PureInsight | December 24, 2021
[PureInsight.org] Shen Yun performance finally started touring again! We successfully hosted 12 Shen Yun shows at the end of July and early August 2021 locally. As a member of the local hotline group, I am overwhelmed with infinite emotion and gratitude to Master. These 12 shows were really not easy.
More than 30 scheduled shows in March and April last year were cancelled by the theater because of the outbreak of the pandemic. By now, some shows have been rescheduled three times in some cities. Each reschedule means more audiences might request refunds. Fortunately, under such pressure, we did many communications with the audience to exchange tickets with gift cards instead of refund and let them wait for Shen Yun’s coming. Finally, we retained nearly 80% of the audience from those 30 shows. We felt thankful to our Master, and it was also related to the active cooperation from the whole team members of our Shen Yun host organization. I am going to share my experience of participating in the Shen Yun Hotline Group to encourage more practitioners to play their roles in the subsequent Shen Yun performance and promotion process. In the meanwhile, I hope more sentient beings will have a bright future by watching Shen Yun.
In mid-March 2020, more than 30 Shen Yun performances had to be rescheduled due to the outbreak of the epidemic and the theater was closed. I was told that our hotline team needed more people to respond to audiences’ questions. At the same time, I heard a voice saying, "You need to participate." I hesitated to participate because I was quite busy. I had a sales job from Media plus I had to watch the daily routines and prepare meals for my two home school children. I did not think I could support the hotline. Two weeks later, I was told that the hotline team needed help immediately. Some audience members tried to reach us for a refund after receiving the rescheduling notice. The hotline team needed more people to respond to these audiences. Some of the audience members showed an unfriendly attitude through the phone and said that they would get a lawyer if they could not get a refund. I felt so bad because they were arranged to be saved by watching Shen Yun but possibly missed it due to the pandemic. There is uncertainty for them to watch the performance in the future if they get a refund. In that case, they probably will not be saved. Even worse, their misunderstanding will influence other people to watch Shen Yun in the future. It would be very bad for this person. Although I did not know how to balance my family and my job, I could not let these sentient beings be unsaved because of the bad idea about Shen Yun. Then I told the coordinator that I would join the hotline group.
On the second day I made the decision, I started to prepare for the hotline job. This was the first time for me to join the hotline group. I decided to squeeze two hours each day to call those audience members who left a message for a refund. Because I usually deal with Westerners, it should not be very hard for me. However, for some reason, there was an invisible scare in my heart. Some fellow practitioners told me that some viewers had a tough tone about refunding their tickets and there was no way to persuade them. Some even threatened to find a lawyer. I felt a little scared and my heart began to beat faster. I could obviously feel that a kind of "fear" substance pressed over. It was hard for me to hold the phone. When I finally dialed the first phone number, I suddenly felt a headache and felt a little unsteady. For the first day, I did not make any phone calls. I looked inward and found an attachment to myself. I liked to protect myself by hearing compliments. I also had a strong mind that my current job was to be scolded by people. When these attachments were about to face pressure and challenges, they struggled hard and tried to interfere with me.
The next day, I reminded myself to strengthen my righteous thoughts and completely let go of my various human thoughts. I told myself I must start making phone calls today. I asked for help from Master to strengthen my righteous thoughts: I will treat people with kindness no matter how they treated me. Thinking in this way, I made the first call. A western lady who purchased two $200 tickets in December 2019 picked up the phone. When she knew the reason why I called her, she became a little impatient and requested a refund immediately. I told her calmly that we are a non-profit organization. We had to cancel more than 30 Shen Yun performances in 2020 because the theater was closed due to the epidemic. We were in a tough situation without income as well. I hoped she would not request a refund; but come to enjoy the performances next year after the epidemic. When I was about to tell her about the beauty of the Shen Yun show, she interrupted me with a higher voice and said, "It's no use to tell me how good this performance is. I have no job now because of this epidemic! I am over 60 years old this year, and cannot even earn enough for food. Why would I still go to enjoy your performance?” She told me her hard situation emotionally and said, "I will never watch your performance if you don't give me a refund."
I was not driven by her words; but kept reminding myself to be calm because I wanted to save her today. She should know the beauty and sacred mission of Shen Yun without negative thoughts because of the refund. Then I told her in a calm tone that I would try my best to get her refund because she had reached the retirement age. In the meanwhile, I told her that Shen Yun is not a common performance, but can bring hope to the audience. Many audiences were moved to tears by watching the performance. They were moved by the positive energy and the power of kindness exuded from this performance. I believe this performance is what you have been waiting for.
Her tone became gentle because she probably felt I really cared for her. She told me she always wanted to watch Shen Yun performances with her husband, but did not have any opportunity. Her husband passed away. Initially, she purchased the tickets to entertain one of her customers. Unfortunately, she lost her job and did not have a chance to watch the show plus she really needed money now. At the end of our conversation, she said, “goodbye and thank you” to me in a more friendly tone.
The phone call lasted nearly 30 minutes. Although I was relatively calm on the phone, my thoughts surged in my mind. I was not the only one talking to her through the phone, but every cell of my body was talking to all beings in her world. Later, I sent her a text message to confirm she could get a refund. I reminded her to buy the tickets when Shen Yun comes because Shen Yun will bring her hope.
After this experience, I had some confidence in the hotline project. Some days later, I realized that the hotline has also been a great opportunity to clarify the truth. As long as the person had time to listen, I could talk from Shen Yun’s mission to the CCP’s concealment of the epidemic that caused so many people around the world to be infected and lose their lives. Finally, I would mention the evil nature of the CCP. Some people who tried to get a refund changed their minds after hearing about the truth. Instead they couldn't wait to see Shen Yun.
Once, an audience left a message to request the refund of five tickets of $150 each. Five tickets meant five beings and countless lives in their celestial bodies. I immediately sent forth righteous thoughts for 5 minutes, and then dialed her number. She was a lady in her sixties. She planned to enjoy the show with her husband and child’s family. Because of covid-19, she thought it might not be good to go to a crowded environment and wanted to get a refund. Actually, many people wanted to get a refund for the same reason. After some experience, I clearly understood that these were interferences. I could not follow the way the ordinary people thought.
Then I said, “You know this epidemic comes from China. The Chinese government already knew the virus could be transmitted from person to person in December 2019, but they did not tell anyone. Instead, they encouraged people to travel and made the virus spread everywhere. As of today, lots of people have been infected and even died.” She did not say anything. I continued, “Do you know Shen Yun comes from New York but in the form of classical Chinese dance? Shen Yun's mission is to return to traditional Chinese culture. Why does it need to return? Since the Chinese government CCP was established, it has destroyed the traditional culture through different political movements including the 10-year Cultural Revolution. It also destroyed the traditional morality of people. Shen Yun is trying to awaken people’s admiration for Gods through classical dance, thereby correcting people’s morals.” Then I gave her some examples about Shen Yun stage stories. Finally, I said that during the pandemic, everyone felt a loss of hope about life and the future. Shen Yun performance would bring real hope to people.
After listening to my introduction, she told me that she knew how horrible communism was because she was from Czechoslovakia. She said that my introduction about Shen Yun stories and values reminded her how excited she was when she bought the tickets. She also asked me if her 7-8 years old grandson could enjoy the performance. I confirmed it and told her, “My kid started enjoying the performance when she was 4 years old. She is 8 years old now and has her own way to understand it. Your grandson would love the little monk story in Shen Yun.” She decided to buy another ticket to bring her grandson to the show instead of getting a refund. She got six tickets in total. After our phone conversion, my heart was filled with gratitude to Master because Master made this life to be saved at this moment.
There are many similar stories. I cherished every opportunity to talk to sentient beings. Most of the times, a phone conversation took 20 minutes or even longer. There were three reasons for the ticket refund. First, some people thought Shen Yun might not be able to survive after the epidemic, just like many other art groups. It would be safe to get the money back. Secondly, some elderly or retired audiences worried about crowded places. Even if Shen Yun comes back later, they do not want to enjoy it. Thirdly, many people's jobs were affected by the epidemic, and they did not want to keep tickets anymore. These were their knots. Whenever I made a phone call, I tried to untie their knots first. Then I elicited the facts about the CCP’s concealment of the epidemic; talked about the connotation and value of Shen Yun performance. After that, many people changed their minds to get a gift card for the next performance instead of a refund. Some kept the tickets and wanted to see Shen Yun as soon as possible. For sure, some people insisted on a refund immediately; but that was their rights. After knowing about the value of Shen Yun, many people left contact information to get notification about Shen Yun’s coming back. They said they would definitely buy tickets again.
One week before I started this experience sharing draft, I received a lady’s voice message saying that she talked to me before. She wanted to buy tickets immediately when she knew Shen Yun would come back at the end of September. When I called back, she told me that she was very grateful for me to refund her $200 for the two tickets in 2019 because she was in financial difficulties. However, she never forgot to go to see Shen Yun. When she learned that Shen Yun would be coming back, she was very excited and immediately called me. When I was entering her name into the system, I suddenly realized that she was the one in her sixties who I made the first call to her when I started the hotline job. At that moment, no language could express how happy I was. Thank you Master for giving sentient beings a chance to be saved again. It is true that all people have been waiting for salvation.
Conclusion:
Originally, I picked up the phone because I did not want to let sentient beings lose the chance of salvation because of the refund. I experienced a lot of pressure and difficulties during the process. At the beginning, I paid more attention to my own feelings and self-protection. A phone call was like a battle to me. Gradually, I let go of myself, got rid of my ideas and calmly faced all kinds of attitudes from the audience who requested the refund and cherished every opportunity of talking to them. Looking back, I appreciated Master for giving me the opportunity to save sentient beings. In communicating with the guests, I gradually became friends with them. Some of them are neighbors of millionaires; some have prominent positions and successful careers. Master pushed these special groups in front of me to let me get to know them and listen to their stories. In the meantime, I could talk about the connotation of Shen Yun and the evil CCP. Every communication about ticket purchase, refund, extension was an opportunity to human heart reformation and save the people. Here I want to thank the hotline group and local Shen Yun marketing team members. Last year was the most difficult period for the Shen Yun project, our team members were still able to actively face challenges and cooperate with each other silently to form a whole.
Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/269769
