(Minghui.org) It sounded reasonable when other practitioners said, “It’s no big deal to go on the Internet or play online games, as long as we do the three things.”
Unfortunately, their attitude showed that they had failed to completely understand the depth of a practitioner's responsibilities.
As practitioners, our obsession with the Internet may weaken our determination to be diligent. The accumulated impact may be corrosive and ruin us if we become absorbed in virtual worlds such as WeChat, online games, movies, websites, online shopping, TV programs, and so on.
When I looked at myself, I realized that my excessive interest in the Internet was a non-practitioner's attachment. The impact was subtle, and I didn't heed the warning signs: I wasn't able to calm down when I meditated, I was sleepy and could not focus when I studied the Fa, and I’d become overly preoccupied with domestic trifles.
I felt just like the boiled frog who failed to realize what was happening until it was too late, until he was cooked. We've probably all experienced that feeling of sudden shock at some point in our cultivation. Sometimes when a tribulation comes suddenly, we feel trapped and don't know how to free ourselves.
At that moment we may not realize that it has anything to do with our Internet addiction, because it doesn't seem that there's a direct connection between it and our cultivation state. However, just like the frog who is quite happy to sit in the cauldron of comfortable water until it's too late, we need to pay attention to the rising temperature or, in this case, to our growing addiction to the Internet, to becoming complacent even though we see the warning signs.
I feel that we ourselves are ultimately the cause of any interference, because we’ve allowed negative substances to enter when we’re relaxed and distracted by the Internet or TV. We need to pay attention to the warning signs and jump out of the pot before we are cooked.
My Wake Up
I had gradually become obsessed with online games. Even when I was asleep, I often dreamed that I was a character in a game I liked to play.
One day as I was playing a game, I saw myself in another dimension being dragged away by a group of monsters who were characters in the game. I shouted, “I am a Dafa disciple! Master, please help me!” The head devil just laughed. “Can someone like you be considered a Dafa disciple?!” The other devils yelled, “It’s useless to call your master!”
Desperately, I fought to get back into my body in this dimension, but the devils kept pulling me back into the game. They repeatedly dragged me away from my body as I struggled to go back.
That night, I could not fall asleep. Every time I dozed off, I could feel my soul being pulled out of my body by those monsters. Exhausted, I begged Master to help. I started to recite the Fa. I suddenly saw the word “stability,” and my body became too heavy for them to move.
I knew Master was helping me. I fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning, I was still shaken even though I knew I was safe. Master indeed saved me.
A few days ago, my wife and I watched an online show where a young man ate a live centipede. As I watched, I felt uncomfortable all over. I felt nauseous and my chest felt tight, but I couldn't stop watching. When it was over, I went to bed.
As soon as I closed my eyes, I saw ghosts! I was shocked and regretted that I had invited something so unclean. One of the ghosts was the man who had eaten the centipede.
On the surface, the networks are promoting their games, gourmet food, tourism, entertainment, culture, religion, lifestyle, or current news. For us practitioners, and indeed for all everyday people, an interest in these things is dragging us down. In order to pique people's interest, immoral things are now mixed into everything.
Through these experiences, I was finally able to break free of my addiction to playing games online and surfing the Internet.
Category: Improving Oneself
