(Minghui.org) German practitioners held an experience-sharing Fa conference in Berlin on July 18. Mr. Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Dafa, sent greetings,
“Greetings to you all! It is the responsibility of Dafa disciples to help me in saving all lives. To carry out your mission well, you must first do well in your own spiritual development,” (“To the Fa Conference in Germany”)
Twenty practitioners shared how they studied the Fa well and walked the cultivation path steadily when facing difficulties and experiencing tribulations. By looking within and handling issues well in society, they are able to save more sentient beings. Many attendees were impressed and encouraged by these stories.
Practitioners presented articles at the 2021 German Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference on July 18.
Considering Dafa Issues
When Ms. Tang Jing moved to Frankfurt four years ago, she began to participate in numerous projects. Upon hearing that clarifying the facts about Dafa issues to government officials was a weak area, she overcame difficulties and formed a team with other practitioners to contact government VIPs.
Once she received a letter from a state parliament member sounding impolite, saying that he did not want to receive Falun Dafa information any longer. Ms. Tang’s first thought was feeling hurt, and she also developed negative thoughts over this. When replying to the parliament member the following day, she realized that she was selfish.
“I only cared about my own thoughts and failed to think of his future. Why not explain this well and give him another chance?” she said. With a calm mind, Ms. Tang wrote back, explaining why she would send materials and hoping for a face-to-face meeting. The parliament member said yes and, during the meeting, he said he had read some defamatory information from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) about Falun Gong. In the end, his attitude totally changed, and he has sent congratulatory letters for Dafa events several times since then.
Another area Ms. Tang talked about was letting go of ego. Although she majored in Chinese, she found the news articles she wrote were often criticized by others. After this happened a few times, Ms. Tang became less disturbed, and her xinxing improved. This mindset also helped her with coordinating truth-clarification in Frankfurt and made her more open-minded. Given these experiences, she cherished the media project and group Fa study even more, because both of them had helped her tremendously in her cultivation.
Mr. Jia Feng has practiced Falun Dafa for over 20 years and he focused on cultivating every single thought. The group practice site he attends does not have many practitioners, and the atmosphere is harmonious. Later another practitioner joined and Mr. Jia had problems accepting her. When looking into it further, Mr. Jia realized that he had felt upset because his position in the Fa study group was challenged. During group discussions in the past, he often shared his thoughts and helped other practitioners with teachings from Master. Over time, he had developed an ego, although he did not realize it.
“After this practitioner arrived,” he explained, “she often talked about her understanding of the Fa, and the discussions became more diverse, The group coordinator also liked her a lot, and I felt somehow neglected.” He tried to oppose the negative thoughts, but was not very successful. Initially, based on teachings from Master, he interpreted anything that happened to him to be good for his cultivation. Later on, he realized that thought was still selfish since he was only concerned about his own cultivation. Instead, as a Dafa practitioner, he should think more about the benefits that others can receive. This way, he found it easier to let go of the negative thoughts.
Fulfilling Our Mission Despite the Pandemic
Constanze, a teacher from Karlsruhe, talked about how she could find her true self in daily life. In addition, she wrote to the school principal and educational department during the pandemic explaining the ongoing persecution in China.
Even seemingly trivial matters could be related to our cultivation, she said. For a while, her computer experienced problems when being updated. When looking inward, she realized it was a hint that her cultivation state needed to be improved. In many areas, from handling daily routines to expressing political views, she had acted almost like an everyday person. As a practitioner, she actually had to make breakthroughs in these areas too.
She had come to understand that everything exists for a reason and it could be related to the manifestation of the Fa. “Instead of getting along with people using affection or sympathy, I should treat them with respect and dignity,” she explained. Therefore, she started to focus on applying the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance instead of making casual comments about people or incidents. Interestingly, she found more students willing to speak with her sincerely.
For a long time, Dan experienced little progress in his cultivation. That made him rethink whether he truly had faith in Master and the Fa. Like many other Swedish families in the 1970s and 1980s, he had witnessed how the society had changed because of socialism and moral corruption. All these weakened his righteous belief and sense of responsibility, something rooted in traditional values passed down from generations in the past. The arrival of socialism has replaced all these with bogus trust and care. To him, the so-called freedom provided by socialism deprived him of family-based culture, ancient wisdom, and connection with the divine.
After showing the symptom of infection in the pandemic, Dan treated it as a test for a practitioner. He not only overcame, but also realized a serious problem of his own cultivation. That is, he did things to get recognition from others. Even when looking within, he had a hidden thought of being acknowledged by others. Cultivation, on the other other hand, means putting real efforts and making solid progress. This is drastically different from socialism – people just get things without making an effort. From this, he learned how to be responsible for his life, cultivation, and every thought.
Following the Fa Principles
Ms. Cong from Augsburg began to practice Falun Gong before the persecution started in 1999. At first, she did not think she had many attachments. After finding a job and beginning to work, she found that all kinds of temptations encountered in daily life can be dangerous for practitioners. This is because they can easily foster laziness and lead practitioners away from the truth. In the beginning, she considered herself a practitioner with no anger or complaints. Some coworkers even offered to fight for her.
But her mentality changed as time went by. One day, a customer from China was very unreasonable. Ms. Cong reasoned with him. This was the first time she got angry with a customer. Surprisingly, the customer’s attitude improved and he bought the goods. Later on, however, Ms. Cong acted more like an everyday person. Her temper arose. She liked to hear good words, and she felt better and better herself. Even her body weight increased quickly. All these things alarmed her, changing herself to make changes and spent more time on cultivation as well as saving people. Six months passed, but no loss of weight. When looking further, Ms. Cong found the deeply rooted laziness and complacency in her. “I am just a beginner on the cultivation path. That means I should remain humble and focus on cultivating myself,” she explained. Therefore, she decided to stay focused on cultivation, instead of being distracted by various temptations.
Swiss practitioner Diep began to practice about two years ago. In the past, she used to complain about how her husband could not find a job for a long time. Later on, she realized her hidden thought of thinking that cultivation would bring her a better life. Even when encountering problems, she would look superficially within, trying to remove difficulties, while she feared that the issue might not be resolved. As this continued, the conflicts with coworkers became more severe and pressure from management also increased.
“So I asked myself: when my material interest is affected, would I still follow Master? When my attachments are interfering with me, do I still follow the Fa principles?” she recalled, “My answer is: yes, I will.” Right now, Diep has put more efforts in cultivating instead of being disturbed by conflicts. She also viewed frequent coworker turnover as an opportunity to clarify the truth. “I have the responsibility of saving people,” she added.
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