(Minghui.org) Practitioners, including members of the New York waist drum team, held a conference in Long Island, New York and exchanged cultivation experiences on August 27, 2023. More than 20 practitioners talked about how they progressed in cultivation by putting Falun Dafa’s principles into practice in their everyday lives and by participating in truth clarification projects. The conference attendees said they gained a lot.
Practitioners in Long Island and the New York Waist Drum Team held a conference in Long Island on August 27, 2023.
The conference began with a video showing practitioners in Long Island doing the exercises in parks and telling people about Falun Dafa during various community events. Each is a record of their persistent efforts to help save people over the years.
During their speeches practitioners spoke of how they let go of attachments, improved their character, strengthened righteous thoughts, did the three things well and continued to work hard to save people in order to fulfill their sacred vows.
Using Every Opportunity to Save People
Sunny Liu is a real estate agent and moved to Long Island a year ago. She is involved in many truth clarification projects such as putting up Shen Yun posters and promoting movie screenings. She said these activities are opportunities arranged by Master for her to save people.
She visits her neighbors during festivals and gives them lotus flowers which have information about Falun Dafa. During activities organized by her children’s school, she approaches the principal and teachers and tells them about Falun Dafa. She also introduced the practice to her coworkers and her managers. Most people she talks to thank her and say they are happy to receive the beautiful lotus flowers.
When she goes out to put up Shen Yun posters, she’s sometimes afraid she’ll be rejected. When she reminds herself that Master has already arranged everything, and she only has to go and do it, the shop managers greet her with a smile and some help her find the best spot for the poster. One day, she walked into a high end restaurant. Before she finished introducing Shen Yun, the owner said, “We knew you were coming! Look, I already cleaned the window for you!”
She talked to an elderly couple who owned a flooring shop and told them about Shen Yun and persecution of Falun Dafa in China. The woman was moved to tears and said, “Let me know when Shen Yun is scheduled.” When she later returned to the shop, the woman held her hand and told her she received a bouquet of flowers from her husband on Valentine’s day as well as two tickets to Shen Yun. She said, “This is a gift from heaven!”
Studying the Fa and Doing the Exercises Regularly
Shu Yan is a young practitioner. She used to slack off in doing the exercises and studying the Fa. Every morning, she lay in bed, reluctant to get up. This year during the summer holidays, she decided to change. She made a plan: Wake up at 7:30 a.m every morning and do the five sets of exercises no matter what time she went to bed the night before or how busy she was. She was determined to do the three things.
Now, except for weekends when she has to go to work, she is able to get up and do the exercises. This is something she never thought she would be able to achieve. After doing the exercises, not only does she not feel tired, on the contrary, she feels energetic all day. She can feel her body becoming light and energetic.
She realized that she was unable to do this previously due to her lack in faith in Master and the Fa. She thought doing the exercises and studying the Fa had little impact on her body. Now, she leaves everything to Dafa and has felt great since she began studying the Fa and doing the exercises regularly.
Stop Going to Extremes in Eliminating Attachments
Nicole used to force herself to eliminate her attachments. For example, when she wanted to get rid of her attachment to eating meat, she was scared when she ate meat and felt uneasy. This made her stop eating meat completely and she thought she eliminated her attachment. She often went to extremes to eliminate an attachment. In the end, she realized this is not the cultivation method taught by Dafa. She should get rid of her fear of attachments in order to reach a higher realm in cultivation.
She also noticed that when she reads the Fa, she kept searching for deeper meanings—she was looking for explanations for every sentence using her notions instead of letting the Fa guide her.
Through studying the Fa, she realized that as long as she reads with a calm and quiet mind, divine beings will decide when she should see the deeper meanings of the Fa’s principles. She realized the deeper meanings will not be revealed to her when she pursues them.
Finding the Heart She Had When She First Started Practicing Cultivation
Wendy, who carries the trumpet in the waist drum team, said that after she began to practice Falun Dafa in 1995 she went from being a sickly person to a healthy woman, full of energy. She is a new member of the waist drum team. In this unfamiliar, yet friendly environment, she experienced once again the joy and the familiar closeness among practitioners. She found the heart she had when she first began practicing.
She said that after participating in every activity to promote Falun Dafa, she felt her mind and body had been purified. She also experienced how extraordinary Dafa is. The waist drum team showed people the universal values of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. She is often moved to tears when she sees people cheering on the waist drum team, or bowing deeply with both hands in “heshi,” a gesture of respect. She’s heard people of different races shout “Falun Dafa is good!” during parades. Wendy said that everything she does in validating the Fa is a chance to establish her mighty virtue and consummate her world through assisting Master in Fa rectification.
The conference concluded successfully at 4 p.m. Practitioners said the talks inspired them to cherish the opportunity to cultivate and be more diligent in saving sentient beings so as not to let Master down, as well as live up to the title of “Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period.”
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