United States: Western US International Fa Conference Solemnly Held in Los Angeles

Master Li comes in person to Los Angeles to teach the Fa

On February 25th, 2006, the Western US International Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference was solemnly held at the Los Angeles Conference Centre, with about 2,400 Dafa disciples from all over the world attending. At 2:00 p.m., when compassionate Master Li came to the conference, the whole audience gave him long, thunderous applause. Revered Master taught the Fa to the disciples for about 50 minutes, and explained the Fa in a question and answer format for about three hours and ten minutes.

Fa conference site

Falun Dafa disciples attending the conference were from North America, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. The Fa conference started at 9 a.m. and about ten Western and Chinese Dafa disciples exchanged their understanding and experiences in personal cultivation, validating Dafa, clarifying the facts and resisting persecution.

The first speaker was a Dafa disciple from Taiwan. He shared that he originally was very strict with himself in his cultivation, but last year, he began to slack off; for example, at the beginning of his cultivation, he would definitely finish the five sets of exercises every day, while in the past couple of years, he often did not go to the practice site to do the morning exercises, using the excuse that he had stayed up the previous night clarifying the truth. Sometimes, he would miss the morning exercise and the set time for the global Dafa disciples sending forth righteous thoughts because of oversleeping. In addition, as he spent a long time doing Dafa work and truth clarification in front of his computer, when the time for sending forth righteous thoughts came, especially the first five minutes, he often couldn't stop his work at hand, and he could not calm down while studying the Fa.

Later, after reading experience sharing articles of fellow practitioners from mainland China published on Dafa websites, he saw the gap between himself and diligent disciples. Through strengthening Fa-study, he recognised his state of despondency and became diligent. He realised that studying the Fa and cultivating xinxing is fundamental, just as practising sitting meditation requires one to be in a calm state of mind, not just sitting with both legs in full lotus position. Dafa work is xinxing [heart/ming nature; moral character] cultivation, and we cannot simply go through the formality of doing things. There are numerous projects for validating Dafa, and every disciple has many things to do. The process of doing things actually tests cultivators' xinxing in all aspects. Can we look inward when we encounter conflicts? Can we can let go of ego and listen to fellow practitioners' opinions? Can we truly cultivate ourselves to have compassion and take saving sentient beings as our priority? The practitioner stated that in the past six years, it seems that he had done a lot of truth clarification things, but the improvement in his xinxing was limited. He had done a lot, but cultivated less, and was far from the requirement of Dafa.

A speaker at the Fa conference	Charles Li speaks	A speaker at the Fa conference

Charles Li was illegally incarcerated by the Chinese Communist regime for three years and just returned to America last month. He said that he managed to walk through the tribulations mainly by relying on the three things Master has required of us.

He said that the CCP specially set up a group in order to persecute and "transform" him. They also dispatched three experienced "master-hands" in persecuting Falun Gong from other places in the country to transform him. The persecution methods included force-feeding in the name of humanitarianism, and leaving a thick and hard tube in his nose for 30-40 hours on end. The morally corrupt guards even tried to transform him using the ruse of offering to let him visit his seriously ill mother.

Facing the persecution, Charles Li expressed that in being able to walk through he mainly relied on the three things Master has been emphasising. He had memorised the Fa and thus was able to recall the whole book of Zhuan Falun [the main text of Falun Gong] bit by bit and write it down from memory. He expressed that if one is truly able to understand the Fa from the Fa, truly improve in Fa principles, being transformed would out of the question. He understood the principle that the key in cultivation is enlightenment. However, it must be enlightenment based on the Fa.

A 52-year-old disciple from Vietnam shared his experience in the Vietnamese language about his becoming physically and mentally healthy after cultivating Falun Dafa. He said that before practising Falun Gong, his health was poor. He suffered from cataracts when he was 40 years old, but normally, a person is liable to suffer from this in his or her 60s. Despite various medical treatments, and even being sent for emergency treatment and later being hospitalised to receive treatment, his illness was not healed. While in the hospital, the doctor detected that he had arthritis and said he would not be able to walk several years later. In 2002, he was fortunate to be able to read Falun Gong books, and then learn to practise the five sets of the exercises. He slept quite well the day when he practised the exercises for the first time, just like a normally healthy person. After practising the exercises for a week, all his illnesses disappeared. Through practising cultivation, he has become a brand-new person.

A Western practitioner from San Diego who just obtained the Fa last year shared her experience with the audience. She said that she obtained the Fa in 2005, and as a result, the diabetes that plagued her before was cured. She expressed that she did not want to cultivate because her health was improved, but rather to improve her xinxing. She said that through cultivation, she has understood a lot of questions. She realised that only by letting go of selfishness and attachments can one return to one's true self.

At the Fa conference, a female Dafa disciple who was born in Thailand, and a Western disciple who just obtained the Fa several months ago also shared their cultivation experiences. The Fa conference concluded at about 6:30 p.m.