(Minghui.org) Greetings, revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I started practicing Falun Dafa in 2005, and in 2014 I began helping Shen Yun during its tours in Spain. I coordinate laundry during the Shen Yun tour, and I feel a responsibility and obligation to carry out this work as professionally as possible. I have always been very demanding about how the other practitioners and I take care of the company’s costumes and clothing. However, this level of strictness caused me discomfort, and I also realized that the other practitioners were unhappy with me. My strong attachment to myself made me believe that only I could do this job well.
I soon realized that the other practitioners also once vowed to help with this task. They also have abilities and are part of this mission. I have learned to be one among them and to let go of the thought that I am better than others at this task. I have been able to see the greatness of other practitioners, and as a result, my strictness has gradually dissolved. I have now learned to be more compassionate.
During the tour, which lasted more than a month, there were many tests involving attachments that I could not let go of, including the attachments to giving orders, showing off, seeking recognition, being the best, and pursuing fame. I feel this was a very decisive and mind-opening tour. Every moment was a test; every second, every word, every gesture, and every experience showed me something I needed to learn in order to remain physically and mentally well.
In one of the cities on the tour, my attachment to perfectionism was especially prominent. I realized that I had been overly demanding of my fellow practitioners and felt that they did many things incorrectly. I thought, “Shen Yun is perfect, and everything must be done perfectly.” I was very impatient and tried to do everything myself because I considered myself better than others. I also realized that I had a strong attachment to showing off.
This realization helped me put myself in my fellow practitioners’ shoes. I felt that I was overwhelming them with my extreme perfectionism and understood that I needed to trust them more.
My ordinary job is in a laundry facility, and to my surprise, I experienced situations that reminded me of where my fellow practitioners stand while helping with Shen Yun’s costumes. This helped me to eliminate my attachment to myself and stop believing that I was better than others, because they are also fulfilling their roles in assisting Shen Yun and obtaining mighty virtue.
My ordinary work helps me understand that no one is better than anyone else. Everyone is capable, and if we don’t know something, we learn the skill. I am grateful for this wonderful opportunity Master has given me to eliminate this attachment and to become humble.
This understanding was not the result of sudden enlightenment. Rather, I gradually enlightened to it by looking within and examining myself after helping in each city. My goal is to look within and pay attention to every thought whenever a test arises, so that I can improve more quickly and better serve during the Shen Yun tour.
During this year’s tour, I learned to tolerate others even though I was very demanding. I had always acted as though I was holding a stick to punish fellow practitioners if they didn’t do things my way. But I learned to accept them, see the good in them, and recognize their strengths.
Our laundry work offers cultivation opportunities. We should only have positive thoughts. We must focus on the work without thinking badly of anyone. This is crucial, as there is no room for relaxation. I cannot let down my guard or entertain negative thoughts. If I think badly about something or someone, things begin to go wrong. The machines stop working, clothes do not get washed, the electrical generator trips, and so on. I must remain calm, peaceful, and confident, and I must convey that confidence to my fellow practitioners.
When I expect everything to go smoothly but something goes wrong, it is again a test for my heart, for example, when a fellow practitioner says something I don’t like, or I find myself in an uncomfortable situation. Everything is fine if I am aligned with the Fa. The best thing that can happen to me is to be uncomfortable, even though my human mind seeks comfort. But I have realized that comfort is the wrong path.
Discomfort and difficulty are cultivation opportunities. But my human mind only wants comfort and always seeks the easiest way. My attachments are so strong! I still have not fully learned this lesson and I still want to be comfortable.
My attachments still would not let go and I was critical of others. The true path is enduring with compassion. The more uncomfortable things became, the more attachments I could see in myself. A single word or gesture could shake me, caused by my deep attachment to comfort and my unwillingness to face my attachments. They were so obvious that I could have seen them in a mirror, yet it is difficult to see them when you believe yourself to be above others.
One of my team members often pointed out my shortcomings and attachments. I disliked this greatly because I felt I was better than her. Her words were like a stab to my ego. But it was a tremendous cultivation opportunity.
My envy, resentment, and a competitive mentality intensify whenever she pointed something out, and my attachment to seeing myself as the best felt deeply wounded. I realized that I needed greater compassion. With genuine compassion, everything could flow smoothly, and I could dissolve my attachment to myself enough to examine my shortcomings. It was my ego that prevented me from improving.
Master said:
“In the past, cultivators would remove attachments one after another. But in your case, almost all of your attachments remain while they are weakened and lessened one layer at a time, weakened and lessened continually, further and further. That’s the approach that I have taken with you, and it allows our Dafa disciples to live normally among ordinary people prior to achieving consummation and to save people in a normal manner while being one of them. At the same time, precisely because your human thoughts haven’t been fully removed, it allows you to cultivate against their interference, and if you can stay alert and cultivate yourself at all times, and fulfill your responsibilities as a Dafa disciple, that is mighty virtue and is simply extraordinary. And that is your path.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XIII)
I now understand this and want to improve. My ego was like a dome that hovered over my head for a long time. Under that dome were hidden many emotions and feelings, including shame, fear, concern about what others would say or think of me, complaints, and more complaints. But I now realize that this was not my true self. It was only the part that needed to be discarded—the human part.
I feel that if one day I can genuinely be happy seeing others enjoying themselves, eating, or laughing, without feeling envy, then the gates of heaven will open for me. But I often wonder how I can change this feeling.
My envy was stirred up from the moment I woke up until I went to bed. Everything I saw and heard seemed permeated by envy. For example, regarding my attachment to food, when we went to the dining hall and I saw food on the trays, I hurried to take it in case someone else took my favorite dish. I envied those who could eat something delicious that I could not have.
Sometimes, when a fellow practitioner looked especially beautiful that day, I envied her beauty. I also envied practitioners who could sit in meditation peacefully for an hour in full lotus position. Because of my attachment to comfort, I have never been able to keep the full lotus position for a full hour.
I am now happy, however, because I have found a solution to the envy. I stop thinking about myself and instead think about others, and stop focusing on desires for things I cannot have and instead rejoice in what others have. With this mindset, I found the key to overcoming envy, and my compassion for others has expanded.
As soon as Shen Yun arrives in Spain, I begin thinking about everything that was needed for the laundry work. I try to put myself in the dancers’ and musicians’ shoes so that I can anticipate their needs at every moment. To do this, I need a state of complete righteousness and mental clarity.
Although many unexpected situations arise in laundry work, I sometimes feel that the gods help me maintain a clear mind and know what needs to be done. We never know what garments will arrive, especially while the show is in progress. A torn piece of fabric, a stained skirt, or any number of issues may suddenly appear and need immediate attention. For this reason, our minds must remain calm and clear. It is a magical environment, but that magic can disappear when negative thoughts arise from attachments, human notions, or envy.
It is important to maintain righteous thoughts so that there is no interference, because otherwise anything could happen. For example, one day while washing costumes outside the theater, one of the machines swallowed more money than it should have. I believe this happened because I had negative thoughts toward a practitioner who was supposed to help us with the machines but did not come.
Another day, after the washing cycle ended, the washing machine door would not open. After ten minutes of trying, I had to call the facility manager to solve the problem. In both situations, I discovered that the root cause was either my fear of not knowing how to handle the situation or my negative thoughts about others. I understand that Master gives us tests so that we can solve them by looking within rather than outward.
I constantly worried about losing even a single sock that belonged to the dancers, which I recognize as an attachment to fear. I knew they had no time to go shopping, and used their socks until the end of the tour, and depended on us to mend holes and keep pairs together.
Every item of clothing must be labeled with its owner’s name to prevent anything from being lost when it is washed. I considered this extremely important. Each dancer’s socks were placed in a mesh bag for washing so they would not be lost or mixed up. Afterward, they were placed in the dryer, and if they were not completely dry they were hung in a drying cabinet.
One day, a dancer came to collect his socks, and we could not find them. We searched everywhere—the dryer, the cabinet, the washing machine—but there was no trace of them. We checked the drying cabinet three times, and they were not there. A practitioner checked again and saw nothing. The cabinet was empty, and we did not know what to tell the dancer. The practitioner and I were very upset. We thought perhaps another dancer had taken them by mistake.
Later, my fellow practitioner checked the cabinet again and was astonished to find the socks hanging there. It was inexplicable. There was no other clothing in the cabinet. How could we have missed them? We were truly astonished. I looked inward and realized that my fear of losing a sock may have been the cause. Fear is a powerful attachment that can even block our eyesight. If we truly have righteous thoughts why should we be afraid?
Our laundry team now consists of five people, and each person specializes in a particular task. One handles sewing, one irons shirts, one repairs and irons delicate costumes, one manages washing and drying, and another sorts and labels sportswear. Each person has become an expert in her task. It is truly wonderful.
We built a strong team in which everyone dedicates their time and effort to what they do best. I gradually eliminated my attachment to excessive demands, rigidity, and perfectionism. I learned to trust my fellow practitioners, and as a result, this tour was calmer than previous ones.
I would like to add that writing this experience sharing helped me see my deepest attachments more clearly. I also hope it may help other practitioners on their cultivation path.
I would appreciate it if anyone could point out anything I have said that is not in line with the Fa.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2026 European Fa Conference)