(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, Revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
The first time I saw a Shen Yun show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, I had a feeling that Master was revealing to human beings what Heaven looked like, and I knew right away that Shen Yun would be the best show since its debut.
The first few years that I worked promoting Shen Yun, I saw poor results, even though I devoted a tremendous amount of time to the effort. But I eventually realized my problem: I knew little about people’s wants and preferences. When I spoke to prospective audience members, all I did was eagerly tell them how good the program was and hoped to persuade them to buy tickets. I never thought to ask if they had seen similar shows before or how familiar they were with traditional Chinese culture. In a nutshell, I didn’t know that I should find out people’s likes [and dislikes], and I failed to think from their perspective. Master taught us to always think of other people first, but I neglected to put myself in other people’s shoes.
A Western practitioner commented that he suddenly found he no longer knew how to speak to everyday people, and non-practitioners couldn’t understand his cultivation jargon-filled comments. Hearing this, I realized I had exactly the same problem. Ever since I began cultivation I had cut off contact with my non-practitioner friends, feeling it was a waste of time hanging out with people with whom I had no common interests/language. The very few new people I became acquainted with later on I chose not to stay in touch with since they didn’t practice Falun Gong. I looked down on non-practitioners for the way they conducted themselves and only preferred to be around practitioners. Fa study eventually made me realize that I lacked compassion when I felt superior to non-practitioners simply because I was able to cultivate. I began to see how hard it would be to offer sentient beings salvation if I kept losing touch with everyday people.
I decided to take classes to learn how to socialize and hold conversations. These seminars were really helpful. Some of the participants were high-level corporate managers, and I got to promote Shen Yun to them. I also didn’t spare the instructors, one of whom even played the Shen Yun Performing Arts intro video during a class break. I gradually added more people to my contacts.
Still, I felt it was too slow getting to know people this way. It just so happened that a practitioner was able to befriend some influential people through her continuous efforts, and she began to introduce me to her social circle. As I followed her to attend different activities I got to make a few new friends who further enabled me to participate in even more events. I loved to exchange business cards with people I met, since this way I could keep in touch with them and let them know about Shen Yun when it was time.
Some of my friends included me on their email lists, so I also received a lot of information on upcoming events at their respective organizations. Sometimes there were so many emails that I could barely handle them. But I worked for our own family business, so I had more flexibility. Two months before the Shen Yun show in our area, I thought I would take a leave so I could focus all my energy on promotion. Then some changes occurred with my job arrangements. I was able to still work and make money, but all from the comfort of my home. Not having to go to my workplace, I had total control of my time. Thank you, Master, for your arrangement that allowed me enough time to go wherever there were events at which I could promote Shen Yun. I would like to share a few things that happened during that time.
Last summer I met a recreation division manager of one of the top five wealthiest cities in the country. I was the playing Shen Yun Performing Arts intro video at the city’s 200th anniversary celebration party when he approached me, saying he had watched the show before. I asked him how he felt about it and he replied, “Great!” I invited him to join me for lunch and spoke with him about Falun Gong for more than two hours. I focused on Falun Gong since he had already seen Shen Yun. He sent me an email afterwards, saying that he believed nothing in this world happens by accident. This year he helped me place Shen Yun flyers in all of the 12 entertainment centers he’s in charge of. He also kept introducing me to other people and providing me with information on his city’s upcoming community events. Later I learned that his city sold the most Shen Yun tickets in our area.
I really wanted to introduce Shen Yun to this city government. I attended a Vietnamese lunch party and saw an African-American leaving not long after my arrival. I quickly caught up with him and struck up a conversation. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was talking to the human resources department director of my target city. He had the information of everyone in the city government who might be interested in watching the show. As it turned out, he helped me spread the word about Shen Yun to all the 2,000 municipal employees.
I learned from another practitioner that a certain organization was about to hold a meeting. This organization had close ties to China, and its members were very interested in Chinese culture. Sensing that we may find a potential show audience there, another practitioner and I attended the meeting. After the meeting was over we approached the host to introduce ourselves. She was happy to know that we had brought Shen Yun flyers with us and urged us to hand them out before everyone left. It turned out that her whole family had seen the show before and was very impressed with the performance. We found her again after she was done taking care of her business and learned that she, a lawyer by training, was on the board of the organization. We expressed to her our desire to recommend Shen Yun to everyone in her organization and to offer everyone the opportunity to know more about Chinese culture. She couldn’t believe it when we also told her what the Chinese Community Party did to sabotage Shen Yun and prevent people from seeing the show. After we enumerated a few facts, she became convinced. She promised us she would talk to the organization's director and try her best to encourage everyone and their families to go see the show. She said, “I think they should be interested. What a wonderful program!”
Not long after she informed me of this, her organization also experience CCP interference. They received a letter defaming Shen Yun and threatening everyone to not watch the show. Afraid of offending the CCP and inviting trouble in future dealings with China, her organization's director decided to withdraw his support and discouraged any ticket purchases. She reasoned with him and urged him to stand up for justice and not cave in to the CCP. She told me, “I said to my husband that I would sever my relationship with the organization if they really did this.” Realizing she was truly a person of conscience, I encouraged her to try again and also let her know that the CCP only dared to target cowards, and the more they were afraid of the CCP, the more it would bully them. She indicated that she would talk to her director again.
Several days later she told me that her director had changed his mind after their second conversation, and they were getting ready to post Shen Yun show information on their website. Quite a few families in the organization, including the six members of her family, later bought Shen Yun tickets.
Another time when I attended a luncheon at a high-end club, I met a 75-year-old lady who looked decades younger than her age. As soon as she laid eyes on the Shen Yun flyers, she showed great interest. She assured me that not only would she attend the show, but she would also get more people to join her. Several days later when I saw her again and brought up the topic of Falun Gong, she said immediately that she wanted to cultivate. I opened up the Falun Dafa website for her, to see the exercise demonstration. That evening she took me to a gathering of her club friends and helped me introduce Shen Yun to everyone after the meeting was over. Quite a few people from the club indeed went to the show.
Earlier this year I invited this lady and her daughter to my house to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my family. I was surprised to discover that her daughter actually worked for a public relations firm in DC. The younger woman gave me a lot of suggestions on how to promote Shen Yun and how to find sponsors. She even offered to get me contacts.
Master said in “Lecture in Sydney,” “Gain naturally without pursuit.”
Nothing we do ends up in vain. Master will certainly bring people with predestined relationships to us as long as we keep doing Dafa work.
Master said in “My Thanks to Sentient Beings Who Have Sent Greetings,” “Dafa disciples are the sole hope of salvation for the beings in each region and each nation.”
Knowing that Shen Yun, a show Master and numerous performers had devoted so much time and efforts to, could be the means to rescue almost anyone who saw the performance, I kept thinking what a disgrace it would be and how we would disappoint Master if we couldn’t get enough people into the theater.
I did everything I could to get into places where mainstream people tended to gather. Noticing that many churches hold Christmas concerts during the holiday season, I figured the concert-goers must enjoy dance and music, so I began to attend their concerts. I went to a church concert near my home and saw the auditorium filled to capacity with several hundred people who were well-dressed and exuded confidence and elegance, no less than those who frequent The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
I pondered how to introduce Shen Yun to the audience and knew I would find a way to spread the word. After the concert concluded, I went the lobby and handed out Shen Yun flyers. Everyone I spoke with was happy to accept a flyer and kept saying, “Thank you.” The lobby was about empty, but I still didn’t see anyone from the choir itself. Since there was another concert after the first one, I decided to stay longer to find an opportunity to see them. I went inside the auditorium and saw the band and the choir having lunch. I approached them and gave each of them a Shen Yun flyer.
I figured the band conductor was also the orchestra director, so I found him to tell him I enjoyed his music program very much and also gave him a Shen Yun flyer, indicating my desire for everyone in his orchestra to see our show. As we were talking, a middle-aged woman came up and kept complimenting me on the traditional Chinese outfit I was wearing that day. It turned out she was the conductor's wife. I knew right away Master brought her to me, seeing my mind's desire to introduce Shen Yun to them. I went to the church three more times to visit her.
Once the Shen Yun show season began, I was too busy to even think of her, though. To my surprise, she suddenly called me one Saturday afternoon, saying, “I just realized the show is almost over and I don’t want to miss it. Can you get me two tickets, please? I want to sit right next to you.” I immediately searched online and found two tickets for $200 each. She said, “As long as I can sit next to you, I don’t mind the $200 price.” She brought a violinist to see the show with her. This incident gave me a better understanding of what Master said in Zhuan Falun, “Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.” As long as our heart/mind is in the right place, Master can help us with anything.
During that time promoting Shen Yun, I truly felt Master was always by side, offering protection and guidance. As long as we do things righteously, Master’s Fashen is omnipotent in other dimensions and will bring to us people we want to get in touch with, and also enable them to take the initiative to contact us.
There were times when I slacked off and found excuses to shop for clothes and jewelry. Once I went to a major jewelry exhibit and spent several hours there, admiring the many items of good quality and reasonable prices. When I returned home I found water dripping down from the ceiling and knew right away that I had omissions. I shouldn’t have spent so much time shopping, and I felt terrible that I let Master and Dafa down.
Recently I thought [again] about believing in Master and Dafa. No Dafa disciple disbelieves in Master and Dafa, but to what degree do we place our trust in Master and Dafa? Is it 100%, or less than 100% ? Dafa disciples in China are risking their lives to rescue sentient beings every day, but we overseas Chinese practitioners have it so much better. Where is the difficulty promoting the world-class Shen Yun show? Isn’t it our not doing enough that is responsible for less than ideal show ticket sales?
Master said in “Be More Diligent,”
“There is one point that you’re all very clear on: history’s being able to progress to this day, here in this world, is precisely because it was reserved for Dafa disciples to save sentient beings, as this chapter of history exists expressly for Dafa disciples’ success and so that you may fulfill your vows. Of course, it’s not solely about your pledges and fulfilling your vows. It’s also tied to the Fa-rectification and the fate of the immeasurable lives of this cosmos—something that huge. If you can do a good job with what you are supposed to do, everything in the Three Realms will go well and the interference that Master faces in the process of rectifying the Fa will be less.”
Let’s all keep righteous thoughts. Let’s promote Shen Yun with our hearts/minds unmoved and focus on the process, not results. Even everyday people know the principle that efforts are up to human beings, but the outcomes are determined by a higher power. We know all too well the importance of Dafa disciples’ thoughts. If we all work harder toward the common goal—to offer sentient beings salvation—how can we not succeed? I have no doubt our continuous efforts and smooth cooperation will enable more and more sentient beings to see Shen Yun and ensure their eventual salvation.
All the things I mentioned above would have been impossible without practitioners’ cooperation and assistance. I will be more diligent and devote all I have to promote Shen Yun in DC and bring in more people to watch Shen Yun. I will not let Master down in His painstaking salvation efforts for me, and I will fulfill my vow with righteous thoughts and righteous actions.
Thank you, Master. Thank you, practitioners.