Taiwan: Student Practitioners Share Their Cultivation Experiences

The 16th Falun Dafa Young Practitioners’ Experience Sharing Camp was held on August 19th, 2011. Over 140 practitioners from schools all over the country studied the Fa together, exercised, and shared their experiences in the practice in the following three days.

Young Falun Dafa practitioners at Tunghai University	Exercise early in the morning on Wenli Boulevard

Zeng, who is currently a middle school student, said after the experience sharing, “I am more assured that I will stay in the practice.”

Chen said when he was little, his mother had to push him in the practice. He now hopes that he can be more diligent.

Wan used to be afraid of other practitioners helping him see his weak points and did not want to share with them. After being in the camp, he found out that it was not so hard to face his fear.

On the third day, seven practitioners spoke on the stage to share their experiences. Ning, who is a college student, shared how he promoted Shen Yun when he was in high school. “I distributed Shen Yun fliers to my classmates before the teacher came to the classroom. Before I talked to them, the image of Shen Yun’s performance appeared in my mind. I realised that Teacher wanted me to hurry up and tell the class about it. I followed the images in my brain and described them. I talked about the background projection, Chinese dance, costume design, original music from an orchestra, the hosts, and how the artists seemed to fly in and out of the background through special stage effects. In the end, I talked about the deep meaning of Chinese culture and the purpose of Shen Yun’s establishment. As soon as I finished talking, I realised my teacher was standing right next to me. I thought she was going to begin the lecture but she said, ‘Would all of you purchase tickets and go to the show with me? We won’t have class today so that he can talk more about the show.’ Everyone agreed. In the end, the teacher took my fliers and gave them to other teachers. All my classmates and several teachers went to the Shen Yun show together that year. After I went to college, when Shen Yun came again, my high school classmates helped to promote the show. They asked me for fliers so they could introduce the show to their college friends.”

Li, who is a freshman this year, shared how he had a breakthrough in school work. Li was angry about his parents making him go to a university that was not his choice. “Now I believe that the path Teacher arranges is the best for me. Teacher said in 'Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Houston,' ‘Improving constantly in cultivation is the first priority.’ On the surface, I felt wronged because I did not go to the school I wanted. But in reality, my xinxing [heart nature; moral character] improved and that is the most important thing for a practitioner. A real practitioner can progress diligently anywhere and can validate the Fa anywhere.”

Guo, who had just graduated from college, clarified the facts about Falun Dafa at a scenic spot. He said that once the practitioners clarified the facts to the head of a bus station and he agreed to allow the practitioners to set up posters in a place where Chinese tourists rest. “We put up a lot of posters on the wall that day. The next day, a practitioner told us that in a dream he saw the wall where we posted the materials radiating intense light, while the other walls remained dull. I think Teacher told us that everything we do has great power.”

Wang talked about how he eliminated his attachment to self. “I wanted to become healthy through practising but when the teaching required me to eliminate my attachments that were deeply rooted in me, I refused to do so. I also realised why I did not do the three things well-- I was selfish. [...] When I was in charge of a major project in truth clarification, I was thinking, ‘This project is going to have so much impact. Will the old forces keep an eye on me?’ I only wanted to clarify the facts of the persecution when I was absolutely sure that I was going to be safe. I did Dafa work conditionally, not like a real practitioner helping Teacher rectify the Fa. The minute I realised my problem, I told myself, ‘From now on, whatever I do, I do not do it to save myself but to assimilate to the Fa because this is what my universe wants.’”

Chiu was an actor in one of the plays at the camp. He wanted to act well but in the end, he had the attachment of wanting to validate himself. “I began to train myself like an ordinary person would. When I needed to cry, I thought of how people treated me badly and other negative things. Soon I realised this was wrong. Our performances should be positive and benevolent so they can touch people’s hearts. If I think of negative things, how can I pass positive energy to the audience's hearts? How can I reach the audience's hearts if I do not have righteous thoughts? I did not come here to validate myself or to play and have fun. I need to let my audience feel the beauty of Falun Dafa and inspire the kindness in them. I carried these righteous thoughts with me in the rehearsals and the official performance and the outcome was great.”

High school student Zeng shared how she eliminated the attachment of jealousy while being an actress in a play. “I sent righteous thoughts backstage when it was not my turn. Suddenly everything was in order and everyone knew what he/she needed to do. Then, my jealousy for A disappeared. I helped her turn the pages of the script and change her shoes. I had one thought only: I want sentient beings know that Falun Dafa is good!”

Wang shared his experience in the past eight years hosting the experience sharing camp. “We must do everything based on the Fa and not fall into ordinary people’s notions. Our power comes from the Fa, not any fancy programme. Ordinary people’s camps can be grand and wonderful with expensive equipment and a lot of business sponsorships. But our camp is definitely better. Why? Because there is the manifestation of the Fa in our camp. The power of Fa and compassion can touch people, the innermost part of their hearts, the origin of their lives, and wake up their knowing side. All of this comes from the Fa and Teacher’s help. Hence what we do in the process should not deviate from the Fa.”