(Minghui.org) I pay special attention to my teenage son's cultivation in Falun Dafa and help him look at things from the Fa's perspective when he has tribulations. Through this I've realized that cultivation is very serious, as every practitioner has to strictly follow the Fa. I'd like to share three of his experiences in cultivation.
Many kids around here like to catch grasshoppers in the summer and play with them. I told my son that he shouldn't, because he might kill them and it's not compassionate to play with them. He tried not to, but when he saw the other kids doing it, he couldn't resist the temptation and joined them when they asked him.
He had already caught a few grasshoppers and put them in a plastic bottle by the time I found out. Some of them had their legs broken, and I told him to release them.
He hurt his knee a few days later while playing at school. I told him that cultivation is serious, and we incur karma if we hurt or kill other lives. He realized his mistakes, and his knee recovered very quickly.
Computer games are very attractive to kids and even some adults. My son also had a strong attachment to them. Because I didn't fully understand the harm of playing computer games, I let him play for a limited amount of time. However, I learned my lesson through a recent tribulation he had.
I let him play computer games for a longer time during the new year. But then his right eye was completely red when he woke up one morning. It looked horrible.
I sent righteous thoughts several times to eliminate the old forces persecuting him, and then I talked to him. He told me that he had a dream that night. In his dream, he saw three people. One was dressed in red, another in green, and the third one in blue. The rushed into our home. He eliminated the ones in green and blue, but when the one in red changed its appearance and turned into his friend, he let it go.
After he told me this dream, we both realized that his attachment to playing computer games was seized upon by the old forces and used as an excuse to persecute him.
Practitioners in our family also sent forth righteous thoughts for him. His eye looked better, but was still very red.
He started to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” often and he did the exercises with us at the weekend. More importantly, he stopped playing computer games. His eye fully recovered.
If we don't do things in line with the Fa's requirements, we might encounter unexpected tribulations. However, when tribulations do happen, we need to have strong belief in Master, look within, and improve ourselves. Walking a righteous path is the only way to eliminate the old forces' persecution.
My son came back from school one day and told his grandmother that he had recited “Falun Dafa is good” during an exam, but his wish to copy the answers from his classmates didn't come true.
It's good that my son remembers to recite “Falun Dafa is good” and remembers the Fa when he encounters tribulations, but his grandmother reminded him, “You can't recite that with a heart to pursue something that is morally incorrect.”
As I write this sharing article, I feel a deeper sense of responsibility to help my son become a better practitioner. However, only by cultivating myself well can I help my son and fulfill my responsibilities as a Dafa disciple.