(Clearwisdom.net) Montreal Falun Gong practitioners were quite active in selling tickets to the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) show. They sold over 96 percent of the tickets. We wish to share with fellow practitioners our experiences selling tickets at large shopping malls.
1. Sentient Beings Are Waiting to Buy Tickets
We began to sell tickets long before the DPA show dates. First we distributed fliers, put up posters, and advertised in the newspaper and on television. This effort had some effect on ticket sales. Then, on weekends, we set up sales booths in several shopping centers. Alas, we fell short of our ticket sales goal.
I was worried the first time I had to sell tickets, because I was not fluent in English and had never been involved in such an effort. But I let go of this fear early on and sold several tickets on my first day. It didn't seem as difficult as I had expected, and I acted under the assumption that people who wanted to buy tickets would certainly come to our table. The second time I went to another shopping center where my first customer asked about the prices before I could get two words in edgewise. I showed her the seating chart, and she bought tickets without batting an eye.
Unfortunately, two weeks before the show, more than half of the tickets were unsold. We decided to sell tickets throughout the entire week. I was not of much help as I had final exams. By that time, I was a rather worried.
One evening I had a dream. The show was about to begin and the practitioners were assigning different jobs to different people. I checked the assignment list and found my name in front of two Chinese characters that stood for "money collector." That seemed a bit strange and I thought, "Collecting what money?" After I woke up I enlightened that this was a hint from Teacher.
On the surface we are involved in sales, but we are actually just waiting for sentient beings to come, pay, and pick up their tickets. Teacher has arranged everything. If we only think about different marketing methods to get people to buy tickets, then we are relying on human standards, so there will be no supernormal effect.
2. Let Joy Be Found in Hardship
After my exams, I again sold tickets in shopping malls for over a month, except for Christmas and New Year's Day. I didn't want to miss any predestined people, so I rested little and ate simple meals. Sometimes my legs were sore, but the minute I thought that Teacher was beside me I could continue selling tickets.
I was selling tickets almost daily, but other practitioners took turns. Therefore, I became a leader in this effort. I mulled over every detail from the handover of the shift to the position of each practitioner, the tidiness of the table, and the improvement of ticket selling procedures. I also made sure that other practitioners had eaten before I took a break.
Teacher said in his first poem "Tempering the Will " in Hong Yin, "Let joy be found in hardship." That is just how I felt. There was no comparison between the persecution practitioners were suffering in China and this little bit of hardship we endured.
3. Eliminate Interference
At the beginning of our ticket sales effort at the shopping centers a severe snowstorm hit our local area. Not many people came to the shopping mall. This was interference! So, we sent righteous thoughts and we broke the record of all our prior ticket sales.
After Christmas, there were fewer shoppers in the mall, but we still had some tickets to sell. We were extremely tired and some practitioners had sickness symptoms. However, we kept righteous thoughts and continued to sell tickets in ten malls. To our surprise, at the malls we thought ticket sales would be slow, it turned out just the opposite, and the number of tickets sold at the box office increased.
My family did not understand why I went to the shopping malls to sell tickets. I explained that the purpose of the Divine Performing Arts show was to save people. At first, I thought maybe I talked at too high a level, but with the support of Teacher they understood, and this interference was eliminated. Despite much interference our determination to sell tickets at the malls never wavered, and our sending strong thoughts was quite effective.
4. Sentient Beings Are Waiting for Us
While selling tickets, I realized that the predestined people were waiting for us. My English was not good, yet the people who bought tickets from me bought them after just a few words. I helped them complete their decision quickly, collected the money, and looked for the next person with a predestined relationship. I didn't talk much, because I understood that those who had bought the tickets were already blessed.
The predestined people took notice of us when they passed our table, so we talked to them about the show. We should not judge people solely by their appearance. Those who looked very ordinary would often buy the most expensive tickets, and those wearing fancy clothes would often pass without noticing us. I met an older couple whose clothes looked ancient and worn out, but they wanted to buy the most expensive tickets.
Some people did not buy the tickets right away but listened to the information. After talking it over with their families they would return and buy the tickets. Some people listened attentively to us although they did not buy any tickets.
We could introduce Falun Dafa and talk about the persecution. Sometimes we met people with predestined relationships. The show helped us expose the crimes committed by the Chinese Communist Party and about the destruction of traditional Chinese culture. People wondered if the show originated in China, and this would give us a way to tell our side of the persecution. Almost everyone would understand and therefore they positioned themselves even though they did not see the show.
I felt that sentient beings were waiting to see the Divine Performing Arts show. I know that Teacher arranged all of this. Therefore, these people were not ordinary people but those with very strong predestined relationships. What we were doing was simply finding these people.
