(Minghui.org) A Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference was held on August 22, 2021, in Ukraine’s capital of Kiev. Eleven practitioners talked about how they improved both their character and their health by practicing Dafa, as well as how their families became more harmonious as a result.
Eliminating Addiction after Practicing Falun Dafa
Before Andre from Dnipro City began practicing Falun Dafa ten years ago, he took Tai Chi classes and learned Taekwondo. He wanted to become a better person and asked his mentor for books and guidance. His mentor only showed people how to stay healthy and could not help with what he wanted to know. When the tuition went up, Andre could no longer afford the classes.
One day his wife put a newspaper which had information about Falun Dafa in front of him and said, “This is what you need.” After reading the newspaper, Andre realized that Falun Dafa was indeed what he needed. He noted the address of a local group practice site and went there the next day.
There, practitioners showed him the Falun Dafa exercises. They chatted with him afterwards and gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa. Andre wondered whether he should read the book. When he handed Zhuan Falun to his wife, she said that she saw a rainbow around the book and that the words in it were golden. She said it was a very good book and worth reading.
When Andre started to read Zhuan Falun, he found the answers to his life-long questions. He was eager to learn more about cultivation and started practicing Dafa.
He eliminated his addiction to alcohol and sugar and stopped making money from improper foreign currency exchanges.
Entire Family Benefits
Before Lee from Kharkiv and her husband began practicing Falun Dafa in 2011, she had many illnesses, including abdominal pain, duodenal ulcer and constipation. She took a lot of medicines, but nothing helped. She suffered from the illnesses for many years and eventually only weighed 43 kilograms (95 lb). Because she was in constant pain, she was irritable and developed a hot temper. She was often angry with her husband and children.
Lee said her character and mental state improved through studying Dafa. She stopped taking medicine and became very healthy. Under the guidance of Dafa’s principles, her xinxing (character, or mind nature) gradually improved, and she became more patient.
She recalled how she sometimes had a bad attitude towards her family members. She returned to her hometown to visit her family in 2016. Her daughter-in-law had mistreated her grandfather (Lee’s father), and the other members of Lee’s family wanted to expel her daughter-in-law and sever the relationship.
Lee recalled Master Li’s teachings and thought she should be kind to everyone, including her daughter-in-law. So with a kind heart, she told her about Dafa and taught her to practice. Lee’s brother scolded her twice and tried to prevent Lee from practicing the exercises. Lee insisted on practicing and told her brother, “I’m not harming anyone, so you can’t stop me from practicing.”
In the end, Lee’s younger brother, mother, and three other family members all began practicing Dafa. Her daughter-in-law has changed a lot since she started practicing. Their morals and character improved, and now Lee’s family members are tolerant and considerate of each other. Thanks to Dafa, her family has become harmonious.
Lee also talked about her attachment to the 2020 U.S. election. Lee checked her mobile phone every day and paid attention to the progress of the election. Her mood fluctuated between joy and worry, and she spent less time studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. When she stopped focusing on reading the Fa and doing the exercises, she developed illness symptoms.
She had fever, cough, difficulty breathing, and her back felt like needles were driven into it. Her entire body was in pain, as if she had been severely beaten. Lee relied on her firm and righteous belief in Master and the Fa, endured the pain and continued to practice Dafa diligently. All her symptoms disappeared two days later.
Identifying and Cleaning Up Communist Factors
Anna, who lives in Kiev, wanted to learn Dafa well and become one with its principles. She joined fellow practitioners to memorize and recite the Fa as much as possible. Although her progress was slow, she soon noticed the huge difference between recitation and reading. More principles of the Fa were displayed to her, and her understanding of the teachings deepened.
She understood more deeply that Dafa has high requirements for practitioners. She said, “It’s just like going to school. You must study every day to go to the next class and finally graduate. You must prepare for the exam in order to pass it. You must ask yourself to achieve the highest standards instead of relying on what you know now.
“I now have a deeper understanding that all people are different and come from completely different backgrounds. We show ourselves in different ways. It’s important to appreciate and respect each other’s characteristics. I deeply understand that you have to be proactive about passing tests and accepting criticism from others. We should not feel sorry for ourselves,” she said.
Anna had symptoms of COVID-19 this year. She understood that the coronavirus may have manifested in her body because she had elements of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) culture. She began reading the book How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World in order to clean up any communist factors she had. She eliminated a lot of negative thoughts, such as feeling sorry for herself. She compared this state to a person succumbing to a regime and putting himself in a negative and helpless state by doing nothing.
During an activity in the city center where practitioners raised awareness of the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa, a man began shouting at practitioners. Some other practitioners tried to persuade him to leave. Anna thought that this might cause him to cause greater interference, so she began to send righteous thoughts. Then she thought about what caused the issue: “I pushed him to the opposite side in my mind so he was interfering like an unwelcome guest that needed to be dealt with.”
Anna decided to treat him with tolerance. “He is our friend, not an enemy,” she said. When she had kind thoughts about him, she noticed the man gradually calmed down. His shouting became a condemnation of the Communist Party. His cursing of communism also drew others’ attention. In the end, he expressed his support for Dafa.
“I did not want to argue with him. I did not think he was interference. I helped him understand the truth. Today, I try to cultivate this [peaceful] attitude and deal with different situations and people in order to transform fears and combativeness into understanding, humility and tolerance.”
Cultivation Experiences while Translating Articles
Sasha from Kherson City talked about her experiences while translating articles. In order to do a good job in translation, she put Fa-study, exercises, and sending forth righteous thoughts first every day. She feels that a good cultivation state is the guarantee that she’ll do a good job.
She felt inexplicable pressure for a long time. Whenever she started translating an article, there would be a lot of interference, many distracting thoughts, or inner anxiety, which made it hard for her to concentrate.
A fellow practitioner who worked full time translating articles told Sasha about her experience. One day, half of her body felt sore, as if she was thrown into a stove to bake. When she felt very bad, she thought, “I can’t leave now, because I still have a lot of things to do, and I have to do them well.”
Sasha was encouraged by the practitioner and strengthened her resolve. Whenever she felt her capacity had reached the limit or felt that her body seemed to be fragmented, she reminded herself to believe in Master, let go of fear, and practice firmly.
Through studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts, she experienced the power of righteous thoughts. When she read the Fa, she had many distracting thoughts and couldn’t concentrate. Now she understands that maintaining concentration and respecting Dafa while studying the Fa is the guarantee for her continuous improvement. After she changed her mindset while studying the Fa, she felt that Zhuan Falun bestows her with wisdom and righteous thoughts.
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