Lima, Peru: Practitioners Learn from Each Other During Experience-Sharing Conference

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners in Peru held an experience-sharing conference in Lima on July 10, 2022. Sixteen practitioners talked about how they implemented the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in their daily lives. By constantly looking within and improving themselves, they were able to let go of bad notions and help save people.

A Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference was held in Lima, Peru on July 10, 2022.

Practitioners talked about how they improved based on Falun Dafa’s teachings.

A Calm Mind

Julia Condeña is an elementary teacher and she began to practice in 2017. “The first time I did the exercises, I felt my entire body was filled with energy and I knew Falun Dafa was very special,” she recalled. She was amazed because at that time she was frustrated and stressed due to her poor health, which affected both her family and her work.

As she continued reading the teachings, Condeña understood more and more about Dafa. Many of her questions were answered: Why did we come to this world? What is the purpose of life? The teachings helped her calm down, and for the first time in her life she felt inner peace and happiness. “All those negative thoughts were gone,” she explained, “Now when I encounter challenges, I am able to look inward to see where I could do better.”

Condeña also told her elementary students how to be good people and why this is important for society. She talked about her cultivation experiences after she began practicing Falun Dafa and taught the students the five exercises.

Looking back over the years, she is thankful to Mr. Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Dafa, for his guidance.

A New Life

Karla Nikitin was a rebellious girl since she was 10 years old and her family was anxious. When her father beat her or her family could not understand her, she even thought of leaving home. At 15, she started smoking marijuana and lied to people. Two years later she found other types of drugs and tried them. One time, she nearly died of a drug overdose.

While she was traveling, Karla met a man who she later married. The man shared his thoughts about her problems and recommended she try Falun Dafa. When she read Zhuan Falun for the first time, Karla felt focused and calm. She was surprised by how profound the book was. But she still could not quit drugs.

As she continued reading Zhuan Falun Karla read Lecture Seven, in which Master talks about the issue of smoking. Since that day she was able to stay away from drugs. But things were not that simple and the test of using drugs kept occurring. Sometimes she failed the test, but every time she tried to learn from her lesson. One day she finally quit drugs completely.

Karla has practiced Falun Dafa for four years and she and her husband both try to be better people. Whenever she has conflicts with her husband, she realizes that she sometimes does not do well. When she remembers the Falun Dafa teachings, she sees where she can do better and apologizes. The couple also exchange ideas on how to let go of bad thoughts and do better as practitioners.

Karla said she is grateful to Master Li (Dafa’s founder) from the bottom of her heart because Falun Dafa teaches her to be rational, forgiving, and considerate of others. Most importantly, Dafa gave her a new life.

Learning to Practice Compassion

A friend told Luis Franco about Falun Dafa years ago. But he was very busy, so he did not look into it. His intense schedule put him under lot of stress. “At the end of 2019, I realized I could not continue like this and something had to change,” he recalled. After downloading Master’s audio lectures on his cell phone, he listened to them every day on the way to work or on his way home. He gained new understandings about life and he decided to read the Falun Dafa books.

Franco soon had a xinxing test with his wife, who became unpredictable and even irrational from time to time. Whenever he read the books or did the exercises, his wife would be upset. Their 17-year-old son also argued with his mother in front of him. From Falun Dafa’s teachings, Franco understood this was not accidental and it was related to his own cultivation. He felt that he had to be more compassionate towards others. Whenever issues arose, he would smile and ask, “Is there anything I can do to help you?” Besides explaining to his son about Shen Yun Performing Arts and traditional Chinese culture, he also took the family to the Art of Zhen, Shan, Ren (Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance) International Exhibition. As time passed his family became peaceful and happy.

Because he had high expectations for himself, Franco often forced his opinions on others at work with the excuse of making more profit for the company. He reminded himself that he was a practitioner, and realized this was related to his hidden attachment to fame and personal interest. Once after arguing with a coworker, Franco realized he was very selfish and decided to sincerely apologize to the coworker. The coworker was surprised, but accepted his apology. Franco said this experience showed him that his work environment is also a cultivation opportunity.

Recovery from Cancer

Percy Llanos was diagnosed with stage three cancer in 2018 and his right kidney was removed. Eight months later the cancer had spread, and the doctor said nothing could save his life. All he could do was relieve the pain with expensive medication, which required the health insurance company’s approval.

During those worst days of his life, a friend told Llanos about Falun Dafa and he decided to practice. “When I read Zhuan Falun for the first time, I was very excited because there were so many things that I did not know,” he said. As he kept reading the book, he understood the purpose of cultivation practice is not curing illnesses. He made up his mind to be a genuine practitioner and constantly improve himself.

By then, he was contacted by the insurance company and was told that the expensive medication had been approved. Llanos briefly debated with himself whether he should take the medicine. In the end, he said no. His family could not understand him, except his mother. “Listen to your heart,” she said.

One year has passed since Llanos took any medication. He is now healthy and happy. Besides practicing with other practitioners and reading the teachings every day, he also participates in Falun Dafa activities. “I am fortunate to learn about Falun Dafa and to practice,” he said, “I am grateful to Master for everything. I’m determined to do well on the cultivation path.”

As part of their activities, practitioners did the exercises and held a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese Embassy in Lima on July 16, 2022.