Young Practitioner: Master is Watching Over Me

(Minghui.org) I was born in 2000, and was introduced to Falun Dafa cultivation as a child. During the past over ten years, Master has been watching over me every step of the way. I was able to learn so much while cultivating, and am constantly improving myself.

Validating the Fa at School

After my mother resumed Dafa cultivation, she joined local practitioners to clarify the truth. Although I was only a small child, my mother brought me along when she distributed Falun Dafa informational materials in residential areas at night. As I studied the Fa and did the exercises with her, my grades improved.

When the school officials demanded that students in my grade join the Young Pioneers of China, my homeroom teacher put a lot of pressure on the class to comply. We were only kids in the lower grade of elementary school, and most had no idea how harmful it was to be associated with the communist regime. Worried about my friends, I told them about Falun Dafa and how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wrongfully persecutes innocent practitioners. I asked them to quit the Young Pioneers, as it was affiliated with the evil CCP. When they agreed, I had my mother help them make the announcements on the Minghui website.

When I was in 4th grade, our “Thoughts and Morals” curriculum included the Tiananmen Self-immolation incident. The text spread lies and attempted to brainwash the students, reinforced the CCP’s false narratives, and slandered Falun Dafa. During the lecture, I raised my hand high, stood up, and told the entire class what truly happened and that it was not at all what was said in the CCP publications. A few of my friends to whom I had already clarified the truth chimed in and supported me. After hearing what I had to say, the teacher quickly skipped that section of the lesson and moved on.

In middle school, our sitting arrangement changed often, which gave me the perfect opportunity to clarify the truth to different classmates and help them quit the CCP’s youth organizations. For a while I found it difficult to clarify the truth to those I was close with.

During Fa study one day, I came across this passage by Master,

“When you truly have righteous thoughts as you save him, his true thoughts will be able to tell, and he won’t be mired in ordinary people’s feelings anymore.” (Teachings at the Conference in Los Angeles)

I realized that my attachment to sentimentality was dominating and interfering with me. I needed to treat my friends with a cultivator’s compassion and look at them as beings to be saved. I readjusted my mentality, got rid of sentimentality toward my friends, and clarified the truth to them. All of them agreed to quit the CCP’s youth organizations.

When I first entered high school, I ran into a lot of resistance when clarifying the truth. It just seemed that the older we got, the more complex our thoughts were and the more stubborn we became. I looked inward and found that my motives for clarifying the truth were not pure. Because we had not known each other for very long, I was intimidated and afraid that my new friends would not accept the truth. This self-imposed fear stopped me from treating these people with compassion.

I realized that if I didn’t cultivate well my words would not carry the power of Dafa, and would not be as effective in saving people. Any incorrect notions and attachments could bring resistance and obstacles. When I corrected my thinking and let go of my negative feelings, I found it much easier to get my message across when clarifying the truth.

I kept up with my Fa study which enabled me to handle the heavy workload in high school and maintain good grades. I didn’t get much extra help outside of class. Still, I scored high on my college entrance exams. I was accepted by a prestigious university and got into the major I was hoping to. I know deep down that all of this was a blessing from Falun Dafa.

Cultivating Proactively

I was on my own for the first time when I went to college. It took a little getting used to being away from the familiar cultivation environment of my home. After a while, I established a routine. It became clear to me that no matter where I was, I needed to live up to Dafa’s standards and do my best in all three things that Dafa practitioners are required to do.

College is a microcosm of society—there are a lot more temptations and it is much harder to save people. During my four years of college, I constantly balanced doing the three things, my college life, and academics. I used every opportunity to clarify the truth to people around me, and most people were receptive.

I once traveled with another student to participate in a competition. I wanted to have my own hotel room so I could study the Fa and send righteous thoughts freely. But the other student wanted to share a room to save money. I wasn’t comfortable at first as I didn’t really know him that well, and I also worried I would miss Fa study time.

Just when I tried to come up with an excuse, I thought, “Is this a coincidence? How could I treat an ordinary person like this? The way I am handling this is far from the principles Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Who said I won’t be able to study the Fa if we share a room? Isn’t this a great opportunity to clarify the truth to him?” I knew exactly what I needed to do and happily agreed to share a room. In the next couple of days, I clarified the truth to him and helped him quit the CCP’s youth organizations.

Once in class, the student sitting next to me received a truth-clarification text message. He was very curious about it and asked whether I’d ever received anything like that. I knew as soon as I saw the message, “Isn’t this my chance to clarify the truth to him?” I picked up on the subject and told him all about Dafa and how the evil CCP is wrongfully persecuting the practice. He was very receptive and quickly agreed to cut all ties with the Party.

Each Tribulation Turns into a Difficult Test

I have encountered many problems and made many mistakes while cultivating and clarifying the truth. With Master always watching over me and guiding me I’ve stumbled countless times. But in the end I passed my tests.

I got my first cellphone in middle school. Internet novels were very popular among my peers at the time. Out of curiosity, I started reading one that my friends recommended, and was instantly absorbed. However, I couldn’t keep a clean and clear mind when I studied the Fa and did the exercises, as the scenes from the novel filled my head. I was so preoccupied that I no longer prioritized Fa study. I knew I couldn’t continue on like that. These novels were filled with competitiveness, showing-off, and lust. None of it was up to the standards of the Fa. After realizing this, I deleted the novel from my phone and never touched it again.

In preparation for the college entrance exams, our high school classes were reshuffled into Math-Science and History-Literature camps. I was placed in a new class where everyone was an A student. In order to have good grades and high rankings in class, everyone subconsciously competed with each other. My competitiveness showed itself, and as a result I had a hard time making friends and fitting into my new environment. It gradually became a bigger and bigger problem and reflected both in class and on the basketball court. Who can solve hard problems and solve them faster? Who is better at basketball and has better skills? I wanted to be the best⸺a winner in ordinary people’s eyes.

I knew that my cultivation state was off, but didn’t realize that the cause was my competitiveness. I became very irritable and my grades slid. I couldn’t keep a clear mind when I studied the Fa. I dug deep inward and eventually found the root cause of my attachment. I used to be at the top of my class, and now everyone around me had really good grades. I was no longer the “smartest” and no longer the center of all the attention. My attachment to fame, self-interest, and competitiveness all surfaced. Instead of working on eliminating these attachments, I let them get out of hand.

If I compete with others over some fleeting fame and self-interest, then what’s the difference between me and an ordinary person? As Dafa cultivators, we’re supposed to save them. I compared and competed with ordinary people, to the point that I had various bad thoughts and no compassion to speak of. How was I going to save them? I began to pay attention to my thoughts and actions and tried to get rid of bad thoughts and attachments. Slowly, things looked up. My grades improved and I got along with my classmates better.

I was away from home and on my own for the first time during college. At home, my mother was always there to remind me and urge me to be diligent. In this new environment, I had nobody to rely on but myself. The hustle and bustle of the big city and the many activities and events that college life had to offer tempted and interfered with me. I went to a handful of events, joined a couple of clubs, and took on some responsibilities. On top of a busy schedule, I shared a dorm room with several other students. I didn’t have a private space to do Fa study and exercises. I was introduced to video games and quickly became addicted. I spent less and less time on Fa study, and slacked off in my cultivation.

Each time I played video games, I felt that my righteous thoughts had weakened. I wasn’t spending nearly as much time on Fa study as before, therefore it didn’t feel as powerful when I sent righteous thoughts. I lacked the determination when going through a tribulation, as if I was being held back. My human notions were also running rampant as I played more video games.

Although I knew what the problem was, I didn’t take it seriously enough to address it right away. I subconsciously tried to find excuses for my attachment to playing video games. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to play once in a while even though I was already deviating from the Fa’s requirements.

But one day I had a dream where I was back in high school. It was crunch time before the biggest exams of our lives, but when the teacher checked everyone’s homework, only mine was empty. During an exam, I stared at the test but didn’t know the answers to any of the questions. When I woke up from that dream, I knew Master was giving me a warning. I was cultivating poorly and wasting all my time playing video games.

In the process of letting go of my attachment to video games, I found many other attachments, including competitiveness, attachment to fame and self-interest, and a show off mentality. They were all being overshadowed by my attachment to video games. The Internet is extremely complex and the various demonic and harmful things hidden within it interfered with me. As I spent much of my time on it, all the bad things clung onto my thinking and reflected in my day to day life.

I examined my cultivation state after entering college and realized that I had not been honest with myself. I hadn’t looked inward and dug deep to find my attachments and human notions, let alone address them and get rid of them. My excuse was that my environment had changed and I didn’t have the privacy to do Fa study and exercises uninterrupted. Instead of trying to overcome the challenge and stay on track with my cultivation, I slacked off.

Dafa practitioners who are cultivating among ordinary people need to comply with ordinary society to the best of our ability. But whatever the circumstance, we are Dafa practitioners first and foremost. We should look at everything from a cultivator’s perspective in order to walk a straight path in our cultivation without being moved by our human notions. We need to always do a good job at the three things and examine ourselves with a calm mind when encountering conflicts. If we can do that, how can we be interfered with? As we work on eliminating our attachments, Master will give us wisdom and help us get through our tribulations.

When I realized this, I felt a burst of energy that filled my entire body, and my attachment to video games diminished. In the following days, I came up with a creative way to study the Fa. I bought an opaque mosquito net and set it up like a tent over my bed. I could sit on my bed to send righteous thoughts and meditate with my earphones on. After school, I went straight to the library and read half a lecture of Zhuan Falun before starting my homework. Once back at the dorm, I finished the lecture before going to bed. I studied at least one lecture of Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, every day.

After I kept to this routine for a while, I had a dream that repeated several days in a row. In the dream, I was riding in an elevator going up a skyscraper at a fast speed. I could see the things on the surface street below at first but soon I entered the clouds as the elevator continued to shoot up.

I transitioned from relying on my mother as a little disciple, to being clueless as how to cultivate on my own when I first entered college, to holding myself accountable in staying diligent. I’ve gradually matured in my cultivation as a young adult.

A Hard Lesson Learned

I’ve always received a lot of attention from the opposite sex because I was always at the top of my class and am considered good looking by most people. For the most part, I’ve handled myself well in this regard. A lot of my peers started dating when they hit puberty but I held myself to the high standards of the Fa.

During my college years, I became well-known in school because I grew a huge following on social media. This attracted more attention from the opposite sex, and many openly expressed their affection. Although I didn’t do anything that was out of line, my attachment to lust, fame, and self-interest expanded. It was easy for me to meet ordinary people, befriend them, and clarify the truth when the opportunities arose. However, I didn’t always have the right motives. This led to many misunderstandings and I wasted a lot of time interacting and handling affairs with ordinary people.

Toward the end of my senior year, I had a lot of free time as I had finished all required classes, turned in my senior project and thesis, and already had a good job lined up for after graduation. Instead of using this time wisely, however, I spent most of it hanging out with my friends, and less and less studying the Fa. I slacked off in my cultivation and ended up making a terrible mistake due to lust.

I knew right away how serious a mistake it was. I shifted my focus back to Fa study, looked inward, and tried to eliminate my degenerated notions and lust. But I failed to dig deeper and find the root of my attachments. This was enough of a loophole for the old forces to impose a tribulation on me. A month later, I was summoned by the local police. The police said I broke the law, and confiscated my cellphone, campus ID card, and other personal belongings. I was held in the interrogation room, and all communication with the outside world was cut off. I panicked.

The police threatened me with my education and the upcoming graduation. I slowly calmed my mind and connected my arrest to what happened a month prior. I sent forth strong righteous thoughts to eliminate all the evil and elements of the old forces. I believed that I shouldn’t be there without a doubt—it was not what Master had arranged for me. I asked Master for help, and with Master strengthening me, my righteous thoughts grew stronger and stronger. A few hours later, I was let go.

Once back at school, I called my parents and told them everything. My parents were disappointed and worried. While sending righteous thoughts that night, I saw many Gods in heaven huffed and puffed, frowning at me in disapproval. They wanted to help me but there was nothing they could do. Some shook their heads and turned away from me. Standing in the front was Master who still looked at me with great compassion. It pained me so much to think that I had let Master down. I repented to Master and profusely apologized to the gods.

Very vaguely, I also knew that some sentient beings somewhere in the universe could no longer be saved because of what I did, and they now were facing destruction. Tears streamed down my face as I was filled with guilt and regret.

Through meticulously examining myself, I saw how my lust had been growing bigger and bigger in the months leading up to my making the terrible mistake. I had been slacking off in my cultivation and didn’t pay attention to my words and deeds. I had no righteous thoughts whatsoever. My attachments got the best of me and I made one mistake after another.

Although I realized right away that I made a terrible mistake and wanted to do better, I didn’t dig deeper to find the hidden cause of my attachments, let alone address it in an upright manner. When I found myself in a bad situation at the police station, I didn’t think of finding my shortcomings first but instead worried about my graduation and what was going to happen to me. I even resented the ordinary person for dragging me down.

Luckily, I’d cultivated in Dafa since I was a child, and had laid a solid foundation. A belief in Dafa was deeply rooted in me. What couldn’t I relinquish as a Dafa cultivator on the path to becoming a divine being? What was I afraid of? Nothing is by accident. Facing such a test, I knew I should look inward, cultivate, and let go of my attachments. As long as I go down the right path, keep strong righteous thoughts, and truly let go of my notions and attachments, there is no hurdle that I can’t get over. Why don’t I dig deep and truly examine my heart? With this thought, I felt a warmth in my body and was instantly full of energy. I was no longer confused and knew exactly what to do moving forward.

I sent forth righteous thoughts continuously and denied all arrangements and interference by the old forces. I had one thought—I am a Dafa practitioner and am looked after by Master. Yes I have failed in a major way, but I do not accept nor recognize any arrangement made by the old forces. As my righteous thoughts grew stronger, I became more and more assertive, and my thinking became more and more clear.

I examined myself and realized that when it came to lust, I had not been taking the issue seriously, and had not held myself to the required Falun Dafa standards. As a cultivator, I should have eliminated it without hesitation when it came up, but instead I hid it under other attachments and indulged it. I even considered that I was doing well in this regard when in fact it was reflected in many areas in my life. When lust, which has permeated our society and the youth culture, interfered with me by ways of electronic devices, the Internet, and cellphone apps, I not only didn’t recognize it but actually enjoyed it.

Cultivation is a serious matter. Instead of treating myself as a true Dafa cultivator, I let lust take root in my thinking and grow bigger. I let it control my emotions and cause me to deviate from the upright conduct and cross boundaries in interacting with the opposite sex. That was not the right state for a Dafa practitioner. I must examine my every thought with the Fa and eliminate any bad issues when they arise. Only when I am diligent and study the Fa well can I improve myself, and recognize and eliminate my attachments. Because I slacked off in my cultivation and wasted a lot of time, the old forces found an excuse to persecute me.

Over the following days, I felt as if I was covered by a heavy object. Through sending righteous thoughts, studying the Fa, and examining my every thought to get rid of lust, the heavy object slowly lifted. During that time, my mother also sent righteous thoughts for me at home. With my father’s connections and help, things looked up little by little. But I knew the key to truly solving the problem was holding righteous thoughts and constantly improving myself.

The police did not bother me again, and it seems the matter has been concluded. However, what I experienced during this process was the most danger I’ve encountered, and the largest problem in my personal cultivation. Every time I think of the possible outcome of my slacking off, I can’t stop crying. Even though with Master’s protection, it is now behind me, I know that what Master has endured for me is tremendous. I’ve failed Master and let Master down.

I asked myself how I should conduct myself as a Falun Dafa practitioner and live up to such honor. How should I take responsibility for my own cultivation, especially during this critical time period in history? How will I stay on track and cultivate myself diligently and solidly? As we approach the end of this time period, every tribulation and every step we take has a very narrow path to success, like walking on a single-log bridge. It is absolutely vital to do the three things well, and the transformation from human to divine lays in the process.

Having grown from a child to a young adult, I am so grateful that Master has been compassionately watching over me for more than ten years. I cannot describe my gratitude. Thanks to the greatest and most compassionate Master! Heshi.