(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, Honorable Master!
Greetings, everyone!
I am very fortunate today to share my cultivation experience of joining the Divine Land Marching Band. Please advise me if anything is inappropriate.
It was due to Master's compassion and forgiveness that I was able to join the Divine Land Marching Band. At the beginning of this year, I had a dream. In my dream, Master told me that this is a special year for me. At that time I had no idea that I would join the Divine Land Marching Band.
Several years ago, because I was not able to let go my attachments, I bred demons in my own mind, creating a big tribulation for myself. I tripped and had a big fall. I almost lost the opportunity to cultivate and died. After I became clear-minded, I was facing tremendous pressure mentally, physically, and financially. During that period of time, the person who was truly looking after me, and helping me to get over it step by step, was our benevolent and mighty Master. During the Fa conference in Chicago in 2004, Master said,
"How I look at things is different from how you or the world's people do. When a human being sees someone make a mistake he finds it almost unforgivable. But I don't look at things that way. I look at an entire being overall, and even when there's just one thread of hope, I'll give him hope." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference")
Hearing that, I could not stop my tears. It was during that period of picking myself up that I deeply experienced how benevolent our Master is and how fortunate we are as Dafa disciples. When I was trying out for the band, I apologized to Master. Master asked why. I said that I experienced a big tribulation, listening to things I shouldn't have. Master said compassionately, "Master only remembers the good part of you."
In my office there were three people playing trumpets. When they practiced, they told me about the formation of the Divine Land Marching Band. I didn't ask them any more about it, and since no one asked me to join, I thought it might not be for me. At the time we were so busy with the spectacular, I thought I shouldn't divide my attention with a new project.
The band's first public performance was in the New York Chinese New Year parade. I was amazed and deeply touched by the scene. People in the band wore uniforms, and it felt like a whole body. The tremendous energy emitted by them shocked heaven and earth. I was deeply interested in this group, and wanted to be part of it.
Since Master came to Manhattan and spoke about the trumpet, I noticed that people were playing the trumpet everywhere, on the street, in the subway, etc. And I noticed that the sound of the trumpet was very special. It didn't sound like any other instruments. There is a practitioner in my office who plays the trumpet very well. The first time I heard her play I was fascinated. I felt like the sound was not like any sound from the human world. There was another practitioner who practiced the trumpet very hard. I was touched by his hard work. Later I could not help but join them and practice together.
On one occasion the band was practicing in Manhattan, and I joined them too. When I heard the band practicing "Fa Zheng Qian Qun (means the Fa rectifies the universe)," the music was so beautiful. It touched me, and at that moment there was inspiration coming out of my heart. I will no longer care about how much hard work I put in and my personal loss and gain. I just want to give this world the best things. Previously, because of something that happened, I always felt that I made a great contribution, but in the end I was hurt. Later, I consciously tried to protect myself. The beautiful feeling that came from the music played by our band purified me from that state of mind.
I learned trumpet very slowly, and practitioners in the band soon told me that the band did not need any more trumpets. Instead, they needed more clarinets, flutes, and trombones. I chose the flute. I have been very lucky practicing the flute. There are always practitioners around who can help teach me, so I am learning it quickly.
On the first day I joined the band, however, I was disappointed. The reason was, when we practiced, I could not hear my own sound at all. I could only hear the horns far away from me. I thought, "This little flute can only make such a small sound, so it must not emit much power either." I lost interest in learning the flute until recently, when I realized that the sound I made was very unpleasant. A lot of practitioners played much better than I did. It made me want to practice hard again. I didn't want to make such an unpleasant sound any longer. Recently, the organizers of our flute group taught us some basic flute exercises. That increased my interest quite a lot. Now I think I should play the flute well, as only that can be meaningful to our band. Besides, when we practiced last weekend, I realized that there were also cultivation reasons for us to learn these instruments. Learning the flute is like learning another art, it is an endless process. There is always something more you can improve through playing the flute.
I think the music we play has a lot of energy. I experienced that several times. For example, when I just arrived at the practice hall, my mind was still not quiet. I had a lot of thoughts, even some very bad thoughts, and I tried hard to stop them but they still came. When I started to play the music, even just the first one or two notes, the bad thoughts stopped.
When we paraded during the Washington DC Fa conference, I was in the second group, and we were at the end of our whole rank. When we stood there and waited for our turn, my mind started wandering. Looking at the practitioners in front of me, I judged who was wearing the uniform well and who was not. As I thought about it, I realized, "Oh, we were about to start to perform divine music to save sentient beings! Why do I still have so many human notions in my mind!" I wanted to stop them, but I couldn't. After we started marching and played one or two songs, my mind became quiet. After we walked for a while, I became upset again. I felt our conductor hadn't let us play for a long time. There were some practitioners in our rank who always liked to make comments. At that time I hoped they could go to the front to talk to the conductor, but neither of them did so. I thought while we walked, "We only walk and sweat!" In the past, at the end of the parade, I blew out the last note and felt exhausted, so whenever the conductor lets us rest, I always felt happy. Now this time, I thought, if even a person like me felt like she was not letting us play enough, you could imagine how little she actually let us play!
After the parade, I had to talk to her. Then I thought it was obvious that I wanted to put my anger on her, and create an opportunity for her to cultivate. That action would be absolutely wrong. Then what should I do? I thought, "Well, as a practitioner, I should only look inside, to see why it happened." Suddenly, a thought came to my mind: the reason she was doing it was because of me! At that time, I had saved my energy when I played, so the sound was very small. I was not far away from the conductor, and she must have heard my small volume and the same from other people. She sometimes also looked back, she may have seen my tired expression. She must have thought that some people in the band were tired, so that's why she let us play so little. After I realized that, I regretted that I shouldn't be lazy when we practice. Then it was too late, so I had to practice hard in the future. My mind became at ease and I no longer complained about the conductor. Instead, I paid more attention to coordinating with her. After we walked for a while, I no longer felt that we weren't playing enough. I felt we just played perfectly. At that moment, sweet and refreshing water came from my throat and flowed into my mouth, and immediately I didn't feel thirsty any more. I felt very comfortable; the water tasted very sweet, and it trickled slowly.
Balancing band practice and other Dafa projects is also something I am faced with. I am a full time salesperson for our media. Even though, compared to some practitioners, I do not have big time conflicts, there was one time I felt pressure. For a period of time, I had a big client who was advertising with our newspaper. There weren't many responses to his ad, so he wanted to stop the ad. I was worried. I encouraged other practitioners to respond to the ad, and asked for help to distribute the newspaper. I also spent time myself to distribute the newspaper. At the same time, I also had to take care of other customers, so I was quite busy. On one Sunday, I went out in the morning to distribute the newspaper. I distributed it very quickly, but there were still a lot of newspapers left. I decided not to go to the band practice that day. At noon, the practitioner who I always went together with called me, Where are you? I said, "I am distributing the newspaper. I don't want to go to practice today." She asked, "You don't want to go today?" I felt like it was not right if I didn't go. So I told her to wait for me. I ran back and went to practice. After we arrived, I was still thinking, maybe I shouldn't have come today. Later, I thought, Master asked us to come to practice. Master also helps with our other work. I should put down my attachment. Since I could not distribute the newspaper, I should send righteous thoughts to prevent the customer from stopping the ad. Later, as result, the customer didn't stop the ad. He instead renewed the contract. Our practice that day was very important as well. We learned a new song and Master taught us how to breathe properly. What I've experienced is that our practice is very important every time. Our classes are very concentrated, and if I missed one class, I might have not been able to catch up even if I put in much more of my own time. What I had gained would not have been worth what I lost.
I realize more and more how fortunate we are to be Dafa disciples. For every Dafa practitioner, no matter which project he's involved in, it is a cultivation opportunity that Master gives to him. It is very precious.
Thank you Honorable Master,
Thank you everyone.