PureInsight | April 29, 2015
[PureInsight.org] Shen Yun’s ticket sales in a region are closely related to the overall cultivation state of the practitioners there. Shen Yun is saving people. Promoting Shen Yun is every Dafa disciple’s responsibility. I would like to share several events that moved me during this year’s Shen Yun promotion.
In the past when promoting Shen Yun, I would put up posters from the very beginning until the day of the show. The first show in 2015 in our region was scheduled for Baltimore. When a fellow practitioner invited me to put up posters and live at her house, my first thought was, “No.” What was behind this thought? I realized it was sentimentality. I’ve lived with my daughter in America for ten years. In every step of the cultivation path, I have had to face the attachment to sentimentality. I’ve always been cultivating away this attachment, but this time I was still hesitant. My excuse was that my daughter and son-in-law were both busy, so someone had to take care of their children’s breakfast and transportation to and from school. Master’s words rang in my ears, “Cultivation is something you do right in the thick of tribulations. They’ll test whether you can sever your emotions and desires, and they’ll see if you can take them lightly. If you’re attached to those things you won’t be able to finish your cultivation” (Zhuan Falun). After letting go of sentimentality, I stayed at three different fellow practitioners’ homes in Maryland starting on November 11. Everyday I studied the Fa, practiced the exercises, sent forth righteous thoughts and promoted Shen Yun with them. We smoothly finished going to stores, putting up posters, visiting offices, distributing calendars and passing out flyers in Baltimore. That month I felt that fellow practitioners were closer than my relatives, and I was moved.
When I heard that we had tens of thousands of Shen Yun calendars to be distributed before the year ended, another practitioner and I took up this job. We planned to deliver 450 calendars and 1000 flyers a day. With the mentality of saving people, each day each of us took a car full of calendars and flyers for distribution from the time businesses open to the time they close. Whether rain, wind or snow, we never complained. We were able to enter buildings that were inaccessible in the past. Companies who previously did not accept our posters happily accepted them. Some put the calendar on their walls, doors, windows and lounges. Some wanted to take their girlfriends or wives to see the show. Some wanted to take their daughter to see the show for her birthday. Some said they would take their grandchildren who took dance classes to see the show. Some said, “I can’t wait and will definitely go this year.” Some said finding parking in Baltimore is easy, so they would take their entire family. Master had laid out everything perfectly. We just needed to go to these places and talk to people.
We showed the Shen Yun video at each stop and let it reach every household. After we finished distributing all the calendars to sentient beings, my car broke down. Some fellow practitioners asked me if I was tired. To be honest, every day when I woke up, my feet hurt when standing. I had to lean against the railings while limping down the stairs. However, as soon as I left the house and went to promote Shen Yun, my feet felt light, and I wasn’t tired at all. There were also frequent miracles. I usually don’t bring rain gear when leaving, so on rainy days, I put the items in a plastic bag and then inside a bigger bag in the car. Never have they gotten wet. Twice when we were walking in the rain, hotel cars stopped by and sent us to our destination. Once it was raining after snowing, so the ground was very slippery. I slipped on some stone steps and slid down five or six steps. I screamed for Master inside and thought to myself that everything would be all right. When I got up, there was really nothing wrong, so I kept going. Recently it snowed again, and I missed the city bus going home. I would have had to wait another thirty minutes and then transfer twice and would definitely be late for the kids. Just then, my neighbor pulled up and sent me home. As cultivators we know that nothing we encounter is coincidental. On the cultivation path, Master is constantly watching over us.
When we heard that West Virginia had not started promoting Shen Yun, we contacted the local fellow practitioners there. Upon receiving permission from the DC coordinator, we added another three thousand calendars and tens of thousands of flyers. Before we left there was a lot of interference. The materials that were supposed to arrive on January 5 or 6 did not arrive. On January 7, it was snowing in the two cities. On the night of the 6th, I wrapped myself in two layers of blankets but still trembled throughout the night. All my joints hurt. I continuously sent forth righteous thoughts and looked inward and found that I had an attachment to comfort. I wanted to rest for a day before going to West Virginia. This thought was exploited by the old forces. It was fortunate that I noticed it quickly and eliminated it. We left on January 8. Everyone sent forth righteous thoughts and listened to Master’s lectures on the way. We arrived at 1 pm along with the calendars and flyers. We went to downtown Huntington, West Virginia’s second largest city, to put up posters and distribute flyers until the shops closed. In a span of nine days, I learned a lot from fellow practitioners and found my shortcomings. One fellow practitioner had work but took a seven-day leave. Another fellow practitioner had just moved and had many errands to run, but recognized that saving people was more urgent. This practitioner habitually woke up at 3:50 am everyday to do the exercises. Under the encouragement of fellow practitioners, I let go of the attachment to comfort and no longer felt tired waking up in the morning.
In one weekend at West Virginia, the three of us put up materials on 1500 doorknobs. One fellow practitioner analyzed the map then night before and planned to start at the rich neighborhoods. That Saturday morning we were to cover the mansions located on the mountains. However, there were fewer than twenty, and they were spaced far apart, so I felt panic. I immediately realized that this was an attachment to fame. When studying the Fa at night, I also noticed many other attachments, including showing off, being dissatisfied, competitiveness, being too engrossed and fear. While hanging materials from doorknobs, I was attached to numbers. Fellow practitioners around me looked inward when others said they were too slow and prepared routes to maximize efficiency. They first went to richer neighborhoods that were more difficult to cover. Promoting Shen Yun also helped us to cultivate. Master said, “In true cultivation you have to cultivate your mind, you have to cultivate inward, to look inward—you can’t look outward” (Zhuan Falun). I realized that cultivation is cultivating one’s heart without human notion, letting go of attachment and cooperating as a whole body.
The closer to the end of Fa-rectification, the higher are the standards for Dafa disciples. The less time remains to save sentient beings, the greater the responsibility of assisting Master in Fa-rectification. The busier it seems, the more important it is to improve in cultivation. Master told us, “You absolutely must not slack off in your cultivation, you absolutely must not slack off in your Fa-study” (Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa – Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference). Everyday when waiting for the bus, I would recite “Lun Yu (on BUDDHA LAW)”: “Nothing is as profound as BUDDHA LAW. Of all teachings in the world it is the most wondrous and highest science. To open up this field, ordinary people have to fundamentally change their way of thinking. Failing that, the reality of the universe will forever remain something of a myth to mankind, and ordinary people will forever grope around inside the box created by their own ignorance.”
What are human notions?
First example: On January 15, we were returning from West Virginia to DC. After loading our luggage, a local practitioner suggested that if we had time, we should go to Kentucky to put up posters and distribute calendars. The sentient beings there were closest to the West Virginia show and were a 1.5-hour drive away from the theater. West Virginia only had shows on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings that ended at 10 pm. Would sentient beings in Kentucky be able to come see the show? Everyone discussed this. Those who are destined to come will definitely come. Master had laid out everything perfectly. We just needed to find those sentient beings who were destined to see the show. Everyone had the same mindset, so we left in the morning. At around 4 pm, we finally finished putting up posters and distributing flyers to all clinics and stores in the downtown area. I ran into two CEOs who saw the show in West Virginia the year before. They were so complimentary towards Shen Yun that they put up the posters on their windows themselves. I also encountered the CEO of a gas station who saw the advertisement on TV and planned to take his wife to see the show. He also put up a flyer and thanked us. I also met some people who had heard of Shen Yun in the past. When they saw the video, their eyes lit up, and they wanted to see the show. Sentient beings are all waiting. Master has already planned out every seat for the sentient beings. We mustn’t let our human notions block the sentient beings. Only when we let go of human notions can we assist Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings.
Second example: Last week when I putting up posters, I was hesitant to enter a restaurant because they had refused to put up posters or accept flyers in the past. Last time the restaurant manager basically pushed me out of the door as he said, “Go away.” Remembering that Shen Yun is for saving people, I approached the manager with a smile. I explained Shen Yun to him, and he listened very attentively while smiling. Not only did he keep some flyers, but he also agreed to put up a poster in the middle of the store. I was very happy for him. I reflected as to why he was so hostile in the past and wondered whether I owed him from a previous lifetime. I noticed that his business was booming. Perhaps last time I went at a bad time and interrupted his business. If I only looked at the superficial details, this sentient being might have lost the opportunity to be saved. Everyone on earth today is Master’s relative. We cannot let go of a single sentient being. Do not be afraid of rejection and do not be a judge. We can only save people. We must not use human notions to block sentient beings’ salvation. In recent years, CEOs of Subway, Wendy’s CVS, banks, gas stations, Verizon and McDonalds all agreed to put posters on their windows. Many big companies also have “No Soliciting” signs, but they still happily accept Shen Yun posters. Many immediately put the poster in the lounge. I learned that if we cultivate our every thought and change our human notions fundamentally, then we can save sentient beings with our hearts.
Why does the peak period for ticket sales experience abnormal circumstances? This year West Virginia and Baltimore have both had shows. DC is still in the process of promoting Shen Yun. It is necessary to reflect on what happened. Master told us, “As a cultivator / One always looks for one’s own faults / ‘Tis the Way to get rid of attachments most effectively / There’s no way to skip ordeals, big or small / [During a conflict, if you can remember:] / ‘He’s right, / And I’m wrong,’ / What’s to dispute?” (Hong Yin III, “Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong”). Promoting Shen Yun with human notions will inevitably interfere with the results. When encountering problems while promoting Shen Yun, we must point them out compassionately. Master said, “Whenever you encounter problems you should each look inward to search for the cause within, regardless of whether you’re to blame or not. Remember my words: Regardless of whether the problem is your fault or not, you should look inside yourself, and you will find a problem. If the matter has absolutely nothing to do with you or doesn’t involve any of the attachments you should break, then that thing would rarely happen to you. If you didn’t have an attachment the problem wouldn’t have come about. I have to be responsible for your cultivation. Any problem that happens to you, around you, or among you is most likely related to you, and there is something for you to get rid of. No matter whether it’s your fault or not, when my Law Bodies are having you remove your attachment, they don’t care whether it’s your fault or another person’s. As long as you have an attachment, they will try everything to have you run into problems and have you recognize the attachment that makes you fall short. Yet you’re still looking around, ‘This isn’t my fault,’ or you’re still thinking, ‘I’m protecting the Fa.’ Meanwhile, the other person is thinking, ‘I’m protecting the Fa.’ In fact, the conflict occurs because you probably each have faults of your own” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe). At the “Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference” Master said, “Whoever is unwilling to listen to different views is not a cultivator. But, whoever is not speaking out of goodwill is also not behaving like a cultivator.” “The greatest manifestation of shan is compassion, and it is an expression of tremendous energy. It can disintegrate all that is not right” (Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference). We are all Master’s disciples. Let us work together to assist Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings. Let the Shen Yun performance in DC sell out. Lastly, let us review Master’s teaching, “This predestined opportunity of tens of millions of years, or even eons, and the long wait we have all been through, as with all that we have borne throughout history—all of it was for today” (Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa – Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference).
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/142998
