PureInsight | September 30, 2017
[PureInsight.org] On August 27, 2017, Falun Dafa practitioners in the U.K. gathered in London for their annual Falun Dafa experience sharing conference. The atmosphere was solemn. Eighteen practitioners spoke at the conference; discussing how to strengthen solid cultivation and how to save more people, on the basis of improving oneself. Topics included: How to constantly let go of notions; Becoming determined in eliminating attachments; Not slacking off; Being more focused; Expanding one’s capacity; Saving more people.
Focusing on Saving People by Clarifying the Truth at Tourist Sites
Ms. Liang, a practitioner from London, shared her experience on clarifying the truth in Chinatown. She had noticed herself constantly checking the time, as if she had wanted to quickly complete her task. Ms. Liang then began looking inwards and saw that, in this much more relaxed environment than China, her heart for saving people had also became weaker. After realizing this, she told herself, “I must focus. No opportunity will repeat itself and every circumstance is a test of whether I can reach the Fa’s standards and Master’s requirements.”
Ms. Liang, who was a shop owner, decided to close her premises for two extra days a week so that she could be at Chinatown three days a week. There were plentiful Chinese tourists in Chinatown, yet practitioners had only been going there on weekends. Later, other practitioners joined her and took initiative to go more often; now, there are practitioners clarifying the truth at Chinatown seven days a week!
The Chinese tourists and tour guides had many different attitudes, which very much tested one’s xinxing. Ms. Liang focused on saving people and never backed down in fear. On the way home, she would ask herself, “Was I focused today? Do I Have any regrets? Did I miss predestined people?”
Treating Every Sentient Being with Compassion
Ms. He also shared about many xinxing tests she had encountered while clarifying the truth in Chinatown. She had been constantly looking inwards and rectifying her attitude. She said, “When I distributed truth clarification materials, clarified the truth, and convinced people to quit the CCP, I strengthened my compassion towards every sentient being who walked by, so they could truly feel us Dafa disciples’ compassion.” “In the face of sarcastic and cruel comments from people who did not know the truth, I no longer became argumentative. Instead, I treated clarifying the truth and convincing people to quit the CCP in Chinatown as an opportunity to improve my xinxing.”
Ms. He recounted speaking to a person who had had a bad attitude at first, but who had later thanked her deeply while agreeing to quit the CCP after hearing the truth.
Letting Go of Judgment and Changing Notions
Patrick Haden, an English practitioner, shared his experiences on clarifying the truth at the British Museum in London. He shared an encounter with a Westerner who was spreading hostility against Falun Dafa, in Chinese. With effort, Patrick let go of his criticism and judgment towards the man, changed inner notions, and became unmoved. He discussed his process of clarifying the truth from a respectful and understanding stance, and using compassion to melt the malice and hatred.
Patrick described recognizing and letting go of his notions:
“I was chatting with a man who had some misunderstandings about Dafa, especially that Falun Gong was sponsored by certain organizations. He did not refute my attempts to clarify the truth to him. However, after talking to him for around an hour, I became impatient and said to him, “The communist system is a murderous system. That is how they operate!” He suddenly said to me, “I really don’t like the way you’re talking to me. You are not even listening to what I say.” I recognized my impatience towards him, so I stopped to listen to what he had to say. He spoke about the Tiananmen Square Massacre. I told him, “You must be very smart and have your own ways of analyzing problems.” He told me how he usually resolves problems and how he was abused as a child. I wanted to get to know him better, so I invited him for dinner.”
“At dinner, we talked for another one-and-a-half hours. His misunderstanding that Falun Gong was sponsored still occasionally surfaced. After talking for three hours, he said, “I now have no reason to disbelieve what you have said to me today.” At that moment, I suddenly realized that he is a sentient being who may be saved. In the end he said he wanted to learn the exercises.”
Letting Go of Self and Selflessly Saving More People
A London practitioner, Tili, shared her experience on saving people in Chinatown. She discussed how she had let go of self, collaborated well, and had expanded her inclusiveness to save more sentient beings.
She realized that it takes effort to change oneself, but that it is a very important, necessary, and precious cultivation process.
In her sharing, she recounted a time when she had looked within to let go of prejudices towards mainland Chinese practitioners.
“When I had time to be calm, I deeply looked inward to see what I could find. I asked myself, ‘What is making me annoyed at this practitioner?’ … It was self,” said Tili. “It is like asking, ‘What is the demon?’ The answer from the depths of my heart was, ‘Not wanting to let go of self.’ Making everything absolute was just like the old forces. Not wanting to change myself and just wanting to follow their arrangements. Therefore, if we do not want to follow the old forces’ arrangements, we must change ourselves. This is a process of fundamentally letting go of attachments and not mistakenly thinking the attachment is ourselves.”
She realized that if we could include rather than reject, then we would be walking Master’s path. Rejection is the old forces’ way of eliminating people they don’t deem qualified. “In Chinatown day after day, whether it was rain or shine, I tried to remember the human nature of life and be inclusive of everyone who walked by me.”
Practitioners Share Their Thoughts After the Fa Conference
The 2017 UK Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference successfully concluded at 5 PM. Participants shared that their fellow practitioners’ cultivation experience sharings had helped them to see their own gaps and improve in the Fa.
“My fellow practitioners’ sharings reminded me how to do the ‘true cultivation’ that Master speaks of. I had been asking myself, ‘Even though I have attended many truth clarification activities, have I actually done ‘true cultivation’? This includes looking inwards when encountering a problem and having a pure heart when doing things. We know we have responsibilities, but are our hearts pure when we do them? Have we been doing things only for the sake of doing them? Only by having a pure heart can compassion come out, which can change things. This is what I need to work on most,” said one practitioner.
“What touched me the most was hearing fellow practitioners’ discuss their constantly looking inwards while clarifying the truth. If something was not done well, they would look inwards, improve themselves, and expand their capacity. This is what I need to improve the most,” said another participant.
A third practitioner said, “I was deeply moved by all the discussion on looking inwards. I was most touched by the sharing about improving one’s determination. Only by changing and improving oneself can one save more sentient beings.”
“Fellow practitioners’ sharings made me more aware of my responsibility towards the sentient beings in my local area,” another practitioner concluded.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/239301
