(Minghui.org) The 2012 Midwest USA Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference was held in Chicago on October 21. Seventeen practitioners from more than 10 states shared their experiences.

The conference hall

Experience sharing

Angela from Chicago talked about how she learned to look inward while promoting Shen Yun. She said that she initially lacked confidence and felt shy when talking to someone that she perceived to be of a higher social status. “My attachment hindered me in saving people. Things became smoother after I got rid of it,” she said.

Ms. Chen from Illinois said: “I didn't consider my family life to be a cultivation environment. While out in society, I could control my human notions and attachments. However, I didn't really cast away those attachments. When I was back home, they all came back to me. I joined a Dafa project, and a fellow practitioner pointed out a shortcoming of mine. Actually my husband had pointed it out to me a long time ago, but I never paid attention to it. I eventually got rid of it.” Ms. Chen also said: “When I was collaborating with other practitioners, I found another attachment of mine. I always tried to protect myself, and didn't want to have conflicts with others. I always tried to avoid conflict, but didn't try to look inward. I just wanted to protect myself, but didn't want to assimilate to the Fa. I've been trying to correct myself.”

Mr. Cui from Indiana talked about his experiences of promoting Shen Yun. He said: “It was a difficult but pleasant experience. It was difficult because I was shy. When I didn't have righteous thoughts, there was a distance between me and the customers, and selling tickets became hard. It was pleasant when I got rid of my attachment and developed the pure heart of saving people.” Mr. Cui said: “In order to sell the tickets, one must combine righteous thoughts with basic sales techniques.”

Mr. Cui also talked about how he balances his everyday job and promoting Shen Yun. After the Shen Yun show, he was recognized for his contributions to his company.

Several practitioners who gave speeches expressed that writing an experience sharing article helped them to improve.

Ms. Yu from Chicago said: “Recently, I felt that I lacked righteous thoughts, and wanted to rediscover the state of mind that I had when I was promoting Shen Yun. So I decided to write an experience sharing article. When I started, my past experiences came back to my mind. I asked a fellow practitioner to give me feedback on the first draft, and she gave me some suggestions. When I revised the article, the righteous thoughts that I had while promoting the show came back again. I also saw my attachment to showing off while writing the article. I got rid of it right away.”

Ms. Liu said that she has benefited a lot from the sharing. “The speeches cover a broad range of topics. Their cultivation experiences deeply touched me and helped me to find my own attachment. I learned how fellow practitioners broke through difficulties with their righteous thoughts. It helped me to see my shortcomings and encourages me to do better in the future.”