(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey attended an experience-sharing conference held in Philadelphia on October 18, 2026. Twelve Chinese and Western practitioners talked about their cultivation journeys: how they overcame low points, let go of attachments, elevated their mindsets during conflicts and trials, and clarified the truth about the persecution.

Their personal stories covered challenges of physical illness and life-and-death ordeals, resuming cultivation, developing compassion during conflicts with fellow practitioners, and long-standing struggles stemming from childhood experiences. These diverse life stories helped the attendees realize that everyone must reflect on themselves within the context of their specific circumstances and identify their own shortcomings.

The Philadelphia Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference was held on Oct. 18, 2026. (Minghui.org)

Group photo of practitioners attending the Philadelphia Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference. (Minghui.org)

Falun Dafa practitioners share their personal stories. (Minghui.org)

Returning to Cultivation

Matthew, a Western practitioner, started practicing when he was eighteen years old. His celestial eye opened, and he experienced the test of illusions. He participated in media work, but after he left the team, he lived alone for a time. He experienced marital setbacks, family changes, life pressure, and he began drinking to ease his headaches. He gradually became lost in an ordinary life.

When he looked inward, he realized he was afraid to be alone, and he relied on fellow practitioners. He understood that cultivation is something one must undertake on one’s own, and that it requires a steadfast, righteous faith in the Fa. He resumed studying the Fa, practicing the exercises, and clarifying the truth. He gradually became a diligent cultivator.

Matthew used his expertise in computer science to contribute to Dafa-related projects. He also helped establish the first group practice site in a park in South Jersey and served as one of the coordinators for the Liberty Bell site in Philadelphia, where he distributed flyers about Falun Dafa for many years.

Recounting a vision he saw through his celestial eye, he said the flyers he distributed were, in fact, tickets to a paradise called “Freedom Paradise”—a realm practitioners built together.

Letting Go of Prejudice and Resentment

Phil, a Western practitioner, grew up in an environment rooted in Taoist culture so he placed a high value on “Truthfulness.” When he began practicing Falun Dafa, he had a strong aversion toward some practitioners from mainland China who he believed fell short in this regard. At one point, in his intense frustration, he once bit down so hard that he broke a tooth.

After years of looking inward, he realized that the shortcomings he saw in others were, in fact, reflections of his own shortcomings in “compassion and forbearance.” As his perspective changed, he replaced his lingering resentment with righteous thoughts.

Phil had previously served as a liaison for the offices of three congressmen. After he moved, the staff at his new representative’s offices were cold and unresponsive. Looking within, he uncovered that he had once been overly fixated on achieving positive outcomes, and he also realized that clarifying the truth requires a commitment to the entire process instead of only focusing on the result.

Let Go of Attachment to Life 

In early 2026, Ms. Guo began distributing English-language newspapers in downtown Philadelphia. Before long, she developed serious health issues: she started experiencing menstruation twice a month accompanied by large blood clots, as well as vomiting and dizziness. In six months, she lost more than twelve pounds.

Prolonged, heavy blood loss had left her fearful. Some fellow practitioners suggested she undergo surgery, while others encouraged her to maintain righteous thoughts. With the support and encouragement of her daughter, also a practitioner, Guo spent more time studying the Fa. She gradually let go of her attachments to sickness karma and the fear of death.

Despite being extremely physically weak, she persisted in distributing newspapers, assisting with logistics for Shen Yun shows, and promoting Zhuan Falun. One day, a uterine fibroid was purged from her body. Afterward, the symptoms of sickness karma ended.

Guo was very grateful to Master for purifying her body. She had also realized the importance of steadfastly believing in Master and the Fa.

Driving Again After 18 Years

While covering news within the Chinese community in 2004, Ms. Sun was twice driven out of event venues by pro-Chinese Communist Party individuals. These experiences caused her significant mental strain, and she began to exhibit symptoms resembling “epilepsy,” which ultimately led to her driver’s license being revoked.She was unable to drive for eighteen years. She relied on the assistance of fellow practitioners and family members so she could attend group Fa study, handle news reporting, solicit advertisements for media outlets, and to participate in activities to clarify the truth about the persecution.

At the end of 2020, her husband suddenly passed away. Two years later, her child moved away for work, making her daily life and work even more difficult.

Faced with a series of events, Sun began to reflect on her situation. She realized that she should not allow these circumstances to continue disrupting her life and her efforts to clarify the truth. She was determined to negate the old forces’ arrangements, and focused on reading and memorizing the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts, and facing this test with firm resolve.

At the end of 2022, she obtained her driver’s license once again. She also managed to shake off the “epilepsy” symptoms, and she let go of the fear that those symptoms might return.

Reflecting on this experience, she is grateful to Master for eliminating a massive amount of her karma, and thankful to many fellow practitioners for their selfless help over the years. She vowed to fulfill her mission of assisting Master in saving people.

Moving Beyond Self-Denial

Jessica, a Western practitioner, is a physician. Due to traumatic experiences in her childhood, she believed she was “weak, helpless, and undeserving of good things.” She even loathed being a woman and was plagued by feelings of inferiority, alienation, and resentment.

Through group Fa-study and talking with other practitioners, she gradually realized that these negative perceptions did not represent her true self, but were bad notions formed later in life. She tried to free herself from the influence of these notions.

She was angry when she felt her contributions to Dafa projects were not recognized by fellow practitioners. After she had some emotional outbursts, which were triggered by family matters and by a practitioner failing to keep appointments, she began looking inward and realized that she harbored a specific attachment: a fear of being overlooked, coupled with the belief that she was utterly worthless.

She began to let go of these self-negating beliefs. She noted that as her resentment gradually faded, she found greater inner peace, allowing her to engage with others with ease and confidence, and to continue helping rescue fellow practitioners. She learned to move beyond negative emotions and became more tolerant and compassionate toward those whom she felt harmed her.