Young Practitioner: Falun Dafa Helped Me Break My Addiction to the Internet

(Minghui.org) My classes last fall were mostly online. Though I had a habit of watching online videos before, I restrained myself well at the beginning of the semester because my righteous thoughts overcame the temptation.

As time flew by, I began to chat with my classmates online and learned a lot about games and songs from them. Soon I became absent-minded and misbehaved during classes, and started watching things online that I shouldn’t have. My mom, a Falun Dafa practitioner, tried to stop me, but I cleverly sneaked onto the Internet.

As soon as I wanted to play games, a manipulative being immediately told me in my mind how I should play them, including all the detailed tricks. At the time, I didn’t study the Fa or do any exercises, using my homework as an excuse. My righteous thoughts were absent. The more I went online, the worse I got.

I felt like I was having fun when I was watching videos or playing games, but I soon found that they were swirling in my mind nonstop. Math problems that used to be easy for me seemed impossible to solve. Scenes from the things online flashed in my mind so much that I couldn’t concentrate on any schoolwork. I felt heavy. Something filthy seemed to have replaced something clean and clear in my mind. Every time after I played on the Internet, my eyes got dry and uncomfortable. As time went by, I couldn’t break out of this state. The evil being controlled my mind and made me restless if I couldn’t get online.

My scores plummeted from A’s to C’s in math, Chinese and English. I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it. As finals approached, I became increasingly confused and upset. I wanted to do well, but I knew it wouldn’t happen. I begged Master Li, Falun Dafa’s founder, to put off the finals for me. To my surprise, my teacher announced a few days later that our semester would wrap up early due to the pandemic, and our final exams would be delayed until the next semester. Excited, I thanked Master for giving me an opportunity to change.

I planned to study the Fa during winter break, but couldn’t control myself after a couple of days. Mom took my cell phone away and didn’t allow me to use the computer since I didn’t have to take classes online. I threw a big tantrum and refused to do any assignments during the break, refused to work out, and even refused to study the Fa or do the exercises.

Master said,

“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. In order to promote video games, those business people constantly come up with new kinds and hype them up on a large scale. What are people to do after they’ve created such an enormous amount of karma? They are corrupting humankind.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XIII)

After reading Master’s teaching, I realized that I shouldn’t indulge myself anymore. Mom and I studied the Fa and did the exercises together every day. Slowly but surely, I calmed down and realized that the being who wanted to play games wasn’t my true self. I admitted my wrongdoings to my mom; she warned me that if I didn’t stop, both my schoolwork and my eyes would get worse. I was determined to correct my behavior.

Some of our homework for winter break required that we record ourselves and look up some information online. When my mom wasn’t with me, I lost control and used the time to play online, even if it was for just a few minutes. Every time I did it, my eyes felt painful as if being stung. I would regret it later. To remind myself, I wrote a couple of notes saying “I won’t play on the cell phone anymore” and put them on top of my desk.

I knew this was no joking matter and I had to take it seriously. Mom and I agreed that we would read Master’s various articles in addition to Zhuan Falun every day. I concentrated well at the beginning, but soon became absent-minded. My eyes would hurt when my mind went astray, which reminded me that I should study the Fa well. By the end of my break, mom and I had studied Zhuan Falun twice and 15 books of Master’s teaching in various locations. I also listened to young practitioners’ experience sharing articles on Minghui radio. My eyes stopped hurting.

One night, I felt that my brain had been cleansed while I was asleep, and everything became clear all of a sudden. However, there was a stubborn black stain. A little knife appeared and cut the stain off. I seemed to have a new brain. After waking up, I indeed felt that my mind was clean and clear, and all the poisonous stuff had been wiped off my brain. I easily understood things from school that were challenging before. My heart seemed to have been lightened, too. I felt the happiness I had missed for a long time!

At the beginning of the spring semester, my teachers reviewed the materials from the previous semester. I kept pace and didn’t need to put in a lot of extra work. While my classmates felt stressed as our make-up finals approached, I stayed calm, feeling confident that Falun Dafa had cleansed the stains in my brain and given me the wisdom to learn things easily.

I repeated in my mind, “Falun Dafa is great, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is great,” when I was a little worried at the beginning of the exam. It made me calm down right away. I completed the exams smoothly. My total scores in math, English and Chinese ranked number four among all the students in our district. It was the highest ranking I ever got. I know it was due to the power of Falun Dafa.

I’m so grateful for Master! His teaching helped break my addiction to the Internet and made me able to concentrate on my schoolwork. I still have many attachments to be eliminated, such as jealousy, the competitive mentality, resistance to criticism, and the attachment to reputation. I will do better in my cultivation.

Thank you, Master!