PureInsight | January 27, 2020
[PureInsight.org]
Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
My son is 16-years-old. He was accepted by the Middletown school in New York State two years ago. Seeing his changes, I am so grateful for the chance to cultivate. I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences.
My Son is Fortunate
My son followed us in cultivation. He joined the Minghui School summer camp from the age of three. However, as he grew, he was more and more influenced by ordinary society. He was about to start 10th grade two years ago and was confused. He couldn’t figure out why his friends had boyfriends and girlfriends. Homosexuality was considered “cool” in his school. Dating was normal. He was considered abnormal because he didn’t have a girlfriend.
I was anxious; I didn’t know how to explain these issues to him. The only thing I could tell him was, “Study the Fa more. Study the Fa more.” He was also confused that many classmates spent a lot of time indoors playing video games. No one played with him outdoors. His violin reached the 10th level. However, for a period of time, he only attended his weekly lesson, but didn’t do any additional practice. My husband and I were worried but didn’t have a solution. Fortunately, he didn’t give up on the violin.
Just when we didn’t know what to do, we learned that the Middletown school started taking applications. I was so moved – I felt Master’s compassion and Buddha’s infinite grace. My son had hope!
Purity Upon Leaving the Mud
Master said in Fa Teaching Given at the 2016 New York Fa Conference, “As I was just saying, everything in this world is trying to entice you, to block you from gaining the Fa. And you’re not alone—most every parent in this world as well as government is aware of the problem, but everyone is powerless to do anything about it! And there’s not just the problem of blocking people from gaining the Fa: it leads people to do poorly at their jobs, to not learn well in their studies, and to waste vast amounts of time on the computer or with electronic devices. Those things are tempting you to watch and play with them. [People’s behavior is] not befitting of human beings anymore.”
During the first month he called me every day asking to return home. This was because the school restricted Internet use to academic needs only and didn’t allow any smartphones. He said to me, “Life is so hard here. The living conditions are bad. I cannot adjust to it. I have to get up at 6 a.m. and return to the dorm at 9 p.m. There are also tons of homework.”
I often told him to persevere because the cultivation environment was hard to come by. He then asked me, “Mom, let me cultivate at home. I now know what cultivation is. I will for sure study the Fa and do the exercises.”
I knew that his problem was not truly due to the hardship and the living conditions. It was because he couldn’t surf the Internet anymore. It was so addictive that letting it go was as difficult as getting rid of a drug addiction.
I was afraid of answering his calls later on. I thought to myself, “It must have something to do with his cultivation state.” I found my selfishness. I thought that my son can cultivate there; my son would be taken care of there; my son would increase his chances of making it into Shen Yun, and so on. It was all about me. My attachment could make it harder for him to stay at the school. I started eliminating the bad substances in myself. Very soon, the teachers started communicating with my son and opened his heart.
I had a dream one day: I was standing outside the school and saw my son walking towards me in his school uniform with his backpack. I was afraid – maybe he came to ask me to take him home. To my surprise, he looked quite pure and bright. He pointed to the classroom and said to me with a smile, “Mom, I have no time to chat with you. I have to join my class immediately.” He left.
A thought came to my mind: he is Master’s child! I realized that little Dafa disciples are all Master’s children. Any excessive worries or any attachments that parents may have will block their children’s growth. Only if we cultivate ourselves well can we provide a righteous energy field for our kids and avoid creating additional troubles for Master!
My worries disappeared. My son also stopped calling me asking to come home. After two weeks, I called him to see how he was doing. He said, “What’s up? I’m very busy now.” I immediately said, “Nothing” and hanged up. How could my son get rid of his addiction to the Internet in just a month without Master’s help?
My son became purer in his environment of group Fa study, exercises, and sending forth righteous thoughts. He resumed his violin practice. For his weekly “my most touching experience,” he said that once during group sending forth righteous thoughts, he could clearly feel that Master cleansed a lot of bad things from his body. He felt lighter and experienced enhanced concentration practicing the violin more efficiently. Thank you, Master!
The Compassion of Teachers
I learned that Shen Yun needed more viola players. I asked my son during his spring break, “Would you like to change to viola?” He said, “No.”
After sending him back to Middletown, I struggled how to figure out how to persuade him to switch to the viola. I visited Middletown in February and met his teachers. My son seemed to know why I was there; he came up with various excuses and didn’t see me for three days. His teachers encouraged him to switch to the viola. He finally agreed reluctantly. But he was still angry and didn’t speak to me when we saw each other. I knew that he was in pain because this meant that he had to abandon so many years of hard work with the violin.
He shared with his classmates. At a group sharing, they said that teachers shouldn’t force any students to make any decisions. My son told me, “I understand that my classmates saw me in pain and didn’t want me to change instruments.”
This issue caught the attention of the school. The next day, all the teachers in the music department had a meeting with him about changing instruments. My son told me later, “I was silent because I thought all the teachers were going to try to persuade me with different arguments. To my surprise, all the teachers looked inward. No one criticized me or tried to persuade me to do anything. I was very touched when I sensed the true caring and encouragement from everyone. I felt that my stress was lifted and truly wanted to change instruments.” My son really understood.
I told the chair of the music department, “Sorry we have brought so much trouble to the school.” She said, “No problem. It’s all good. This helped our teachers to think about the issue of nurturing talent for the mountain college. Through looking inward, we teachers have better understood that the ultimate and true objective is to assist Master in rectifying the Fa and saving sentient beings. The children can feel that.”
I told my son, “You are so lucky! You can study at a school run by Dafa disciples. You have such good teachers guiding and teaching you. Teachers at an ordinary school won’t guide students with so much heart! We really need to cherish what we have. Everyone has good intentions for you.” His music teacher asked others to fetch a viola for him to try out. He eventually got a viola that best fit him.
My son later wrote in a sharing, “I have just started with the viola. I must be more diligent in the future. Master has given me hints to bear more suffering. I will remember Master’s teachings and be open to take hardship on my cultivation path in order to ascend.”
I know that he has improved a lot on this issue of switching instruments. Thank you, Master!
My Son Became Sincerer and More Caring
My son has attended the school for about two years. I noticed his changes during each holiday break. At the end of his first winter break, I asked him if he would like to take any snacks to school. He said not for himself, but a special Canadian snack for one of his roommates. The second time, he asked for five snacks for all of his roommates. He said he knew what they liked. Later on, when I visited him, he didn’t want anything for himself. He asked me if I brought anything, I should bring enough for all his classmates. I realized that he cared more and more about his classmates.
Once, I picked him up at the dorm to eat out. He asked if his roommates could go as well and I agreed. We went to a Western restaurant. The four children were from Canada, Germany, and Australia. The kids talked among themselves. One said, “Auntie, we have just eaten. We are not hungry. We can share one item between two people.”
They asked me if they could bring some of the food to another roommate who couldn’t come because he had to finish his homework. I was moved as they were so close to each other! They were also very considerate of me to save money. Children who are Dafa cultivators are simply different!
Provide Children with Correct Perspectives
Master said in “Teaching the Fa in San Francisco” in Lectures in the United States, “But I can tell you that the root cause of all humankind’s ills is in fact the degeneration of human morality. Without starting there, none of humankind’s problems can be solved. Starting from that, all of humankind’s problems can be solved.”
The Middletown school focuses on the education of morality. According to the school’s regulations, students shouldn’t date. Some students violated the rules and were punished according to the school’s regulations.
My son told me once that he couldn’t focus when practicing his viola. He said he couldn’t figure out one thing. A classmate stayed in touch with a female classmate via cell phone. Teachers treated him differently upon discovering the issue. He said, “Shouldn’t cultivators be tolerant?”
I explained that we have to follow the school’s regulations. We shouldn’t behave according to ordinary principles. If we choose to attend this school, we should follow the school’s rules. The morality in society has slide down so much; we sent you to this school to improve your morality. Your classmate has violated the school’s rules and will still have an opportunity to correct his mistakes. He understood more about what’s right and wrong.
The chaos in society has affected the kids a lot. Teachers at the Middletown school guide students every day on what’s good and bad. What can be done and what shouldn’t be done. A teacher says, “We are combating the sliding morality of humankind!”
My son asked me, “We are cultivators, so we can bear hardships. But if the school has ordinary students in the future, how would they adjust?” I said, “You are the first-year students. You can be a role model. Helping ordinary students at the school is also a way you can save people.”
I also shared with him, “Of course the school is not perfect yet. However, isn’t it much better than when you just joined?” He agreed, “Very big improvements.” I said, “There are more difficulties for all projects at the beginning phase. We are determined to make this a superior school by working together with students, families, and teachers. If you behave and do your part, you will help with this process.”
Ending Notes: Gratitude
A girl who had been hoping to attend the school since its founding finally enrolled last year. Her father doesn’t cultivate; it took her a year to be able to go to the school. She wrote a poem to thank her mom for her education.
Her mom cried upon reading the poem and said, “My daughter learned what cultivation was in the school environment! She learned to be thankful. Thank you, teachers! Thank you, Master.” The non-cultivator father also said to his daughter, “I’m proud of you. My daughter has truly matured.”
I would like to thank all faculty, students, staff, and volunteers at the school. Because of your dedication and giving, our children are able to grow up in this healthy cultivation environment. Thank you, Master, for making it possible for the kids to find a pure land in the chaotic world with morality on the decline!
Thank you, Master. Thank you, everyone.
Chinese version: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/245239
