PureInsight | January 19, 2009
[PureInsight.org] After the Mid-Autumn Festival Divine Performing Arts show, the Chinese New Year Spectacular was rapidly approaching. I felt exhausted. It was like I had just climbed a kilometer high hill and now I needed to swim a kilometer. I was in low spirits. Since I had some other Dafa projects to do, I felt that I met the requirements of the three things Master asked us to do (i.e. study the Fa, clarify the truth, and send forth righteous thoughts). Thus, I didn’t do much to sell tickets for the show. On the other hand, before I cultivated, I had done sales promotions to the point of being sick and tired of it. So, I deemed selling the show tickets to be similar to ordinary people’s sales. This perception interfered with me. My resistance became larger and larger until one day my negative thoughts were so strong that I couldn’t concentrate on studying the Fa. I was always under the impression that cultivation was like clarifying the truth to people face-to-face and disintegrating evil. To me, the promotion of the show didn’t look like cultivation but instead looked like ordinary people’s making money. I was in a dilemma. On the surface, I was busy with selling tickets, but I knew from my heart that my thoughts were not in line with the Fa. I didn’t really understand the relationship between cultivation and ticket sales for the show, nor did I realize the far-reaching significance of why Master managed the show in person. While holding onto my own notions, my body was promoting the show but my mind was not.
One day the local coordinator arranged to have me sell tickets. While watching people come and go, I told myself in my head that I would make people purchase the tickets. I seemed to have already heard fellow practitioners praising me in my mind: “She sold so many tickets. She’s awesome!” I talked anxiously to an American about purchasing tickets. A fellow practitioner reminded me: “You are too pushy.” I was upset immediately, although I didn’t show it. Suddenly, I understood something. I had been cultivating for ten years, and every day I spent almost twelve hours a day doing Dafa projects in front of a computer. I was glad to see the results of my work and I was glad to hear fellow practitioners’ praises. However, I hadn’t talked to ordinary people or cooperated with fellow practitioners for a long time. I remained at the same level for too long. Once I had this thought, I realized that although practitioners abroad walked different paths than practitioners in China, the xinxing requirements are the same. I said to myself: “I am wrong. My attachment of fame has been disguised for too long.” For example, when I saw another practitioner promoting the show to people, I went so far as to envy him instead of sending forth righteous thoughts to support him. When another practitioner sold more tickets and others praised her, I was actually unhappy. All those attachments were thoroughly exposed during the process of selling tickets and cooperating with others. I tempered myself and gradually understood Master’s thoughtful arrangement. After I let go of the attachment and became unselfish, when I introduced the show to people, it was like talking to old friends. I wanted to give them the most precious gift. Even when they didn’t purchase the tickets on the spot, I still held the thought firmly that they would purchase the tickets later.
On another occasion, we didn’t sell many tickets after standing there for the whole day. I was tired and I said to a fellow practitioner: “It’s not a big deal. There are so many practitioners in our area. If each one buys 10 tickets, several thousand tickets will be gone.” The practitioner answered bluntly: “It is impure thoughts like that in the whole body of practitioners that slows down the ticket sales.” I was blank for a second and then I suddenly realized that I was always preoccupied with my “brilliant” record in China and overseas. In the eyes of other practitioners, I didn’t have an air of importance and I was as common as other practitioners. Therefore, my impurity was pointed out immediately. At that moment I appreciated the word “common.”
In our area, some elderly practitioners were not allowed to go to the ticket sales location. I was familiar with some of them. Those practitioners went through trials and hardships in China, but they were given the “cold-shoulder” by fellow practitioners here. If I were them, I couldn’t stand it. However, those elderly practitioners dressed in their best clothes, stood away from the ticket sales location, and sent righteous thoughts quietly. When a practitioner sold a ticket, perhaps no one knew that the ticket sale was supported by the righteous thoughts from those elderly practitioners. This was the realm of those practitioners. Thus, I let go off my attachment to fame. When others sold tickets, I was as happy as if I had sold the tickets. I abandoned a cultivators’ most dreadful attachment: jealousy. Dafa practitioners are one body. Every practitioner has his own weak points as well as strong points. When we cooperate well, we can learn from others’ strong points and overcome our own weak points. We can overcome all of our obstacles. Nothing is by accident. When I worked on Dafa projects in front of the computer, there was no way for me to see the elderly practitioners’ righteous actions or to experience those xinxing tribulations. Only by stepping out of the importance I gave myself could I get rid of various attachments. This was Master’s thoughtful arrangement. Everything Master arranged was significant. I knew that my enlightenment quality was poor. I always came to understand Master’s words a long time after Master gave a lecture. So every time I always said to myself: “If I can’t understand Master’s words, I’ll just do what Master says. Gradually I will understand.” I felt that every time Master was leading me along by the hand. Only after some time could I walk by myself.
The ticket sales situation requires efforts from every practitioner. If each of us can realize and hold the pure thought that we are assisting Master in Fa-rectification, then we can combine our strength and unfold the mighty power of the Fa. This is a blessing for the local ordinary people. We can tell those who have predestined relationships with us to treasure the truth, which is the hope of being saved. When I recited the section “The Placement of the Mysterious Pass” from Zhuan Falun, I enlightened that there are tribulations and suffering in each pass, and only after going through them can precious matter substantiate our paradise. Every pass is not easy; we can only achieve the Buddha Status by completing cultivation. This is my understanding based on my current level.
We can do well in the three things that we should do by promoting the Divine Performing Arts show. I have now come to realize the honor of participating in this project. We should walk each of our steps firmly until the last minute when we meet all the requirements. That last minute is worth thousands of years. This miracle will unfold very soon.
Please kindly point out anything that is not in line with the Fa.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2008/12/16/56622.html
