Improving My Cultivation and Helping My Daughter Overcome Her Internet Addiction

(Minghui.org) Nothing we experience after we being practicing Falun Dafa is coincidental. When we encounter challenges we should see them as opportunities to search within, and raise our cultivation levels and validate Dafa instead of just tribulations. I want to share how I improved my cultivation state, how my cultivation affected my daughter’s performance in school, and how I helped her overcome her Internet addiction.

We Begin Practicing Falun Dafa

After my divorce my daughter and I moved out. In 2008, we began practicing Falun Dafa. I often got distracted when we read the Fa, so she suggested we read slowly to help me stay focused. She later suggested that we memorize the Fa.

After we did this all my ailments were gone. Because the hyperpigmentation on my face disappeared, people said that I looked younger. My business boomed, and my daughter got outstanding grades at school.

Daughter Addicted to Reading Online

My daughter went to a boarding school after she graduated from elementary school, and because she wasn’t around, I began to slack off in cultivation. Master said:

“While some began with a firm sense of commitment, there are some who have found it hard in their practice to let go of the many attachments they have developed over time. Some of them have become lax over the course of time. Add to this the time demands of work and not having handled family matters well, and these individuals have found themselves even more short on time for Fa study and exercises. And though they may occasionally take part in practitioners’ group activities, they can’t manage to be diligent. Over time they have come to be nothing like a practitioner of a spiritual discipline, and have even started to do things that no practitioner should. Danger is in store if they continue on like this!” (“Dafa Spiritual Practice Is Serious”)

In my daughter’s second year of middle school, her teacher called and said that her grades were failing because she was addicted to reading novels online. I was shocked because she was always a top student. I blamed her and didn’t look within for my attachments which may have affected her cultivation. After I calmed down, I knew that only Falun Dafa could help.

I rented a place near her school so we could read the Fa together. The quality of and time I spent on Fa study increased, and in no time my daughter’s grades improved.

She was admitted to a good high school and was later admitted to a university outside China. My family and friends witnessed how she benefited mentally and physically from practicing Falun Dafa.

Eliminating Depression and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

After my daughter left for college, I slacked off in cultivation again. When she was in her sophomore year, she called and said the school wanted her to stop attending. She came home and locked herself in her room. She played on her cellphone all night and slept during the day. A health care professional diagnosed her with obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression.

Everyone told me there wasn’t much I could do and that her conditions were incurable. I searched online and read that the conditions require psychological counseling, and that the required medications, which might not even work, have significant side effects. I was worried that her condition may cause others to have a negative impression of Falun Dafa.

I tried studying the Fa with her, but she couldn’t stay focused for long. I realized that she was addicted to the Internet, so I talked to her about its dangers. She told me that she couldn’t survive without her phone and the Internet.

I tried to show her that it was possible to get by without the Internet. I uninstalled the chat app on my phone and switched to contacting my customers by phone. From that moment on, I was able to pay attention during Fa study and consistently look within. I realized that the Internet also affected me—but I did not realize it.

Despite my efforts to help, my daughter’s condition remained unstable. I didn’t want to confiscate her cellphone because I was afraid that she’d do something extreme. I studied the Fa to eliminate my fear.

A practitioner who used to be addicted to the Internet learned about my situation and contacted me. She told me to cut off our access to the Internet, so I did. My daughter suffered anxiety for a short while but eventually asked me to study the Fa with her. She told me that she wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation to go online without studying the Fa. Internet addiction is similar to drug addiction, she said, both of which are hard to resist because addicts pursue happiness, but don’t want to work for it.

Once she resumed Fa study, she was her old self again. Our relatives, especially her father’s family, truly believe that Falun Dafa is good because her father also suffered from OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) and depression, and modern medicine could not help him.

Master has constantly protected me and given me hints. He turned these tribulations into opportunities for me to validate the Fa and save people. The experience also showed me how to help other practitioners who suffer from Internet addiction.