On Watching Movies

(Minghui.org) I recently watched a blockbuster film with my friends, and I would like to share what I experienced in my cultivation after seeing it.

Modern Culture

Music, movies, television, and even newspapers these days all carry things that provoke people’s demon nature. With the decline of morality in today’s society, these things have become extremely popular, especially in institutions. Some films openly display nudity, profanity, and drug abuse.

For an ordinary person watching them, in principle, it’s not necessarily wrong, as ordinary people just go with the flow, and they don’t cultivate themselves.

For a cultivator, however, one should really pay attention to what enters their dimensional field when they see these things. They should reflect on the possible damage it can do to one’s cultivation state and whether they’ll be polluted and pulled down to the state of humanness.

Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) has never told us explicitly that we’re not allowed to watch these things. Through this, and by reading other practitioners' experience sharing articles and reflecting on it myself, I’ve come to realize that this was because Master wanted us to enlighten to it.

As a cultivator trying to reach Consummation and transcend ordinary human norms, it has been a challenge for me to repel these notions, and I’ve indulged in them a lot.

Losing My Cultivation State

At first, I thought I wanted to use the movie as an opportunity to establish a closer relationship with my friends so that I could clarify the truth to them more effectively in the future, and that I’d just lightheartedly accompany them to watch it. I now realize that this wasn’t my primary motive; instead, it was an excuse to indulge my fantasies.

Master said,

“Having seen many movies, having read many imaginative stories, and having been influenced by a lot of things in society, people have developed a warped mindset that indulges in fantasy.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference In Europe)

Before this, I always liked to daydream and imagine myself as some sort of noble figure or famous celebrity. Now that I write this, I realized how silly that was. I am a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. What could possibly be more noble and magnificent?

When the film started, I made sure to keep in mind that I was a Dafa disciple and to make sure I wasn’t affected by any scenes in the film; however, as the film went on, my righteous thoughts gradually decreased.

The film had a lot of emotional scenes, and I could hear the people around me sniffling. I tried not to indulge in any emotions, but many forms of sentimentality (qing) were unconsciously aroused in my mind, such as lust, anger, sorrow, competitiveness, excitement, and love.

After the film ended, the people around me all remarked how amazing it was and how much they enjoyed it. I didn’t say it out loud, but deep down I felt the same.

When I went home, I didn’t think too much of it. I thought I’d just continue my cultivation the next day as normal. However, as the night progressed, I noticed that my righteous thoughts as a cultivator were extremely lacking, and my thoughts were very close to human. I went to bed conflicted.

I had a dream that night: Before I went to school, I had some spare time to do some of the exercises, but I decided to play instead. I now realize that Master was giving me a hint that I had been wasting time.

Things were confusing and foggy when I woke up. I happened to miss the time to send forth righteous thoughts after midnight, which I had always done previously. I also felt that my thoughts were extremely human, and whenever I thought about that movie, all sorts of human sentiments arose, making me feel sad.

The day progressed extremely slowly. Studying the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts, and doing the exercises all felt like a formality to me, and I couldn’t rid myself of emotion. I actually became quite depressed. I had no energy.

This feeling went on for a day or two until I went back to school. That was when my emotions became even more dominant over my true self.

When I was at school, I felt lethargic and lazy. Everyone was talking about the movie, and when I heard it, I was immediately met with sorrow. I tried to maintain the mind of a cultivator but failed. I was battling between the states of being human and divine, and for several hours, the human side took over.

I contemplated how hard cultivation was, how unreasonable it was to get rid of all these sentiments, and how reluctant I was to stop watching these superhero movies. I now realize that this was an incorrect thought. How could I betray Master to such a degree? Master has sacrificed and suffered on my behalf for so long and so much, so how could I possibly harbor these thoughts of unfairness?

I remained in this state for a while longer. Things improved after I sent righteous thoughts, but after I became lax in my cultivation again, these unrighteous elements would resurface.

This back-and-forth struggle continued over the next couple of days. Sometimes I felt depressed, and sometimes I felt more righteous.

My attachment of lust became particularly strong. Prior to cultivating, I indulged myself in digital pornography and enjoyed checking out beautiful women. This had always been a massive obstacle in my cultivation. This was especially inflated after I watched the movie, and I developed incorrect thoughts about a particularly good-looking woman.

This particular lustful desire led me to contemplate whether or not I should continue my cultivation and what I had cultivated for. It almost ruined me completely.

Afterward, I began studying the Fa more and reading experience-sharing articles on situations similar to mine. I found this very helpful.

After a while, I realized that too much of my essence had been depleted due to my lustful actions and thoughts. This explained why I always felt lazy and lacked energy. If I let this desire control me any longer, I would have been met with massive regret in the future.

I sobered up a bit more, and after about a week or so, I returned to my prior cultivation state.

Conclusion

I am not saying that as practitioners we should not watch movies or television. What I am suggesting is that we not watch them for the sake of watching them. I was met with tremendous tribulations after I watched one, and when our righteous thoughts are weak, we are indeed susceptible to interference.

Master mentioned that the Fa-rectification is in its concluding stages. We don’t have enough time to harbor these attachments when we need to awaken sentient beings! It really pains me to say that I haven’t done well, but I must honor Master’s sacrifice on my behalf and fulfill the vow that I made before the dawn of history.