(Clearwisdom.net) I am a teacher and have been very good with small children since I was young. After I learned Falun Dafa, I understood that everything around me is closely connected with Dafa. This includes my family, friends, job and so on, which are all aspects of my cultivation environment. All the children that I have contact with on a regular basis have a predestined relationship with me.
I have formed certain habits during my work in the ways that I communicate with children and the tone I use when I am talking to them. I have come to understand that such things have laid a foundation for me to save them. Of course, the most important thing to do is to cultivate pure compassion and only have the thoughts of saving others. Master will then give us the wisdom that we can use to save everyday people. I would like share with fellow practitioners my experiences in clarifying the truth to our children.
For children who are under six years old, which includes my own child, I tell them short truth-clarification stories. Nowadays, many of the stories that are available to small children are about monsters and aliens. In daycare centers and kindergartens, teachers only pay attention to teaching them knowledge and very few instructors teach children to be kind and good. Therefore, even though kids are pure and kind by nature, they lack the right guidance from adults. However, I have found that children enjoy stories about deities and also stories which say that good is rewarded and evil is punished.
I often tell a short story, which I would like to share. It is called, "Little Angel and Little Demon," which goes as follows. In everyone's heart, there live two wizards. One is a beautiful little angel and the other is a ferocious little demon. Both of them want to become friends with you. If you become friends with the little angel, you will feel warm in your heart and you will always have a smile on your face. You would be as beautiful as the little angel and everybody will like you. When other people hurt you, you will be able to forgive them. This is because the little angel will enable you to be full of sincerity, kindness and tolerance. However, the little demon also wants to be friends with you. Little kids should be careful because when the little demon pops up, it will make you angry and irrational. You will want to hurt others and do bad things. Some adults do terrible things because the little demon in their hearts come out and they can't control it. Thus, we must not let the little demon come out and not become friends with it. We should always be friends with the little angel so that the little demon cannot come out. I have found that many small children like this story.
One time, I shouted at my son over some trivial things. He said to me suddenly, "Mom, the little demon in your heart has come out." This story not only works on kids but also on adults because it's like the principle on how to be a good person, and as Teacher says, "'Zhen-Shan-Ren' is the sole criterion to discern good and bad people" ("Zhuan Falun, Lecture One.") If everyone is able to suppress his or her demonic nature and enrich his or her Buddha nature from time to time, things will get better and better for them.
Other than stories, I also tell them about current events that happen around us. I discuss these issues with children and help them to come to the right conclusions. For example, I talk about others who have beat, cursed, or stolen from someone, and I talk about people who have helped another person. Since people do this every day, I ask them what kind of children they should be. For example, they should be honest, not lie, not cheat; be kind, be tolerant, be good, don't hit others, don't lie and always think of others. After teaching them these principles, I found that these children can indeed control their bad behaviors as if it has become a habit. I can see that they are trying to be kind and good.
For children in the third grade or higher, we should tell them to quit the Young Pioneers League as well. Also, I hope that fellow practitioners can pay more attention to clarifying the truth to our children. It's not right to ignore them just because they are still young. Everyone in this world was once from a higher level heaven. Every being to be saved by us is connected with countless sentient beings in the colossal firmament. Sentient beings are waiting for us!
My own level is limited, so please point out anything improper.
