April 23, 2016 | A most memorable day for me is September 13, 2014. On that day, I returned to cultivating Falun Dafa and began reading Zhuan Falun again.
I am 15 years old and in my second year of junior high school. I live with my mother because my parents separated a long time ago.
My father and I obtained the Fa in 2009. I studied the Fa and did the five exercises when I was at my father’s home on the weekends. I have always believed in the existence of Buddhas and Gods, so I felt that Dafa was truly wonderful.
But instead of treasuring Dafa, I treated it as an everyday people’s religion. I did understand that to be a good person one needs to follow the practice’s core principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. However, I could not enlighten to any of Falun Dafa’s inner meanings.
When I got older, I began to indulge in video games. During Fa-study, I just went through the motions and kept thinking about the video games.
Academic Achievement Over Moral Behavior
Because my mother was deeply poisoned by the lies fabricated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) about Falun Dafa, she had me attend a school in a different city, so that I could not practice Falun Dafa with my father.
Before I left, my father gave me a computer that had recordings of Teacher’s Fa lectures. Though I lacked a cultivation environment, my father often called, encouraged me, and asked me not to forget about Falun Dafa and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Before I graduated from primary school, I lost contact with my father. I found out that he was illegally sentenced to prison because he would not give in to the CCP’s pressure and renounce Falun Dafa. With him gone, my preoccupation with video games got worse.
I got good grades in school, so my mother turned a blind eye. However, she did not realize that my character was sliding downhill. After I went to junior high, I became attached to animated movies. Even worse, I often watched pornographic movies.
The school was awarded a high academic ranking, and no one, including the students, was interested in anything else. Students often used profanity and watched bad movies, including me. I did not stop myself from going with the flow, and I continued to slide downward.
Strange Incident Awakens Memory
On the surface, I appeared to be very happy. But I felt empty inside. I had come into contact with the Buddha Fa, so, I could not completely forget about cultivation.
Human beings often think about the meaning of life, but because most people do not have a clue what this really means, they waste their time on things that are not good for them. Although I knew why we are here, I was still addicted to video games and animated movies. These numbed my mind, and I did not think about cultivation issues.
At the end of my summer vacation, I finally woke up. As I watched one particular animated movie, I realized I was bored, but the characters kept repeating certain words, such as “fate” and “predestined relationship.”
I wondered if such things really existed. Then a voice began to echo in my heart, telling me that they really did exist. I was dumbfounded and wondered how I could know this. I then remembered that Mr. Li Hongzhi, the teacher of Falun Dafa, had taught those principles. No longer was I confused. I decided to start reading his lectures again.
My Return to Cultivation Practice
A few days after school began, on September 13, 2014, I turned on my computer, and opened Zhuan Falun. I gazed at the Fa for a long time and then felt that I had come home.
After I had read Zhuan Falun, I read all of Teacher’s other articles. During this time, I felt that I had let the Fa down and Teacher would no longer take care of me. However, this thought disappeared after I read the following:
“As long as you can learn and cultivate, no matter what mistakes you’ve made, I will save you.” (Teaching the Fa at the Assistants’ Fa Conference in Changchun)
I realized that Teacher had waited for me to resume cultivation.
A Lie Never Becomes the Truth
Teacher said,
“…the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments.” (Zhuan Falun)
I knew that I had to eliminate my attachments to video games and animated movies, so I deleted all video games from my computer and stopped watching the movies. It was easier said than done. I vacillated a few times, but when I finally stopped thinking about the attachments, I was no longer tempted.
When my fellow students talked to me about games, I told them that I had stopped playing and had deleted them from my computer. They did not believe me at first. I did not explain and just smiled.
After they understood that I was no longer interested in video games, they began to think very highly of me. Although people thought that such a feat was difficult, I knew that it was easy because of the power of the Fa.
However, letting go of pornographic videos was more difficult for me. I had been poisoned by pornography since childhood. Sometimes, I could barely control myself, but knew that this was an attachment that I should never give into. To help myself, I kept reciting “When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” (Zhuan Falun) Finally, I let it go.
After a while, I told my mother that I was practicing Falun Dafa again. She was against it, even though I had clarified the facts about the practice to her multiple times. She repeated the CCP propaganda when she argued with me about Dafa.
I knew that we cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and no matter how many times a lie is repeated, it will not become a truth. I just wanted to use my actions to validate the Fa.
My Behavior Changed My Mother’s Opinion of Dafa
I lived with my mother and grandmother. I used to think that they were annoying because they often fought with each other. After I returned to cultivation, I knew that a practitioner has to embrace kindness and forbearance and that I should behave according to those principles. Gradually, they saw that I had changed.
I used to have a bad temper. Now, I just smile whenever I am wronged. I also tried to understand them. Sometimes when they were in low spirits and treated me rudely, I did not get upset, but tried to comfort them.
Whenever there household chores to be done, I just did them. They were also surprised that I no longer played video games or watched animated movies.
It took some time, but when my mother found out that I had changed because I practice Falun Dafa, she realized that Dafa was not what she had thought it was and developed a good opinion of it.
Living by Falun Dafa’s Standards
At school, I behaved and acted based on the Fa standards. I no longer copied others’ homework. My classmates were very surprised.
When I was with my fellow students, I did not fight or swear at them and gave them a hand when they ran into difficulties. Most of them wanted to be friends with me.
Because I am an excellent student, my classmates respect me. I excel in my studies because I follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Last term, although I studied much harder than before, my scores did not improve. During the school break, I looked inside and realized that I was too attached to fame. I liked to brag about my grades. How could that be the behavior of a practitioner? I eliminated this attachment.
After that, my scores skyrocketed, and I became one of the top 20 out of more than 400 students. I knew that this was Teacher encouraging me. Now I know I should not become complacent and must be diligent.
(Clearwisdom)