Young Dafa Practitioners — Cherish the Opportunity of Cultivation

(Minghui.org) Recently, I have seen many young practitioners in Falun Dafa practitioners'  families being burdened by schoolwork and unable to keep up with their cultivation. These are not isolated cases. From the changes in the celestial phenomena, practitioners know that time is running out. Helping younger practitioners keep up with the progress of Fa-rectification is an urgent matter that cannot be delayed.

Young Practitioners Lost In the Ordinary World

Xuan, the granddaughter of an elderly practitioner, followed her grandparent to study the Fa and do the exercises when she was young. She was very diligent in cultivation and had a good understanding of Dafa. When she watched Shen Yun, she could see other dimensions with many flying figures dancing on the stage. After the child began school, she was taken away by her parents. Her parents were not practitioners, so the child was no longer in a Dafa environment. In addition, the school promoted Chinese Communist Party (CCP) culture.

After only one semester, when I saw Xuan again, she had almost no desire to practice and had even lost her righteous thoughts about Dafa. She talked about eating, drinking, and having fun like everyday people. She was completely different from who she was with her grandparent. It can be seen how important it is for young practitioners to have a good cultivation environment. Once the environment is lost, it is easy for them to miss the opportunity to practice Dafa.

How many practitioners can treat their children as Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period? I also know a practitioner whose child, Yuan, is in third or fourth grade of elementary school. When talking about cultivation of younger practitioners, the practitioner expressed dissatisfaction with the current school education. Yuan has a lot of homework and extracurricular activities every day. When talking about younger practitioners studying the Fa and doing the exercises, this practitioner said with embarrassment, “My child only studies the Fa once or twice a month, and has only done the exercises once in the past six months.”

I asked her why she didn’t take some time every day to accompany her child to study the Fa? She responded, “My child is not diligent on cultivation, that is my fault.”

I continued, “During the Fa-rectification period, whether adults or children have obtained the Fa, they all come for the Fa. It is better to set aside ordinary people’s affairs and put cultivation first. Now is the final period of Fa-rectification. Every day of mankind is extended by Master with great effort. As practitioners, how can we not be diligent? Moreover, time flies. If we are tied up by human notions and interests and waste our time, we will definitely regret it!”

The practitioner replied thoughtfully, “It seems that it is time to balance the time for younger practitioners to study the Fa and do the exercises with the time for school studies. You are right, cultivation is priority. My child came for the Fa. I can’t block her way home.”

There is another practitioner who works on the same Dafa project with me. She has a fifth-grade child named Xiao. When we talked about the cultivation of young practitioners, I could sense from her words that she had already assumed that Xiao was a future cultivator, and not one now. I asked the practitioner, “Have you ever thought that young practitioners can also become Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period?” She was stunned and did not directly answer my question. I could sense from the look in her eyes that she had ignored the fact that young practitioners can cultivate in Fa-rectification. I said, “Didn’t you see the process of you and your child reincarnating over billions of years in your dream? He went through countless hardships to come for the Fa, and we should take him with us when we do Dafa projects to save people! The child’s family in heaven is also looking forward to him becoming a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification period! Rather than a cultivator in the future.”

The practitioner then spoke up, “I have indeed neglected my child on this issue. He obtained the Fa late, and based on the current social situation, I focused on cultivating his survival skills and talents, and never thought about his cultivation to achieve Consummation. Now that you’ve said that, I should seriously think about it.”

Master has given us answers on how to guide young practitioners well. Practitioners who have children at home really have a great responsibility! Master made it very clear when answering questions.

“Disciple: I have joined my parents in studying the Fa since I was little, and now I’m an adolescent. I’d like to know what’s different about young disciples versus older ones.

Master: As a living being, each life has its own responsibility. Each is an individual life and represents its own group of lives. Young children follow their parents, and how well their parents cultivate will have an impact on them—especially when the child is the type that’s quite dependent on his or her parents. With the students at the Fei Tian school, or even Shen Yun’s intern performers, you can tell from how the person behaves how his parents' cultivation is. It’s different if the student is very independent and has his own thinking. In that case he’s pretty much acting on his own.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”)

“Disciple: The children of some Dafa disciples in China have grown up and are adults now. Does our cultivation state still affect them?

Master: It can most certainly affect them. Some Dafa disciples’ children didn’t really have any notions when they were young, and they did the exercises along with the adults and behaved pretty well. Since they were young kids, their Third Eyes could see some scenes and it was helpful to you too. But once they grew up, they developed their own notions and became strongly influenced by society; if you are too lenient with them, they will just follow the trends. Don’t we have some Dafa disciples’ children who have conducted themselves really poorly? In some cases they are even worse than everyday people’s children.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)

The Diligent Dafa Practitioners I Met

I met practitioner Chen, who was born in the 1990s. Now she is grown up and has been on the path of diligently assisting Master in Fa-rectification since she was little. When the persecution of Falun Dafa began, she was only in elementary school. She once wrote in her composition: “I want to tell my teachers and classmates that 'Falun Dafa is good.” She helped most of her classmates quit the CCP’s youth organizations. After she grew up, she followed her family to help Master save people. When she clarified the truth, I could feel her kindness and compassion. Some people were moved to tears. When her family was persecuted, she overcame her fear and went to the police, procuratorate, and court to clarify the truth to the staff there. The police were impressed by her sincerity, kindness, and courage. Their attitude also changed from the initial arrogance and toughness to sympathy for Dafa practitioners. This is inseparable from her mother’s strict requirements on her cultivation from a young age.

I recently met a couple of practitioners who have a child named Yu. Yu is in the fourth grade this year. In the early days of Yu obtaining the Fa, his father often reminded and encouraged him: “You must seize the opportunity to cultivate in Fa-rectification. Although you obtained the Fa late, we should work hard together, be steadfast in cultivation, and do the three things well. As long as your heart is in the right place, you will definitely become a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification period.”

Yu often accompanied his parents to clarify the truth, day and night, regardless of the season, and his footprints were all over the city as well as the surrounding cities, counties, and villages. I remember one time when winter had just begun, there was a heavy snowstorm in the city, and the snow was knee-deep. Yu and his father went out to clarify the truth in the heavy snow. Because the snow blocked the roads, there were few people on the street. Yu and his father did not miss any predestined person. In the harsh environment, people felt the compassion of Dafa practitioners for all beings. Ten people quit the CCP in one afternoon. In the vicinity of the city and in the fields, sometimes they had to walk a kilometer (more than half a mile) between the ridges to clarify the truth to a person. Yu never complained. He said, “No matter how far I walked or how tired I was, it’s worth it as long as I can help Master save someone.”

Yu was very calm when he encountered xinxing tests. Once he was bullied by his classmate at school and was slapped five times. That night at home, he told his parents and us about the incident in a nonchalant manner. I asked Yu, “Are you moved?”

He said calmly that he didn’t take it to heart. Yu’s mother asked if he wanted to find the boy’s mother and talk to her. Yu’s father said, “Han Xin’s humiliation of crawling under a ruffian’s legs is a manifestation of great forbearance. We must believe in Master and the Fa. It is a good thing for him to pass this xinxing test.”

Yu worked hard in doing the Dafa exercises, and he could enter into a state of tranquility in an instant while meditating. The three of them competed in cultivation. This year, the younger practitioner can do the second exercise of “Falun Standing Stance” for two hours. He said, “It is difficult to persist, but I can do it.”

Yu’s father’s understanding of how to treat Yu’s school work and cultivation is completely based on the Fa. He said, “The child’s cultivation is always the first priority. Besides, doing the three things will not affect his school work. If there is a conflict between school study and cultivation, cultivation is the priority, and ordinary things can be put aside.”

Fa-rectification is coming to an end, and every day is precious. It is the responsibility of each of us practitioners to guide younger practitioners to cultivate diligently, because they are all Master’s disciples. I sincerely hope that all young practitioners can achieve Consummation together with Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period and live up to Master’s saving grace.