My Cultivation Experiences as a Teacher and Parent at Minghui School

(Minghui.org) Greetings Master and fellow practitioners!

My child and I came to Minghui School in April last year. Moving our family to Toronto and joining Minghui School to work and study was the most significant decision we made after arriving in Canada. I still vividly remember the excitement I felt after speaking with the principal, learning that Minghui School offered a full-time program for elementary school-age children. I also knew many practitioners lived in, or came to Toronto so this was a rare cultivation environment for my child and me. For someone like me, who once drifted away from Dafa due to the lack of a cultivation environment, this environment was priceless. Recalling Master’s words, “Genuinely cultivating Dafa, Only this is great.” (“Obtaining Fa,” Hong Yin) I resolutely gave up the opportunity to easily obtain immigration status in our previous city and came to Toronto without hesitation.

Within the first month at Minghui School, I knew I came to the right place. Although the school is small, every time I step inside, I feel that I’m entering a cultivation environment. Here, there are pure and lovely young practitioners, as well as teachers and parents who have steadfastly cultivated for many years. From them, I see how mature veteran practitioners walk steadily on the path of cultivation. They patiently guide me in cultivation and selflessly help me. I can no longer count how many precious conversations we’ve had about cultivation or how many times I’ve been offered a ride. Today, I’d like to take this opportunity to sincerely say: Thank you all!

My Cultivation Experience as a Teacher at Minghui School

As a teacher at Minghui School, many events occurred over the past year. I will share a few examples about my cultivation journey.

When I first arrived at the school, I often studied the Fa and did the exercises with young practitioners. These moments reminded me of my childhood, from 1997 when I obtained the Fa to 1999 when the persecution began in China, when I joined adults in group Fa study and exercises. As a young practitioner back then, I didn’t realize the preciousness of that cultivation time, nor could I foresee the brutal persecution that followed. Yet, during those short two years, the seeds of Dafa took deep root in my heart. After taking many detours and returning to Dafa, I deeply regretted the cultivation opportunities I wasted over the years. Thus, I sincerely wanted to help Master guide these young practitioners, ensuring they walk steadfastly on the path of Dafa and allowing parent practitioners more time to validate the Fa. Therefore, during every Fa study and exercise session, I did my best to motivate, encourage, and guide them, hoping the children could maintain a diligent cultivation state.

However, this is easy to say, but not easy to do. During Fa study, some children lost focus, others caused disruptions, and some asked endless, seemingly unrelated questions. When we did the exercises some needed to use the restroom, had to wipe their noses, or opened their eyes wide. All sorts of situations arose. Initially, I easily became impatient. But as I learned more about children’s education, I gradually understood that young practitioners’ cultivation states differ from that of adults, and as a practitioner, I must look within and not be eager for quick results. Master said,

“Children have their own states. If they have been exposed to the Fa and are studying and practicing, they are actually cultivating too, for sure. We have strict distinctions between children and adults. Because children don’t have the stuff formed by those notions and complicated thoughts that adults have, they are very simple, and so they obtain the Fa quickly.” (Teaching at the Conference in the Western U.S.)

I realized that cultivation is like climbing a ladder, one must progress step by step, steadily. As a teacher, besides ensuring the children’s basic time for Fa study and exercises, I should focus on guiding them to understand and practice the Fa in their daily lives while helping them feel the beauty of Dafa. This places high demands on a teacher’s cultivation state and professional skills, and I knew I shouldn’t slack off.

Although the children are young, their understanding of Dafa and their cultivation realms are far from small. Many times, I felt that rather than me accompanying them, they were urging me to “compare in studying, compare in cultivating” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin).

For example, during Fa study, they would ask seemingly simple but thought-provoking questions that I usually overlooked without much thought. This made me realize that studying the Fa requires depth and true understanding of the Fa, or I wouldn’t be able to answer their questions. Also, I used to be lazy and afraid of pain, neglecting the exercises and rarely sitting in meditation for a full hour. At school, every Friday, the children were required to meditate for an hour, and as a teacher, I had to set an example. When I felt unbearable pain, I saw some children, with tears in their eyes and teeth clenched, determined to complete the meditation. Their steadfast will inspired me, and I finally broke through the one-hour barrier.

Conflicts and disputes among the children, though seemingly minor, also tested their hearts and mine. Once, child A took child B’s toy, and B complained to me. I tried to reason with A, but he ignored me, made faces, and said provocative things to irritate me. I thought to myself, “You bullied your classmate and now you disrespect your teacher. So rude! You have to return this toy today, whether you want to or not.” I snatched the toy from A’s hand and gave it back to B. But soon after, I noticed the toy was back in A’s hands. I asked B what happened, and he calmly said, “He asked if he could play with it, and I saw he really wanted to, so I gave it to him.” His simple words instantly calmed me down. The child whose toy was taken could respond so peacefully, with understanding and consideration for the other, while I, the mediator, was so indignant. At that moment, I felt my cultivation was far inferior to that of a child. My attachments to competitiveness, impatience, keeping reputation, and imposing on others were fully exposed in this incident.

Starting in January this year, I took on more responsibilities in the kindergarten, caring for children aged one and a half to two years old, which required significant physical effort. For the first two weeks, I felt utterly exhausted each day. By the third week, my lower back began to ache so much that I couldn’t stand straight. I wondered, “Is my old back problem recurring? It used to take half a month of rest to recover. Should I take leave to rest at home?” When these negative thoughts arose, I realized they reflected a lack of faith in Master and the Fa, as well as attachments to fear of hardship and seeking comfort. So, I decided to persist in going to work, doing what I needed to do while intensifying my Fa study, exercises, and sending righteous thoughts. A few days later, my back pain disappeared, and I even felt less tired. However, when I occasionally wanted to skip exercises to sleep more, I clearly felt more tired the more I slept, and my body remained fatigued no matter how much rest I got. This made me realize that I must prioritize the exercises. I couldn’t relax my standards just because I felt healthy, as that would easily allow loopholes to be exploited.

In my daily kindergarten work, Master often used various opportunities to help me see my attachments, such as the fear of trouble, the Chinese Communist Party culture habit of doing things superficially, the tendency to want others to know about my good deeds, and more. Interactions with fellow practitioners also revealed my gaps.

Once, I gave a used mop and bucket to a teacher in the neighboring class after mopping the floor, thinking it would save her time and me the effort of emptying the water—a win-win. But later, when she finished using the mop before me, she not only returned it to me but also replaced the water in the bucket with fresh water. This made me feel deeply ashamed. My kindness to others was conditional, tied to my own convenience, not a selfless act for their benefit. As practitioners, whether others see or know about our actions, we must always measure our every thought and action with the Fa, look within, and continually align with the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.

My Experience as a Parent at Minghui School

My child is nine years old this year. Back in China, he hadn’t yet begun cultivating. For many years, his health was poor, with frequent fevers every one or two months, stomach pain and vomiting from slight dietary issues, persistent phlegm in his throat for years, asthma, tics, and difficulty falling asleep. Before he turned three, I never had a full night’s sleep. When he finally started kindergarten, within a month, the teacher approached me, saying he was withdrawn and didn’t fit in with others. At that time, my family was going through a series of hardships, and I couldn’t work because I had to care for him. My cultivation state was poor, and I was in a deeply depressed state. When my child’s autism issues emerged, I didn’t seek understanding from the Fa but instead tried many ordinary methods, taking him to doctors and classes everywhere, yet his condition didn’t improve. I felt utterly lost about the future.

After we moved to Canada, my child formally began cultivating. Over the past year, Master continuously purified his body, and many miraculous things happened.

In May last year, we went to Ottawa for an event. The night before he suddenly developed a fever. Based on past experiences his fevers typically lasted four or five days. I asked if he still wanted to attend the event, and he firmly said he did. The next morning we boarded the bus at 4 a.m. as planned. On the bus, he was lively and energetic, and by that day, he was completely fine. Later, he had a few more fevers which were often accompanied by rashes. We held a firm belief: this wasn’t an illness; it was Master removing harmful substances from his body. The next day, the rashes would subside, and after a few times, they stopped appearing altogether. His fevers became less frequent, and even when they occurred he quickly recovered.

One day after school, he had a severe asthma attack and struggled to breathe. I asked him to stand and practice the exercises with me, and he did. Within half an hour, I could see his breathing became smoother. By the time we finished the exercises his breathing returned to normal. Since then his asthma disappeared.

Another time, we ate out and ordered wontons, only to find they contained shrimp. He used to be allergic to shrimp, breaking out in rashes and even experiencing heart discomfort. I felt uneasy and suggested he not eat them. He said, “Mom, that’s an ordinary person’s notion. Practitioners don’t have food allergies.” I realized his righteous thoughts were stronger than mine so I let go of my worries and said, “Go ahead and eat.” He ate without any issues and later, he ate shrimp several more times with no problems.

His stomach pain, vomiting, and phlegm issues also significantly decreased. In the past he often vomited in the middle of the night couldn’t touch cold water or frozen food and was diagnosed by traditional Chinese medicine as having a weak digestive system and by Western medicine as having low immunity and food intolerance. We’ve let go of these notions and concerns and focus only on cultivating diligently, entrusting everything to Master, and maintaining regular Fa study, exercises, and a normal lifestyle and diet. As a result, his health has steadily improved. Thank you, Master!

Since July last year, my child and I have joined a truth-clarification project at a local site. We don’t have a car, so we dragged a heavy cart, transferring between buses and subways, spending three hours on the road. In the summer, the site had no shade and was scorching hot; in the winter, temperatures sometimes dropped to nearly minus 20 degrees Celsius. But unless something unavoidable came up, we persisted in going every Sunday. Especially after Master’s article “The Ordeals Our Spiritual Discipline Faces” was published, I felt even more strongly that saving people is every practitioners’ mission, including young practitioners.

At the truth-clarification site we encountered all kinds of people: a kind elderly lady who insisted on giving my child chocolate, touched by his good deeds; tourists who gave us a thumbs-up after learning about the truth. Sadly, some Chinese insulted him, and called him foolish. Through this process, my child improved unknowingly. When handing out flyers, unlike adults, he had no fears or concerns, and many people were willing to accept flyers from him. Sometimes, he could distribute 200 flyers on his own.

Over the past year at Minghui School my child has undergone tremendous physical and mental changes. He refused to join other children in speaking ill of a classmate, saying he didn’t want to create karma. When an elder said they’d rather befriend a clever bad person than a foolish good person, he questioned it, knowing that the standard for judging good and bad is Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. As a new practitioner, I know the seeds of cultivation have been planted in his heart. His purity, steadfastness, and tolerance toward me, his fellow-practitioner mother, remind me to truly cultivate myself.

I also want to thank every teacher at Minghui School for their selfless guidance and help with my child!

Conclusion

Looking back on this year, I feel immense fulfillment and happiness. I am deeply grateful to Master for never giving up on me, for arranging such a wonderful cultivation path at Minghui School for me and my child, and for guiding us to continually progress in Dafa.

Let us strive to be ever more diligent, work together to guide young disciples well, and fulfill our mission to return home with Master!

Please kindly point out anything not in line with the Fa.

Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.

(Selected Sharing Article Presented at the 2025 Canada Fa Conference)