On March 3, 2001, from 2 to 6p.m, practitioners from the Greater Washington D.C. area held the first Studying Fa, Experience Sharing Conference. The conference was held in Minghui School in Maryland. More than 130 practitioners attended this conference, including western practitioners, as well as practitioners of Korean and Indian nationalities, and other countries. Of the participants about 40 had never participated before in group activities. This time we were glad to see that they broke through their limits and started to get involved in the rectifying Fa cultivation environment in which we share and cultivate together. Recently, practitioners in Washington D.C. have been busy in activities to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and HongFa (introducing Falun Dafa). Some of practitioners did not properly balance the relationship of participating in activities of clarifying the truth, Falun Dafa introduction and Fa study and practice. A few practitioners recently spent very little time in studying Fa; some practitioners did not even practice for quite a long period of time. The assisting center organized a serious discussion on this issue. Through discussion we realized that no matter how busy we are in clarifying the truth and Falun Dafa introduction activities, we should not stop practicing and Fa study. Time is just like water in the sponge, if you squeeze it, you will always have it. We should not make any excuse to disguise our laziness and sloppiness. In addition, some western practitioners expressed an interest in getting more involved. To meet their needs in participating in the Chinese practitioners' Fa study, clarifying the truth and Falun Dafa introduction activities, the Washington DC assistant center decided that from now on there will be a monthly Fa study and experience sharing meeting for all practitioners.

During the conference, Chinese and western practitioners studied Master Li Hongzhi's Lecture at the Great Lakes Conference in North America, and the recent scriptures of Master Li`s, "Rationality", "Towards Consummation", "Beyond the Limits of Forbearance", "Rectifying the Colossal Firmament" by reading in Chinese and English in turn. The atmosphere of the conference was auspicious and dynamic. The boundless Dafa and Master Li's immense benevolence mesmerized all practitioners.

After that, several practitioners shared their experiences. Ms. Chen from Maryland talked about the Falun Dafa introduction activities regarding the governments and officials in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. As all practitioners have taken Dafa as their Teacher, and kept righteous minds. Despite the pressures and interference from the Chinese Embassy to the local governments, regarding Falun Dafa introduction activities, the local officials were not blinded by the Embassy's lies. The local governments of Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. kindly awarded, Falun Dafa and Mr. Li Hongzhi.

Ms. Zhang, a Ph.D., briefed practitioners about the recent Falun Dafa introduction activities toward universities and academic communities. Ms. Tao, an elderly woman, told us the situation of studying Fa and practicing the exercises in front of the Chinese Embassy. There is a small garden in front of the Embassy, named "Tiananmen Peace Garden" or "Tiananmen Freedom Square". Since October 1999, there have been some elderly female practitioners showing up and practicing the exercises daily to protest the brutal suppression of the Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin in China. Over these seventeen months, not a single day was missed; even the rain and storms cannot stop them. The people working for the embassy have been cursing, scorning and using all means to disturb them, but they remained firmly unmoved. Most of these elderly women live far away from the embassy and couldn't drive, so they have to depend on the subway system to go there. Some of them spend 4 hours everyday on the road. Moreover, they don't have any income because they all are very old, but it can't block their pure and unshakable heart for cultivating and safeguarding the Fa. In order to save money for a subway ticket to come to the embassy, they don't want to spend the money to buy a bottle of water when they are thirsty, nor spend the money on food when they are hungry. Now, there are more practitioners joining them to come to protest in front of the Chinese Embassy.

After several practitioners' speeches there was time for a free discussion session. Practitioners discussed on issues such as "How to cultivate proactively during this Fa rectification period", "How to choose appropriate locations and groups to introduce Falun Dafa", and "How to work together better with western and eastern practitioners so they could further improve together".

From 9:30 am to 11:30 am on Sunday, March 4, over a hundred of Falun Gong practitioners did group exercise on the lawn not far from the U.S. Congress building. The D.C. practitioners had already obtained a permit for a big group exercise at the Mall Area on the first Sunday of each month.

For the first time, practitioners also rented information boards to display Dafa information at the busiest subway stations in D.C., they hope this way more westerners might get a chance to hear about Dafa.

We hope all these recent activities will further speed up the improvement and understanding of practitioners as a whole, and broaden the introduction of Falun Dafa to the public.

3/4/2000