(Minghui.org) Many young Falun Dafa practitioners have shared their understandings on the attachment to social media apps on cell phones. The damage brought by this attachment is severe, but I never paid attention to it and ignored Master's teachings again and again. Despite the teachings and fellow practitioners' experience sharing articles, I was still addicted to social media apps on my cell phone. I now understand that this was being very irresponsible to myself.
I've wasted a lot of time on the cell phone. Master has given me many hints in this regard. Over the last few years, I have lost several phones and dropped a few phones in the toilet. Last January, my phone went missing again. I got a new phone, but lost that one just nine months later.
I tried to look inward after I lost the second phone. I knew that I was badly addicted to cell phones at that time. I asked Master to help to get the phone back. I pledged to Master, “I will definitely quit this time.” That same day, a guy found my phone and returned it to me.
I was very happy and told my mother, who is also a practitioner. She said, “Don't forget what you said to Master. You should keep your promise. If you cannot, you will lose this phone again.”
Her words made me uncomfortable and I said to her, “Hey, as a cultivator, whatever you say has power. How can you say those things to me and hope that I lose my phone?”
She said, “I am not doing anything to you. I am just warning you that you should remember your words and keep your promise.”
I did keep my promise, but for only three days. When everybody in my office played with their cell phones, my attachment resurfaced. So, I started to play with my phone again.
After work, I knew that I'd broken my promise, so I was afraid that the phone would get lost. I held my phone tightly on the way home.
Although I was worried and often recalled my mother's words, my attachment to cell phones was too strong. I couldn't put my phone down.
A few days later, no accident occurred — the phone was not lost. So I was not worried anymore. Every day, I listened to everyday people's pop songs, watched TV shows and browsed social media.
One month later, I lost my phone again. I felt very bad that I hadn't kept my promise to Master. I looked inward, made another pledge to Master and asked Him to find the phone for me again. But this time, it didn't work. The phone was just gone.
I told my mother what happened. She scolded me, “You are too bold. You dare to deceive Master?! You broke your promise to Master. It makes sense that you lost your phone. Don't bother looking for it. You will never see it again.”
I felt very guilty. Didn't I play games with Master's great mercy? How can I deceive Master and break the promise I made to Master?
My mother suggested that I should get a simple flip phone instead of a smart phone, which wouldn't have any apps on it. Later a friend gave me a new smart phone. Although it wasn't as good as my old one, it had all the functions of a smart phone.
After this loss, I completely quit social media. But I developed a new addiction to TV shows and celebrity news. I spent a lot of time every day on this stuff.
One afternoon, I had a quarrel with my brother and got angry with him. Before sending forth righteous thoughts at 6 p.m., I suddenly felt a lot of pain. Around 7 p.m., I had a 104-degree Fahrenheit fever. I also developed a cough. The fever and splitting headache lasted for four days.
I looked inward. The fever was the consequence of watching TV shows and news on the cell phone. While looking inward, I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate evil interference. When I could not endure it anymore, I knelt in front of Master's portrait and cried, “Master, please help me. I know I am wrong. I will not play with my cell phone anymore.”
Later that night, the headache went away. Later, the fever faded away, too, although the cough lasted a little longer.
I often believed that since I am young with no health problems, and Master has treated me very well, that I'd really never encounter any big tribulations even if I made some minor mistakes in cultivation. But this time, the four-day-long fever and headache taught me a profound lesson. I completely gave up my addiction to cell phones. I uninstalled all the video-watching apps on the phone. When I uninstalled those, Master also purified my body and helped me to get rid of the substances that enhanced the attachments to cell phones.
Cultivation is really very serious. The purpose of this article is two-fold. One, I want to expose my attachments to cell phones. Two, I would like to remind fellow practitioners who also have similar attachments – such as watching gossipy celebrity news – not to play games with Master's mercy. We should not waste the time for cultivation that Master extends for us, and we must be responsible to ourselves.
This is my understanding. Please correct me with compassion if there is anything incorrect with my understanding.
Category: Improving Oneself
