(Minghui.org) The 10th Bulgarian Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference was held at the Ramada Plovdiv Trimontium Hotel in downtown Plovdiv on October 27, 2024. Sixteen practitioners described how they followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in their daily lives. Through looking within during conflicts, they were able to improve their xinxing and do better telling others about the practice.
Attendees said they learned a lot during the conference. Through learning from each other they feel encouraged to cultivate diligently. They will use their compassion and wisdom and work harder to introduce Falun Dafa to people.
The 10th Bulgarian Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference was held in Plovdiv on October 27.
Practitioners talked about their cultivation experiences.
Improving the Quality of Fa Study
Peyo said he recently increased the amount of time he studies the Falun Dafa teachings and reads several lectures in Zhuan Falun (the main teachings of Falun Dafa) a day. After a while, he noticed his understanding and concentration while he read are the key, instead of how much he reads. “There were times when I found so many new things in one sentence, that it was like reading the entire book. Sometimes I alternated between reading the book and watching videos of Master’s lectures. The result was very good,” he said.
In his spare time, Peyo visits media from websites created by Falun Dafa practitioners, such as Gan Jing World, Shen Yun Creations, Epoch Times, and Clearharmony. He felt practitioners from around the globe are one body and doing so helps him stay away from inappropriate content in the big dye vat of the human world. He also tries to attend various activities to introduce Falun Dafa to people. “This environment is very precious for practitioners and it allows us to improve quickly,” he said.
Eliminating Fear and Resentment
Orlina talked about her experience of letting go of two strong attachments: fear and resentment. After deciding to raise her two young children on her own, she discovered that “fear had such a strong hold over me that every decision I made seemed to be wrong.” The other attachment is related to her job duties, where she is required to work with wealthy clients whose behavior sometimes made her feel resentful.
After she began practicing Falun Dafa, Orlina understood that these negative emotions actually revealed her own problems. By negating them and following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, she was able to improve her relationships and ability to communicate with clients. Orlina considered this “a small miracle” because other coworkers also praised her for remaining calm while handling issues at work. “There are countless training sessions at the bank, but their effect was limited. Only Falun Dafa truly helped me,” she said.
Letting Go of Self and Being Considerate of Others
Sergey is from Russia and has lived in Bulgaria for many years. He once helped promote the Art of Zhen-Shan-Ren International Exhibition, through which he identified the human notion of being attached to himself.
In the beginning, he distributed flyers but noticed that people seemed to be tired and were not interested in seeing the artworks. Very often they looked at him with annoyed expressions, as if he was selling a product. Realizing this deadlock, he began to send forth righteous thoughts, oppose old forces’ interference, and clear the field around him. After a while, people began to accept the flyers.
When he reflected on this situation, Sergey identified his own problems. “I found myself disliking others because my feelings were hurt. That is, I traveled three hours and came here to invite them to the exhibition. But they ignored me with unhappy faces. Some waved their hand and snorted at me when I offered them the invitation. This was insulting and humiliating, especially when it was from passersby with obviously low social status,” he said. “From this, I learned that I focused on myself too much instead of others. That is, I only cared about my own interests and losses instead of other people’s needs.”
When he identified his problem and worked to improve it, Sergey saw a vivid scene: people were living difficult lives, and struggled to survive; many passersby were carrying large bags of food. It was obvious that they were thinking more about survival issues than about artworks. He felt sorry for them and he had tears. “These reflections sobered me up and I stopped responding to people’s attitude and pain with negative thoughts,” he explained.
A Positive Attitude
Zlatko works as a massage therapist in a spa complex near the town where he lives. He regularly hosts morning meditation workshops where he tells people about Falun Dafa and shows them the exercises.
At the start of this job, Zlatko negotiated with his employer about the working conditions and his salary. But things turned out to be very different, leaving him frustrated and he was not motivated to treat the customers well. He started to look for a new job and read job advertisements every day, but nothing worked out. This made him think why this happened to him and how he should handle it.
“I told myself that I’m a Falun Dafa practitioner, and I need to treat customers well,” Zlatko recalled. When customers walked by, he greeted them with a smile, asking if he could help them, and he had no negative feelings. When people asked for assistance, he helped them. “I stopped thinking about a bigger paycheck and the unfair treatment I received. I realized this is a place arranged for me by Master (the founder of Falun Dafa),” Zlatko added.
Then something unexpected happened. His work for the month increased more and many people came for treatment. For that month, Zlatko doubled the number of services he provided and his salary also doubled. This confirmed his earlier thoughts and that resentment was wrong, he said.
A New Practitioner
Plamena lives in Stara Zagora and she’s practiced Falun Dafa for several months. She first heard about the practice during an event five or six years ago and she still has the paper lotus flower she received.
She started by reading Falun Gong with no expectations. Since Dafa books were very different from other books she read in the past, Plamena was eager to read it again after she read it once. She learned the exercises with the help of a practitioner. “After reading the book, Falun Gong, I gave up my attachments to cigarettes, coffee, chocolate, and alcohol. In short, I am now a different person with more energy,” she said.
Plamena then began reading Zhuan Falun and said her life became even better. “I haven’t practiced for a long time, but I learned that once you do things from your heart instead of your own interests, everything in your life changes,” she said.
The attachment of sentimentality is hard to remove, explained Plamena. She also has many other things to overcome and she hopes to make progress. In the past, she experienced various difficulties in her family life including a divorce. She believes these are opportunities for her to improve her cultivation.
The Importance of Studying the Teachings
Radoslav has practiced Falun Dafa for many years but said he found it difficult to handle some practitioners’ opinions.
“If we spend more time studying the teachings and do it well, we can solve these problems,” he said. “Through memorizing Falun Dafa’s teachings, I improved the quality of my Fa study and I can concentrate. I feel almost immersed in Dafa and I’m being purified as I read,” Radoslav added.
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