(Shared at 2001 European Conference)
My experiences are certainly not much different from those of many other Dafa disciples all over the world. Nevertheless, I choose to share them with you because they might be typical of practitioners from Germany.
Shortly after beginning to learn Falun Dafa (I did the exercises more than learning the Fa), I was of the opinion that the spreading of the Fa would be child's play. Deep inside I knew already that Falun Gong was good, and that spreading the Fa would be as easy and as fast as in China. Because of its success in curing people, which has been written about in many experience sharing articles, as well as the fact that Germany has many patients who are spending many billions of Deutschmarks for medication, I thought it would be easy. Besides, there is a huge interest in the esoteric, and many people are interested in supernatural things.
At that time I knew some followers of alternative movements who were interested in esoteric ways. Some had even been to India looking for gurus. Their reactions towards Falun Dafa were mostly the same: "You have your way, we have our way, many ways lead to the truth." They also objected to Falun Dafa being THE BIG WAY, when they read it in the book. Others weren't able to accept the idea of having a "Master;" they were afraid that a master could steal energy from them and had still other conceptions.
Then I began to wonder why such a good way as Falun Dafa met with so little interest.
Shortly after the ban of Falun Dafa in China, which I found out from phone contact with other cultivators, I learned about the "info-days." My first thought was that it was a sabotage of Dafa by the disciples, because I remembered one of Master's sentences: "Only disciples can undermine Dafa."
At once, the picture of a certain sect sprang to my mind and I feared Falun Dafa could become a sect. For most Germans, sect is a most hideous swearword; it connotes eerie-ness, and sounds threatening and subversive. An average German would not even talk to someone he considered a member of a sect. Feeling uneasy, I went to my first info-day in Munich, because I wanted to see what other practitioners were like. Walking up the stairs from the subway to the practice site, I suddenly could sense the strong energy field, and my mood positively changed. Suddenly I came to the conclusion that info-days must be a good and appropriate means to spread the Fa. Having read the Jingwen [Master's articles] afterwards, I was even more firm in my belief.
There is one thing I would like to mention: When a passer-by asked me something about Falun Dafa, I always managed to talk a lot, mingling much of my very limited understanding of the Fa into my answers. During an info-day last autumn, I realized that the main characters, Master's books, were mute, whereas I talked all the time.
So I knew, if I would be able to remember well the contents of the book, I could give the corresponding chapter to the person who asked me something. After she had read it, she suddenly got enlightened to her question.
I still want to mention some other experiences from last autumn.
In October, three practitioners went to Saxonia to hold a nine-day video seminar in a middle-sized village around Dresden. I also went there for a few days to gain experience. There were six participants. One of them suddenly stayed away after a few days. How should I deal with this situation?
On the one hand, we cannot run after anybody. Cultivation is everybody's own affair. However, Master says: " One can only give good advice."
A practitioner went to visit that woman. The woman accepted the suggestion to read together the chapter: "Your Main Consciousness Should Predominate." The reading was successful, and the woman continued to attend the seminar. The reason for her staying away was, as she told me later, very trifling: a complete misunderstanding. After the sixth lesson, another participant stayed away. We asked her for the reason, too, but she refused to answer. We respected her decision, of course. This example showed us that it can be beneficial to make some more inquiry if we see somebody has a problem understanding. On the other hand, it is best to let Master talk about the problems. However, the most crucial thing with beginners, mainly new groups, is to convince them of the fact that reading the book is most important for a cultivator.
So I decided to take the shortest route: before watching Master's tape, we sat down to read. At that time, some of the practitioners already had suffered from pressure by their families or friends. Therefore we were reading the chapter "Transformation of Karma," which impressed most of them. One woman also added that she had read this chapter on her own in the morning, but now it sounded different. Thus it was easy to explain that the meaning of this book is ever changing, from the surface to the core. That woman really understood this, and her enlightening to this principle helped the group to remain in existence.
Strengthened by this experience, I decided to organize similar video workshops in Upper Franconia, where I come from. Earlier, I did not dare to attempt such a thing, because I did not consider myself a good cultivator. I think that one can succeed in Hongfa only if one has cultivated oneself well. So before this I always pondered if my level of cultivation would be exposed because I could not hide within a group. (Also, there was no group in my region.) Would I be able to handle things properly or be a complete failure? But soon I realized that I was indulging in an egotistical way of thinking. The aim must be to present Dafa to the people, as many people as possible. While collecting signatures before, I had figured out that almost nobody even knew about Falun Dafa. So no matter what cultivation level I attain, now it is the time to act. Master says in "Environment" [Essentials for Further Advancement]: "The environment is created by you, yourselves."
So I reserved rooms in a restaurant and placed an announcement in two newspapers in my hometown as well as in Bamberg. Then I invited other practitioners from other cities.
I did not expect anybody to attend, yet nine people came to watch the video "Falun Gong, The Real Story."
Here I want to express my gratitude to our Master, that he has lead some people with predestined relationship to the workshop, as well as thank my fellow practitioners for their valuable support.
I remembered some practitioners bluntly told newcomers, "Suffering is good, the more the better; all problems you have now are due to your practicing Falun Gong." Of course, some beginners, who did not have a deep understanding were terrified by those statements and stayed away.
Thus, I did not mention this fact.
Then came the video presentation in my small hometown. Due to a mistake in placing the advance announcement, nobody attended. But there was a deeper reason. In contrast to other activities in other cities, I was not so calm. The wish to have a group in my small town was too big, and growing bigger all the time.
I also did not fulfill some basic requirements for every practitioner, as I seldom did the exercises outside of the house, due to various excuses. It was obvious--in my hometown, things cannot go too smoothly without any effort on my part. In other cities, doing things might be easier. So I decided to go out again. It was the day before the Christmas. For the first time, I was calm outside and did not check while doing the exercises if somebody would slow down his walk, watch me, or ask me what I was doing, and so on. I said to myself: "You do the exercises here as required by Master in the Jingwen 'Environment', no matter if anyone else will be interested or not." I felt fine.
That very day, after the end of the exercises, a couple came to me and wanted to know what this was all about.
As of now, the husband is still reading Falun Dafa, and we are in contact. Before that day, I had always selected my time doing the exercises outside. I would choose a time when most people went for a walk. That day, I did not care about the time. (The man told me, they normally never take this route for a walk.)
Afterwards, a woman I know through work also wanted to see Master's video. She I practiced Falun Gong, but I did not like to talk persuasively about it. There would always be an occasion if the time were ripe. So I gave it to her. She decided not to begin to practice after seeing the video, but at least she knows about Falun Gong, and that should be the goal: Everybody should know about the Law.
Shortly afterwards, when I was walking in my town collecting signatures, I saw an old friend of mine sitting in a bar. My first thought was, "he will not sign the sheet; he will probably laugh at me." But I knew I must overcome this sort of thought karma, so I went in and asked him. He did not sign it, but a Turkish employee did and wanted to know more about Falun Gong. So I gave him some pieces of information and now he is trying to learn the exercises.
What did I learn from this? It is not possible to take the easy way when you do not even meet the basic requirements of Falun Dafa. If you meet them, everything will follow smoothly.
Or, as Master says: "Your environment is created by you, yourselves, and it, too, is essential for your improvement." ("Environment")
Heshi
