Gaining a Better Understanding of Cultivation—Experience Sharing at Falun Dafa Summer Camp

(Minghui.org) I have been a Falun Dafa practitioner for more than 20 years. I started learning Falun Dafa with my parents when I was a child. However, my attachment to emotion almost led me astray. Master didn’t give up on me, and instead repeatedly enlightened me and gave me opportunities. The 2023 summer camp for young practitioners was a great opportunity that Master gave me.

By attending the summer camp, I realized what I hadn’t done well, and gained a deeper understanding of cultivation. I would like to share some of my experiences, in the hope that more young practitioners will participate in the future.

A Deeper Understanding of Cultivation

I asked for one week of leave from work to attend the summer camp. The camp was four days long, but I signed up for seven days of staff work. About a month before the camp, staff members started studying the Fa and we shared our experiences online once a week. The first topic was experiences about passing the test of lust. I felt pressured because I hadn’t done well on this issue. The experience sharing gave me a chance to reflect upon myself and eliminate a lot of degenerate material.

I couldn’t finish my work the week before the summer camp, and I thought about not going to the camp this year, but my husband reminded me, “Why not, since you have already paid for the camp and asked for leave?” I had no choice but to go. On the day before leaving, I thought while studying the Fa, “How much pay will I lose because of my leave?” However, I corrected my thoughts and decided to concentrate on study, since I had already spent the money and time to improve myself.

The camp had a busy schedule. We got up at 5 a.m. each day and did the exercises before breakfast, then studied the Fa until noon. The afternoons were mainly spent on experience sharing. We continued with Fa study and experience sharing for a while after dinner.

I wasn’t used to the tight schedule for the first couple of days. I wanted to go home early. I started talking with my husband about when he would come pick me up. My husband asked, “Haven’t you signed up as a team leader? What will your team do if you leave? Your poor team members!” He was right. I decided I should stay until the very end. I started to concentrate better.

Realizing My Loopholes in Cultivation

Our experience sharing topics were specific, such as the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts, what interference we had experienced, how to eliminate the interference, how to cultivate diligently, etc.

I used to have some trouble concentrating while sending forth righteous thoughts. I realized through experience sharing that this was due to various forms of interference, such as my attachments.

Master has told us:

“As a matter of fact, this results from an inadequate understanding of the Fa by your human side. You have humanly restrained your divine side; in other words, you have restrained the parts that have been successfully cultivated and have prevented them from doing Fa-rectification. How can the uncultivated side restrain your main thoughts or the side that has already attained the Fa? Having humanly fostered the evil demons, you allow them to capitalize on the loopholes in the Fa.” (“Expounding on the Fa,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

After realizing that my attachments were interfering, I stopped following the distracting thoughts and tried to eliminate them while sending forth righteous thoughts. I hadn’t paid much attention to the importance of cleansing myself during the first five minutes, and that was taken advantage of by the evil. I reviewed the Minghui Editorial “The Essentials to Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts and the Schedule for Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts at Set Times Around the World” and concentrated much better.

Feeling sleepy while studying the Fa was also a common problem. We can’t indulge it, and should instead reject it. We may stand up or sit with our legs crossed during Fa study.

Failure to eliminate my attachments had caused my concentration problems. These attachments became distracting thoughts while I studied the Fa.

The old forces took advantage of these loopholes and made me less and less diligent in my cultivation. I found this problem and started sending forth righteous thoughts and studying the Fa with my full attention. It was the best thing I learned from the summer camp.

Cherishing the Cultivation Environment

This was the second time I participated in the camp. The first time was four years ago, but I didn’t learn as much as I did this time. That was probably because I signed up to work for the camp this time.

I heard that the camp last year had more than 100 attendees and that Taiwan was probably the only place in the world that has that many or more attendees for a camp. This year, close to 70 people ranging from 13 years old to 40 years old came to our camp from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, and other countries. We treasured this rare opportunity to make collective improvements.

I would like to call for practitioners in all countries to hold such camps, which provide a great venue for young practitioners to study the Fa together and exchange their experiences. Most of them have followed their parents in cultivation since their childhood. Some parents may not be experienced in leading their children to share cultivation experiences. Some simply told their children what to do, but didn’t explain things well.

Master looked after me when I was little. I knew why I should cultivate myself and what cultivation meant, but I got lost in this confusing world of ordinary people as I grew up. My parents’ requirements became a burden to me, and I became more rebellious. It wasn’t until I participated in a truth clarification project that I learned how to look within.

The summer camp allowed me to experience a pure energy field and cultivation environment, and I learned something new every day. I will treasure my cultivation environment in Taiwan and cultivate myself diligently.