A Young Practitioner’s Cultivation Journey

(Minghui.org)

Greetings, benevolent and great Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I am a young Dafa practitioner. I am 14 years old and have just graduated from Grade 8 at Minghui School. I will soon be entering high school.

When I was little, my grandmother was a practitioner, so I was introduced to Dafa at a very young age. She would teach me to memorize Hong Yin, and sometimes I would follow her and do the exercises. It was not until I came to Minghui School in Grade 6 that I truly began to cultivate.

Through studying the Fa every day, I gradually came to understand some Fa principles. They helped me learn to be more tolerant, think of others in everything I do, and look within whenever conflicts or problems arise. I feel that the Fa principles Master has taught me are like precious treasures that guide me in my studies and everyday life.

Letting Go of My Attachment to Electronic Devices

I remember when I first came to Canada at the age of nine, I did not really know how to use electronic devices for entertainment. After arriving, I attended an elementary school close to my home. Whenever we got together, everyone was busy playing games on iPads, while I could only sit quietly beside them and watch. After I went home, I began asking my mom for an iPad.

Although my mom did not really support the idea, when I turned 10, I received a tablet for my birthday. That was when I started using electronic devices for entertainment. Although I did not become addicted to games, I was still very attached to using electronic devices, especially for watching YouTube videos.

When I was 12, I started attending Minghui School. The students here do not use electronic devices at school and are only allowed to use computers during computer class. But when I went home, I was still very attached to watching videos and playing games on the computer.

Although I knew it was wrong, I simply could not control myself. My mom and teachers often tried to persuade me to stop. Every time, I would nod and agree, and I might manage to stop for a day or two, but very soon I would start thinking about using them again.

Although I knew that this was not right, over time I began to take it less seriously. I thought, “There is nothing really wrong with doing these things. Why are my mom and my teachers so against me using electronic devices?” When I was especially deeply caught up in it, I would even get angry with my mom and demand to know why she would not let me use them.

I remember one night when I was supposed to be sleeping. My mom discovered that I was secretly using the computer again. She became very angry and immediately took the computer away. I was angry too.

That night, I had an extremely vivid, but strange and unrealistic dream. In the dream, everyone in the world had been transported into another dimension, and everyone had become vampires. Different people were assigned to different rooms, where they fought against one another.

In the dream, I was being chased everywhere, running for my life. It was extremely frightening. At the most dangerous moment, I woke up.

After waking up, I was puzzled. Why did I have such a dream? The next day at school, I told my teacher about it. After listening, she thought for a moment and asked me, “Have you started using electronic devices again these past few days?”

I was a little shocked and quickly asked, “How did you know?”

My teacher said, “I’m guessing you must have seen scenes like the ones in your dream in some of the videos you watched, right?”

I did not answer. I realized that I probably really had watched videos like that. Seeing that I remained silent, my teacher had another long talk with me. “Such a vivid dream might also have truly happened in another dimension. Perhaps it was a hint for you.”

Actually, my teacher had already spoken with me about this issue many times before. But this time, she told me very seriously: “You need to remember that you are a young Dafa practitioner, and a practitioner should not be attached to these things. What you choose to do is up to you. I’m giving the choice back to you, and you need to decide for yourself.”

After hearing this, I felt very ashamed. I am a young Dafa practitioner! I realized that I really had not done well.

When I got home, I looked at my electronic devices and struggled with what to do. I felt a little reluctant to give them up because it had not been easy for me to finally have the opportunity to use them, and now I was going to hand them all over to my mom for safekeeping.

While I was still thinking about whether I should give them back, my mom appeared. She simply took the devices away and walked out of my room without looking back. Everything happened so quickly that before I could even react, the devices were already gone.

But what made me happy was that this time I was not upset at all. In fact, I felt very relieved. I knew that this was the right thing to do. Master had already taught me these Fa principles. The side of me that understood the Fa was finally taking effect.

For a long time afterward, I did not even think about using those electronic devices again. However, during the past few weeks, I have noticed that the desire to use them has started to come back a little. I know this is interference trying to affect me. I will gradually overcome it. I will not give up!

Letting Go of My Attachment to Material Things

I have always especially liked cute little charms, blind boxes, and stuffed animals. My dad spoils me a lot. Whenever we went shopping and I saw some new little item, I would want to buy it. My dad would not stop me. Instead, he would enthusiastically say, “I’ll buy it for you! You like it so much.”

Every time, I was very happy. But gradually, my room became filled with all kinds of charms and stuffed animals. I began to feel surrounded by all of these things. The stuffed animals had taken up far too much of my space. At that point, I finally realized that I could not continue being so attached to material things.

As a practitioner, how could I keep pursuing material enjoyment? It could also easily cause me to create karma and make my cultivation environment very messy. Every object is a living entity, and having too many things around me would not bring anything good.

Whenever my mom came into my room, she would tell me: “You have too many things. Keeping so many things is not good for you.”

I cleaned up my room and got rid of some things, and it became much more open and tidy. However, truly letting go of an attachment is very difficult.

I thought once I had recognized the problem, I would be able to correct it. But I soon realized that it was much harder than I had imagined.

Whenever I saw something new, I still felt tempted and wanted to make it mine. I knew that I needed to get rid of my attachment to enjoyment and material possessions.

One of my friends was completely different from me. She knew how to control herself and was not attached to material things. She would only occasionally buy some food.

I told my friend about the difficulty I was having. She kept reminding me not to be attached to buying things. She encouraged me to seriously think about whether I actually needed something before buying it.

After doing this several times, I discovered that I was no longer as attached to buying things. I felt that Master was helping me through the words of my good friend, helping me let go of my attachment to material things.

Clarifying the Truth and Overcoming My Fear and Timidity

In May of this year, when Shen Yun came to perform at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto, the performances were threatened by the Chinese Communist Party. In the end, only one performance took place, while all the remaining performances were canceled.

As Dafa disciples, we could not accept this. We wanted to support Shen Yun. The day after we heard the news, our teacher led us in taking action. She encouraged us to make display boards.

That same day, each of us began making a display board at school. It was tiring, and writing the words required a great deal of patience and concentration. So I had to be extremely careful and could not be careless at all.

Not everyone can write every character neatly and precisely without making any mistakes, so this was also a test of our xinxing. We encouraged one another, and gradually our writing became better and better. Within one week, we completed six display boards.

The Saturday after we finished the boards, we went out to clarify the truth and support Shen Yun. After we arrived, we began handing out flyers.

At first, I felt very embarrassed. Standing on the street, I felt as though I did not fit in at all. I felt awkward and simply stood there. Even when people walked past me, I did not react. I was too afraid to reach out and offer them a flyer.

But I knew why I had gone there. I needed to gather my courage and bravely step forward to share this beautiful flyer with people. This was also my mission. With that thought, I took my first step.

People were walking quickly past me. I gathered my courage and walked straight toward the person closest to me. Feeling extremely nervous, I gently held the flyer out to him.

He saw it but did not say anything. He simply gave me a small smile and gently took the flyer from my hand. That simple smile gave me so much confidence and strength. I was very happy.

I suddenly felt much more confident, and I no longer felt quite so shy or embarrassed. I discovered that once I let go of my fear and timidness, things were not nearly as difficult as I had imagined.

Every life is different and everyone makes different choices. I did not need to take their reactions too much to heart. Time passed quickly, and soon it was time to go home.

By then, I was filled with confidence. The fear and shyness I had felt at the beginning were completely gone, and I could now behave naturally and confidently.

Whenever someone approached, I would offer them a flyer. Sometimes I would even carefully explain the information to them.

Dafa cultivation is serious. Although I am a young Dafa practitioner, I must also hold myself to strict standards. I need to study the Fa and do the exercises well and continue becoming a better person.

These are some of my cultivation experiences. If there is any room to improve, please kindly point it out.

Thank you, benevolent Master!

Thank you, everyone!

(Presented at the 2026 Canada Fa Conference)