Young Practitioners Should Avoid Video Games

By a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) Computers have become part of our lives these days. But they also have a dark side. I would like to share one example of their negative effect. The majority of children today know how to play video games. Many children that spend much of their free time playing video games are having trouble in school and may be suffering from emotional distress.

Teacher told us in "Essentials For Further Advancement," "Human morality is declining a thousand miles a day..." Young practitioners should not deviate like other children. How can we cultivate ourselves if we have the attachments of everyday people? How can we succeed in our cultivation if we don't let go of the attachments but instead strengthen them? These video games, which are full of fighting and killing, will weaken the sense of morality in adolescents and make it even more difficult for them to tell right from wrong. Think about it: When you are constantly exposed to scenes of fighting and killing, it can only foster your violent nature. Everyone has his kind and evil sides. If he sees bad things, his evil side will become stronger, and there will be no way for him to have benevolent thoughts. On the contrary, he is constantly reinforcing his sense of competitiveness.

Furthermore, these evil, ugly images, full of lust, seduction, and demonic themes in video games and cartoons, are even more polluting than what occurs in ordinary society. Don't underestimate them just because they are seen in video games and cartoons. You can find everything in them, including competitiveness, jealousy, elation, lust, and many other attachments. All the demonic parts of human beings are there in order to make the games "fun." When you spend at least two to three hours playing them, you are totally immersed in them. Actually, each and every one of your cells is immersed in them. You then become afraid that your belongings will be stolen, that you will be beaten, or that you will be killed. When you lose the battle, you may become very angry. When you win, you may be smug and have quite a sense of achievement. These games promote all the attachments that cannot be discarded in the real world. How can they be underestimated? When you get upset while playing, you become so enraged that you may even utter dirty words. At that moment, you aren't displaying the demeanor of a Falun Dafa practitioner at all. Isn't this a serious matter? Can you say that this is the behavior of a cultivator? Will Teacher accept this kind of child as His student?

Everything in the ordinary world is seductive, and video games are a temptation that many little practitioners find difficult to ignore, especially those who have already indulged in them. Whether you can stop playing the games is a decisive matter of whether you can cultivate to a high level or will fall even lower.

The loss of self control is frequently seen in children who have indulged in video games. They relinquish all sense of reason and become completely and utterly absorbed. Once they begin to play, it's difficult for them to stop. They often place video games as the highest priority and care less about the most important things in life, becoming selfish and eccentric. They have no interest or sense of enjoyment in the real world, because they are immersed in the thrilling life of video games every day. Their personalities are closer to and accustomed to what "life" is like in the games. As a result, they don't cherish the people around them. Nor do they respect their parents. They even entertain the idea of leaving home and their parents. They want to do whatever they want and don't listen to others, and even their parents' words fail to restrain them.

Human beings have fun human things to do, and deities have theirs. In the heavenly paradise, sentient beings and kings are all at ease and relaxed. They have many nice, pleasurable things to do that have nothing to do with those unhealthy and ugly things at the lower levels. Why is that? It's because they've reached the spiritual level of that height and have immense mighty virtue. Young practitioners are cultivators who should melt into the Fa at all times. Only in this way can we find the nice and beautiful things that are waiting for us. If you dwell on things at the lower levels or even things in hell, there will be no way for you to ascend to the higher level. Your thoughts and behaviors can only remain in the ordinary people's realm, which is neither nice nor relaxed. No true pleasure can be found in it at all. It is the base habits that take control of and degenerate you.

No matter if it's your vacation or just taking a break, if you are a real practitioner, don't waste your time playing video games. Literally, how can we have time for video games? It would be better to access Dafa websites. In my opinion, Dafa practitioners should not touch video games at all.

The preceding is my personal understanding. I hope it will be helpful to those young practitioners who are still indulging in video games and find it difficult to be diligent in cultivation.

September 12, 2008

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/9/13/185787.html

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