(Minghui.org) During the recent 2023 Australia Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference on October 29, eighteen practitioners talked about their cultivation journeys and how they strive to live by Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Those who attended the event said they learned a lot. Specifically, they realized they needed to constantly rectify themselves and be as diligent as when they first started practicing. Many said that by truly assimilating to Dafa’s principles, they will do well on the cultivation journey.

The 2023 Australia Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference was held in Melbourne on October 29.

No Slacking Off

Helen from Queensland

Helen from Queensland said that the conference was a good opportunity for her to identify the gaps in her cultivation and do better. “My understanding is that there is no time to slack off; instead I should keep pushing myself and do well. This may seem easy, but actually it’s not. I have to constantly remind myself.”

Like most Chinese people, Helen was brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) when she lived in China and she had some bad notions about Falun Dafa. One day in 2009, she saw a copy of Zhuan Falun at a public library in Queensland. “I told myself, this is an opportunity to find out what is going on and why the CCP says such bad things about Falun Dafa. I read the book and found that it teaches one to be a good person following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. There is nothing wrong with it; otherwise, what kind of people would we become?”

With this thought, Helen found more information on the Internet and began practicing Falun Dafa. Looking back over the years, she is grateful that practicing Falun Dafa improved her mind and body, and changed her fundamentally. “This is not something superficial – doing something to show other people; rather, it is something from within. No matter whether I’m at work or at home, I should always act according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. This change is really beneficial to me, both physically and mentally.”

Becoming Strict with Oneself

Mei from South Australia

Mei, a practitioner from South Australia, began practicing Falun Dafa 23 years ago. She attends the experience sharing conference nearly every year because she says this is a great opportunity for her to catch up and examine her own cultivation. 

She was moved by every practitioners’ story, especially the new practitioner who spoke last. “She was very thankful for what she received from Dafa. Her determination as a new practitioner really inspired me,” Mei explained. “I was also moved when a young practitioner said that cultivation was like climbing a mountain. I can tell that other practitioners are doing better and better. Although I keep studying Dafa’s principles and doing the exercises, I do not push myself to the next level.

“It could be that as time went on, I felt I was good enough and tended to relax,” she said. “But cultivation is serious and I should continue being strict with myself.”

Light in the Dark

Anna began practicing Falun Dafa in 2010. 

The last speaker’s cultivation journey also impressed Anna, a practitioner from South Australia. That practitioner was very happy to find Falun Dafa. “I felt the same way when I began to practice Falun Dafa – I was very joyful because I found a master [Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa] who can truly guide me!”

That was in 2010 when Anna was studying for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in South Australia. Her classmate told her about Falun Dafa. “The principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are very important. They have been guiding me, like light in the darkness,” she said. 

Cultivation means one should look within unconditionally in order to improve. “By doing so we are able identify hidden attachments and human notions,” Anna said. “As we constantly let go of bad things and purify ourselves, we are able to find joy – just like when we first started to practice. We are able to return to our original, true selves.”