Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

WeChat Is Doing Practitioners More Harm Than Good

July 30, 2016 |   By a Falun Dafa practitioner in China

(Minghui.org) I live in the eastern part of China, while most of my relatives live in the west. Last year during the Chinese New Year, my relatives phoned me several times and begged me to have a video chat with them via WeChat (known as Weixin in China, it is a mobile application developed by China’s Tencent). I did not have a mobile phone that could download the WeChat software.

My son, however, did not hesitate to help me. He gave me his mobile phone and, without telling me, installed a home network and set up WeChat software on the phone for me. In two hours I was able to use the software after my daughter-in-law taught me how.

One day, a relative of mine called me through WeChat for the first time. I was so excited to see her via video chat that I burst out crying.

After that, she began inviting me to chat all the time. She also kept sending me articles and animated pictures that she liked. To be honest, I was not interested in those articles written by everyday people, but I really enjoyed the animated pictures and told her so every time she sent them to me.

Most of my day was very occupied by WeChat. As a result, I began to slack off in studying the Fa, doing the five exercises, and sending forth righteous thoughts. While studying the Fa in particular, my mind drifted and I was constantly drowsy.

And when sending righteous thoughts, it was very difficult to calm down. With my palm facing down, my thoughts went everywhere. Worse still, I did very little to clarify the facts to people.

As the days passed, I developed a big pile of human attachments, especially attachments to fear and lust. Sometimes during the sitting meditation, the pain was so intense that I would put my legs down right away. I also became addicted to watching television, especially programs about historical figures.

I did not realize that there was anything wrong with this until I began getting headaches every day. It was as if a ton of air was pressing down on my head, and neither sending righteous thoughts nor doing the sitting meditation could lift it.

It felt like an invisible hand was taking hold of my heart, grabbing my throat, and shaking me. I was left in a state of illusions and dreams, between waking and sleeping. At the same time, my stomach swelled up like a drum. I was so bloated that I could not bend over, and I had instant sharp stomach pains when I tried. I had no idea why this was happening.

One night I felt like vomiting when I saw a bunch of disgusting, indecent images that popped up while I was on WeChat. I was frustrated and said to my son, “I can’t understand why such nasty photos are allowed to be uploaded on WeChat. Why isn’t the Chinese regime concerned about these dirty photos corrupting people’s morals?”

I turned off the phone and went to study the Fa. (I did not know how to uninstall WeChat software at the time.)

As a cultivator, I understood that only Master can save our sentient beings and that only Falun Dafa can purify the human mind and improve everyday people's morality. Over time, after spending much more time studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and sending righteous thoughts, my physical condition began to improve.

Soon after the incident with the dirty photos, I came across an article in Minghui Weekly called “After Uninstalling Weixin Software.” It made me realize that my health problems were associated with my attitude to WeChat. My headaches stopped right away and my stomach felt better. The strong feeling of chest tightness, however, was still there.

I then found another article called “Please Stop Using WeChat to Contact Each Other,” which gave me a hint that I should uninstall WeChat, although I still did not know how.

Soon, however, enlightened and blessed by Master, I removed WeChat from my cell phone.

All of sudden, the tightness in my chest disappeared, and I felt my mind empty into a state of no thought. I felt so peaceful and relaxed, like my whole body had disappeared and only the outer layer remained. I was transparent, empty, and weightless from head to toe. I burst into tears.

It was just like Master said:

“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond” from Hong Yin Volume II).

I am very relieved to be occupied again with the three things Dafa disciples should do, instead of the whimsy of ordinary people.