(Minghui.org) The 2024 Southeastern U.S. Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference was held at the Milton Library in Atlanta, Georgia on June 29, 2024. Practitioners from Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia attended. At the conference, 21 new and veteran practitioners shared their experiences of looking inward, practicing in their daily lives, and participating in various Dafa projects.
Practitioners took a group photo during the conference.
Nothing Negligent in Daily Practicing
Mary from Atlanta said she had different opinions from her husband about what kind of household appliances to buy. He thought she was superior and that he had to agree with her. Mary said, “Looking within, I saw my attachment. I wanted to be the queen of deciding kitchen appliances. I wanted to choose what I wanted rather than discuss with him, and the messages I sent showed that. I also expected that he might disagree with my choices or prevent me from doing what I wanted to do. This was not thoughtful and lacked humility. No wonder he was annoyed.”
Mary talked about her cultivation insights.
“When I saw this, I decided to get rid of this attachment. It’s disrespectful to others, and I wouldn’t like it if he had the same negative attitude toward me. So, I remembered to see it from his perspective. I’m a practitioner and I should think and act like a practitioner.”
Just a few minutes after she looked inward and was thinking about which brand of home appliances to buy, her husband shouted, “Just pick out the refrigerator and dishwasher you want, anyone will do.”
Eliminating Pursuit
Michael Court from Alabama explained how he learned to follow the course of nature. He said, “This concept is counterintuitive because we usually think that the more carefully we plan, the better things will go.” But he later found that, “when we put Dafa first, have a righteous heart, and open our minds, good opportunities suddenly appear.”
Michael Court from Alabama.
During a Shen Yun performance, he was asked to find some extra towels. The theater was large and he had no idea where towels were stored. He began to think about how hard it would be to find towels, and how it would take so long that he would not have time to do anything else. But he realized that this was a human notion, and thought of Master’s teaching that one should do things without notions. As soon as he let go of his notion he immediately met a theater staff and asked where he could find the towels. Later, he learned that the towels were in a place he had never thought to check. His initial thought was that he needed to find the towels himself. When he let go of this thought, the problem was quickly solved.
Eliminating the Attachment to Fame
Mr. Sun from Atlanta talked about how he saw his fear of hardship and desire for fame while coordinating a project. He said, “I clearly saw my desire for fame that is not easy to detect. I was afraid that others would say that the project was not done well and I would be held responsible for it. The fear of this thing seemed to overwhelm the real meaning of my participation in coordinating a project. I understand in theory that we are saving people, and we should think about how to save more people, which is our main goal. As for how others view me, it’s not important. Although I understand the principle, it’s difficult to enter a state of selflessness.
“I also found that my ability to endure hardships is low. When the pressure and troubles reach a certain level, I often think of escaping, and I hope that this period of time can be fast-forwarded.”
Mr. Sun frequently compares his words and deeds with the Fa. He said, “Through the hardships encountered in cultivation in the past year, and the large and small tests arranged by Master, I’ve seen more of my shortcomings in cultivation. I hope to be more diligent in actual cultivation in the future, work hard to eliminate these problems, and better assist Master in saving sentient beings while perfecting myself.”
Improving One’s Cultivation While Delivering Newspapers
Mr. Lu from Taiwan is an engineer in Atlanta. He shared his cultivation experiences while delivering free samples of the English language newspaper The Epoch Times every week over the past year.
Mr. Lu talks about his experience.
After delivering the newspaper to more than ten hotels for about a year, he easily got approval from the hotel management to place the newspapers, but he was recently rejected. He looked inward and realized, “Although I did not say it, I actually had complaints about other practitioners who participated in the project. I felt that I could easily deliver 200 copies, so why did some practitioners have difficulty delivering 25 to 50 copies? Even the small hotels I visited took 20 copies, so why did these practitioners only place three or five copies at each location? I felt they were not determined. This was indeed how I thought.
“However, if I thought from another person’s perspective, I would understand. I have a geographical advantage. There are prosperous commercial areas around my home, so I can deliver to more than ten locations in a single trip. The hotels that other practitioners go to are not located in busy commercial areas, and some hotels do not have many guests. I know several practitioners don’t have hotels near their homes. They go to hotels that may be ten miles or even further away from home. Moreover, it is convenient for me to deliver newspapers as they are shipped to my home. Many practitioners live far away and have to travel a long distance just to pick up newspapers. Therefore, everyone’s situation is different. I can only thank each practitioner who insists on participating and I should not complain about anyone. Imagine the cooperation of divine beings in heaven, where everyone is happy and grateful when others help, and no one complains.
“In addition, The Epoch Times in English does not have the requirement of targeting high-end people like the promotion of Shen Yun. Master wants to save everyone, but Shen Yun, based on its unique artistic performance model, must be led by mainstream society. However, The Epoch Times is a daily newspaper, which is not expensive and is easily affordable. I look down on low-end hotels in my heart, which is actually a discriminatory mind that should not be present when saving people. In addition, the coordinating practitioner at the headquarters told me many times that in addition to hotels, we can also go to restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, etc. I always thought that I was good enough to deliver 200 copies, so I didn’t pay much attention to his suggestions, even though some of them might be tips from Master. This is actually a manifestation of non-cooperation.
“I also forgot an important fact, that is, those who stayed in the hotel temporarily were not locals, so it was not correct to think that the locals were warped because the newspaper was rejected by the hotel. On a deeper level, our newspaper can help Master save all people. Although it promotes traditional values, we also hope that conservative and open-minded people will read it. If it was rejected, my reaction would be strong, and it might affect saving sentient beings widely.”
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