(Minghui.org) The 21st China Fahui on Minghui.org started on November 7, 2024, and 43 sharing articles have been published as of November 19. Western Falun Dafa practitioners in Canada shared their thoughts after reading the articles.
George was born in and grew up in Canada, and works as a carpenter in Montreal. He was impressed by the article “China Fahui | Dafa Taught Me to Be a Selfless Person.” He said that it is really the greatest blessing to have Fa principles that guides cultivators through difficulties.
The author was plagued by skin disease from infancy, so she had low-esteem. Her husband died in an accident when she was 28 years old, and she had to raise her son by herself. In order to survive, she became competitive and combative, and taught her son to fight. After she began practicing Falun Dafa, she no longer complained and treated her neighbors kindly. Her father was mean to her, but when he was ill and bedridden, she took good care of him until he passed away.
The author’s experience made George realize that he should be compassionate to those who he had grievances against. He said, “We feel aversion when we notice people behaving egoistically and being selfish. However, when we know the details about the person’s life and how that person came to be that way, it’s hard not to sigh and realize that our negative thoughts harmed them.”
George said, “What I really find impressive in this article is how one can let go of the feeling that life is bitter and unfair even when the challenges are immense. I found that impressive because in my own life some of the difficulties I’ve experienced really weighed on my heart—but when I think about how much harder other people have it, it makes me think that I really shouldn’t make such a big deal out of these things.”
Ashley was born in Canada and began practicing Falun Dafa in 2020. When she read the article “China Fahui | Consider Others First,” she was touched by the author’s selflessness. The author, who was in her 70s, held an umbrella for a woman and accompanied her home in the heavy rain, and she ended up getting drenched.
Ashley recalled that she often had selfish intentions behind her good deeds prior to practicing Falun Dafa, i.e. getting promoted in her career, elevating in social status, being praised, and feeling superior. After she began practicing, she found that even though she eliminated selfishness in many ways, she still hadn’t reached the realm of putting others first when she encountered issues. Ashley said that the practitioner’s story made her realize that as cultivators, we should consider others first at all times.
The author shared her experience of overcoming her fear and clarifying the truth to a shop owner and customers when she went to the shop to get a pedicure. Her experience made Ashley aware of her fear about clarifying the truth in public. She said that she only clarified the truth when she participated in Dafa projects. The author’s experience reminded her that she should clarify the truth to everyone.
A young man knocked on the door and needed some help with his car. It was overheating and he needed to find some coolant fluid so he could make it home. She just had a long car tribulation with an overheating engine, so Ashley had an entire jug of what he needed. He wanted to give Ashley money for it, but she told him no thank you, and followed the example of the practitioner in China. Ashley said, “I told him that I practiced Falun Dafa, and then I clarified the truth. I showed how to find information online, and told him how practicing changed my life. He was so happy, and kept saying ‘what are the odds of meeting you?’ I told him nothing is coincidental.” From his smile, Ashley felt he had a predestined relationship with Dafa.
Olesia is from Ukraine, and began practicing Falun Dafa 17 years ago. She and her husband moved to Toronto five years ago. She shared her experience of eliminating jealousy after reading the article, “The Environment Improved After I Eliminated My Deep-seated Notions.”
The author was a salesperson. He was jealous and felt terrible after seeing his former coworker make a fortune and drive an expensive car. His jealousy disappeared after he learned that his coworker made money through dishonest means.
Like the practitioner in this article, much of Olesia’s cultivation took place in everyday society with her colleagues, relatives, and friends. She worked for an ordinary company for more than 20 years. She was surrounded by mostly good people, and the atmosphere in the company was also pretty good. So at the very beginning of her practice, she thought that she didn’t have big problems with her xinxing. However, she had a tense relationship with her boss. She thought that many of the things she did could have been done better.
They argued a lot and her boss considered Olesia a difficult person to get along with, and Olesia felt that she was very unpleasant.
Olesia said, “When I started cultivating, I realized that I had to straighten out the relationship with her and clarify the truth. It was a long and painful process for me. I realized that if I saw my competitiveness, resentment, show-off mentality, and selfishness then inevitably there was bound to be jealousy. Yes, I was jealous of her, I had to admit it. I had a kind of aversion to jealousy and I was worried that I was jealous."
Master said:
“You may have heard at some point that Buddha Amitābha allows people to be reborn into his paradise with karma. But that will not happen in the case of jealousy.” (The Seventh Talk, Zhuan Falun)
“And I really didn’t want to be reborn in human society anymore.”
Olesia said that she easily noticed when she felt jealous about material things, but it was difficult to detect when it was about others’ good character traits or skills. However, practitioners of Falun Dafa have a magical tool given to us by Master—looking within. She was able to dig out her deep-seated jealousy.
She said, “I learned to listen to my heart. Every time I notice discomfort within myself, or resentment, it means that I need to cleanse myself of jealousy. Eventually, our relationship improved significantly and my boss told my mother that I changed very much for the better. She signed the petition against organ harvesting and realized the truth about the persecution.”
Olesia changed to a new company. She and her former boss still have a good relationship, and congratulate each other on holidays. She said, “When I eliminated my deep-seated notions, and expanded my heart, our relationship became harmonious.”
Olesia said, “This is only one episode of my cultivation, but it is very significant for me, for it was my first step. I am grateful to the Falun Dafa practitioners in China who wrote this article, as it helped me reflect on my path.”
Young practitioner Bogdon from Europe moved to Canada when he was young. He began practicing Falun Dafa in 2021. He was inspired by the article “China Fahui | Amazing Changes After We Memorized the Teachings.”
In the article, practitioners overcame huge difficulties to be able to study the Fa together. Despite the policemens’ sudden raid and some painful xinxing tests among practitioners, they did not stop meeting to read the teachings. The author mentioned that their pure environment allowed them to resolve long-term family conflicts and other issues. More practitioners joined them after learning about their experiences. Due to the large number of practitioners, they divided and formed new Fa study groups.
Bogdon was impressed and said, “During the time when the police raided practitioners’ reading groups and interfered with the Fa study environment, these practitioners were able to keep steadfast and continue reading the Fa together even though they were harassed by police.”
He said there is no persecution in Canada, and practitioners can even study online. But different conflicts of interest among practitioners makes it hard for them to study the Fa in a group, or the group is dispersed due to lack of participation. He hopes that practitioners outside China can put aside their differences and conflicts and attend Fa study regardless, so that they can quickly let go of attachments and become one body.
The article also shows that if practitioners don’t memorize a sentence correctly, they correspond to their incorrect state at their deep levels. Bogdon realized that when he read Zhuan Falun, he should pay attention and not mispronounce words. If he reads the words wrong, he should look within and dig out his attachments. He said, “I will attend group Fa study and be more vigilant while being in such a relaxed environment.”