(Minghui.org) Fifteen practitioners gave talks about their cultivation journeys at the 2024 Greater Philadelphia Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference, held at the Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia on October 19, 2024. Practitioners from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, discussed how they applied the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in their family interactions, at their workplaces, and while participating in Dafa projects.
Several practitioners who attended the conference said they learned a lot from the event and were inspired to do better on the remaining cultivation path.
The 2024 Greater Philadelphia Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference was held at the Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia on October 19, 2024
Fifteen practitioners shared their cultivation stories.
Helping Save People Through Musical Performances
Ms. Wang talked about her cultivation experiences, especially those related to overcoming challenges in the art field. A talented artist since childhood, she hoped to make the best use of her skills. She always prepared well for local events hoping to bring Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to more people.
She registered for the NTD Television International Vocal Competition this year hoping to share traditional Chinese culture while improving her own skills. Although she didn’t perform well due to some program changes, she remained calm and accepted the result.
Ms. Wang said every practitioner involved in the competition worked hard and she really thanked them. Things might not turn out as we expected, but practitioners are selfless and all wish to save people. She felt very fortunate to work with these practitioners and decided to do better in future Dafa activities—she will put her heart in everything she does and help save people.
A New Practitioner
Anu works for a Fortune 100 company and she began practicing Falun Dafa about 8 months ago. She said practicing brought many positive changes to her family, life, and work.
After hearing about Falun Dafa from her husband, Anu previously tried to practice for 6 months, but stopped due to work and family responsibilities. Even though she was not practicing, she tried to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. After watching the movie of Once We Were Divine with her family, she decided to resume practicing, including studying Dafa’s teachings and doing the exercises every day.
Her family life is now more harmonious. She and her husband share responsibilities and avoid conflicts. Her peaceful mindset also helped her handle complicated issues at work. By looking within, she is able to identify attachments and remain calm.
Anu talked about how she introduced Falun Dafa to coworkers, and said she uses every opportunity to tell people about Dafa.
Eliminating Grief and Resentment
Ms. Shi shared her experiences of getting rid of her grief, jealousy, and resentment. After her mother passed away in 2023, she felt she was surrounded by sadness, despair, and anger. While she read the Falun Dafa teachings, she realized the purpose of life is returning to one’s origin instead of pursuing earthly pleasure. She realized that her mother’s path was based on her own karma, but that as a practitioner, Ms. Shi needed to let go of sentimentality in order to focus on cultivation and help save people.
Due to conflicts with a coworker who has a strong personality, Ms. Shi became jealous, resentful, and competitive. When she reflected on the situation she understood the importance of true compassion and forbearance. Instead of calculating her own losses and gains, she let go of her negative feelings and interacted with others with an open mind while improving herself.
Through these experiences, Ms. Shi gained a deep understanding that cultivation is a process of letting go of human notions and she decided to do better and cherish her future cultivation opportunities.
From Indifference to Compassion
Marina from Russia said eliminating attachments is not the same as indifference. Being calm on the surface does not mean one is kind. When discussing her cultivation experiences with other practitioners, she realized she hadn’t been compassionate as Master asked. For example, she was not kind when others encountered difficulties.
After some personal tests and helping other practitioners, Marina learned the importance of kindness, and realized that only then could she achieve compassion. Master helped her and she experienced brief moments of tranquility while participating in Dafa events, and she had compassion for everyone. From this she learned only by letting go of indifference, attachments, and the desire to control others could she have compassion.
For example, she encountered some situations in which she wanted to control others and she was sensitive to criticism. By repeatedly sending forth righteous thoughts and looking inward, she realized this was related to her ego. By viewing all these as opportunities for her to improve, she realized cultivation is a process of letting go of selfishness and attachments while developing compassion.
Facing Criticism
Mr. Cui discussed how criticism and trivial matters helped him identify and eliminate his attachments.
Some practitioners criticized the hotel arrangements he made for Shen Yun artists and production staff. Although he felt wronged in the beginning, he reflected on it and realized he hadn’t done his best. He understood being criticized is an opportunity to improve and he shouldn’t avoid it. He learned to how handle negative feedback and eliminate attachments.
Mr. Cui often helps other practitioners with computer issues. Due to selfishness and impatience, he often felt the time was wasted. He realized he had these thoughts because he did not have true compassion, and he decided to do better.
He said when preparing for Dafa events, he often found small omissions could lead to problems, so he learned to pay attention to details whether they were big or small. He also improved his attitude to being more responsible.
Overcoming Fear and Resentment
Western practitioner Yvette said that for a long time she never felt she was good enough. Since she thought others were better than her, she didn’t need to do much to tell people about Dafa.
She understood that fear is a substance and that it prevented her from doing better. Living in the United States, she had many opportunities to fulfill her responsibilities (in doing the three things) but she did poorly.
While taking care of her parents, Yvette also became resentful of her father. Although she helped him a lot, her negative feelings grew over time. When her older sister, who is not a practitioner, reminded her to be kind, Yvette realized her problem and understood all these challenges were arranged for her to improve.
Overcoming Sickness Karma
Ms. Guo had a poor health since childhood. After she began practicing Falun Dafa, she recovered from various illnesses. She later experienced sickness karma with symptoms similar to lung and gynecological diseases which some of her family members had. But she knew these were tests and she should remain determined and cultivate herself.
She was terrified when she had a severe hemorrhage. With the other practitioners’ encouragement Ms. Guo overcame her fear and decided to fully trust Master. The symptoms disappeared quickly and the uterine fibroids were discharged naturally. This further confirmed to her the importance of having faith in Master.
Although her daughter suffered from cerebral palsy as a child, her symptoms disappeared with help from other practitioners and Ms. Guo’s righteous thoughts. She understood she had fear when her family was against Dafa, and she felt this might be a reason her daughter experienced sickness karma. Her daughter grew well and later joined Shen Yun as a dancer.
All these experiences taught Ms. Guo to believe in Master and Dafa, maintain righteous thoughts, and let go of one’s human notions.
Overcoming a Cultivation Bottleneck
Jessica said she began to practice Dafa in 2001 hoping to cure illnesses. In the beginning, she had experienced brief periods of no illnesses. But after having a miscarriage, she stopped practicing for two years. Although her condition improved after she resumed practicing, she still had sickness karma and was unable to get pregnant, leaving her with bitterness.
During one Dafa event, Jessica realized her cultivation bottleneck was caused by her own issues. She developed negative feelings as a child when her parents divorced, and this low self-esteem and negative mindset continued after she began cultivating—she did not think she was worthy of Master’s compassion.
She realized all these were arrangements made by the old forces. She believe that, by fully trusting Master and letting go of her low self-esteem and resentment, she could use her skills better to help save people.
Jessica said she feels fortunate to be a Falun Dafa practitioner and is very grateful to Master. She will cultivate diligently.
Improving One’s Character
Mr. Huang talked about how he realized he should not be attached to partisanship and prophecies. During the 2020 U.S. presidential election he was attached to the outcome and was confused when things did not go as he expected. He later understood that a practitioner should go beyond partisanship and help save all people.
He also listened to some prophecies that made him attached to time and pessimistic. Through continuously studying Dafa’s teachings he realized those prophecies were meant for everyday people while practitioners should follow Dafa’s teachings.
Mr. Huang talked about his experiences while working in the media. Because he was attached to his accomplishments, he made mistakes during an interview and while writing a report. After he was criticized he reflected on why this happened. Now he knew as a practitioner, the most important thing is eliminating selfishness, improving xinxing, and fulfilling our mission of saving people.
Remaining Steadfast
Zimma from Ukraine started practicing Falun Dafa in 1998. In the past, she suffered from multiple sclerosis and chronic headaches. All these were gone since then.
She previously explored Judaism and Christianity but they confused her. After she encountered Falun Dafa she was determined to practice. She experienced interference from the other books she read, but she was able to overcome it.
Zimma used to criticize or punish herself. She realized this was wrong and she should follow the teachings of Falun Dafa. She decided to do better working with other practitioners and remain steadfast on the cultivation path.
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