(Minghui.org) I am a middle school student. I lived with my maternal grandmother prior to attending kindergarten. I would study the Fa and occasionally do the exercises with my grandmother. I knew I was a young Dafa disciple, and I would point out my grandmother’s shortcomings from time to time. My grandmother would praise me for being a diligent practitioner.
My grandmother often put me on her back while she clarified the truth outside. I would happily say, “We are going on an adventure” whenever she took me out. I started to live with my parents when I went to kindergarten. The head teacher in my kindergarten class always praised me for being kind and friendly. I’d also often recite, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Master revealed an image of himself to me and compassionately smiled at me one time when I was in kindergarten.
Tutoring Class
During the years that I attended elementary school, my mother and I were not diligent in cultivation. We slacked off in studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. My grades were poor and my parents decided to put me in tutoring classes.
I became contaminated by the big dye vat of ordinary society. After a couple of years, not only had my grades not improved, but they became even worse. My parents talked to me and said they believed my grades would improve if I set my heart on it. My parents held high hopes for me but didn’t want to put too much pressure on me. They didn’t need me to be an exceptional student and only wished for me to get the grades I was capable of. I did not want to change, because it meant I would have to endure hardship. I didn’t conduct myself as a cultivator and didn’t understand that I would be able to better validate Dafa if I had good grades.
In the blink of an eye, I was attending middle school. My parents were worried about me because my grades were among the lowest in my class. My mother knew that I always hung out with friends who have bad grades. She was angry and worried. She could not understand why I was being so passive. She wanted to know why I did not make friends with people who had good moral character and good grades. She asked, “Why do you make friends with classmates who get bad grades?” I felt wronged and replied, “Because the ones who have good grades only like to hang out with each other.” My mother was shocked and felt that I had become part of the “lower class” of society. My mother came to realize that our cultivation had gone awry. My mother said, “I hope that we can start being diligent and rectify ourselves.” I agreed. Master was compassionate and helped me after I had the thought to do better. I was assigned to stay in a dorm with classmates who study well during a field trip one time, and we became good friends.
After spending more time studying the Fa, my mother and I enlightened that Dafa has to ability to unlock our wisdom. I didn’t need tutoring classes. We firmly believed in Master and in the Fa. We studied the Fa more often, since I no longer needed to go to tutoring classes. I tried my best to do well in school so that I could better validate Dafa.
I shared my thoughts with my father, who is not a Falun Dafa practitioner, and he agreed that I didn’t need to go to tutoring classes. My grades got better and it became easier for me to study. With constant Fa study, practicing the exercises and cultivating my heart, something amazing happened. My grades became better than the students who went to tutoring classes.
My jealousy and competitive mentality had been strong in the past. I would hold grudges against teachers who had “wronged” me. I refused to listen to them and would get very mad. My mother read a section of Master’s Fa to me one time.
Master said,
“Those who say bad things about you are everyday people, not Gods and Buddhas. Why would a cultivator be affected by that?” (Teachings at the Conference of Changchun Assistants)
I would remind myself about this section of Master’s Fa each time a teacher said something negative to me. My heart was more at ease. Thank you, Master!
Benefiting After Eliminating the Addiction to Cellphones
My mother forbade me from using a cell phone or watching television from a young age. She thought that this would protect my eyesight and could help me steer away from interference. I also had more time to study the Fa and cultivate.
I refused to listen and believe my mother in the beginning. I told my mother that all my classmates were playing on their cell phones. My mother reasoned with me and said, “Playing on cell phones will affect your school work. How can you focus and concentrate in school when all you're thinking about is virtual gaming? It will also affect your eyesight. If you don’t believe me, just wait until this school break is over.”
When school reopened, many of my classmates were wearing glasses and those who usually did well academically no longer did. I, on the other hand, welcomed the new semester with ease. My vision test results were also good. An elderly man at a sauna praised me for not playing on a cellphone.
Eliminating My Impatience
I got agitated easily for a period of time and would often say negative things. I’d get very angry and impatient if my mother or maternal grandmother corrected my exercise movements. My mother shared her cultivation experiences with me and I only agreed with her on the surface. I never truly wanted to change for the better and I was still saying negative things. I sometimes thought about changing my negative words, but when I encountered a conflict, the negative words would still come out of my mouth. Though I began to look inward more often and was determined to change, often I still couldn’t control myself in real time.
My mother told me that she saw a witch with long, poisonous fingernails coming at me when I said negative words one day. She didn’t want to tell me about it at first and hoped that I’d change. But I kept failing when I encountered tribulations. When my mother told me about it, I got so scared that I was covered in cold sweat. I have been interfered with by this demon for so long. I set my mind to change and was determined to eliminate the demon.
I no longer say negative things, and nor do I get agitated. Thank you Master.
I read a section of Master’s Fa one time.
Master said,
“And you will be able to handle anything unforeseen that comes along. If your heart is always very kind and compassionate, you will usually have breathing room and space to think when situations come up unexpectedly. By contrast, if you are always a contentious person and getting into disagreements with people, then I think it’s inevitable that you will fall into an argument when issues come up.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
The words “breathing room” appeared larger and more conspicuous to me when I studied the Fa. I enlightened that Master was telling me to develop more “breathing room.”
Dafa Unlocked My Wisdom
I was stuck one time during a geometry test. I was unable to solve a question and started to get anxious. I thought of Master’s Fa and calmed down. I put the question aside and began to recite the two phrases, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” I remembered how to solve the question, and when I got the test back, I saw that I had gotten that question right. Since then, I have recited the two phrases during tests.
In the past, I had slacked off in sending forth righteous thoughts. After sharing cultivation experiences with my mother, I realized that I needed to take sending forth righteous thoughts seriously. With Master’s help, I was able to send more righteous thoughts. I will try my best to send righteous thoughts at each designated time.
Thank you, Master, for your compassionate salvation!
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Category: Improving Oneself
