(Minghui.org) I’m a young Dafa disciple in my twenties. I recently read some experience-sharing articles on the Minghui website about lessons practitioners learned from watching videos and playing games on their mobile phones and other devices. I have some thoughts on this and would like to share them in the hope they might be helpful to other practitioners.
I loved playing video games when I was little. At the time, I even thought that after I grew up and earned money, I would buy a good phone and a computer to play games. My practitioner mother seriously explained the dangers of this and let me listen to experience-sharing articles on this topic. Afterward, I understood this was a harmful attachment meant to destroy human morality, so I gave up being attached to playing games.
My mother was well educated and considered to be the most successful member of our family. When I was misguided in my childhood, she helped me avoid falling into the big dye vat of the Internet. It was also due to her influence that I stepped into Dafa cultivation.
However, I was not aware of when my mother began watching short videos on her phone. I didn’t pay much attention at first, but noticed that she seemed almost like a completely different person.
She used to be very frail and sickly. She sought medical treatment everywhere, spending almost all our family’s savings, but there was no significant improvement. After she started practicing Dafa, her health greatly improved. She was always a good companion to me until I went to work in another city.
When I returned home for visits, I noticed that she had become increasingly clumsy. She had been considered a very skillful person who had always done things meticulously. But when I saw her again, she would sometimes struggle to utter a complete sentence. She would often use “this” and “that” to express what she wanted, only saying it clearly when others became anxious. She even said her intended message should have been obvious to others.
I told her, “Some things might be like that, but many things are not, especially when talking with ordinary people. If they can’t understand what you’re trying to say, how can that work?” She said she would try to change.
I remember when I was little, due to the scarcity of Dafa books in our area, my mother would hand-copy Master’s lectures. She would cross-check with a few practitioners multiple times to ensure accuracy before sharing them with those in need. But now she would often say she felt very tired. I asked her the reason, and she said it was from hand-copying the books. She pointed to the books on the top of the bookshelf; she had copied all of them. But when I checked, I noticed that many of the characters were irregular and sloppily written.
Except for when she went to work, I noticed that she would watch videos on WeChat (a Chinese social media app) or other platforms whenever she had time. Her sessions would last from at least half an hour or, typically, go on for several hours.
I discussed this issue with her, but she defended herself by saying it was meant to increase her knowledge and didn’t interfere with important matters. She argued that being well-informed would also enable her to have better conversations with others.
I asked her about some recent news events, but she either didn’t know or repeated exactly what the CCP’s media had said. I told her, “If you really want to stay informed, you should follow our practitioners’ self-run media instead of the CCP propaganda.” She replied that she couldn’t access the websites outside China. But the fact is she could download the truth-clarification materials.
She said that when she downloaded the materials, the Internet connection would be down as soon as she tried to watch videos online. I told her, “Then maybe this is suggesting you should no longer watch videos!”
Just then, some relatives came over and, during the conversation, my mother again had slurred speech. One relative asked, “What’s wrong?” Another replied, “Hasn’t she been like that for a while?” My mother replied, “I’m getting old, maybe it’s dementia.” I was shocked by her response!
That night, my father tried to throw away all the copies my mother had hand-copied. Both my mother and I prevented him from committing this sin. My father said, “Your mother does nothing all day except copying these books, then she would watch videos and go to sleep. She claimed to be very tired, as if she’s done some laborious work. But she didn’t even copy the books correctly, so what’s the use of keeping them? Seeing her like this, I really wonder how she can handle her job?!”
I told him, “You should remember the changes in her from before. Although her situation isn’t great, it’s just her current state. Don’t speak carelessly and don’t mess with mom’s things, it’s not good for you!” He sighed and walked away.
After this incident, I asked my mother if she remembered how I used to love playing video games when I was little. She said she remembered and noted that I’ve grown up and stopped playing, which was very good. “But you started watching videos yourself and have unknowingly accepted the arrangements of the old forces. Perhaps all your current improper states stemmed from this.” She replied, “I didn’t realize it was that serious. I won’t watch them anymore!”
I had a dream that night in which my mother and I were hurrying to the train station in a place reminiscent of the American Wild West. We were riding horses when she said she was thirsty and hungry, so I went to buy bread and water. When I came back, she was gone. I then found her at the entrance of a restaurant. She said she was very thirsty and hungry and wanted to go inside.
I told her I bought bread and water, and that we should eat and continue on our way. Afterward, we arrived at the train station. The staff said, “You almost missed it, but luckily you made it just in time. Get on the train quickly!” When I woke up, I described my dream to her. She said she also had a dream with similar details. I told her I had come back home just in time to help her, and she agreed.
The next day, my mother told me she had deleted the video apps from her phone. She then checked the Dafa books she had hand-copied before and said, “This is terrible! Did I really copy them?” She revised the books that could be corrected and discarded the ones that couldn’t. For more than a month afterward, she did not watch any more videos or ordinary people’s programs. At breakfast one day, she said, “Why do I feel like I’m not foolish anymore?” I replied, “Mom was never foolish in the first place!”
I stayed home with mom for a month. Before I left for work, I noticed she was no longer clumsy and was very energetic. She said that her colleagues at work chatted with her about the news and remarked that her responses hit the mark, which was different from before.
My mother’s experience shows how harmful watching those videos can be! Let’s get rid of those bad habits as soon as possible!
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Category: Cultivation Insights
