(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master and fellow practitioners.
My mother and grandparents are practitioners, and I am a 13-year-old practitioner who was raised in a cultivation environment.
When I was younger, sometimes when I woke up, I would see colorful spinning circles above my head, although I was not sure what it was at first. But, as I got older my mother told me that it was the Falun emblem rotating above my head. I did not take practicing seriously until we moved to the U.S. in 2010. That was when I started to read the Fa and did the exercises with my mother.
I would like to talk about my looking inside when facing trouble, how my life changed after I became more involved with Falun Dafa, and how I let go of many attachments.
Understanding the Seriousness of Dafa
When I was little, I was not clear about what cultivation was all about. I knew Dafa was good, and that the Dafa principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good. I copied my mother as to how she cultivated, and read the Fa and did the exercises with her, but I never thought about why I should practice Dafa.
Then, my mother asked me why I wanted to cultivate. Without thinking, I said, “I want to go home with Master. I don’t belong to this human society; I don’t want to be in the sixfold path of reincarnation.” That is when I realized how serious cultivation is, and how lucky I am to be a Dafa practitioner. From that moment on I decided I should cultivate more diligently. After that insight, I started to witness changes in my life, and I felt like everything was getting better.
Several years ago, my math skills were below par. My mother got frustrated when she checked my math homework every day. I couldn't even do simple calculations. For example, my mother asked me if one pencil was $3, then how much would two pencils cost? My answer was $5. My mother was worried. But, now, since I cultivate diligently, math comes easy for me, and I’m at the top of my class. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was in elementary school, so I was easily distracted by everything. Since I can now sit in meditation longer, I can also concentrate longer.
Before we moved in 2019, I could not read Zhuan Falun in Chinese--I only could read about 20% of the Chinese characters. My mother encouraged me to read the Chinese version in our local group Fa study, and a practitioner living in our area offered to help. She has been reading the Fa with me for half an hour every weekday since then. In less than six months I could read 80% of Zhuan Falun, and I can read in Chinese with the practitioners in our group Fa study now.
Master said:
“From the day that a Dafa disciple takes up cultivation his whole life is rearranged. In other words, this life of yours is now the life of a cultivator. Nothing is by chance anymore, and nothing will happen just by chance. Everything on your life's journey is directly related to your improvement and cultivation.” (Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles)
Eliminating an Attachment: Watching a TV Show
As teenagers, many of us can get addicted to videos on YouTube, the interesting messages and videos that our friends send us on social media or games. We can sit there for hours just looking at a screen. One day I saw my dad watching a television show. It attracted me, and there were a lot of episodes, so once I started watching I became addicted. Each episode was about 40 minutes long, and I would watch about 5 episodes a day until I experienced problems with my eyes. The more I watched, the worse my eyes would get. I realized that this was too strong of an attachment, and I had to eliminate it. I had a difficult time getting rid of it, even though I knew that Master had already sent a warning. My mother asked me to send righteous thoughts in front of Master’s picture.
Master said,
“In reading those novels, you will find that a character will fight and kill for a secret sword art manual, treasure, or women. Everyone is portrayed as having great abilities, traveling back and forth mysteriously. Think about it, everyone: Don’t those people who truly have these martial arts skills have to cultivate them through internal cultivation practice? They acquire them only through cultivating their xinxing, and they must have already long been disinterested in fame, profit, and various desires. How can they kill others? How can they care that much for money and wealth? It is absolutely impossible. Those are only artistic exaggerations. People just go after the mental stimulation and will do anything for that craving. The authors have capitalized on this point and try their best to write whatever you look for or find pleasing. The more inconceivable the writings, the more you want to read them. Those are only artistic exaggerations.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
That was exactly what the TV show was about. I suddenly felt that the TV show was nothing, and I was not interested anymore – my eyes recovered.
Master said,
“The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (“Drive Out Interference,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Master Gave Us the Dafa Tool: Looking Within
After finishing most of my homework one morning, I decided to take a five-minute break. I took my mother’s iPad and started watching videos on YouTube. Once I started, I was addicted to watching videos. Each video I watched looked better than the last, so I kept going. My mother called me four times before I finally gave the iPad back. My dad got angry and punished me for not doing what I was supposed to do. At first, I was unhappy, and thought, “I was only taking a break, why should I be punished.” I kept thinking that I should not have been punished and that this was not my fault. My mother reminded me about looking inside. Still, I had an attitude and kept saying that it was not my fault. The more I thought like this, the more my family got upset.
At last I tried to look inside to find what I really did wrong. After I did, not only did my attitude get better. I also realized that I had a problem. Actually, I realized that if you are in trouble, do not waste your time arguing or explaining why you shouldn’t be in trouble – think about what you did wrong. If someone yells at you or even hits you, and you do not have any bad thoughts or hatred in your mind, your xinxing will improve. Once your xinxing improves, it is always important not to commit the same mistake again.
I realized and understood something important that day: How you think will be how you act. The way you think about someone, whether it’s bad or good, that person can tell right away. Someone can tell by the way you talk, or even from your facial expression. It is important for us to always remember that we are cultivating ourselves when facing tribulations. There will always be problems, and it is all up to us to decide how to handle the problem. I apologized to my dad for my attitude and arguing, and everything got better. My xinxing improved. The rest of the day was as if nothing had happened. Looking within is a Dafa tool that Master has given to us practitioners.
Master said:
“Cultivators look at things in just the opposite way. They see tribulations and suffering as good opportunities for improvement. [To cultivators] these are all good things, and the more there are and the faster they come, the faster the improvement. Some cultivators want to push them away and think, "Don't come." Whenever [conflicts and turmoil] come up they think that others have a problem with them and they can't stand it when others say anything negative about them. You just want to live a more pleasant life, but is that cultivation? Can you really cultivate that way? If to this day you still can't come around on this concept, then as your master, I don't know how you will ever move towards Consummation.” (Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005)
My cultivation state is often reflected by how I act and what I do in my daily life. When I study the Fa diligently, I will conduct myself better. I know my cultivation is far from the requirements of the Fa. I will do my best to be a good Dafa disciple.
(Presented at the 2020 International Falun Dafa Young Practitioners’ Online Fa Conference)
