(Clearwisdom.net) The 2008 Calgary Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference was held on January 6, 2008 at the University of Calgary. The conference site was solemn and practitioners' sharings were very moving.
When a practitioner learned that his careless remarks made a fellow practitioner very upset, he was deeply saddened. He understood that what caused the partitions between practitioners is due to insufficient Fa-study and not being able to truly look within when encountering conflicts. Therefore, he added a thought during his sending righteous thoughts: completely disintegrate the partitions between me and fellow practitioners. When the substances caused the partitions was removed, he no longer blamed others when conflicts occurred, but saw brilliant aspects in fellow practitioners that he should aspire to himself.
Another practitioner shared how she overcame family conflicts. She contributed a lot to the family and her husband supported her to practice Falun Dafa, but he held a different opinion on her participation in Fa-validation projects. Sometimes he would complain and sometimes the atmosphere at home was intense. Through Fa-study and exchanging with fellow practitioners, she realized that she was not truly considerate of others at home. She stated that on the path of cultivation, she will bear in mind that she is a Dafa cultivator and she should harmonize the Fa.
Breaking through the old forces' arrangements with righteous thoughts
A practitioner went to New York to assist in ticket sales for Holiday Wonders. He overcame all kinds of difficulties and achieved good results. When he felt a bit complacent for his achievement, the evil took advantage of his loophole and he suddenly lost his voice. He could not utter a word for two days. So he kept sending righteous thoughts and negated all old force elements that prevent sentient beings from being saved. He sent out a thought to passersby with the purest heart: I just want to save you. One day, when he promoted tickets, he suddenly got his voice back.
A practitioner who works on the Epoch Times project, took a detour on his cultivation path, because the old forces took advantage of his sentiment and set a trap to persecute him. He understood from this experience that only by maintaining righteous thoughts and righteous actions, and at the same time doing well the three things, can we negate and break through the old forces' arrangements. He shared his understanding that the old forces persecute Dafa disciples in various ways: for example, some practitioners passed away; some practitioners went astray and were unable to return to Dafa cultivation; some practitioners were trapped into everyday people's affairs and were unable to do well the three things; some practitioners were unable to let go of their attachments and unable to fulfill their historical missions and so on. Only by strengthening Fa-study and exchanging with practitioners, maintaining righteous thoughts and actions, and negating the old forces' arrangements, can we walk each step well.
Tempering ourselves in the group environment
A practitioner who has cultivated Dafa for ten years realized recently that he is actually still a new practitioner. Because only by truly studying the Fa well, solidly practicing, truly understanding the meaning of the Fa, and truly accomplishing it, can we offer more sentient beings salvation, and can we be genuine Dafa disciples. When regretting for having missed ten years of genuine cultivation, she learned a profound lesson is that we must cherish the group environment. While being with the group, we not only can participate in all kinds of Fa-validation projects, but also everything that we see and listen to, whether or not it appears to be directly related to us, is helpful for our cultivation and also lays the foundation step by step for us to harmonize with the group.
A graduate student who is studying at the University of Calgary was illegally sentenced to three years in prison by the Communist regime in China. He summarized his cultivation experience in the past two years since he came overseas. When participating in the ticket sales for the 2007 Spectacular, his advisor exerted great pressure on him and at the same time, he had to face fellow practitioners' complaints. Moreover, several practitioners who took charge of hotlines had conflicts, the atmosphere was heavy. He realized he had not done well in assimilating to "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," and was unable to unconditionally look within when encountering conflicts. Through practitioners' harmonizing and cooperating with each other, they let go of their egos and unconditionally took offering salvation to sentient beings as priority.
A practitioner who participates in marketing for the Epoch Times and the Spectacular, talked about the significance of marketing the Epoch Times newspaper. She said doing advertisement and marketing for the Epoch Times, is not only a rare opportunity for practitioners to cultivate, but also an opportunity to associate with people in society and set a good model for ordinary society.
"This is the best Fa conference I have ever attended since I came to Calgary three years ago," an elderly practitioner said with tears in her eyes. She expressed her sincere thanks to practitioners who shared their experiences.