(Minghui.org) There was no large-scale international experience-sharing conference (Fahui) in 2020 due to pandemic-related restrictions on travel and gatherings. Consequently, the Falun Dafa Association decided to organize an online conference to provide practitioners with an opportunity to talk about their cultivation experiences and draw inspiration from others to improve themselves. Starting on June 15, 2021, the Minghui website published 40 articles in 7 days.
These submissions are cultivation experiences shared by practitioners outside China. A university lecturer wrote about how he told students about the persecution of Falun Gong. A practitioner in Korea established an information site on the street and learned to talk in Chinese. Practitioners working in media projects shared their experiences delivering newspapers and selling advertising space. Several practitioners wrote about making phone calls to China to raise awareness of the persecution, and so on.
Below, several practitioners recounted their reactions after reading the online Fahui articles.
Finding One’s Own Shortcomings
Liyun is a retired teacher in Taiwan. She said, “Every article from the International Online Fahui is excellent. Practitioners were constantly looking at where they fell short and do not mind exposing them. This is truly remarkable!”
Liyun said she was struck by what one practitioner wrote in “Staying the Course and Trusting Master’s Arrangements: My 16-year Journey with The Epoch Times,” “Jealousy and showing off are really the fear of not being good enough or being seen as good enough. Tied to all of that are also big fears of losing face; of making big, damage-causing mistakes, and then people knowing about these mistakes.” She realized she was covering up her own flaws and unwilling to speak about certain attachments openly.
“This is due to the fear of losing face. Some attachments you don’t mind talking about, but some you cover up and are afraid to let others see. Those you talk about are not serious. The attachments you cover up are the bad ones,” she said. She discovered she had the same problem too and was “scared that other practitioners would say I am not diligent.”
She realized she cared too much what other practitioners thought of her and that she was practicing cultivation for others to see. “Appearing to be diligent on the surface is just for people to see. As cultivators, it is more important whether you are on the Fa. Even if you are not diligent, don’t try to cover it up. Be truthful and change your ways,” she said.
Liyun said practitioners usually tend to see others’ shortcomings but that when they point out inadequacies in others, they don’t realize that they’re actually hurting ourselves. From the author’s insights, she learned, “It’s silly to be jealous since we’re all one body. It would be odd if my finger was jealous of my knee. And worse if my finger’s jealousy gave the old forces an excuse to make my knees weak and unable to carry my body.”
“We are one body. If you look down on practitioners or are jealous of them, it will give the old forces a chance to widen gaps between practitioners so that we cannot form one body. That’s why we have to cultivate ourselves well,” she said.
Making the Impossible Possible
The article “Learning Chinese and Helping Chinese Tourists Quit the CCP at an Information Booth” left a deep impression on Taiwanese practitioner Jin Mian. She was moved by the Korean practitioner’s experience of learning Chinese in order to talk to more people about Dafa. The author signed up for a tour guide training course, overcame his advanced age, the difficulty of learning Chinese, and fear of losing face and other negative things. In the end, he successfully established several information sites. She said, “This practitioner made the impossible possible by using righteous thoughts to break through human notions.”
One day, the Korean practitioner wanted to set up an information site at Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul. He was told a booth would not be allowed as there was only a driveway with no sidewalk. A policeman came up just then and said he had seen someone distributing fliers there previously, so obtaining a permit was possible.
Obtaining help from this officer was not accidental, as the practitioner had met him previously. When a high-ranking official from China was visiting South Korea, practitioners stayed near the official’s hotel to send righteous thoughts. They were subsequently found by police officers and sent home in a van. In the vehicle, the author told the policemen the benefits he gained after practicing Falun Dafa as well as the persecution in China. One of the police officers was the one who told him he could apply for a permit for Bukchon Hanok Village.
The practitioner’s encounter left a deep impression on Jin Mian. She said that as long as one clarifies the truth about Dafa when they meet obstacles, something that is impossible can be made possible.
The author’s solid cultivation and compassion also helped Jin Mian see where she was lacking. She said, “When I ran into problems or difficulties, I didn’t know how to break through. I often decided to give up because I didn’t have enough righteous thoughts. It was my mind that wasn’t strong. I didn’t try my best to overcome the problems. Instead, I just went through the formalities.”
She said she was inspired to be more diligent. “I want to study the Fa well because everything comes from the Fa. I should let go of various attachments and return to the state when I first began the practice.”
Jin Mian said a paragraph in “Staying the Course and Trusting Master’s Arrangements: My 16-year Journey with The Epoch Times” struck a chord with her: “I remember about 10 years ago, a practitioner offhandedly said something like: ‘What’s it like to be married to such a capable practitioner that everyone admires?’ I was a bit crushed. ‘So that’s how people see us? My husband’s great and I’m not doing anything worthy of recognition?’”
Similar situations at home made Jin Mian upset. She realized her dissatisfaction was caused by jealousy, a need to show off and prove herself, and other attachments. Reading this practitioner’s sharing helped her see her own problems and showed her the way to get rid of them.
“Every article in the Fahui is a reflection of true cultivation. This is my greatest feeling. I have to listen to Master and follow what he tells us to do. Only then will miracles happen,” she said.
Inspired to Be More Diligent
Ms. Zhuang from Missouri, U.S.A. said, “I read every article with a quiet mind and benefited from every one of them. I had similar circumstances that several authors did. This helped me see the huge gaps in cultivation between myself and these practitioners. It reminded me to be more diligent and catch up in cultivation.”
She said, “The author of the article ‘Honoring My Vow As I Cultivate and Elevate in the Printing Project’ is a young man. Nowadays, young people cannot endure hardships, but this practitioner went through a lot to save people. The environment in the printing factory is bad, the jobs are dirty and the noise from the equipment is constant. More importantly, the hours are long and there are very few days off work. The young practitioner wrote that he often slept while on duty as he was so tired. He lost weight and went from 210 to 160 kg. Many practitioners who he worked with at truth-clarification sites could not recognize him.”
Ms. Zhuang said she thought of herself after reading about his experience. She was often worried that she didn't get enough sleep. After so many years, not only did she not lose weight; on the contrary, her physique had become stronger. Compared to this practitioner, she realized how attached she was to comfort.
Ms. Zhuang said she was also inspired by the authors of two articles, “My Non-practitioner Husband and I Traveled Thousands of Miles to Deliver the Truth” and “With Faith in Master and Dafa, I Persevere in My Efforts to Tell People About Falun Dafa.” Both of the authors are retired, elderly practitioners. One is from China, and the other came from Turkey. Both overcame difficulties like age and environment, and they chose not to wait or rely on others and persisted in telling people about Dafa alone.
Touched by their compassion, Ms. Zhuang saw where she fell far short in cultivation. “I live in a small town and there are no practitioners around me. This has become my greatest obstacle in introducing Dafa to the people around me. I have not walked my own path. I was very reliant on the practitioner who coordinates projects as well. I keep waiting for her to organize something for me to participate in.”
She was also especially moved by the article “Spreading the Truth from the University Podium.” She said she could feel the author’s courage, wisdom and compassion in clarifying the facts to young Western people with a culture that differed from her Chinese background. Ms. Zhuang said culture is a great impediment that prevented her from telling Western coworkers around her about Dafa. She said she often felt distant from Westerners and that “I do not have a pure heart to save them or a sense of mission.”
“I gained a lot from reading these articles,” she said. “They made me wake up, urged me to be more diligent, and further strengthened my faith in Master and Dafa.”
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