(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master and fellow practitioners!
I am a 16-year-old high school student. Today, I’ll share some of my cultivation experiences from the past two years.
1. Letting Go of Self and Learning to Cooperate
In the Tian Guo Marching Band, in which I play the alto saxophone, it is required that every member cooperate with the band. During parades or rehearsals, I often think that I play my instrument quite well. During the parade on June 24 (Quebec’s St-Jean-Baptiste Holiday), I became aware of my attachment to validating myself and was determined to eliminate it.
At the July 1st parade for Canada’s National Day, I finally felt that I was melting into the band rather than showing off. In the meantime, I felt it was sacred to be able to play as part of the band.
Each member is a particle of the Tian Guo Marching Band, playing well his or her musical score, forming one body to amaze people and dissolve the evil; it resembles an army in a battle between good and evil.
These years of cultivation made me realize that, as a practitioner, one needs to examine oneself at every moment, see where one did not do well, elevate one’s xinxing, and rectify oneself according to the Fa instead of harboring human notions. I must act in accordance with the Fa to do things and strive to study the Fa and do the exercises every day.
2. Catching Up with Time to Save More Sentient Beings
Master said:
“I’ve previously told you, as Dafa disciples, that now one year passes in what was previously just one minute. Time overall has been accelerated. But, although the one-year time has been compressed, the objects within it—all of them—have been compressed accordingly, and that is why you don’t sense any of it. You might feel at times that your body can’t keep up physically or get much of anything done before the day’s quickly over. You might have that feeling.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
It is indeed the case! I often feel that time running out quickly, as one hour right now is faster than one hour of the past. Therefore, we must cherish this time. I understood that wasting time will also create karma, since the time extended by Master for us is to save more sentient beings.
Simply acknowledging this won’t suffice, as I also need to put it into practice. Nevertheless, all sorts of trends in today’s society are luring me, tempting me, impeding me from becoming diligent in cultivation. Moreover, there is interference from modern technology. Master talked about its consequences:
“And there’s not just the problem of blocking people from gaining the Fa: it leads people to do poorly at their jobs, to not learn well in their studies, and to waste vast amounts of time on the computer or with electronic devices. Those things are tempting you to watch and play with them. [People’s behavior is] not befitting of human beings anymore.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
In the past, when I didn’t understand the Fa deeply yet, I was addicted to video games. I spent my time gaming, making my life stressful. By growing up and studying the Fa more, I gained a deeper understanding of the Fa. I thus stopped playing video games. Nevertheless, months later, I started to indulge myself again in video games. I played for a while but wasn’t as compulsive as I was in the past. However, playing video games compulsively is the very picture of smoking; it is addictive, as it’s also a strong attachment.
After I came to those conclusions, I eliminated my attachment to video games completely. After detaching myself from electronic games, I was happy to be finally freed from the pull of electronic devices. However, soon after, I took interest in buying a smartphone. Three months ago, I started to find a second-hand smartphone. Almost every day I went on a website selling second-hand items, trying to find a phone by comparing the arrays of prices, models, and performance.
My state of pursuing smartphones resembled that of a stock market speculator whose heart rate was tied to movement of stocks. I knew that it was an attachment to get rid of. I had been hooked on smartphones until I came back from this year’s New York Fa Conference. At that time, I thought of following the course of nature. I finally bought a smartphone this June.
During all these times, my parents constantly reminded me about the detrimental effects of mobile phones on people. I believed what they said, as I was very aware of my attachment to mobile phones. Since computers and smartphones take too much of our time, I put my phone, computer, tablet, and other Internet-enabled devices in our basement. I was able to concentrate better when studying the Fa and doing homework. For instance, when I go out for group Fa-study on Friday, I try as much as possible not to bring my cell phone and avoid external interference, thereby studying the Fa with more concentration.
Nevertheless, nobody is able to stay away from modern technology completely. As a practitioner, it is fine as long as the attachment to computers and cell phones has been eliminated.
The influence of computers and the Internet on me is not only limited to this. From time to time, when I’m doing research online, some videos with sexual content would pop up out of nowhere. Sometimes, I would watch them. I soon realized that I am a Dafa disciple; how could I watch those filthy things? It would be disgusting and repulsive just to think about those things. After coming to that realization, I stopped watching these things.
3. Using Opportunities At School To Clarify The Truth
All of Master's arrangements are for us to save sentient beings; the paths are already laid out. When I was busy during the school year, I didn’t do very well with what a young Dafa disciple is supposed to do, namely the three things.
I participated in promoting the 2016 Shen Yun show in Montreal, but I did not study the Fa well, as I still had lots of human notions. Whenever I presented Shen Yun, the result wouldn’t be optimal. When I was busy with my studies, I did not balance things well or look at them from the perspective of the Fa, so I was always complaining about time running out. Thus, I did not prioritize the three things above everything else.
During a 2003 Fa Conference, a PhD student asked Master how to balance academic life and cultivation well:
“Question: As a PhD student, doing my scientific research well requires that I'm completely committed to it, but I also need to study the Fa, clarify the facts, and do the exercises. I always feel like I don't have enough time.
Teacher: There are still people who ask this question. Master has answered it for you many times. I think that as cultivators, you should put Dafa first, but you should also do your job well. You should try your best to do things well. As far as how to balance this, when it comes to the specifics you still need to prioritize things yourself. If you say, "I'm too busy, so I won't read," then that's equivalent to not cultivating. Say, "I'll just completely devote myself to my job," and then you'll just be an ordinary person. Could it just be that you're not balancing these things well? Then just prioritize and plan things well. It's really simple. Actually, I've already discussed this very clearly in Zhuan Falun. Studying the Fa well definitely won't affect anything of yours in your cultivation, and on the contrary, it will help you get twice the results at your job or with your schoolwork with half the effort.” (Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference)
My understanding on this is that academic study is also a test in my cultivation. It determines if I truly believe in Master and the Fa. One practitioner often tells me that studying the Fa well and doing all the exercises won’t affect my school performance. On the contrary, it will have the effect of getting my schoolwork done with half the effort. This practitioner used a Chinese idiom to express this principle, which roughly translates to “forging your ax will not interfere with your woodcutting job.”
I often experienced the consequences of not doing things based on Master’s requirements. By neglecting Fa-study, I wasted more time getting my homework done. Usually, I would go to sleep at two or three in the morning. I was diligent at times but would slack off at other times. Since there’s just this amount of time, it’s a must to arrange it wisely and balance well school and cultivation.
To clarify the truth to the world’s people, Master will support us and give us wisdom. This year, my French teacher gave us the assignment of organizing an oral presentation. I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to clarify the truth to my teacher and fellow classmates. Meanwhile, I was also a little bit worried, fearing that I wouldn’t explain the matter very well, since one third of my classmates were Chinese. I asked for Master’s support and sent forth righteous thoughts. When I presented, things went very smoothly.
At the end, I invited my classmates to sign the petition [condemning forced organ harvesting]. My Chinese classmates did not sign it. It is possible that their bad notions had not been eliminated. I believe that I didn’t do well in my cultivation.
Master said:
“How can you save a person if your words don’t have the power to reduce his karma or remove his attachments? If you’re to save him then you must be a cultivator yourself. And your words will have energy and be able to eliminate his biases and attachments. They can have that impact, and can suppress the bad things in his mind that would otherwise foul things up at the time. Only this way will you be able to save the person. This holds true in all kinds of settings in which you clarify the facts, doesn’t it?” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
Concerning this event, my fellow Chinese classmates are all sentient beings waiting to be saved. Whenever I have the opportunity, I will clarify the truth more thoroughly to them. When my teacher was giving out the scores for the oral presentation, mine was relatively high. It was Master’s encouragement. When I succeed in doing the three things well, my academic performance will naturally get better.
Since I will graduate from high school next year, my school program requires that every student dedicate himself or herself to a personal project. This project is the biggest one in my school and doesn’t have any restrictions. Perhaps this situation arose because Master saw my heart for saving sentient beings. I enlightened that Master gave me another wonderful opportunity to clarify the truth. Hence, I made forced organ harvesting the subject of my project.
This summer, the school demanded that every student do in-depth research about his or her subject. Right now, I need to put all my effort into the project. I won’t allow myself to become lax, since laziness will prevent me from doing well in my project. In the meantime, I will come to have understandings and make a comprehensive analysis on China's forced organ harvesting.
Documents in the French language reporting on China’s organ pillaging won’t be enough. Having grown up in the West, I didn't master my Chinese well and found it difficult to read Chinese documents. Nevertheless, with help from Master and fellow practitioners, I believe that I will do well in this project. No loss, no gain. In order to achieve the effect of saving sentient beings, I must invest a lot of myself and put my heart into this project, accomplishing my historic mission as a student Dafa disciple.
Looking back, all these years passed in the blink of an eye. We should cherish our ties with Dafa and not forget our way back home.
Please point out anything inadequate or not on the Fa.
Thank you, Master!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2016 Canada Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
