(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners from Central Taiwan gathered for a day of Fa study and cultivation experience sharing at Tai-Ping Elementary School in Taichung on March 14, 2021.

In the morning, the practitioners divided into 20 groups to share their experiences from studying the Fa, looking within for shortcomings when facing conflicts, and improving their xinxing (character, or mind nature). All of the practitioners came together for a larger meeting at the activity center in the afternoon.

Several practitioners took turns to share their experiences from participating in projects to validate the Fa and clarify the truth about Dafa and the persecution, inspiring the other practitioners present to practice more solidly.

Cultivation experience sharing conference held in Taichung on March 14, 2021

Treasuring the Opportunity to Practice Falun Gong

Shao-lin was drawn into a gang by seniors in his junior high school. He lived a life of fighting and killing. He was later admitted to a military academy but still couldn’t leave the gang. He was sentenced to military prison.

In 2004, a group of Falun Gong practitioners went to Lyudao Prison to introduce the meditation practice and hold a free instruction session over nine days. Shao-lin learned Falun Gong, and it completely changed his ideas about life.

A professor mailed him a cassette containing the Falun Gong exercise music a few years later, but there was no cassette player in the prison. Shao-lin gave the cassette to a prison guard. A few years later, the prison central station broadcast the Falun Gong exercise music.

“When I heard Master's voice, tears started flowing from my eyes,” Shao-lin said. “I had practiced Falun Gong for years without the exercise music. I had no watch so I relied on counting to practice the exercises. I sent righteous thoughts at 6 am based on the amount of daylight in spring, summer, autumn and winter. The room lights were turned off at 8:30pm. I didn’t have time to study the Fa. I asked the supervisor to give me half an hour to study the Fa.”

He said, “Fellow practitioners sent me Master’s lectures given at various places. I read them as soon as I could. I treasured each opportunity to study the Fa during the intensive labor. I read one to three lectures a day and even six to seven lectures during the holidays, assimilating myself to the Fa within the limited time.”

He said that as a cadre in the prison, he had to assist the prison authorities in managing other inmates and the work. The manure in the toilet in Lyudao Island was to be dug out to be used as fertilizer for vegetables.

After practicing Falun Gong, Shao-lin took the lead to do the hardest, smelliest, and least desirable work. He jumped into the cesspit and used buckets to scoop the feces out. He then cleaned the bucket while the other inmates took a break.

While prison cadres often oppress other inmates, Shao-lin held himself to the standards of a Dafa practitioner and took the lead in doing the work. He used the water from washing clothes to flush the toilets.

Shao-lin silently finished what others did not. He completely got rid of his hot temper and gangster behavior and genuinely lived by Falun Dafa’s teachings of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

He faced temptation by money and personal interest from other gangsters several times. He said he was not interested and instead wanted to practice Falun Gong to the end. Some of the gangsters were imprisoned in Tainan Prison and Kaohsiung Prison.

“I sent them copies of Zhuan Falun (the main book of Falun Dafa) and hoped they could go through a complete change like me, to have a new life and practice Dafa.” Several of his friends and family members started practicing Dafa after seeing how much he had changed.

After being released from prison, Shao-lin got a low-paying job. He has a compassionate heart. While doing Dafa exercises in the park, if he saw homeless people he would give them some money to buy food. In the winter, he took off his coat and gave it to a homeless person. He said, “Be compassionate to all sentient beings, because all sentient beings are suffering.”

After experiencing life without freedom, he realized the preciousness of this opportunity to practice Dafa. He reminded fellow practitioners earnestly, “Don’t lose the opportunity that seems easy to get. You must cherish this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Two Phrases Bring Miracles

Hsi-hui has three children. She started practicing Falun Gong in 2020 after seeing people do the exercises in a park. She shared her experience.

“From the beginning, Master compassionately protected me and brought me to move forward step by step,” she said.

Half a year later, her seven-year-old son said he would attend the nine-day Falun Gong workshop. His grandmother did not agree and told him she would buy toys for him if he gave up practicing. Her son did not reply. Hsi-hui gained confidence after seeing her son so steadfast.

Once she brought her children to a group exercise site. Her son did not feel well and his arms were swollen. A veteran practitioner encouraged him to hold on. Her son’s arm became normal after he finished the group exercises. It was marvelous. From then on, her son’s skin issues disappeared. She witnessed a miracle of Dafa for the first time.

Hsi-hui took her three children, who are two to seven years old, to attend a summer camp run by practitioners. Her helper from Indonesia also went to take care of the children. A practitioner gave her helper a copy of Zhuan Falun in Indonesian.

Hsi-hui found that her helper had changed a lot after returning home: her depression of 10 years went away. Even her helper’s family in Indonesia said she had become happier and had a better complexion during a video chat.

Why did her helper start practicing Falun Gong? Hsi-hui said, “My third child is two years old. His hands had yellow and green pus flow from them every day. He kept scratching them. I asked him to recite the two phrases, ‘Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ His festering healed the day he recited the two phrases. The helper looked at him with surprise.”

One day she saw her helper was rushing and at a loss. It turned out that Hsi-hui’s second son had hurt his temple and was bleeding. Hsi-hui asked her son to look at Master Li’s portrait and recite the two auspicious phrases. His bleeding stopped soon after he started reciting them. The helper once again witnessed a miracle of Dafa.

Her helper told her family to recite the two phrases as well. Soon afterward, her helper started practicing Falun Gong.

Setting Up a Group Practice Site

“I thought about setting up a morning group practice site because I learned Falun Gong after seeing practitioners doing the exercises in a park,” Hsi-hui said.

She asked her children whether they could get up to join a group practice in the morning. They said they could. The child of another practitioner also said he would join the morning exercises.

Hsi-hui thought she had to set up the site or she would delay the young practitioners from advancing in cultivation. She set up a morning group exercise site in a park nearby.

She said, “All of this was under Master’s direction. When I have shortcomings, Master guides me in various ways and through fellow practitioners. Master helps me to catch up with the Fa-rectification process.”

Miraculous Recovery from a Knee Injury

Yuan-hsu from Taichung had a full-time job as a programmer. So that his family could live a happy life, he picked up a part-time job at night and during the holidays. When he was exhausted physically and mentally, he often thought, “How long do I have to live like this? When can I lead a normal life?”

Sometimes he thought, “Are people in this world only here to make money? Why can some people make money easily whereas many others work hard but don’t live well?” These questions always existed in his mind.

He was surprised at how his wife changed after she practiced Falun Gong. He wondered what Falun Gong was.

After reading Zhuan Falun in June 2020, he was deeply drawn in by everything described in the book. All of the questions in his mind were resolved. Finally, he found the answers to his questions.

Before practicing Falun Gong, Yuan-hsu suffered from gout and dizziness. One day he went to the post office to mail a package, but he fell while going up the stairs and hit his knee on the stone steps.

He knew the pain was a process of eliminating karma. He said, “When I got home, I looked within and noted that I was impatient and an attachment to zealotry.”

During his recovery, he still studied the Fa and practiced the exercises normally. He just did what he needed to do. When he was in pain, he repeatedly told himself, “The pain is an illusion. These are all good things.”

Unexpectedly, without taking medicine, his right leg was 90 percent healed within three days. He could walk normally after a week. His wife was also amazed. If he did not practice Dafa, it would have been impossible for him to recover so quickly based on his previous experiences. This time he successfully overcame the tribulation. He realized the importance of believing in Master and the Fa and studying the Fa more.

“I am fortunate to learn Dafa and be a disciple of Master. I will treasure the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Yuan-hsu said.