(Minghui.org) About 100 Falun Gong practitioners from 40 colleges and universities in Taiwan held a cultivation experience sharing camp for young practitioners at National Chengchi University in Taipei from August 12 to 15, 2022.
During the four days of Fa-study, experience sharing, morning exercises and clarifying the truth, the young practitioners shared some of the difficulties and tests they have encountered in their lives, as well as their spiritual journeys of elevating in cultivation through Fa-study and looking inward. The event helped each participant fundamentally change themselves and regain diligence in their cultivation.
Participants of the 2022 cultivation experience sharing camp for young practitioners
Group Fa-study
Sitting in meditation in the morning
“I Feel Like A Different Person”
You-chuan, a second-year high school student at Haishan High School in New Taipei City, said that when he was in elementary school he couldn’t understand why he came to the world to suffer. He felt at a loss because he was taught to compete and try his best to pursue a happy life. He cried sometimes when he was alone and felt that something was missing in his life.
When he was in fourth grade, You-chuan read more than 10 pages of Zhuan Falun out of curiosity. He felt good but did not read any more. He recalled the book during the winter break of his second year in middle school. He took it out and read it from cover to cover in one sitting.
“I felt that all my doubts that I hid in my heart since I was a child were solved at once,” You-chuan said. “I felt like a different person. I was very happy.”
In the past, You-chuan had always considered himself better than others. After practicing, he realized many of his shortcomings. “For example, I would worry about gains and losses for the sake of my grades. I also had many human attachments,” he said.
“Later, after getting rid of these attachments, I felt very peaceful in my heart. I used to take the unhappy things I encountered as injustices to me, but after practicing, I felt that these were opportunities to improve. I also realized that modern society has a lot of warped culture and arts, and I found that I had an attachment to them, like video games. So I don’t play video games anymore.”
In the camp, You-chuan noted he had a mentality of feeling superior to others. He said, “The members of my group are all senior high school students. On the first day, when I saw some practitioners playing video games and talking about these topics, I felt uncomfortable. I wondered why my group had such a messy environment. I felt superior to them. When I looked inward later, I found my competitive mentality, jealousy, and strong selfishness.”
On his way back to the dormitory that night, he had a heavy heart and was not happy. He realized that his efforts to persuade fellow practitioners was not for the sake of others or for the environment, but caused by his anger, feelings of injustice and human emotions. After noting these attachments, he found that the practitioners in the group had also changed. Some had deleted the video games and useless social media and decided not to waste time watching those useless and time-consuming short videos.
“I realized that this is a higher level of perfection, that is, the heart is completely kind for the sake of others,” he said. “I should let go of my notions, human mentality and attachments. I also felt that my dimensional field was clean. Then other people also changed.”
Treasuring the Environment for Practice
Tzu Ling, who graduated and works in a company, said that she read Dafa books when she was in second grade at elementary school.“I have had a strong interest in life and the universe since I was a child. I wanted to know why humans suffer so much, why people come to this world, why the sun and the earth rotate, and why the universe is configured like this. At that time, my mother began to practice Dafa, and I followed my mother to practice too,” she said.
However, because her father objected, Tzu Ling seldom participated in Dafa activities as a child. She said, “Because of my family issues, I cherished the time I spent studying the Fa.”
After graduation, she found that the conflicts she encountered at work were different from those on campus. “Maybe because I am a practitioner, I have to think about how to make my colleagues understand Dafa and to clarify the truth. This has become a different challenge for me. When I encountered a conflict and wanted to change jobs, I couldn’t find a new job. I later realized that it was because I didn’t fulfill my mission of saving people in this environment, or I did not eliminate my attachments and improve myself from the conflicts, so I couldn’t go to the next place.”
In hosting this year’s youth camp, Tzu Ling saw young practitioners that were like how she had been back in school. She hoped that she could lead the young practitioners to make progress together and fundamentally understand why people practice cultivation.
She said, “It’s not easy to organize an event. I think it’s not what I want to obtain from the camp, but how to harmonize this environment. As long as I can see that everyone can study the Fa, do the exercises together, and improve by following the Fa, I think that this is precious.”
Regaining Diligence in Cultivation
Enhua, a second-year student in the Department of History at National Chung Cheng University, started practicing Dafa when she was in high school. Her stable cultivation environment made her gradually understand the meaning of life and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in her daily life. However, after entering university, she lost her environment for group Fa study and gradually lowered her requirements for herself. Enhua hoped that through the youth camp, she could regain her original motivation.
Enhua said, “During the youth camp, I got up early to do the exercises every day, and I studied the Fa regularly, shared experiences and sent righteous thoughts. We went out to clarify the truth one day. I lived a very fulfilling life. When everyone read the Fa together, I feel that my mind was getting calmer.
“Through listening carefully to others’ cultivation experiences, I felt that it really promotes looking inward and finding gaps. It also helped me to have a better understanding and deeper thinking in cultivation. Sending righteous thoughts collectively also made me feel that my dimensional field was getting cleaner and I was no longer confused.”
The youth camp arranged for each group to go to different scenic spots to clarify the truth in their own way. Enhua said, “When I arrived at the scenic site, I was a little nervous when I saw the crowd. Seeing my team members’ courage and also by continuously reminding myself to maintain righteous thoughts, I adjusted my state to improve my truth clarification.”
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