(Clearwisdom.net) When I learned that some practitioners in my country adopted the idea to invite the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) company to perform here, my feelings were somewhat mixed. On the one hand, I wanted to have the DPA show here, but on the other, I was a bit afraid whether this wish was realistic, due to our lack of human and financial resources. I felt a bit uneasy when a small group of local practitioners took the first steps towards the goal. They booked a venue and started to look for sponsors after determining the sum we needed to secure. At that time my thoughts were somewhat skeptical and I doubted we could succeed in finding such an amount of money. Weeks and weeks were passing by and when the deadline for securing the sponsorship money came, it was clear that we managed to obtain only a small percentage of the sum we intended to obtain.
Despite this, the main coordinators decided to continue with the plan to hold the performance in our country. During the preparations so far, I noticed one thing: although those practitioners who were involved in approaching potential sponsors gave themselves wholeheartedly to the task, and it seemed that they reached their personal standard of a practitioner, because the second part of our group didn't have sufficient righteous thoughts, the goal at this human level was not achieved. I felt that the situation was different from the past, where just a few practitioners was usually enough to accomplish any Dafa project. It started to be clear to me - if this huge undertaking could ever succeed, the crucial thing was to unite our whole group of practitioners and progress together. After learning that the main contracts were going to be signed, I didn't feel very good, seeing how our group was divided with different opinions. So I asked the chief coordinator to postpone the preparations for a few days and suggested that we should hold a meeting first with all the practitioners. He agreed.
The situation was critical. There were only six weeks left. After studying the Fa together, we all sat in a circle, and then talked one after another - each of us had to tell whether we really wanted the performance and how we could help. I felt the solemnity of that situation, like being amidst a great historical moment. I could feel the enormous energy from our being united and focused in our minds to the common goal.
Negating the interference
At that meeting, I felt as something was broken through and everything took a swift course afterwards: the contracts were signed and the selling of tickets could start. As soon as I truly decided to join, I felt a strong energy as well as a strong pressure of responsibility for the success of this undertaking. Oftentimes, I had to strengthen my resolve and my righteous thoughts to endure the pressure, while the whole situation required me to upgrade my xinxing as well. In one moment I felt a strong pressure from other dimensions and in my mind a spontaneous thought towards old forces emerged: "If you interfere with me due to my personal attachments, you can do it if you think it will help, but I absolutely forbid you to interfere with something as sacred as the DPA performance. If you do anything against it, in that moment I will apply on you the principle of immediate retribution in this lifetime. In that very second you will be destroyed completely and all the interference dissolved!" Even I was surprised how strong such one thought could be. Shortly afterwards, two verses from the poem "Benevolent Might" (Hong Yin I) showed up in my mind: "A great Arhat walks the earth, Gods and demons fear with awe". I managed to keep this state of mind for about two weeks and during this time I really didn't meet with any serious problems. Later on that thought became weaker and some obstacles appeared accordingly.
Selling tickets
Our coordinators decided that half the tickets would be sold through the agency and the second half the practitioners would sell themselves. It turned out to be a good decision since it made us even more involved and united our group even further. As I started with the selling to my friends and family, one attachment emerged soon afterwards: "OK, some of my friends will buy the tickets from me, but what if they will not like the performance, wouldn't they develop bad thoughts towards me?" To overcome it, I had to strengthen my understanding about the greatness of the DPA show and increase my conviction about its quality. And it was the direct selling of tickets which helped me to gain this understanding.
Another thing I came to understand is, that although many everyday people were helping us, we practitioners are the main players on the scene and we need to support those people continuously so everything can go smoothly. We can't leave any gaps or have the passive mentality of wishful thinking or relying on others.
As the preparations continued, I understood more and more that the DPA is currently the main project of the Fa rectification, Master's wish and the cosmic climate, and if my mind would harmonize with this cosmic climate, there was nothing we could not accomplish. It's like what Master says in the Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Canada:
"The wishes of the great high-level gods are the cosmic climate. The actions of all the gods are the specific manifestations of that cosmic climate. Those gods are all upholding the will of heaven."
For example, if I thought about the people in society with such a mind harmonized with this cosmic climate, I immediately thought about selling tickets to them and imagined a fully occupied auditorium with no seats left. I felt my mind radiating wishes synchronized with this cosmic climate towards everyday people, for example: "The DPA performance is something very popular nowadays, I should visit it as well," or "It would be a loss to not see such a great show. There are fewer and fewer tickets left, let's buy one quickly," or "Better to buy my ticket sooner than too late, why risk it selling out? I will book one today". I kept such thoughts in my mind for the whole time and tried to spread them among people. Of course, in addition to having such thoughts I was also selling the tickets directly, since righteous thoughts and righteous actions must go hand in hand. It was interesting that the pace of ticket selling was similar to that concept in my mind, and we sold all the tickets in about one month.
One member of my family wished to see the show, but just a few days before the performance, she encountered some symptoms of illness. I realized immediately: "Interference!" At that moment, I saw the evilness of the old forces thinking - they themselves couldn't ever accomplish something as majestic as the DPA show, and what's more, this family member didn't have a very positive stance towards Dafa yet, so the performance could have been the only chance for her to be saved. But the old forces still looked for excuses to prevent her from attending. How despicable! My sentiment towards the family member quickly evolved to compassion towards all beings, and I saw how the old forces endanger the salvation of sentient beings. In that moment I realized more deeply why Master asks us to completely negate the old forces' arrangements: It's not because we don't want to be persecuted, nor because we wish everything will go smoothly and we don't want to have any obstacles. No. I negate the old forces' interference because it is unsuitable and unacceptable. I negate the old forces' interference because I can't allow it to unnecessarily ruin the sentient beings and let it interfere with the Fa rectification - their sole chance to enter the future.
Conclusion
The DPA company finally came and the performance itself was very successful. Just before the end, I entered the auditorium in the balcony and when I saw the curtain going up and down three times, and the auditorium full of people standing and waving to our artists, I felt happy for them. They accepted the DPA and recognized the goodness of Dafa. Our efforts were not in vain.
If I have to summarize my experiences, during the preparation of the DPA performance, I developed three main righteous thoughts - first, we are one body, doing the things together, and we reject all conflict between us, second, the auditorium will be sold out and all the predestined people would buy tickets, and third, any evil who would want to interfere with DPA will be immediately destroyed and not allowed to act.
The above mentioned are only my personal understandings; please point out anything improper. Thank you.