(Minghui.org) I'm a teenage Falun Dafa practitioner currently attending an arts academy in Taiwan that was started by Falun Dafa practitioners. I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences.
I lived with relatives who were practicing Falun Dafa when I was younger. We moved when I was attending kindergarten. A teacher at my kindergarten was a practitioner. He taught me to say, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” So from a young age I knew these words!
I was in year five when my aunt loaned me a copy of Zhuan Falun, which is the main text containing the teachings of Falun Dafa. She asked if I wanted to attend a school to learn how to draw. Students in that school do the Falun Dafa exercises every day. I was accepted into the arts academy and my wish to practice cultivation was fulfilled.
The arts academy has certain rules and regulations created to reduce the negative effects of today's declining moral standards on students. For example there are strict rules on the use of electronic devices and dating among students. As I made progress in cultivation, I came to appreciate the importance of these rules. We also do the qigong exercises and meditation every day in school. This not only gives us good energy, but also helps to purify our bodies.
Students study the Fa every day so as to improve our moral character. Sometimes I don't want to read the Fa perhaps due to interference who does not want me to practice cultivation. But I know that I must study it. My art teacher told us that if we are not good people, no matter how adept we are with our technique, it's useless. My understanding is that through studying the Fa we become better people, our skills improve, and we learn things that a non-practitioner cannot. Indeed we gain a lot in the process!
I also think it is a good idea to restrict the use of electronic devices. We attend school to acquire knowledge and skills. Certain students get hooked on computer games and watch pornographic things on the Internet. Not only does it affect their studies, in the long run, these things have a bad influence on them.
If my classmates did something wrong, I would talk to them about it, but found that they would ignore what I said or even argued with me. Some of them turned around and reprimanded me. After sharing with older students and teachers, I reflected on what had happened and realized that I was irritated by my classmates' wrongdoings. Although I told them about their mistakes hoping they would do better next time, my heart was not righteous.
I did not express my negative feelings, but still they could feel them. Consequently what I said was ineffective and worse still, it caused ill feelings between us. Master said:
“I often say that if a person is free of any personal notions, isn’t motivated by self-interest, and is truly looking to benefit others, then when he points out another person’s shortcoming or tells the other person what’s right, that person will be moved to tears.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore)
I also discovered that when people treated me badly, it could be because I had provoked them in the past, or perhaps I was afraid of being criticized or disliked. This fear was an attachment and through this incident I was given the chance to get rid of this attachment.
I think it is inevitable that we make mistakes. The important thing is to realize our shortcomings and get rid of them. I remember that Master said these words at “Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Lantern Festival”:
“Don't worry, and this includes some of those who've stumbled. Just hurry up and get up.”
Master also said at the “Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital”:
“What I value most is the process. Only with the entirety of the process that a being goes through do you have the complete entity that is that being.”
Therefore if we have made mistakes, it's all right if we resolve to not make the same mistakes again. But if we keep repeating our mistakes, then that is a serious matter!
I ran into several extraordinary incidents during my cultivation. Once I was hit by a glass partition while I was helping to move a cupboard, but I only felt slight pain and my head was not swollen at all. On another occasion, I nearly fell over while climbing the stairs. I quickly grabbed hold of the handrail and saved myself from crashing downward. I think Master was protecting me on these occasions.
Another time I had a fever, headache, my nose was blocked, and my throat hurt. An older student lent me music from Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra. After listening to it three times, aside from my runny nose, the rest of my symptoms had disappeared! This was the first time I had experienced such severe sickness karma, yet I got over it in record time.
Udumbara flowers (It is said in Buddhist legend to bloom once every 3,000 years, with the previous occurrence preceding the birth of Buddha) were found in my school on two occasions. The first time I saw them they were growing on a lamp in the art classroom. There were 15 of them. When the classroom was being renovated, I asked the teacher to keep them in a box. These flowers are currently the most well preserved in our school and have been in bloom the longest.
The second time udumbara flowers were discovered was when students were tidying up a garden. They were growing on a brick. There were 29 flowers and the teachers said their presence was encouragement to the students. To me the flowers serve as a reminder to me to be more diligent in cultivation!
I think everything has been arranged and everyone came to this school as a result of a predestined relationship. I once heard a teacher say that a student had wanted to study at our school but he suddenly became ill and could not take the entrance examination.
I therefore think we should treasure the opportunity we've been given. Perhaps our mission is to revive traditional Chinese arts and culture. It is possible that we came to this school so that we can practice cultivation, so we should truly take cultivation seriously.