Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

A Warning about Playing Computer Games

Sept. 17, 2011 |   By Dingxin, a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) In 2009, the Minghui website compiled several articles about practitioners giving up their attachment to playing computer games. However, at the time I did not heed the lesson. The computer games I played were not network games, but console games a person plays against just the computer. Recently, I discovered a phenomenon that can occur with the attachment of computer games and have summarized my understanding below.

There were many people who obtained the Fa before the persecution of Falun Dafa began. Some of them had great inborn quality and good living conditions, but they were frightened by the persecution. They began to spend their time playing computer games and gave up cultivation practice. Once a person begins to play computer games it soon becomes the most important thing in the world to him. When you ask that person to study the Fa and cultivate again, he cannot give up the attachment to computers. In today's world, the computer and Internet are highly developed and so widely used for just about everything. If a person develops this attachment, the computer will control him and his cultivation state will suffer. I was once one of those practitioners!

Previously, I played computer games in the evening until way after 9:00 p.m. At the beginning, I just wanted to relax for a while, but soon I was playing until 2:00 a.m. I even missed sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight. If I felt tired at 2:00 a.m. I would go to sleep, but sometimes I felt energetic and continued to play. On several occasions, I awoke and found myself speaking strange sounds. I controlled these strange sounds and went back to sleep. I arose at 8:00 a.m. the next day feeling numb from head to toe and experiencing severe pain in my lower abdomen. I realized that I had stomach problems, but I did not know why. I then remembered that the same thing had happened several days before. Finally, I understood that it was wrong for me to play computer games.

I now realize that it does not matter if the computer games are console games or network games. They all have the capacity to control the main spirit of humans because of their influence in other dimensions. People who play computer games are seeking mental stimulation to fulfill desires such as competition, complacency, greed, and so on. Human desires are all strengthened while playing computer games. When I played for a long time, I felt uncomfortable from head to toe. In the past, I had a lot of energy, and I never felt sleepy while studying the Fa. My main spirit was strong no matter how sleepy I was. However, during the time I played computer games, I frequently felt sleepy when I studied the Fa. Once, after deciding to study the Fa, I could not keep my eyes open and I wanted to sleep. When it came time to study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts, I still held onto thoughts about playing games. I was attached to playing games and unable to think clearly.

Every day I thought about computer games constantly. Fa study, practicing the exercises, and sending forth righteous thoughts were all disrupted by these computer thoughts. The three things a practitioner must do could not be done well in these circumstances. The results of clarifying the truth became greatly reduced. Sometimes, when I attempted to go out and clarify the truth, I even had fearful thoughts.

I have now deleted all the games from my computer and external hard drive. I will not play games anymore. After relinquishing this attachment, I now sense that time is limited for the accomplishment of Fa-rectification. I will hurry to catch up, use more time to study the Fa and save more people. After studying Master's new lecture, “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” I feel great. I know that Master's arrangement of my cultivation way was very difficult, so I should not waste any more time. The meaning of a practitioner's life is to fulfill one's prehistoric pledge. I will do the three things well and move forward diligently to return to my original home.