PureInsight | September 7, 2012
[PureInsight.org] I have been working with local practitioners to promote the Shen Yun performances for the past several years. I am very thankful for fellow practitioners' selfless cooperation and kindness. I am even more grateful for Master's compassion. Here I would like to share some of my experiences.
Studying the Fa, Doing Exercises and Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
In Essentials for Further Advancement II, Master said, “As a Dafa disciple, in order to do Fa-rectification things well and to consummate everything of yours well, you need to study the Fa a lot. No matter how busy you are, you cannot skip Fa-study. This is what can best ensure your reaching Consummation.” During Shen Yun promotion last year, I kept studying the Fa and doing the exercises every day and really benefited from it.
Despite my fatigue after returning from selling tickets at the mall, I always joined group Fa-study with other practitioners from 8 pm to 10:30 pm. This was very helpful for my cultivation. When my mind concentrated on the Fa, I was able to understand more inner meanings from the Fa and realized where I could have done better that day. I could also see a clear sky, beautiful scenery, and happy sentient beings in other dimensions. This way, I gained more wisdom and the ticket selling on the next day was usually very smooth. When my Fa-study was poor, however, it was a cloudy sky, dry land, and an atmosphere of immense despair in other dimensions.
In addition, I always did the five sets of exercises in the morning, which gave me energy and a peaceful mind. Standing for more than 8 hours to sell tickets in the mall may seem physically challenging to everyday people. In contrast, our doing the exercises not only prevented such discomfort, but also made us relaxed and happy with the removal of karma. In Zhuan Falun, Master said, “Falun Dafa is also a cultivation practice of mind and body, and it requires exercises.”
Another thing I did was to send forth righteous thoughts for 30 minutes or one hour before leaving for ticket selling. This reduced potential interference during ticket promotion. One year on the first day when going to the mall, I found very few people paid attention to us. I felt very bad and could hardly go to sleep. So I got up at midnight and sent forth righteous thoughts for an hour with full attention. The ticket selling was very smooth the following day as if every passer-by was interested in it. The positive atmosphere continued in that mall since then. This made me further understand the importance of righteous thoughts. When encountering resistance while selling tickets, we need to ask ourselves how sincere and pure our minds are on saving sentient beings.
Faith in Master and the Fa
The ticket selling this year gave me a greater understanding of having faith in Master and the Fa. Such faith made us very powerful and capable when validating the Fa. In this dimension, it appears that we are able to overcome difficulties one after another, while in other dimensions it corresponds to elevation towards higher levels one after another. In Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe, Master said, “Religions in the West used to teach faith, while those in the East would teach enlightenment. The idea is that you have to be resolute. Without this type of mind you can’t accomplish anything.” Master provided such a precious cultivation opportunity at the price of his own sacrifice. Therefore, my heart is always filled with sincerity and gratitude when selling tickets. On the surface, we are doing something for Shen Yun, but in reality Master gives us much more during this process.
Every time when arriving at the ticket selling sites, I always reminded myself that Master's Law Body was there to take care of us. It was in this solemn and holy field where people would be saved. Therefore, any impure thought in the field was disrespectful of Master and any carelessness or laziness was a sin. When watching the store customers come and go, I often recited the verses in Hong Yin III and sent forth righteous thoughts. Sometimes in my heart I was saying to sentient beings, “This is the Dafa that you have been waiting for generation after generation. Please do not miss it.”
The year before last, the ticket selling was slow in the shopping malls. Therefore, last year, as soon as the promotion started, I tried to let go of the attachment to results. Since I am here to validate the Fa and Master arranged this opportunity, I will certainly meet people with predestined relationships. In Zhuan Falun, Master said, “I have already told you that behind every practitioner there is my fashen, and not just one. Accordingly, my fashen will take care of these things.”
One day, I stood by the booth and the thought suddenly came to my mind that someone with a predestined relationship was behind me. I turned back and saw a couple walking towards the elevator. Seeing me waving my hand at her, the lady hesitated and walked toward me. Then she watched the Shen Yun promotion video and was thrilled with happiness as if she had just woken up from a dream. She immediately bought tickets. Similar things happened many times. One day, I had an afternoon shift at a ticket booth. Upon leaving home to go to the mall, there was a voice urging me to hurry. I went there as fast as I could and found a person who could not hear or speak already waiting in front of the Shen Yun poster. From this, I realized that Master did not want us to miss people with predestined relationships.
There were some times when, due to human notions, I thought that such and such seats could be difficult to sell. Then I met people who were especially interested in those seats. I thus learned that Master had already made arrangements for all the seats.
For a period of time, I couldn’t sell the most expensive tickets. I looked within and found a human notion in myself of seeking low prices. I sometimes even told customers that such and such a seat was a good deal because it was next to an area of more expensive tickets. From the Fa, however, we know that one gets whatever he pays for. Plus, the ticket prices were set by Master and it was thus related to the future of the sentient beings. Therefore, we need to conform to such arrangements. From then now, when recommending tickets to customers, I always started from the most expensive ones, thinking those would benefit them the most. When one customer noticed that the tickets he paid for were in the last row of the expensive area, he asked why he had to pay a higher price compared to the rows behind him. I said to him firmly, “The area of your seat is reserved for honored guests. When you get there, you will know the feeling is different.”
When standing in the mall to sell tickets, every day was like a test. Sometimes, I stood for the whole day and didn’t sell a single ticket. In moments like that, frustration and disappointment could surface. The old forces also forced some thoughts on me such as going to eat something or leaving early. Then I went on alert, realizing those were not my own thoughts since old forces were testing whether I truly had faith in the Fa. From my heart, I told the old forces, “I am here to validate the Fa, not to sell tickets. I believe Dafa can save people and nobody can block Master's arrangements.” With that firm thought, I could feel strong energy overcoming layers and layers of resistance. After that, the ticket selling went smoothly. Things like this happened many times.
There were occasions when the setting and other factors didn’t seem desirable, but the ticket selling went well. I realized that once a location and time were chosen for Dafa, there must be ways to work it out. It may appear undesirable in this everyday society, but it could be a different scenario in other dimensions. In Hong Yin, Master said, “Lay down your human, mundane mind, The Fa gained, you now stand divine...” Sometimes when a customer seems to be wavering, I send forth righteous thoughts to wake them up and ask Master for help.
I also avoided chatting with other practitioners or leaving the booth for lunch, fearing that I could miss opportunities. When there was no one around, I often sat quietly sending forth righteous thoughts. There were times when I was bothered by fatigue. It was so immense that I could hardly withstand it. I thought about having a break and then realized: “How can a cultivator solve problems using an everyday person's approach? When righteous thoughts arise, the fatigue always diminishes immediately.” In fact, those were tests on whether we have faith in the Fa.
Once I went to a ticket sales location that I wasn’t familiar with. I had to switch buses and look at directions, and it was almost 5 pm when I arrived there. On the road, I was a little disappointed, thinking about why I was bothering to go there this late, since the booth would close at 6 pm anyway. Nonetheless, I knew that thought was wrong. Although the ticket selling shift was arranged by fellow practitioners, Master was watching us and helping us along the way as we were validating the Fa. To my surprise, the promotion was extended to 7 pm that day and I sold many tickets during that extra hour—much more than what I usually did in several days. I knew that Master was encouraging me because I let go of my attachment to self.
I also found that when we truly have compassion and want to save sentient beings, some hesitant customers often made up their minds to buy tickets. When we were attached to ticket selling itself, the results could be the opposite.
Letting Go of Fundamental Attachments
In Zhuan Falun, Master said, “The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities.” The appearance and issues we observe from everyday people often reflect our own problems. For a period of time when I was attached to money, I met customers who considered the tickets too expensive. When I was attached to sentimentality, there were customers who could not make a decision due to concerns over family members. Therefore, we have to let go of negative thoughts, and with a purer mind, we can influence everyday people positively.
Once, I sold tickets together with practitioners A and B. At the beginning, B didn’t sell many tickets. When looking inward, I found I had the notion that B was not good at ticket selling. In fact, B was working with A and me seamlessly. He was not attached to fame and didn’t have conflicts at all with other members of the team. Very often when A and I were very tired, B still had strong righteous thoughts. As I thought this over, I realized that since Master gave B this opportunity, he must be able to do it well. Then, B’s ticket selling went very well. This shocked me because from this, I learned that my previous negative thoughts had blocked other practitioners. In “What is a Dafa Disciple,” Master said, “True compassion doesn’t have any selfishness mixed in, and one will, when dealing with anyone, or sentient beings in general, look at things with righteous thoughts and loving kindness.”
Saving Sentient Beings on a Large Scale
Over the past several years of promoting Shen Yun, I have experienced and heard many touching stories. One day a lady came by and asked me what the difference was between an emperor in China and a king in other countries. She was also curious about the meaning of dynasty. I thus explained to her using what I remembered from the Fa. She listened attentively and was soon in tears. She was puzzled herself: “How come I am crying?” In fact, people have been waiting generation after generation to be saved.
A customer with Chinese ethnicity immigrated to the U.S. four generations ago. He said he went to China before and even saw Mao once. However, he was unclear about the difference between China and the CCP, and thus had been wavering between love towards the nation and hatred towards the system. When walking by the ticket booth, he was very emotional and yelled. We spoke with each other for more than an hour and he finally understood the truth. On the day he watched the show, he came to me during the intermission and said, “I like the show very much.” When the performance was over, he was moved and said to me, “If Shen Yun existed 60 years ago, the CCP would not have been able to rule China. Why did I have to wait 40 years to go to your performance?”
A Christian lady often came to the booth to introduce Christianity to me. I listened politely and occasionally talked to her about Shen Yun. Interestingly, when she talked about Christianity, I didn’t understand anything, but when she spoke of other topics, I could understand it with no problem. On the last day of our promotion, she came by and asked me about the Buddha statue image on the Shen Yun promotion booklet. I explained to her that was part of the culture. She bought tickets and went to the show. Later, she gave me a thank you card. She said the show was very good and it came to save the world. She also said she would watch the show every year and recommend it to her friends as well.
There was a disabled person in a wheel chair. When a practitioner told her about the Shen Yun performances, she was very excited. She said she had been praying for watching a show in a theater in her lifetime. Several days before the show when I went to her place to deliver the ticket, she was looking for clothes and said she would dress up like a princess. She was undergoing a surgery those days and her doctor advised her to get more rest. She told the doctor that nothing could block her from watching the show. After watching the show, she was very excited and said, “Wow, this is indeed paradise.” Later she sent me a thank you card and said she was grateful because her dream had come true. Soon afterwards, she had the surgery and it went very well.
When a customer was buying tickets, he was experiencing a period of time with financial difficulty. Nonetheless, he bought an extra ticket for his daughter’s friend since that family couldn’t afford it. He told me he would pay me half the money first and the other half later. Several days later, however, he had a large customer order in his business and was able to pay off the tickets. There were many cases like this. Sometimes I even joked with my customers, “If you really want to go, you will have money for it.” Later, I realized that Master had sacrificed for this.
Above are my experiences promoting Shen Yun. I am very fortunate to have become a practitioner.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/110446
