, what are you here for? No. 2, if you don't cultivate Buddhahood, your life is meaningless. No. 3, you can only succeed by steadfastly cultivating to the end."
She said it all very quickly, and even I only remembered these three points.
Later on, I taught her to practice the sitting meditation. She learned very fast and was very serious, too. After the practice she happily said, "Aunt, I saw Teacher. Teacher pointed a finger at me and said, 'this is your first time practicing the exercises. You need to practice diligently from now on, and then you can achieve consummation for cultivation of Buddhahood like them." She also said, "When Teacher talked, his mouth didn't move at all, but I heard his voice in my ears."
We are now in the Fa rectification period. Teacher asked us to do three things well. [Study the Fa, clarify the truth and send righteous thoughts] I thought I should put more effort to guide her how to do these three things well. When she came to my home again, I taught her how to send righteous thoughts. I also encouraged her to clarify the truth of Dafa to her schoolmates. She said all of her classmates knew Falun Dafa is good. I gave her a miniature version of Hong Yin [collection of Teacher's poems], and told her to recite one poem each day. After a while she told me she could already recite several poems. She said it was all done after her parents went to sleep. She would slip under the blanket and recite it secretly. Each time when she recited it, tears always ran down her face. She felt very beautiful as if there was an extremely vast space behind the poems. She told me that in the past she had been afraid to sleep by herself. It had seemed as if there was someone in front of her. Now, however, she learned to send forth righteous thoughts and as soon as she silently recited the formulas, the being standing in front of her walked away. She was no longer afraid.
Once, my little niece helplessly said to me, "My mom and dad don't want me to cultivate Dafa. I am so anxious." As she talked, her tears almost came down. I encouraged her and said, "Don't worry, let's send forth righteous thoughts together. Let's eliminate the evil factors in other dimensions that interfere with your practicing Dafa. This way, your parents will also be saved. We should firmly believe that Dafa practitioners' righteous thoughts are powerful. Everything will be fine." Little niece smiled happily.
(This story was compiled from the remembered stories of a fellow practitioner)
Postscript: Hearing this cultivation story, the author was moved by such a strong will to cultivate Buddhahood and the heart of kindness displayed by this eight-year-old little girl, by her disappointment that she could not obtain the Fa in the harsh environment and her yearning for Dafa. I understand from this that we can't neglect the young disciples around us, and that we shouldn't treat them merely as children. We should care for, help and encourage them more in cultivation, as they are also part of the one body of Dafa practitioners.