(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1994. I attended Master's nine-day lectures twice and was the coordinator of a local practice site before the persecution began in July 1999. I was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured many times for my belief, but I was always able to walk out of the brainwashing centers, detention centers, and forced labor camps with righteous thoughts. I was even homeless and destitute for some time due to the persecution.
When my situation improved, however, I gave in to the temptation of surfing the Internet on my cell phone and stopped cultivating. I would like to share my lessons in this regard so that we can improve together.
I moved six years ago due to my child's education. Then, my employer moved to the suburbs. The inconvenience of commuting made it hard to stay connected with fellow practitioners. Without a cultivation environment with other practitioners and being busy with work, I gradually became lazy and addicted to watching videos and reading WeChat articles on my cell phone. The more time I spent on the Internet, the less Fa I studied. I eventually stopped doing the Dafa exercises and spent very little time on truth-clarification projects.
I finally “woke up” when the movement to sue Jiang Zemin began. I had a stable job, a happy family, and a comfortable life. I did not have the courage and righteous thoughts to face the evil directly. Yet, deep down, I knew that no matter how bad my cultivation state was, I could give my life when Dafa needed it.
I knew that I had to study the Fa well and to send forth righteous thoughts with all due seriousness. After more than a month of intensive Fa-study, I had strong righteous thoughts again. I then wrote a criminal compliant against Jiang and sent it to the Supreme Procuratorate using my real name.
After that, my cultivation improved somewhat, but I still could not eliminate my attachment to surfing the Internet. I often wasted a lot of time on my cell phone at night. I would tell myself to quit this bad habit but would fail again and again.
To study the Fa more, I skipped breakfast to allow 30 minutes of Fa-study in the morning. I also studied the Fa during my lunch break. However, I was not able to use the evenings to effectively study the Fa or do the exercises. I could not break through this cycle for a whole year.
Master said,
“That’s because laziness has started to wear you down, so you have to break through it. Everyone will encounter this. Sometimes it manifests quite strongly; other times it seems relatively mild. That’s what prevents you from doing the exercises or being diligent in your cultivation. Break through it! Smash through it. Maybe its hinge, or the crux of this barrier, is your attachment, and if you unlock that you might overcome and break through it instantly.” (Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference)
I could not figure out what the crux of my attachment was or how to overcome it. I was troubled and felt helpless.
When I first heard about the Minghui notice that practitioners should uninstall WeChat and Tencent QQ, I replied, “We should not go to extremes. As long as we do not contact practitioners using those apps and delete their IDs, we can still use it. We still need it for work.”
My company usually sent files using QQ messenger and my boss often arranged work and shared articles on WeChat. My work would be affected if I uninstalled that software.
Soon after that, I was fired. I realized I should use the time to concentrate on studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts intensively, that I should get back to the right cultivation state as soon as possible.
I later read the Minghui Editor's notice that said, “Regardless of whether you live in mainland China or other countries or regions of the world, we urge relevant practitioners to stop spreading, following, and persisting in using various excuses.” There was absolutely no excuse to continue using WeChat or QQ anymore.
I understood it was Master's requirement, so I immediately deleted the apps from my cell phone and computer. I then spent two days learning how to jailbreak my phone and finally uninstall the internet browser. Reminded by another practitioner, I also deleted the Taobao, Alipay, and shared bicycle apps.
As I cleared my phone according to the notice, I found that my mind became clearer and I was no longer attached to surfing the Internet. I gradually was able to cultivate with the heart that I once had.
When I looked for a job again, I only picked companies that did not require the use of WeChat and Tencent QQ. I used that qualification to distinguish whether it was Master's or the old force's arrangement. I soon found a new job that did not require me to use WeChat or QQ.
Looking back, I realized what prevented me from cultivating diligently was the attachment to the Internet. Thanks to the Minghui Editorial Board's timely notification, I am back on the righteous path of cultivation. I must catch up quickly and do the three things well.
Master said,
“Science and technology and the human tradition are two different courses, existing concurrently in human society. Which course you choose and travel down is precisely a choice given to man. I just indicated that good and evil are something that each person is choosing between, and these two courses will be left for mankind in the future.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”, Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)
“You may have noticed that the positive is gaining ground, and becoming a real force, and traditions are being restored; and traditional culture is being more valued around the world, as people come to understand things better.” (“2018 NTD and Epoch Times Fa Conference”, Team Yellow Translation)
My understanding is that Dafa disciples should lead the way in restoring tradition and not be attached to technology or the Internet. We should lead the way by choosing tradition and goodness and lead the people we know back to the normal state of human society without the Internet.