(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa with my mother when I was still a young child. I am now a freshman at Fei Tian College in Middletown, New York. Due to the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) beginning in 1999, I was unable to stay in China. Even though I slacked off in cultivation during that time, I always regarded myself as a Falun Dafa disciple.
Fa-Rectification and Cultivation
My family and I moved to Houston a few years ago. The first project I joined was the promotion of Shen Yun. I had watched Shen Yun on TV in China but never imagined that one day I would be part of the Shen Yun promotion team. However, I had doubts: “I have never done this kind of work” and “If I do a bad job, would the coordinator scold me?” My negative thoughts disappeared after meeting the local practitioners at the airport. They found a place for us to stay, and we got acquainted over dinner. They turned out to be very nice.
The next morning, other practitioners in the apartment woke me up to do the morning exercises at 5:00 a.m. We left the house at 7:30 a.m. to hang Shen Yun pamphlets on local residents' door handles before heading home at 6:00 p.m.
At our first Fa-study I told the others about the encounters I had with dogs that day. They all laughed and said, “That happens a lot. As long as you keep your thoughts righteous and your heart pure, dogs will not hurt you.”
The next time I saw a dog, I sent forth righteous thoughts and said in my heart, “I am here to save your owner,” and the dog stopped barking.
I was full of energy and lived each day to the fullest during those two weeks. Being together with other practitioners helped my cultivation improve. My xinxing elevated because I was helping Master with Fa-rectification. Since our lives come for the Fa, we can only be truly happy when we immerse ourselves in the Fa.
A local practitioner saw that I was good with Adobe software and introduced me to Ben, a staff member at the New Tang Dynasty TV station. Ben asked me if I wanted to help with video editing, and I accepted the opportunity.
He sent me many links to video editing courses. He gave me one week to study and was hoping that I would be ready to take on editing assignments by the end of the week.
Being a procrastinator, a week passed, and all I had accomplished was to register for the online course. It was a slow start, but I gradually learned video editing.
There was a flood in Houston in 2017. Ben wanted to send a news program about the flood to our New York City office by 6:00 p.m. and asked me to rush it. I finished it on time. When I thought I was done for the day, I received another file from Ben. It was a half-finished news article that he asked me to edit and proofread.
I unwillingly took the assignment as my SAT test was in a week and I really needed more time to study. Once I looked at the file closely, the only thing I needed to do was to swap the pictures around. The correction took only a few minutes. My mom often tells me, “We receive virtue for everything we do to save people.” It was silly of me not to want to accept the virtue that was presented to me.
That same evening, an email was sent out from the College Board delaying the SAT testing date due to the flood in the area. I suddenly realized that my earlier dilemma was testing my xinxing: the outcome would be harmonized after I let go of my attachment.
Attending Fei Tian College
In less than a year in Fei Tian College, both my academic studies and cultivation improved tremendously, and I finally stopped playing video games.
Last semester, my math professor pointed out that it was a pity that I lost a lot of points on basic calculations. He said, “You should play video games less and spend more time on your schoolwork.” After I realized my problem, I tried hard to suppress my urge to play video games, and the thought of gaming gradually faded away. We all know that it is very easy to become addicted to gaming and very difficult to quit.
Master said at the Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference:
“Video games are really harmful to people, and not just Dafa disciples’ kids. They really draw people in, and have had a negative effect on everyday people as well. They make you do poorly in your work, sleep poorly, rest poorly, and make you devoid of human affection or warmth of feeling, make you neglect your family, make students neglect their studies, and entice you and draw you in. They are contributing to humankind’s destruction.”
My calculation errors were due to my inability to concentrate after years of playing video games. I cannot imagine what I would be like if I did not attend Fei Tian College. I am thankful for my teachers at the school; they give me a tranquil place to study and cultivate.
Last year, I contemplated whether Fei Tian College was a good choice for me or not. The school is new, and the campus is not yet completed. An older practitioner said to me, “The cultivation environment is very good there, which will help you stay diligent. Many children give up cultivation after attending ordinary schools.”
His rationale made sense, and that's why I chose Fei Tian College. One of my professors said to me, “College is a project during the Fa-rectification period. Everyone involved, including the students, are part of it.” I know I have made the right choice.
