On the morning of September 4, 2000, the conference hall at the Marriott Hotel, located in the World Trade Center in Manhattan of New York City, looked especially solemn and auspicious. The New York Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference was about to be held here. A large banner, with "Validate the Dafa (great law) with Reason, Clarify the Truth with Wisdom" in both English and Chinese, was hung across the stage. Below it on both sides were two golden Falun Emblems. In the corridor outside the hall, pictures and documents about the truth of Falun Dafa from practitioners all over the world were displayed.
Starting from 8:00 AM, in the melodious and merciful "Pudu" and "Jishi" music, over 1,600 Falun Dafa practitioners arrived at the conference hall one after another. They came from more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Ecuador. Since the actual participants far exceeded what was expected, another small meeting room opposite the main conference hall was opened temporarily, and two television sets were placed in the corridor. Some of the attendees could only watch what was happening at the conference through a projector in the small meeting room and the TV sets in the corridor.
Around 9:00AM, the conference formally began. Seventeen practitioners from all over the United States exchanged their cultivation experiences, achievements in spreading and safeguarding Dafa and clarifying the truth to people around the world during the past year.
From their speeches and our own cultivation experiences, we feel that over the past year, our cultivation was closely related to the promoting and safeguarding Dafa and clarifying the truth of Dafa to people around the world. We also feel that by constantly studying Dafa, we can make true progress in the Fa. During our practice of Falun Dafa, we have realized that we should have the courage to go beyond various human mentalities. We should promote and validate Dafa in accordance with actual situations of people and by various means that can be accepted by them. In our cultivation, we have especially realized the importance of studying Dafa -- never can we spread and safeguard Dafa and clarify the truth to people around the world without the inspiration of the Fa (Law and Principles). Thus, we should never slow down our study of Dafa with any excuse. During our Fa study, we realized that we should cultivate our inner self under all circumstances, even when we are doing work for Dafa. We should have the courage to face all our shortcomings in various conflicts with others, and genuinely overcome them during the cultivation.
As we all know, in this boundless universe, were so insignificant that we shouldnt develop a mentality of showing-off or have any thoughts of self-satisfaction. Although we may have made some insignificant contribution to Dafa in this special period of Fa-rectification in the human world, what we are able to do is actually a chance provided for us to assimilate with Dafa. Our Teacher has already endured so much for us and for all sentient beings in the universe. We feel so lucky to have this opportunity to do something for Dafa. At this last stage of the Fa-rectification in the human world, it is necessary for us to spread and safeguard Dafa, and clarify the truth of Dafa to people around the world on a larger scope, from more angles, and to a greater extent, according to the overall requirements of Dafa.
The audience responded with warm applause to those heartfelt speeches from the speakers. Meanwhile, many attendees were moved to tears by our Teachers boundless compassion and the practitioners absolute sincerity to Dafa.
An especially heartening phenomenon is that more and more western practitioners are making progress rapidly in their cultivation and playing more and more important roles in spreading and safeguarding Dafa and clarifying the truth of Dafa to people around the world. They are striving forward rigorously in their cultivation and progressing quickly in the Fa. In the meantime, they have gained the understanding and acknowledgements of the people around them through their remarkable behavior and conduct, which has enabled some people with predestined relationship to obtain the Fa.
Congratulating faxes were received from practitioners in Dalian and Macao of China. They sent greeting to our Teacher and wished the conference a great success. Practitioners from Beijing University, Qinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences also passed their regards to our Teacher via the conference.
Before the end of conference, two representatives of the practitioners extended our sincerest greetings to our most respected and benevolent Teacher, and paid our highest respect to those practitioners in Mainland China who have cultivated Dafa firmly, undertaken numerous tribulations and even given their lives to safeguard the Fa. At the same time, they appealed to people of goodwill all over the world for their concern about and support to the Falun Dafa practitioners who are being persecuted in China. Practitioners attending the conference strongly urged that the Chinese government immediately release all detained Falun Dafa practitioners, stop their actions of violating the Constitution and infringing human rights.
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