(Minghui.org) Practitioners from the Midwestern U.S. attended the 2024 Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference on September 15 in Chicago, Illinois. Among the 17 practitioners who spoke about their cultivation journeys, some have practiced for over 20 years while others are new practitioners. Many attendees said they were inspired to cultivate with renewed diligence.

The 2024 Midwest Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference was held on September 15, in Chicago, Illinois.

Practitioners from various ethnic groups described how they followed the Falun Dafa teachings.

New Practitioners

Several practitioners who recently began practicing talked about their experiences. Among them was Geoffrey, a retired teacher who began practicing in 2021. He chose to teach disadvantaged children and he also tried to help others in various ways. But one incident made him realize that the things he was going were far from enough.

About a year after he began practicing Falun Dafa, Geoffrey’s celestial eye was temporarily opened, and he saw a world filled with beings. The world was surrounded by dark energy, and cries and moans of pain could be heard... Geoffrey was in tears and the scene disappeared. This incident touched him, helping him realize the things he did in the past were not from true compassion. He now understood that everyone in this world is suffering and everyone needs to be saved.

Sofia was bedridden due to severe chronic illnesses. But these adversities brought her to Falun Dafa in October 2018. She only did the exercises for the first year but was able to become tranquil when she meditated. When she saw Falun rotating while she did the standing exercises she did not know what they were. After she began reading Zhuan Falun in March 2020, she strove to improve her xinxing. Her new boss gave her a hard time, which brought her huge pressure. With guidance from Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, Sofia gradually let go of her resentment and anger, continually made progress, and the issues with her boss ended.

Witnessing Miracles

Van from Vietnam talked about some miracles she and her friends recently experienced. Van told a coworker about Falun Dafa and Shen Yun Performing Arts. He knew that Falun Dafa was good and was aware of viciousness of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He learned a few exercise movements but did not read Zhuan Falun.

He was in despair after recently being diagnosed with Stage IV liver cancer (the last stage). Van suggested he read Zhuan Falun, recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and practice the exercises. An MRI scan several days later showed that his liver cancer was gone. Because of this miracle the man told Van he would practice Falun Dafa.

Determination and Righteous Thoughts

Lin saw practitioners peacefully protesting in front of a Chinese consulate in 2003 and doing the exercises. After he read the Fa teaching he was determined to practice Falun Dafa. His health improved dramatically and he was able to let go of attachments. His relationships with his family members, friends, and coworkers also became harmonious.

After he noticed that some practitioners had stopped practicing, Lin was determined to continue. He realized that cultivation practice is not a hobby or like doing business, but is a process filled with tests, and some people may not be able to pass them.

After reading reports containing distorted information about Falun Dafa some family members had negative thoughts, and forwarded the articles to Lin. He explained that those articles were not factual and were written under the CCP’s influence. He told them, “Nothing, including those lies can deny the benefits of Dafa I experienced. You may choose to believe those articles or the 20 plus years of my personal experience.”

Jian has practiced Falun Dafa for nearly 30 years. From community events to college classrooms, he always looked for opportunities to tell people about Falun Dafa and expose the CCP’s persecution.

After Shen Yun came to his city in 2008, Jian has been responsible for supporting the production. He understood that it’s not a question of hosting the performance or not; rather, it’s a question of how to do it well and better. As a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, he knew he needed to validate Dafa and help Master save people. He was also deeply moved by the power of Dafa. From promotion to production, practitioners support each other and use their skills to complete many difficult tasks well.

Young Practitioner: Resisting Temptation and Interference

Huang is a young practitioner who said there is all kinds of information in society, and practitioners need to be careful to not let such information interfere with their cultivation.

The financial loss he experienced after he graduated from college and looked for a job helped him awaken, and he joined a news media company. By studying Falun Dafa’s teachings and doing the exercises every day, he felt calm and stable.

Huang also talked about browsing the Internet. Because of the unrestricted news feeds powered by large data algorithms, he was exposed to a lot of negative content. He tried to control himself and avoid that type of information, and said he felt this was also part of cultivating oneself.

Compassion for Others

Ms. He said the process of phoning people in China to negate the CCP’s defamatory propaganda is an opportunity to constantly improve herself, and the result was good. However, she looked down on people who had extremely liberal opinions, and even felt they were bad people. One practitioner heard this and reminded her that practitioners should be compassionate. But Ms. He didn’t know how to stop her negative feelings.

When doing the exercises recently, Ms. He was suddenly enlightened to some Fa principles. She suddenly felt sad for the people she looked down on, and wept. Other than this pure Falun Dafa environment, there is no other clean place in this world. All these issues are insignificant, including arguing about political parties, or who is right or wrong. People were misled and they made wrong decisions without even realizing it. We are fortunate to be Dafa practitioners and we should let go of our human notions and help those who are lost.

After the conference concluded, some attendees said they were very moved by the stories of the other practitioners. They planned to cultivate better and encourage each other.