Cherishing the Opportunities Master Provides While Promoting Divine Performing Arts Shows
By Zhang Yun, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Toronto
(Clearwisdom.net) Last weekend more than sixty Toronto practitioners and
I went to New York City to participate in the promotion and ticket sales
activities for the Divine Performing Arts shows. During this process I came to a
further understanding on the issue of believing in Master and Dafa. I also
became acutely aware of my shortcomings in my personal cultivation. It made me
realize Master's painstaking effort -- to take advantage of the shows, to save
the world's people and give us opportunities again and again, to cultivate
ourselves well. The following are some of the things I have learned, which I
would like to share with fellow practitioners. Please point out any mistakes. The Process of the Human Side Struggling with the Knowing Side As soon as the Mid Autumn Divine Performing Arts Spectacular was over, we
immediately began to sell tickets to the Chinese New Year Spectacular. An
elderly practitioner phoned me after returning from New York, in the middle of
being busy selling tickets. She told me that circumstances there were
challenging and hoped for me to immediately go to New York to participate in
ticket sales. Hearing that, I really wanted to cry. My human side began to
struggle with the knowing side. My knowing side steadfastly said, "I must go to New York to perfect and
harmonize what Master wants." The human side said, "Your husband works the night shift. If you leave,
what about your child? What about the local ticket sales sites that you are
responsible for? You have no more vacation time coming. If you want to take a
leave, you won't get paid. How much money will this cost?" The knowing side said, "Someone will take care of my child and I will
arrange everything at the local ticket sales sites well. Can money be equated to
what Master wants? Can it establish our own mighty virtue?" The human side said, "You are coordinating several ticket sales sites
here. If you go to New York you will only distribute materials on the street.
Thus, you will play a less important role than here. Is it worth going
there?" The knowing side said, "No matter where Dafa disciples are, if only we
put forth effort to do things we can all save sentient beings. Master only looks
at our hearts." The human side said, "The task of selling the tickets locally is heavy.
No matter where you are you can do Dafa work, so it is unnecessary for you to go
there." The knowing side said, "That is only an excuse to hide the human side's
fear of suffering." The human side said, "If the practitioners in New York do not work hard,
you will help the situation little." The knowing side said, "Master said, 'You have grown used to focusing on other people's shortcomings, and never
take examining your own self seriously. When others' cultivation one day meets
with success, what about you? Isn't Master hoping that you are
cultivating well?' ("Teaching the Fa in the City
of Los Angeles") (February 25, 2006) I only listen to Master's words and cultivate myself well." The human side said, "You are so steadfast; I no longer forbid you from
going." Gaining an Insight from My Son's Words and Actions The night before I went to New York my six-year-old son was doing his
homework. He stopped and said to me, "Mom, I feel bad and want to
sleep." I touched his head and found it somewhat hot. I thought, "This
is interference." He noticed I was depressed and said to me, "Today after school, when
Auntie (his classmate's mother) took us home, Daniel (his classmate) swirled me
around, making me feel dizzy. He did not stop, no matter what I said. My head
was also hurt." I asked him, "Didn't you tell Auntie?" He said,
"No." He looked at me and said, "Mom, please don't tell Auntie about
this!" I asked him, "Why?" He said, "If you tell Auntie, she
will punish Daniel and maybe hit him." Hearing that I was pleased with him and ashamed of myself. I was glad to see
my son's compassion for others. I felt ashamed that I had not let go of my
attachment to blaming others. I encouraged my son immediately, "I will not tell her. You did so well
and can be considerate of others. You are really Master's good young
disciple." He was glad to tell me, "Thank you. Please play Master's
lecture for me to listen to. I will get some sleep, and tomorrow I will be well
and continue to do my homework." The next morning he got up and then sat on the stairs and asked me,
"Mom, why is the rotating circle (Falun) so big?" I replied, "
Because you are doing well, so Master is encouraging you and shows you a very
big Falun." He was very glad and said, "It is really very beautiful
and has many colors." (I am regretful I cannot see it.) He sat down and finished his homework, and then went to school on time. This incident made me think of my recent state of mind. When I saw other
practitioners' attachments during ticket sales and heard feedback about
practitioners not doing well and knew of the negative atmosphere for ticket
sales in New York, I would complain in my mind. After these thoughts
accumulated, they affected me and made me worried and unsettled. With notions
such as that, how can I do the job of a ticket sales coordinator well? My son's words and actions gave me great insights: being compassionate to
others is equal to being compassionate to ourselves. I will be full of
compassion in offering sentient beings salvation and filled with strong
righteous thoughts, to go to New York to harmonize what Master wants. Master Gave Me an Opportunity to Make Up a Missed Lesson We boarded the bus at night and arrived in New York the next morning. I took
two elderly practitioners to three subway transfers and finally reached the most
prosperous supermarket near the theater. The passersby were in a hurry. I
shouted quickly, "Holiday Wonders! Christmas Show!" I tried my best to
give every passerby an opportunity to accept my information. Many people did
accept the materials right away. After a long time I had almost finished distributing the materials. The sky
grew cloudy and dark. I debated whether or not we could go back for a rest. An
elderly practitioner said it was 2:00 p.m. I continued distributing materials
for a while and then asked the practitioner the time again. He told me it was
2:30 p.m. At that time I felt that time was going by so slowly. I noticed that
the two elderly practitioners were cordially and compassionately distributing
materials to each passerby. I also noticed that a fellow practitioner dressed as
a Chinese emperor wore the heavy costume and wore a helmet-like crown that
gripped his head tightly. He stood there from early morning and had little rest
and cheerfully distributed the materials to his "subjects." I felt extremely ashamed. I found a huge disparity between the fellow
practitioners and me. I was doing these tasks from the standpoint of wanting to
finish, while those practitioners were doing the work with a compassionate
mindset and from the standpoint of offering sentient beings salvation. I finally persevered in distributing the materials until 6:30 p.m. All the
materials were distributed, and we were hungry. I thought it was time to leave.
Right then, the coordinating practitioner brought ten bundles of special
editions of the Epoch Times newspaper by car and told us, "This
supermarket is open 'till 1:00 a.m." I blurted out, "Should we
distribute the materials until 1:00 a.m.?" The coordinator started to
distribute the materials and then told me, "Let us try our best. It is so
urgent." Seeing other practitioners spontaneously take up the materials and continue
to distribute them to the passersby, I suddenly realized that it was the
opportunity that Master gave me to make up for a missed course, so I should not
miss it. I have had the role of a media reporter to validate the Fa since
I started my cultivation practice. I have heard a lot of praise from fellow
practitioners. For the past few years I have been the ticket sales sites
coordinator. I had done little in distributing materials in Chinatown and being
on duty in front of the consulate. This distribution of flyers on the streets
was a good test. I appreciate the opportunity that Master gave me. One's Cultivation Should Naturally Lead to Compassion and It Is Not Merely
for Show Seeing people accept my handouts with a smile made me think, "You are so
fortunate and know it is precious." Seeing people who walked on by and
looked straight ahead made me think, "You are so miserable. You are missing
the opportunity to see beautiful things." When seeing their disdain and
irritation, I thought, "You are so pitiful. You cannot even discern between
what is good and evil." When I had negative thought processes, fewer and fewer people accepted my
handouts. By contrast, the two elderly practitioners a dozen meters away from me
distributed more and more materials, even though they could not speak
English. When they handed someone a flyer they smiled genuinely and in a gentle
voice spoke two English phrases they just learned, "Holiday Wonders!
Christmas Show!" They emitted a kind of compassionate field that made
people want to accept their handouts. Many people accepted their flyers and then
asked me for further information. When I realized my incorrect thoughts and lack of compassion I sent righteous
thoughts to eliminate my negative mindset and tried my best to smile and show
genuine compassion to everyone. I encountered two fashionable Chinese women. I told them in Chinese,
"Christmas Show! The best Christmas gift! The whole family can go to enjoy
it." Unexpectedly, they looked at me and said, "We are not interested
in it at all." I watched them walk away and a negative thought emerged,
"It is useless to be fashionable. They don't even care about their
traditional culture." Right then someone took a handout about the show from
my hand. I turned around and found a Westerner standing in front of me saying,
"Thank you!" He held the handout and pointed at me with a smile and
then left. His smile reminded me that I should not let my concentration waver
and should do the job without losing focus. I discovered eventually that
whenever I did not concentrate or wanted to see the surroundings, someone would
take the initiative to ask me for materials. I realized the hints and
encouragement that Master gave me, to treat every person with kindness and grasp
the time to offer sentient beings salvation. From my experiences, I have several suggestions: Practitioners who are in
charge of long-term coordination or who are taking time for projects should
participate in the difficult undertaking of ticket sales in New York, personally
distribute materials on the street, and clarify the truth about Dafa
to people and sell tickets door-to-door. In this process you can directly feel
that Master is helping us eliminate the bad substances and attachments that have
long existed and been hidden. When we do repetitious coordination work, we will
find our job easier and more successful and can become complacent. If we think we are too busy with our own projects and have no time to leave
we can ask ourselves, "Would we go if a Fa conference was being held? Would
we go if there was a project meeting and a chance to see Master?" It seems
that under these circumstances we often hurry and go. At these times, why are we
able part with our own projects? Let us all cherish the repeated opportunities Master provides us! The above is my personal understanding. Please point out any mistakes.
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/12/16/168477.html
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