(Minghui.org) I have recently been spending time with my relative’s younger sister, a young Dafa practitioner. I feel the that our interaction may have been arranged by Master, to help each other in cultivation.
I would like to share some of my understandings from the journey of helping her to cultivate diligently and overcome her academic challenges.
Helping My Sister to Cultivate Diligently
My sister was born into a family where everyone practices Falun Dafa. She must have seen the family’s cultivation environment before reincarnating, and bravely chosen to be born into this family. We assume that she hoped to cultivate Falun Dafa, purify herself, help Master rectify the Fa and return to her origin.
The complex human world has negatively influenced her to some degree, and although she grew up surrounded by practitioners, she did not cultivate diligently, partially because the adult practitioners in the family were not always diligent. She always knew that Falun Dafa was good, but rarely studied Dafa books or Master Li’s Fa lectures. She did not know the verse for sending forth righteous thoughts, and seldom did the exercises. Instead, she enjoyed browsing WeChat on her phone and playing games with classmates. She is kind and considerate, but with a sensitive personality and melancholic temperament.
When she came to my home, I asked her to join our Fa study. She read the Fa with us, but remained silent during our experience sharing afterward. As soon as she put down her Dafa book, she started playing games on her phone. I had no idea what she was thinking, and became a little anxious about her state. I wondered why she hadn’t changed her bad habits after cultivating Dafa for so long.
I reminded her, “It’s best for practitioners not to spend so much time on their phones.” She disagreed, “Mobile phones have brought progress to human society. If you are in an unfamiliar place, the navigation app can help you. You can stay in touch with friends anytime and from any place. Why can’t we use phones? Are we going back to primitive times? That would be very inconvenient. Society is moving forward. Not using phones is a step backward.”
Another issue was that erroneous education and distorted social trends have made homosexuality common in today’s society, especially among students. Even those who are not homosexual often view it as normal. My sister thought this way too, and did not understand the immorality of homosexuality. She asked me, “How can it be immoral if same-sex couples like each other and are faithful? Why is it OK to like the opposite sex, but not the same sex?”
To address her concerns, I shared with her Master’s teachings about mobile phones and homosexuality, as well as fellow practitioners’ articles about overcoming addiction to phones and understanding homosexuality.
She gradually went from not understanding the addiction to mobile phones to realizing that something was wrong. She began to limit her phone usage and reduced her gaming time. Although she hasn’t completely given up the habit, at least she now realizes the importance of cultivation, and has the righteous thoughts to want to help save people.
Regarding homosexuality, sometimes she understood Master’s teaching after Fa-study, but other times she would forget and misunderstand again. Through continuous Fa study, she finally understood this matter clearly. I witnessed the gloomy haze around her disappear. Even her classmates said that she seemed like a different person and had become much more cheerful.
During the process, I also recognized my own sentiment toward my sister. Sometimes when she did not make progress, my emotions were triggered, and I became anxious and agitated. If another practitioner pointed out some of her problems, she would listen and confront her own shortcomings objectively. But when I pointed out the same things, she wouldn’t listen. Upon reflection, I realized that my sentimentality made my words lack divine power and compassion. When I let go of sentiment, I saw her change for the better.
Helping Improve Academic Study
My sister was in her senior year of high school and under a lot of academic pressure. Her grades weren’t good enough to get her into college. Her mother often said to her, “Always prioritize Fa study. As long as you try your best in your schoolwork, Master will open your wisdom and your grades will naturally improve.” Many other practitioners shared the same view with their children.
This reminded me of cultivating during my college entrance exam. My mother, also a practitioner, told me to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” before important exams, assuring me that Master would enlighten me. She also shared Minghui articles about young practitioners and ordinary people reciting the magic verse and performing exceptionally well in exams. However, this “miracle” rarely happened for me. The only times I did exceptionally well were when I focused on saving people at that time. I once got the highest score in the class on a Chinese language exam, and even answered questions that only myself and the top student got right. I knew this was Master encouraging me to save more people.
When it came to my sister’s academic study, especially during the critical senior year, I hesitated to repeat her mom’s advice. I did not know how diligent she needed to be in cultivation to improve her academic performance. I feared that if her grades did not improve, she might blame me. So instead, I just offered suggestions on balancing Fa study and schoolwork, letting her make her own decisions. I now realize that many of my thoughts were not based on the Fa.
Over the years I hadn’t figured out my own issues over the college exam. I often wondered why the miracle of getting good grades did not happen to me, but time passed and it was no longer important to me. When I saw my sister facing a similar situation, I suddenly understood the Fa principles that I did not understand before, as well as my omissions in cultivation.
When I faced the college entrance exam, I had very strong attachments, including pursuing good grades, believing it would allow me to stand out among ordinary people, getting a good job, and living a better life. My desire for fame and personal gain made me prioritize good grades over cultivation. My attachment was so strong that I was completely unaware of it at the time. Now, without the pressure I once felt, I can clearly see my strong attachment. Moreover, since Master once encouraged me with improved grades for saving sentient beings, I even developed an unrighteous thought while in my senior year. I prayed, “Master, could you please help me improve my grades first? Once I’m through this, I will make up the lost time to save more people.” I now realize how unrighteous this thought was.
Better Understanding Master’s Arrangement
A few days later, I went to a fellow practitioner’s home to study the Fa. She brought her young child to study with us. Since the child did not yet recognize many Chinese characters, the practitioner had the child listen as we read Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, and point to each character. Sometimes the child pointed to a character twice, and sometimes missed one. The practitioner asked the child to follow more closely. The child was unhappy after hearing the criticism. I hinted that she should be patient, as the child was still young. The next day, I recalled the scene and began wondering why I never struggled with recognizing the characters when I obtained the Fa at age five. I suddenly realized that this was all part of Master’s thoughtful arrangements.
Even before I could speak, my grandmother (also a practitioner) taught me Chinese characters using flashcards. She pointed to the characters on the flashcards and told me how to pronounce them. Then she tested me by shuffling the flashcards, pronouncing a character, and asking me to find it. After I could speak, the first word I said wasn’t “mom” or “dad,” but “door,” a Chinese character my grandmother had taught me. I could recite over a hundred Tang Dynasty poems before entering elementary school. So when I started reading Zhuan Falun at age five, I could read fluently with the adults. Recognizing the characters was never an obstacle for me to obtain the Fa. I never thought this was anything special, until now; I suddenly realized it was all Master’s careful arrangement. Master has always been by my side, watching over me, even well before I formally obtained the Fa. Master hoped that Dafa would take root in my heart quickly, so that I could obtain the Fa as soon as I heard it. This is why I started learning to read so early.
From an everyday perspective, I would become a prodigy if I continued at this pace, or I could at least have decent grades. Yet I was always average in my class. I used to wonder why my grades were mediocre and why Master did not help me get better results.
I now have a better understanding of this issue. Exam grades are so insignificant compared with cultivating oneself and returning to the our true home. Master has arranged everything for us to cultivate well and meet the standard of Dafa disciples. If I had excellent grades, entered a top university and landed a good job, I may have already lost myself among everyday people. I would have left the city where my mother (also a practitioner) lived, to pursue a career in a large city, losing my good cultivation environment. Without her reminders while I was still young, I might have become an everyday person who knew Dafa was good, but stopped cultivating, and instead pursued fame and fortune.
Coming to This World
I understand that Dafa practitioners come to this world to obtain Dafa from Master, cultivate well, save sentient beings, and return to Heaven. Every social class needs Dafa practitioners, and every Dafa practitioner has people they are destined to save. We must fulfill the vows we made before coming to this world. Whatever social position Master has arranged for us, we should do well in that role and bring the greatness of Dafa to predestined people. Trying to artificially change our destiny is actually driven by the pursuit of fame and fortune, as well as jealousy. It goes against Master’s arrangements.
When I struggled, and couldn’t understand why my attachments were not being satisfied, I let down Master’s compassionate salvation. Master is waiting for me to give up fame, fortune, and sentiment, yet I clung to them tightly. I felt truly ashamed. When I finally realized that Master had arranged everything for my cultivation in this human world, including helping me learn to read from the early days, I burst into tears. I truly feel I would let Master down if I did not cultivate diligently. This was just one thing that I realized. There are surely many other aspects of my life that are also part of Master’s compassionate arrangements, which I may not understand yet. Perhaps only when we reach consummation will we fully understand them. We must cultivate diligently to truly live up to Master’s expectations for his disciples.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
