(Minghui.org) The 2023 Ukraine Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference was held in Kiev on September 24. The 2022 conference was canceled due to the war, so this was the first conference held in Ukraine in two years.
Practitioners from numerous cities attended the event including Kiev, Dnieper, Kharkiv, Vinnitsa, Chervonograd, Sambir, Konotop, and Netishin. Many of the practitioners could not participate in person because of the war, so they joined the conference online.
Twelve practitioners talked about their cultivation experiences. In addition to aligning with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, they talked about how to assist Master (the founder of Falun Dafa) with saving people during this special era.
Practitioners who attended the 2023 Ukraine Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference in Kiev on September 24, 2023, took a group photo and thanked Master.
Practitioners talked about their cultivation experiences.
Remaining Diligent
Tatyana, who lives in Kiev, has practiced Falun Dafa for over 20 years, since she was a child. After the war started, the capital city was constantly bombarded. Instead of slacking off, however, she and her husband have gone out every day and distributed information about Falun Dafa. They also do the exercises in the courtyard during lunch breaks.
After realizing that Falun Dafa can help people survive the tragedies, Tatyana overcame her own fear and worked with her family to do the three things well. As a result, she and her husband were never depressed despite being surrounded by difficulty and danger. Not only were they able to avoid danger, they handled daily chores more efficiently than before the war started.
Tatyana is very grateful to Master Li for his compassion. She and her husband are able to cultivate themselves and help other people to be saved with a better future.
A Young Mother
Natalia is also from Kiev and she was four months pregnant when the war broke out. When she had symptoms of being poisoned, she was worried about the infant’s health. One day when the war was intense, she and her husband (also a Falun Dafa practitioner) had to enter the subway (which is an air raid shelter) and could not leave. During those one and a half days, her poisoning symptoms worsened. She sat on a mat and sent righteous thoughts while her husband read Zhuan Falun next to her and gave out Falun Dafa materials.
Although they were surrounded by fear and anxiety, Natalia continued practicing and remained calm. She came to understand that everyone has their own fate. Plus, her child would be a young practitioner and she just needed to do her best. As her fear diminished, she no longer worried about the baby’s health or having a miscarriage.
Her husband wanted Natalia to leave Ukraine. However, because men are not allowed to leave the country, Natalia decided to stay. She told him that when the family including the baby stayed together, their righteous thoughts and energy would be stronger.
In the end, Natalia delivered a healthy girl who is now almost one year old. The family attends group Fa study in Kiev on a regular basis. The baby is very good, and likes to be around other practitioners. She is also very happy to watch the video of Master giving a lecture and always claps her hands in excitement as soon as she sees Master in the video.
Letting Go of Attachments
One couple who live in Kiev, Eugene and Dinara, talked about their experience in the past two years. Before the war started, Eugene was able to overcome illness karma and became more diligent in cultivation practice. Working for a media company run by practitioners, he was assigned to report on the war and go out to gather first-hand information. Overcoming his shyness, Eugene successfully video-recorded the scenes, and his reports had many views on the Internet. Even the Chinese language news channel’s rank improved. From this experience, Eugene learned that all practitioners are one body and they are working towards the same goal.
When experiencing frequent power outages that affected the work, Eugene looked within and noticed he had attachments to news, politics, and wars. When he eliminated these attachments, the situation stabilized.
After the war started, Eugene’s wife Dinara asked Master for protection. She immediately felt a strong energy circulating throughout her body which lasted 15 minutes. She realized that Master was next to her and there was nothing to worry about. As the bombardment continued, however, she was influenced by the tension and her heartbeat became irregular. This lasted many days and she was exhausted.
This made Dinara understand the importance of eliminating fear. When she was able to do so, she felt fine. Before the war, she told some friends about Falun Dafa. These people all remained safe and did not experience financial losses in spite of the war.
Expanding One’s Compassion
Nina from Berdyansk attended the conference online. She lives 85 kilometers (53 miles) from Mariupol, which was heavily bombarded. As a result, Nina hosted more than ten refugees in her home. She said this was an opportunity for her to improve kindness and compassion.
Nina said she likes things neat and tidy. She saw that she was selfish when interacting with others. Considering herself a practitioner, she tolerated a small dog in her house and even allowed the dog to be bathed in her bathtub. As soon as she was happy with her improvement, another refugee brought a larger dog. This reminded Nina to continue improving her xinxing.
From these experiences, Nina learned the importance of eliminating selfishness, greed, and resentment. As she was able to remain kind and accommodate everyone, the refugees also began to help each other. Nina told them about Falun Dafa and gave one girl a copy of Zhuan Falun. The girl cherished the book very much.
Away From the Shadow of Trauma
Olena from Odessa attended the conference online and talked about her cultivation experiences. Three weeks of mental stress struck her hard, and she became depressed. The deaths were a huge mental burden for her.
In the beginning, Olena thought this was due to her sympathy towards those who died. She later realized that her feeling was based on human emotions, which hurt her, and affected her cultivation. After talking with other practitioners, Olena was able to walk out of the difficulties and she stopped feeling depressed.
Eliminating Communist Influence
Also from Odessa, Svitlana and her family went to Germany after the war started. German practitioners picked them up at the airport and took them directly to a Shen Yun performance. Svitlana was also able to help with security during the performances.
Living in a new country with a different environment, Svitlana learned how to cultivate while becoming familiar with German culture. She improved the way she communicated with her grandson, and eliminated communist influence. In particular, she noticed that German parents often talked with their children patiently instead of criticizing or punishing them. Svitlana was glad she improved a lot in the new environment.
Learning from Each Other
Practitioners who attended the conference said they were thankful for the opportunity. Igor from Vinnitsa began to practice Falun Dafa in 1997 and said the conference and listening to the experiences of other practitioners was greatly needed during the current turmoil Ukraine is facing. He and other practitioners who had not seen each other for a long time felt this conference helped everyone. He said all the cultivation stories were beneficial and the practitioners sitting next to him felt the same.
Lyudmila from Netitsyn said she was moved by Master’s recent articles. Together with today’s experience-sharing conference, she realized that although she had done many things while participating in projects, she needed to do better with cultivation. Only then could she achieve a better result.
Valentina from Dnieper River began to practice Falun Dafa in 2007 and said that the event reminded her to remain diligent while resisting earthly temptations. She said there were many chaotic things in society and she was often worried when interacting with friends. This conference was profound for her and helped her stay on track in cultivation.
She said the conference was a precious opportunity for practitioners to share experiences during the war. Besides the conference, Valentina also exchanged thoughts with other practitioners during the trip and in the hotel. All these benefited her tremendously, she added.
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