(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners from Kaoshiung, Pingtung, Taitung and Penghu gathered at Ligang Junior High School in Pingtung County to hold a Southern Taiwan Fa study and cultivation experience-sharing session. Many of the practitioners shared touching stories of self-improvement. The process of comparing themselves with other practitioners in terms of cultivation encouraged all practitioners to inspect their own cultivation states and make good use of the available time to cultivate themselves well.

Large group Fa study during the Southern Taiwan Fa study and cultivation experience exchange session

Practitioners share their cultivation experiences at the South Taiwan Fa study and cultivation experience exchange session.

Persisting in Making Truth-Clarification Phone Calls

Yushi, who is from Kaoshiung, is 72 years old and started practicing Falun Dafa 13 years ago. She had persisted in clarifying the truth at tourist attractions since March 2013, until tourists from China stopped coming. With no Chinese tourists coming in, she became very anxious. She was feeling dejected when “Master arranged for me to clarify the truth using the computer,” she said. “However, I had never touched a computer before and I didn’t know English, so it was hard for me to learn how to operate a computer and go online.

“Learning for this project was not easy for me. While operating the computer, if problems came up like not being able to connect to the network, I would send forth righteous thoughts and beg Master. In this way, miracles would often happen.”

She said that she was thankful to the practitioners who had taught her selflessly. She even asked her grandson to teach her how to recognize the 26 English letters. She said the Heavens help those who try, and she finally learned how to operate a computer for this project.

Yushi said in a steadfast manner, “I will persist in making phone calls to help Master save more and more people. Fellow practitioners, let us work hard together to complete our historic mission, fulfill our vows, and follow Master home!”

Persisting in Practicing the Exercises, Gaining Without Pursuit

Teenager Meng Xian said that since he was young, he could not be controlled. After learning Dafa when he was in sixth grade, he knew that he had to hold himself to the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance at school, but the process of cultivating one’s heart was also a process of getting rid of attachments. When he faced conflicts, he would often blame others, which worsened the conflict. After fellow practitioners reminded him that he needed to calm down and look within, he realized that he had strong attachment to doing things, happiness and showing off. These loopholes gave the evil a chance to interfere. He learned that cultivation was a serious matter and that when a cultivator faced problems, he needed to look within. He realized he should not take a relaxed approach while facing tests, big and small.

Meng Xian also mentioned that practicing the exercises was a test for him too. In the past, he seldom practiced all five sets of exercises in one go. He was scared of feeling sore in his arms and the pain in his legs during meditation. He felt that he could not continue in this state and was determined to persist in practicing the exercises every day. Gradually, he lost excess weight and even received compliments from his teachers and seniors. He understood that this was Master encouraging him to gain without pursuit in whatever he does.

Clarifying the Truth and Promoting Shen Yun in Daily Life

Yue Feng, who is 79 this year, shared that she makes phone calls to rescue illegally detained practitioners in China and persuade people in China to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. When she had to learn how to use a computer, she was a total stranger to it. However, fellow practitioners taught her step by step. After going through a few failures, she became more mature in her computer skills. She also participated in promoting Shen Yun.

She said, “When I sometimes could not maintain my xinxing and didn’t speak kindly to my family and fellow practitioners, resulting in conflicts, I would always regret it badly. I looked within and realized that I did not cultivate my speech in a timely manner. After that, when a tribulation came again and my urge to start complaining came too, I would immediately realize it, correct myself, and remind myself to treat others with magnanimity.”

After going through an illness tribulation, Yue Feng said, “It made me understand that as a Dafa practitioner, I must study the Fa well, cultivate myself well, improve my level of xinxing and put in effort to build the affinity with Shen Yun for more folks in the Taitung district so that they can be saved.”

Situation Changes After Learning to Look Within

Xiu Rong from Kaoshiung started practicing Dafa 16 years ago. After getting married, she wanted to be an obedient daughter-in-law, but things did not go as she wished. Her elderly in-laws often spoke harshly, and when she did not follow their wishes, much unhappiness would ensue. Her fear of her in-laws grew to the point that she wanted to sell her house and go far away from her home. But she did not want to make things hard for her husband. She felt that she was treated unjustly, and these conflicts often made her so depressed that she wept quietly.

While studying the Fa, Xiu Rong learned that this was a chance for her to improve in her cultivation. She became determined to study the Fa well. During the process of looking within herself, “I found out that I was afraid of being criticized by other people. I liked to listen to nice words, and I complained and was jealous of others. I took others’ opinions of me too seriously. I wanted to maintain an appearance of perfection, so I could not live truthfully or freely. I helped my husband decide many matters and even thought it was the right thing to do. During this period of time, I found out that I did not treat my elders with Truthfulness and Compassion. That made me ashamed of myself,” she said.

“Looking within is really a treasure,” Xiu Rong reflected. She said that after she learned the Fa principles, she understood that all these tribulations and troubles were the result of her own desires. Furthermore, she realized it was wrong of her to always want to change others.

“I need to be more understanding of others in every area but not make decisions for them. After finding these attachments, I was shocked!” she said. “I started correcting myself and sent out a thought from the bottom of my heart that ‘I want to benevolently resolve all of this.’ During this process, whenever I found an attachment in myself, I would feel relaxed as though I had taken off a layer of a shell.”

Cultivating in Dafa Totally Changes Woman’s Life

Ling Juan, a practitioner from Taitung, started practicing in 2012. Through studying the Fa, she learned to look within. “Thinking of myself before obtaining the Fa, I was full of myself and would never admit that I was wrong. I made my husband and children follow my standards. When people didn’t follow my wishes, I would grumble, get angry, and scold people, and I wouldn’t leave any room for them while talking. I never knew how to think about the feelings of others and think from others’ perspectives,” she said.

“My understanding now is that, as a cultivator, I must change myself. All the more I must make good use of the remaining time to study the Fa, find my shortcomings through looking within, and think from the perspective of others when problems arise, and give my family affirmation and encouragement,” she said. “When my notions changed, many aspects of my family, such as notions, thoughts, spirit and physical strength all started changing without me realizing it. Not only was there less grumbling and bickering, but I also became willing to sacrifice more and stop complaining.”

With a heart of gratitude, Ling Juan said, “Master’s Fa principles are part of the highly virtuous Dafa. It is a chance that benevolent Master gave me and my family to return to the righteous path and become more harmonious.”

Encouraging Oneself to Be Diligent in Cultivating Xinxing

Jian Zhong from Kaoshiung has cultivated for 21 years. He shared his shortcomings regarding his participation in a project. He said he got into a conflict with a coordinating practitioner during a parade event. After looking within thoroughly, he discovered that he had a very strong attachment to fame and validating himself. He did not cooperate to form one body with the other practitioners, and he was showing off and had jealousy. In addition, there were many times when he felt that he was right while others were wrong. He did not abide by Master’s teaching to look within and cooperate with others as one body. Nor did he look within to find his own shortcomings.

Jian Zhong said that at the time he did not realize that the cause of the conflict was his ego. He forgot that the objective of participating should be to assist Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings instead of validating himself. At the same time, he also learned that because he had long failed to meet Master’s requirements, his xinxing could not improve. That made him feel that he had let Master down.

He said that many practitioners had suffered as a result of his bad temper, and he took this public opportunity to say to Master and fellow practitioners, “Sorry, it is all my fault!” After that, he encouraged himself to work harder in cultivating his xinxing.

Becoming More Diligent on the Path of Cultivation

Xing Yu from Pingtung shared her journey of cultivating in this mundane world that is filled with temptations. She had been cultivating and studying the Fa at home for many years because her family did not practice, and she was stubbornly attached to fame, gain and relationships. As practitioners around her often shared the progress of Fa-rectification and other information with her, she started to reflect on herself. On one hand, she was holding on to all the things in this mundane world and was unwilling to let go. On the other hand, she wanted to gain from Dafa. “Was this true cultivation?” she asked herself. She decided to do well the three things that Master has asked of his disciples.

“It is really miraculous,” she said. “Once I had this thought, Master really arranged for me to have the chance to clarify the truth to colleagues and friends, and promote Shen Yun.” Furthermore, not only did she succeed in selling tickets, but her friend also sponsored more than 10 Shen Yun tickets for a school. She also created a chance for a tea party to be held at an ancient site in her hometown to promote Shen Yun. Through these experiences, she said she felt deeply that “after becoming one with other practitioners, Dafa’s wisdom and power will display unimaginable miracles through seemingly normal words and actions.”