(Clearwisdom.net) The annual Fa conferences are grand occasions for Dafa disciples. In addition to the Fa conferences, the large outdoor activities are great events and opportunities for truth clarification. However, the recent New York Fa conference was postponed and activities were canceled due to bad weather. As practitioners, we should seriously reflect on this.
The Washington DC Fa Conference held just six weeks prior was also interfered with. It was delayed for almost 3 hours. Some practitioners shared their understandings regarding the occurrence on the Minghui website. However, the issue did not seem to draw attention from the majority of practitioners.
Weather forecasts and warnings of a hurricane were announced almost a week before the New York Fa Conference. Falun Dafa associations urged everyone to clear away the interference with righteous thoughts. However, what eventually happened didn't reflect the power of Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts. Public transportation was halted. Activities were canceled. And, the Fa conference was postponed twenty-four hours.
Dafa disciples all have righteous thoughts. However, why did such an outcome arise when so many Dafa disciples were together? I have the understanding that the main reason lies within us. The unrighteous factors we kept within us led to the interferences.
I feel that we really need to look inward and ask ourselves what the purpose of attending Fa conferences is.
Master told us:
“I hope that through this Fa conference you will be able to find where you fall short and become more diligent, and that you will make this Fa conference a sacred one in which you compare how you have studied and cultivated, and show the righteous Fa to the people of the world.” (“To the Taiwan Fa Conference,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
How many of us went to the Fa conference with the wish to improve xinxing and with the urge of elevating in our cultivation? At every Fa conference, how many practitioners go in and out of the hall frequently, or chat outside of the hall, or doze off rather than quietly listening to fellow practitioners sharing? Of course, some practitioners had to deal with jet lag. But still we should strengthen our main consciousness and stay awake. Many practitioners went to the Fa conference solely to see and hear Master's Fa lectures.
In addition, as I see it, a few of the papers presented talked too much about what the speakers had done, or what project the speaker wanted to promote. They might have touched upon what interference was experienced, but it seems that much of it was done to validate how well the speakers had cultivated. The old evil forces saw that even Dafa disciples didn't take the sacred Fa conference seriously, and thus, had excuses to interfere. We don't acknowledge the interference, but we have to first purge the unrighteous factors within us via looking inward. Then the interfering factors lose the field they required to exist.
I would also like to share about my understanding of large-scale Dafa activities. The gatherings and marches during the Fa conferences present rare occasions where many Dafa disciples are together. These are very good truth-clarification opportunities. However, as a number of projects have increased, with headquarters of many in New York, quite a few practitioners went to New York for their own projects and didn't plan in their schedules to attend the activities. For those practitioners who participated in the activities, including local practitioners in New York, although their bodies were there, it seems that their minds were somewhere else.
Many arrived late, or chatted during the activities, or even shopped during the activities. What would gods think when they see such behaviors? Some inappropriate behaviors may even trigger negative effects in truth-clarification. The old evil forces are lurking all the time for opportunities to interfere with us. We need to truly look inward and understand the significance of the activities during Fa conferences. Then the interference will disappear.
These are some thoughts at my current level. Please kindly point out any omissions.