(Clearwisdom.net)Greetings Revered Master, Greetings fellow practitioners!
There are not many Dafa practitioners in Hawaii, but Master gave us precious opportunities to offer people salvation through Shen Yun and New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) projects. Having been entrusted with this by Master, I felt my shortcomings in cultivation and Master's boundless benevolence. My gratitude also helped me see my improvements in the Fa-rectification cultivation.
Today my sharing includes two aspects: my experience in coordinating the Shen Yun project and understanding in working for NTDTV.
1. Trusting practitioners; eliminating the attachment to "worry"
In the past four years I coordinated the local Shen Yun project. From knowing nothing to becoming familiar with the whole project, and during the process of cultivating and cooperating with practitioners as a whole, I have learned a lot under Master's benevolence and care.
The Shen Yun project is an opportunity Master offered us to cultivate ourselves and to save people. A coordinator has lots of important responsibilities. Any mistake a coordinator made could derail the project from the Fa and cause severe damage. From the very beginning when I first became the coordinator for our local Shen Yun project four years ago, I clearly recognized that we could only save people when our heart and mind is aligned the Fa and have the righteous thoughts.
Sometimes I thought it is easier to have faith in Master and the Fa, and harder to coordinate others. But when I thought about it deeper I realized that the reason that I felt it hard to coordinate is because I did not truly have faith in Master and the Fa.
In any project, if the coordinator and participants cannot trust each other, it would definitely have a negative impact on the project. To me, coordinating the Shen Yun project is also a cultivation process in trusting other practitioners. I believe every coordinator has faced the same cultivation issue; sometimes it is easy to trust fellow practitioners, and other times it is really hard. The hardness comes from that I haven’t cultivated to that level, so I don’t have enough compassion and can’t look inward to find my shortcomings.
Let me talk about the easier part first. Though there are not many local Dafa disciples, our first Shen Yun performance had the theater full. This showed us the power of righteous thoughts. In past years, with their pure hearts for Master and the Fa, our local disciples distributed materials to promote the Shen Yun performance and sold tickets. Some of them have jobs; some are at school; yet they devote all their spare time to the Shen Yun project. As coordinator I was moved by practitioners' wholehearted contributions. Only the Fa and Master can push us from an ordinary person to such a sacred status. We can do anything with the Fa.
There were also situations that were not so harmonious or that I couldn’t coordinate. At those moments I would feel uneasy, worrying they would result in a negative impact on the Shen Yun project and our efforts for saving people.
Master told us a long time ago, "If everyone is nice to one another, how do you practice cultivation? " (“A Clear and Clean Mind,” Lecture 9, Zhuan Falun, 2000 Translation) "If assistants did well, students did well, and nobody had any conflicts in this setting, who would be happy? Demons would be happy, and I wouldn’t be." (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference”) Cultivating amid conflicts is what we must face in Dafa cultivation. It presents good opportunities for us to improve.
Though I understood all these, why was I still worrying? Would a Buddha worry? I had a long list of worries – there were conflicts among practitioners, their thoughts were not on the Fa, they did not cooperate, they did not come for Fa study, etc. When I tried to host a Fa study and experience-sharing meeting but did not achieve my expectation, I would blame others. I did not look inward first to find out what it meant for my cultivation. When I felt uneasy about something, didn’t I need to improve in the same area? Wasn't it an attachment when I "purposely" hoped fellow practitioners would react in certain ways? What worried me the most was that our situation as a whole might impact the Shen Yun’s saving people.
I noticed that among fellow practitioners, many conflicts also resulted from their worries, too. "How could you behave like this? This will impact our project!" It was easier for me the think this way since I was a coordinator. I then asked myself: if I didn’t have these worries, would I be more compassionate with practitioners? Would I have less of my own human notions when sharing with others?
These worries reflected my inadequacies. Having worries meant that I was unstable and immature in studying the Fa and cultivation and far from Master's requirements.
Master told us,
“You have gone through great trials and hardships to arrive at where you are today. By all means, you shouldn't let your heart and mind bob about like duckweed, stirred at the first hint of wind.” (“On the Novel The Cosmos's Calamity”)
"Just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." (" Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)", Essentials for Further Advancement II)
"He comes with Truth that gives him free reign,
And travels the four seas with a free and easy spirit." ("Tathagata", Hong Yin Vol. II)
Because of interference from the old forces and evils, I often felt our cultivation was to fight with the evils. Such a state of mind was also reflected in my being harsh toward practitioners and feeling insecure and cautious when coordinating the project. Now the interference from the old forces has become less and less. The major obstacle comes from Dafa disciples' old notions and inadequate cooperation. I think we need to pay more attention in harmonizing the project as a whole and look inward to cultivate.
Now when I worry, I would first eliminate unrighteous thoughts, and then communicate with practitioners to improve together. Cultivating ourselves is something we need to do unconditionally. The more urgent it is to save people, the more important we cultivate ourselves. I am doing my best to eliminate any human notions I have, including "a cultivator should be like this" or "I hope you improve." All I have is the notion of compassion and to cultivate myself.
"A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion. With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy." ("Realms," Essentials For Further Advancement I)
I no longer feel happy about what I can do now; rather, I pay more attention to my shortcomings and the higher requirements in my cultivation. In the meantime I treasure other practitioners more. In the years we have worked together on the Shen Yun project, from their pure and genuine behavior, I see the areas that they do better than I. From their joy for people being saved, I see their greatness, Master's benevolence, and the boundless power of Dafa.
2. Enlarging capacity for doing things; achieving a divine sense of ease
A coordinator must take more responsibilities and make extra efforts. I have countless things to do in my mind, but all these are great opportunities Master offered us to cultivate and improve. I hereby suggest to all practitioners: if you want to cultivate, take more responsibilities. When you take more responsibilities, you need to make more effort. You will learn to focus on the Fa and the project as a whole. When you take more responsibilities, Master will help you to enlarge your capacity.
Four years ago when we first hosted a Shen Yun performance I had no experience at all but faith in Shen Yun and Master. When I heard Master said it is all right if you have no experience, the divine beings know, I was in tears. The second year I had some experience, yet I had to make great efforts with every step. Invisible obstacles were everywhere. I could not see results after we made great effort as a whole. I knew this was an incorrect state, but I did not know how to improve. I worried: What if I could not achieve Consummation though I made such effort? I still remember the day when I was promoting the Shen Yun performance in a mall; all of a sudden I had a firm answer to this question: No matter whether I could achieve Consummation, I will cultivate till the very end! I could not stop my tears at that moment. I know Master helped me eliminate one more attachment.
Since then, when I work on Shen Yun project I have made up my mind to focus and put all my efforts in it, and not to let anything interrupt me.
During the first year of coordinating Shen Yun I could only sit with one leg crossed. I felt pain when sitting with both legs crossed and had to endure the pain with all my strength. When working on the Shen Yun project I felt I did not have any extra capacity in my heart. Since then each year my work load for Shen Yun increased, yet it became easier and easier for me to sit with both legs crossed for an hour. At the beginning I often had to run to get things completed at work. I did not have time to listen to my husband and mother at home. This year, though we only had two months to promote the Shen Yun performance, I noticed I did not have to rush at work anymore. And I had more time to promote Shen Yun in the mall. I used to have a long “to do” list that I couldn’t even remember. But this year I was no longer worrying about it anymore.
Once after the Shen Yun performance I shared with a fellow practitioner my thoughts about the conflicts in the Shen Yun period. I thought I was kind and gentle, yet in return I received lots of severe criticism. For the years working on Shen Yun, the similar situations occurred many times. Sometimes I felt uneasy and wronged. Yet I remembered what Master told us in 2006 "Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles,"
"How many of you seated here can keep at ease when someone points at you out of the blue and berates you? How many of you can stay unruffled and search for the reason on your part when faced with others' criticism and chiding?"
Looking inward I did not eliminate my blame toward fellow practitioners. I lacked sufficient compassion and was unwilling to change; rather I wished to force other practitioners to change in the name of cultivation. Here I want to sincerely thank practitioner for providing me opportunities to cultivate, for being tolerant of me. I also want to thank the other coordinator practitioner for his help and reminder.
From these years in coordinating the Shen Yun project, I changed from taking care of everything to the very detail to realizing that I should change to a different approach: find the joy of emerging into the Fa and the security of putting one's heart/mind in cultivation. My focus is no longer on the result, but on the process, on my cultivation and my trust in others. I am still solidly determined, but I look inward more. I changed from being intense, guarded, and rushing to being patient, accommodating, and calm. My righteous thoughts remain, but they are more certain, easier to use, and closer to the divine.
3. Setting up NTDTV - Cultivating my own invincible "Black Armor Troop"
To be honest, if you ask us whether to set up NTDTV in Hawaii, most of us would say, "We have too few people to do it." This is because if we take it on, we must be professional and responsible for its profitability. However, deities, not humans determine Fa-rectification; it was our human notion saying it was impossible. Master gave us another opportunity. Under the push and efforts from the NTDTV headquarters, NTDTV came to Hawaii in July of 2010. This is great news! Master gave local people more opportunities to be saved.
Here I would like to summarize our local public response to NTDTV and our participating practitioners' understanding. I also included the information provided by NTDTV Hawaii branch president and production group. Our president is responsible for program production. I am responsible for marketing and sales.
Hawaii has about 60,000 people with Chinese heritage. There was one Chinese TV station broadcasting programs from China and Taiwan; it is a paid channel and has limited customers. Last year NTDTV joined Times Warner's digital cable channel. It didn’t charge additional fees. This greatly helped us in promoting NTDTV.
The person who is responsible for NTDTV promotion was very enthusiastic. We put on advertisements and published articles in a local Chinese newspaper. Many fellow practitioners joined the promotion. Distributing flyers and putting up posters are our specialty. The number of NTDTV customers grew rapidly. Now we can tell people NTDTV is the largest Chinese TV station in Hawaii.
I got a phone call from an NTDTV viewer at the beginning of this year. He asked where he could learn Falun Gong. He said he learned about Falun Gong in an NTDTV program and was interested in cultivation. Now he is studying the Fa and doing the exercises. Sometime we hear people quoting NTDTV programs when discussing issues about China. We feel really happy and gratified. There are also some negative reactions from some Chinese, but they are all watching and talking about it. As long as they keep watching the CCP’s poisonous factors in their minds will gradually be eliminated.
In addition to promoting NTDTV, we need to produce local programs and generate sales; our long-term goal is financial profitability. This is a great challenge for us practitioners in Hawaii, because we do not have many people. Currently we formed a production team of four practitioners, providing one news piece for NTDTV headquarters each week. The production team is quickly improving their technical skills and confidence. In the meantime, the process of making news programs is also a good opportunity to connect with the local community and establish relationships with people. Recently at the end of a governor's public conference many media surrounded the governor to interview him. Our production team couldn’t get close, so just waited outside. Suddenly the governor left the crowd and walked to our camera. When we told him we were NTDTV, a Chinese media, the governor said he had heard of us. He took our interview happily. At the end the governor congratulated us on the one-year anniversary of NTDTV Hawaii branch.
Our production team understands that as long as we go out to do things, Master will arrange opportunities for people to come to us. Appearing in front of people in our community is the best way to introduce NTDTV to more people.
Our sales and marketing just got started. I am currently the "coordinator," with no one to coordinate. I once hoped others could take the responsibility of sales. I also heard that one could only do sales well by doing it full time. At the beginning of the year, we needed to start working on sales. I realized that I must quickly improve in cultivation. First I must overcome the notion that "I don't have time" and "sales must be done by being full-time.” I need to grow into a divine being! Didn’t I memorized the following for a long time?
"When disciples have ample righteous thoughts,
Master has the power to turn back the tide."
("The Master-Disciple Bond" in Hong Yin Vol. II )
Why didn’t I put this into practice?
I recently signed our first advertising contract for NTDTV. Though the contract amount was small, it was very encouraging. The client said he wanted to work with us because he "saw the future of NTDTV." Shouldn't we Dafa disciples firmly believe in the future of NTDTV?
How can I do well for both Shen Yun and NTD? My everyday people’s job also needs more attention now. I do not know exactly how to do it all, but I believe that there must be a way. I can image what is required of me: being focused and at ease by being assimilated into the Fa and magnanimous and righteous. I feel as if I can sense the unstoppable power of Yue Fei's army, harder to shake than the mountain, or the invincible "Black Armor Troop" of Emperor Tang Taizong. I tell myself: Master has arranged precious opportunities for us to cultivate, and I cannot push them away!
We all know how fortunate we are to cultivate in the Fa-rectification period. With the busy Dafa projects and conflicts among practitioners, our initial joy when attaining the Fa no longer exists and we often feel the pressure of having too much to do and the emergence of human notions. I was clouded with this shadow of fatigue once. I wrote this article with the wish that we can all abandon this suppressing material, and regain the joy of cultivation and a divine sense of ease.
Above are my limited personal understandings. Please kindly point out any gaps.
Thank you Master! Thank you everyone!
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