Growing Up During the Fa-rectification

I am now a 23 year old male Falun Gong practitioner. I obtained the Fa when I was 20 years old. Looking back over the last three years, I feel honored and fortunate to be able to grow up and mature during the Fa-rectification.

When I first came to Dafa, I had a lot of degenerate values and notions that permeate today's youth. Even though I kept away from cigarettes and alcohol, which some of my friends were addicted to, I had my bad habits. I especially had degenerate notions in regards to lust.

My parents were well-educated and deeply religious. They did their best to bring me up in a disciplined manner, but I started being a rebel when I was 17. I fought with my parents to get me a motorbike and fancy clothes and to let me go to discos and clubs. My parents never heeded me, but there were too many times when I caused severe emotional pain and worry to my family due to my bad notions.

Luckily, I obtained the Fa in 2001, just after I moved away from home to the university where I now study and when I was becoming financially independent. Dafa immediately touched my heart and I gave up my deeply rooted immoral and self-destructive desires. My mother was delighted after she first read Zhuan Falun, and even though she doesn't practice yet, she told me, "When you first moved away from us, I was very worried if you were going to indulge in any of your bad habits. Now, I am no longer worried!"

As I studied the Fa more and more, I understood what it meant to be a dignified and upright human being. I realized that as a student, I must do a good job at studying and taking care of my family. I realized what family values meant and learned that life wasn't for "having fun" but rather for cultivating and returning to one's, original true self. As a young man, I realized that I needed to be strong and virtuous.

During the last 3 years of cultivating in the midst of Fa-rectification, I have encountered a lot of hardship and tests, and sometimes I have made mistakes unworthy of a cultivator. But overall, I feel proud that I have grown up from the "boy" that I was -- a youth filled with muddy and degenerate values -- into a fledgling young man who tries to treat virtue and kindness as the most important qualities in his life. Even though my non-practitioner friends sometimes joke about my moral standards, they treat me with respect and dignity. Whenever there is a knotty issue, they call me to help. They respect my opinions and often try to see how it applies in their lives.

Perhaps the noble and upright path that young practitioners walk during this Fa-rectification period will be a touchstone for young cultivators in the future, including how we validate the Fa. We young practitioners must walk our path well and balance all aspects of our lives well. We are blessed with Master's benevolent care and this chance in countless lifetimes; let us treasure it and do well.