(Clearwisdom.net) During the Christmas and New Year holidays of 1998/1999, more than 30 practitioners who lived overseas organized a group trip to China, where Falun Dafa originated, to attend a Fa-study and experience sharing conference among Chinese practitioners.
"It was our last time returning to our homeland before the persecution. Though it has been many years, lots of memories are still fresh and will last forever." said Ms. Wang sadly. Ms. Wang is a practitioner living in Goteborg, Sweden.
In 1995, Teacher came to Goteborg, the second largest city in Sweden, to conduct a 7-day Fa lecture. This is the only systematic Fa lecture series Teacher held in the Western world. Many predestined blond and blue-eyed westerners began to cultivate Falun Dafa after that. Deeply moved by Teacher's lectures, these western practitioners who obtained the Fa at the earliest stage showed great interest in Chinese traditional culture and enormous respect toward China, the birthplace of Falun Dafa. They treated China as their own homes. During every Christmas holidays, many of them would go "home" from afar to attend the Fa-study and sharing among practitioners in China.
For the trip of 1998, we mainly visited Beijing and Dalian. There were also practitioners from Europe and the United States. Most practitioners were from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark in Northern Europe. Among them, there were westerners and Chinese, new practitioners and experienced ones.
"The day we arrived in Beijing happened to be Christmas Day. We did the Falun Gong exercises at the Cultural Palace together with many younger practitioners. The next few mornings, we went to parks and Changan Street in Beijing to do the exercises together with local practitioners. At certain times, we watched Teacher's Fa lecture videos and invited Beijing practitioners to our hotel for experience sharing. In fact, the atmosphere was very tense at the end of 1998. Prior to that year, we went to a local practitioner's home for experience sharing. (In 1996, Guangmin News Daily slandered Dafa. In 1998, a Beijing TV Station, under the control of a few CCP top party members, attacked Falun Dafa.) We invited them to our hotel to avoid bringing them too much trouble." Ms. Wang recalled.
 Doing the exercises with young practitioners at the Cultural Palace |
 Doing the exercises with Beijing practitioners in an early morning |
1. Focusing on How We Study and Cultivate, Advance Together, Ever Diligent
Recalling those scenes, Ms. Wang added: "While at Beijing and Dalian, we watched Teacher's 9-day lectures every day, with one lecture each day. Then we went into different groups to share with local practitioners."
Cultivating within Dafa, every one of us has experienced thorough changes both physically and spiritually, and each has an unforgettable and touching story.
Many military officers and soldiers from a Naval Academy at Dalian practiced Falun Gong. Among them, high-ranking officers would look no different from others when they dressed casually. There were also college students, professors, housewives and people from all walks of life. Everybody was very sincere and willing to share their experiences in cultivation. It was a very peaceful environment.
A practitioner looked physically healthy and muscular, but he was once a terminal cancer patient. In a photo of his, he was extremely thin and suffered from tremendous pain. He obtained Dafa right before his life would have ended. In the beginning, his families read Zhuan Falun to him. Gradually he could read it by himself and did the Falun Gong exercises. By studying the Fa and doing the exercises, he said goodbye to cancer and regained his new life from cultivation.
An old lady went to do the Falun Gong exercises in an early morning. It was dark, so she stepped into a deep sand well with one bare foot. She thought about going to practice the exercises at that moment, so she got up and walked away without any problem. After she finished doing the exercises, she suddenly recalled her serious stumble and felt some pain while touching her knee. Then her kneecap began to swell until she was bedridden. Later when sharing with other practitioners, she came to the realization that nothing happened to her when she stumbled because she had a cultivator's mindset. But when she came home, she did not treat herself as a cultivator because she thought that her fall into a well should be a very serious one. Therefore, as an everyday person, the reactions of swelling and pain are normal. "A good or bad outcome comes from one thought." Her swollen leg returned to normal two days after she came to this understanding.
A patient we met who suffered from heart problems restored her health by practicing Falun Gong. There were many cases like this one.
Marja, a western practitioner from Sweden, came to China to attend Fa-study and experience sharing with other Swedish practitioners a few years ago. But she could not make it this time because she needed to go back to Finland, her birthplace, to host the first 9-day Fa-learning classes in Finnish. She watched Teacher's Fa lecture videos and translated Zhuan Falun together with local practitioners. Though she wished very much to go to China, she could only ask other practitioners that could make it to bring her regards there.
Learning the Fa together with Chinese practitioners, many western practitioners began to comprehend "cultivation," a concept from ancient Chinese culture, and to realize the deep meaning of Falun Dafa. Everyone talked about his own experience and the process of getting rid of attachments in cultivation. Sharing experiences sincerely, everyone was touched deeply and felt their improvements in cultivation. We all felt that this was the only pure land on Earth for cultivation, and our mindsets were improving every day. Our true selves and true natures were awakened by wiping off the dust and dirt from our long-dormant spirits.
2. Unforgettable New Year's PartyOn December 31, 1998 and the first day of 1999, the western practitioners went to Dalian to attend Fa-study and experience sharing during the day. At night, there was a party to celebrate the New Year. Actually, no preparation was made before the party. All the practitioners gave impromptu performances. Gao Qioju, the main volunteer of the Dalian Assistance Center, sang a self-composed Beijing opera to show gratitude for Teacher's compassion and salvation. Her full-hearted performance, accompanied with her touching voice, expressed respect and gratitude to Teacher from our hearts. Everyone shed tears of emotion.
Some practitioners had not practiced musical instruments for 3 to 4 years, but they still gave performances gladly. Anders, a Swedish Western practitioner, was a pop guitar player and singer. He sang a western folk song for everybody. Many Western practitioners followed suit by singing their own folk songs. Many Chinese practitioners sang joyful children's songs. Singing, playing music and performing with our hearts, everyone was moved under this peaceful, pure field and shed tears of happiness.
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