(Minghui.org) Nearly 1000 practitioners attended the 2014 Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference in Madrid, Spain, on October 5, 2014. Many attendees felt that the experience sharing papers read at the conference helped them uncover shortcomings in their own cultivation. Practitioners were also touched and encouraged by the congratulatory message from the founder of Falun Dafa, Master Li Hongzhi, which was read in five languages as the conference commenced.
Mr. Tran from Czech: I Am Surprised and Happy to Hear Master's Congratulations to the Conference
Mr. Tran, a Vietnamese Falun Dafa practitioner from the Czech Republic, attended the 2014 European Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference in Madrid.
Mr. Tran is a Vietnamese Falun Dafa practitioner from the Czech Republic. He is a new practitioner, and this was his first experience sharing conference. Mr. Tran started practicing Falun Dafa in March this year after reading the introductory materials online and listening to the audio recordings of Master Li's teachings. He was visiting Vietnam when he first learned the practice.
“I listened to Fa lectures and realized that He is my Master,” Mr. Tran said.
Before the conference, commonly referred to in Chinese as “Fahui,” Mr. Tran asked some veteran practitioners whether Master Li would send a congratulatory message. The practitioners were doubtful, and told him that Master Li had not sent a congratulatory message to a Fahui for quite a long time. So when Mr. Tran heard Master Li's congratulatory message he was surprised and very happy.
Mr. Tran said he felt extremely touched by a sharing presented by a practitioner who does sales for the Epoch Times newspaper. “I felt that I could understand him from deep within my heart. His experiences also answered some challenges and questions in my cultivation.”
Mr. Tran said he felt a strong energy field during the conference. “The conference hall is very peaceful. I learned a lot from other practitioners and will be more diligent and do the three things Master requires well,” he said.
Swiss Practitioners: Master Encourages Us to Move Forward
Falun Dafa practitioners Ms. Chablais (left) and Ms. Longchamp from Switzerland.
Ms. Chablais and Ms. Longchamp are practitioners from Switzerland. “Master always pushes us forward,” Ms. Chablais said. Ms. Longchamp added, “And Master encourages us to advance and pass the tests along the path.”
Ms. Dumoschiel from Belgium, who was standing with the women after the conference, said. “Master told us to learn from each other and progress together. The most important thing is that we must work on tasks together and continue our efforts no matter how difficult it is. We must find and let go of our attachments and cooperate with each other better.”
Ms. Chablais added, “I understood that Master is telling us to hold on and persevere.”
Ms. Longchamp said sharing articles from Russian practitioners moved her deeply. “They face a lot of difficulties [in Russia], because as we all know Putin has a good relationship with the Chinese communist regime. Their government has set up many obstacles for them. Even so, they overcome the difficulties and keep moving forward, persisting in cultivation and clarifying the truth,” she said.
“Another sharing that touched me was about a practitioner who always encourages and helps other practitioners so they progress together,” Ms. Longchamp said.
A Chinese practitioner taught Ms. Longchamp the Falun Gong exercises 18 years ago, and for a while she only practiced the exercises. Through reading the book, she was inspired by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance and began cultivation. “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is the most important thing in my life,” she said. After the conference she understood that practitioners should strive harder to save sentient beings and let go of their attachments.
Ms. Dumoschiel found Falun Dafa seven years ago after reading a newspaper advertisement about ancient qigong exercise classes. “I wanted to go to the class each of the three consecutive Saturdays, but I was occupied and couldn't go on the first Saturday. I forgot about it on the second Saturday. But I told myself that I had to go and learn it on the last day,” she said.
Ms. Dumoschiel learned the exercises and read the teachings with practitioners. She felt the positive energy of the practice right away. When a practitioner told her that Falun Dafa was based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance she thought, “Oh, they have the same thoughts as me.” She told the practitioner, “That is great! I like it.”
Ms. Chablais started practicing Falun Dafa in 1997. She used to own and operate a restaurant. The stress and long work hours took their toll on her health. After practicing Falun Dafa, she felt like a pair of wings had been added to her body. She became able to complete any movement easily and nimbly.
“Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is the moral standard of my life,” she said, “Falun Dafa enabled me to better control my emotions, instead of being controlled by them, and it helped me let go of selfishness.”
German Practitioner: Truly Get Rid of Selfishness
Practitioner Martili from Germany said that the articles shared at the conference were precious.
Ms. Martili from Germany started practicing Falun Dafa in 2006. She only read a few pages when she first opened Zhuan Falun, because she didn't understand. A few weeks later, she felt an urge to open the book again, almost like the book was calling her. She read the book through in its entirety and set off on her path of cultivation practice.
“Attending this Fahui and sharing cultivation experiences with fellow practitioners has been very joyous for me,” she said.
“We had an issue in our study group last week, and fortunately one sharing at the conference talked about the same issue,” Ms. Martili said. “It appears that our discussion and understanding of the issue were correct. I realized it during the Fahui. The sharing articles are precious.”
“After our discussion last week I understood the meaning of compassion. It means letting go of selfishness and being totally considerate of others. We discussed it last week. When we understood that principle, some practitioners were moved to tears.”
Before their discussion, practitioners in their study group who often participate in activities together would have conflicts. The criticism toward each other was sometimes quite harsh.
“At the end of our discussion last week, we realized that we must let go of our selfishness and show our compassion to each other so we can melt the differences and become one unit. I believe a group of people without compassion can't truly integrate with each other.
“Realizing this I felt relieved. I felt a heavy burden was gone. I used to have some negative feelings, but those feelings reduce day by day. Sometimes the feeling of compassion moves me to tears.”
“I realized I was lacking compassion toward others, including my parents. Even a simple thing like combing my hair, I couldn't do with compassion and be kind to myself.”
She realized the root of the harsh criticism among the practitioners was selfishness.
“I sometimes would say, 'Oh, this is because of jealousy,' but I didn't try to find the source of the jealousy,” she said. “During our discussion last week, I realized that the root of all these bad feelings, envy, harshness and rudeness is selfishness. For a whole year, I didn't truly look inward. I may have let go of some attachments, but they were all just shallow ones. The root was not touched until now.”
