A western Canadian experience-sharing conference was held in Vancouver December 30 to 31, 2001. In addition to Vancouver, practitioners came from Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, as well as from Seattle, Washington DC, New York, and Boston in the United States--altogether over 200 people--to attend the conference. The conference was held in the meeting hall of the Vancouver City-Center Library. The meeting place was both solemn and peaceful. The three large golden and shining words, "Zhen, Shan, Ren," shed light on every practitioner with the unique splendor of the characteristic of the universe. Two giant posters were hung up on the two side walls of the meeting place, which read, "verify the Fa with reason" and "clarify the truth with wisdom." This is the road of cultivation during the Fa rectification pointed out by Teacher. As soon as one entered the meeting place, one could experience the sacredness of the conference and the improvement of heart and soul.
At the beginning of the conference, a practitioner loudly read proclamations from 17 cities in the Province of British Columbia. We all felt happy that so many kind-hearted people would embrace a beautiful future. Next, practitioners from various places spoke freely of the frustrations during their cultivation and the grand process of cultivation during the Fa rectification. Speakers were often moved to tears by their own personal experiences of the grandness of the Fa and the great compassion of the Teacher, and would have to pause from time to time. Practitioners offstage were often filled with tears when listening. On and off the stage, everyone was immersed in the splendor of Teacher's compassion and the grace of the great law of the universe. Even a "practitioner" who accidentally got into the conference in the morning was brought to tears while listening to the speeches. Practitioners generally thought highly of the quality of the experience sharing. Especially, western practitioners showed deep appreciation of the Fa, could understand the Fa in high levels, and firmly followed the Teacher in the Fa rectification process. In the conference, practitioners from Vancouver, Washington, and Toronto introduced specific methods they used in spreading the Fa, verifying the Fa, and clarifying the truth to people in the world. The experience sharing lasted a day. In the evening of December 30 and the morning of the 31st, group discussions were conducted. Practitioners from various places mainly discussed how to proceed next, how to utilize all the means and the media in the ordinary society to more effectively clarify the truth to people in the world, to help save people in the world, and to provide moral support to practitioners in China.
During the conference, we placed Dafa display boards on the way to the conference hall. These displays attracted many visitors to the library. Many who wished to learn the exercises right away attended volunteer instructions near the conference hall.
Practitioners considered this conference highly successful. It improved our understanding on cultivation during the Fa rectification. It enabled us to find individual insufficiencies and provided an encouragement to cultivation later on.
In the afternoon of December 31, practitioners marched in the rain. Walking practitioners and cars moved together. Everywhere the march went, people's hearts were touched. We could hear far away that people were saying, "Falun Gong is coming." Practitioners distributed materials while marching. Despite the downpour of rain, everyone was very happy.
In the evening, practitioners went to the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver to hold a candlelight vigil to protest the ever-worsening persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese government under Jiang Zemin's control, and to provide vocal support for practitioners in China. The candlelight represented the firm heart of a practitioner. Suddenly, surprising yet happy news spread to every practitioner: Practitioners holding cameras in their hands found out from their cameras that every candle's flame was a Falun! These Faluns were rotating, sometimes rapidly and sometimes slowly. Some Faluns were larger than the candlelight. Some were smaller. Colors of these Faluns were the same as those on the Falun badge. Every practitioner saw it. People said excitedly that this was an encouragement from the Teacher.
Although the Teacher did not attend the conference, the Teacher was still with us. We must try even harder, firmly follow the Teacher's Fa rectification process, finish the last step well, and hope to reach consummation early.
January 3, 2001
