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My Thoughts After Attending the Washington DC Experience Sharing Conference By a Dafa practitioner in United States (Clearwisdom.net) When I was a student, given my financial situation, I could only selectively
attend one or two Falun Dafa experience sharing conferences each year. But, I
made sure to attend the Washington DC Falun Dafa experience sharing conference
every year. I started on a job this year and my financial situation has
improved, but I have few holidays left. I cherish every precious chance to share
experiences, but I actually feel rather disappointed about this year's
conference. The turmoil in the conference room was the worst that I had
experienced and the acoustics were also the worst. People who sat in the middle
and back of the conference room could barely hear the speeches. At the very beginning, Teacher came and spoke for 30 minutes. After Teacher
left the conference room, nearly all the volunteer security personnel
immediately left and the conference hall open to anyone. Many practitioners
thought they had achieved the goal of attending the conference (listening to
Teacher's speech). Therefore, they attended to "private matters,"
which included eating, chatting with "old friends," project team
meetings, etc. The dining room on the top right side of the conference room was
always full of practitioners who were talking and eating. The hosts asked for silence several times, and for these practitioners to
please be more considerate of others, but nothing much changed. In the
afternoon, the practitioners sitting in the back of the conference room could
not hear the practitioners' speeches, because small meetings were held in the
open space at the rear of the conference room. The conference site was noisy and
chaotic. Rambunctious children also started to join the main conference hall and
even raced around outside the hall in the public areas, deserting their special
conference room. The hosts also had to make an announcement about this
situation, but little changed. Later, the fire alarm inside the conference room was set off by mistake, and
it lasted for quite a while. The experience sharing ground to a halt. Most
practitioners began to send forth righteous thoughts to clear away the
interference, but some practitioners left the conference room. Nearly half an
hour later, when the problem was finally fixed, the conference room finally was
restored to order and quietness. I think we should all understand clearly that we are responsible for the
disorder in what was originally the most dignified and holy of conferences. I
was also not righteous at all times. When I was unable to hear the speeches
clearly, I began to read new materials instead. I found also a problem with the activities before the conference. For
example, the "Great Wall of Courage" was found to have an actual
number of participants much smaller than the numbers announced to the media.
Probably there were some detailed operational issues, and the original intention
was good. However, we need to look at the actual result of doing things. It was
not accidental. Nothing happens by chance. Practitioners can only meet the
cultivator's standard when they conduct themselves according to
"Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" at all times and in all
places. Before and after the DC activities, did we ignore basic cultivation
factors and allowed the attachment of doing things and pursuit of greatness and
success to dominate our words and deeds? Also, after the assembly and parade, a large amount of truth-clarification
materials were not taken care of properly, so that many were damaged in the rain
afterwards. It was not only a waste of money! When I read that Teacher mentioned, "it is close to return to your real
place" (draft translation, from Hongyin II), I felt extraordinarily
calm, with no joy or reaction. I asked myself, have I done all I should do? Have
I done all well? I hope everyone altogether can walk every step well on the path
of cultivation and Fa-rectification, no matter if it is the first step or the
last step, no matter if it is the most difficult one or the easiest one, just
walk steadfastly, so we won't disappoint all the sentient beings, and so we stay
within the bounds of Teacher's guidance. Once again, I kindly ask everyone to cherish our Falun Dafa experience
sharing conferences. Not all practitioners are as fortunate as the practitioners
in North America, who can often attend a conference without having to travel
far, and listen to Teacher lecturing the Fa in person. Think about the
practitioners from abroad who flew across oceans to attend the conference. Their
time and financial contributions are far higher than that of the North American
practitioners. In some locations, the practitioners have to plan the event as
one body, as not all the practitioners who would like to come can be
accommodated. Wouldn't they treasure every minute and second of a Fa conference?
Let us also think of those practitioners who would like to attend, but are
unable due to financial or other hardships. Think of the new practitioners who
attended the conference for the first time, and the managers and staff of the
conference site, what kind of impression did we leave them? Note: If you have not used your metro tickets, and if there is still a
considerable balance on your Metro pass, please consider mailing it to
Washington DC practitioners so the elderly folks who have been going to the
Chinese Embassy year after year can ask a little less from their children, or
afford a decent lunch. Posting date: 8/3/2004 |