(Clearwisdom.net) Nine thousand San Franciscans were able to see the 2007 Chinese New Year Spectacular at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. All three shows were a success. The two weekend shows were sold-out, and some audience members had to purchase tickets with no seat and stood throughout the entire show. After the shows, our local practitioners shared experiences in helping out with the spectacular during our weekly group sharing.
This time, almost all of the practitioners in the San Francisco area participated in the process of the ticket sales. We acted as one body and kept righteous thoughts. We also supported each program with righteous thoughts, and thus the reactions from the audience were all very positive.
* Practitioner A: Cultivating while being a coordinator
I have always been in a supervising position, since elementary to the university level and now at the company I work at, where I am a manager. I have coordinated many projects and I was confident in my abilities as a coordinator. No sooner after I was the coordinator, did I realize why I was put in this position - many of my attachments were exposed. I also felt my managerial experiences were not enough to be a coordinator of the spectacular. This is cultivation and not everyday people's work. During the process, I saw that many of my fellow practitioners have much stronger abilities than I do, which are all given to us by the Fa.
When I had only 10 or 20 tickets in my hands, I was happy to exchange tickets with other practitioners when they requested it. However, when 1,000 tickets were in my hands, and it was the last day to sell them, I didn't maintain my xinxing when many practitioners requested to exchange tickets. I then realized that I needed to improve my xinxing and to cultivate more compassion and tolerance.
I saw another practitioner who kindly talked with a practitioner who requested ticket exchange. He considered others' needs first, and meanwhile kindly reminded them to try to not exchange the tickets at the last moment. In contrast, I was able to see my weakness.
At the beginning, I did not consider the spectacular as the project as the New York and Los Angeles ones. I thought that we only needed to do well locally. Later, I realized that this was a form of selfishness.
* Practitioner B: Cultivating during Dafa work
One day, when practitioner B was selling tickets, he felt anger. Later, he realized that doing Dafa work is a part of cultivation. During the process many attachments were exposed, which shows that we need to study the Fa more and improve our cultivation.
Practitioner B also reminded us that usually when we saw good results after we did something, we felt very happy. That is an attachment to being absorbed in the results, and it is an attachment we should not allow to continue. Teacher said,
"Do you realize that as long as you're a cultivator, in any environment or under any
circumstances, I will use any troubles or unpleasant things you come across--even if they involve work for Dafa, or no matter how good or sacred you think they are--to eliminate your attachments and expose your demon-nature so that it can be eliminated, for your improvement is what's most important." (Essentials for Further Advancement)
Whatever we do, it is a step toward our Consummation. We should not be so absorbed. There are many things that are waiting for us to do. There are so many people we should clarify the truth to. We live in ordinary people's society, and we need to consider more on how to clarify the truth to more people.
* Practitioners C & D: Watching the show is strengthening our own righteous thoughts
At last year's show, practitioner C became a bit worried when he saw the program that directly talks about Falun Gong. He thought to himself, "Are there too much Falun Gong programs? Can ordinary people accept this?" But afterward, a friend told him, "The show was great." He felt it was Teacher using other people's mouths to give him a hint. So he said, "We don't have to worry about the programs in the show. What we need is righteous thoughts."
Practitioner D felt the same. He said that last year he saw The Epoch Times being distributed at the gate, and there were quite a few Falun Gong programs in the show. Afterwards, he heard this type of comments. This year was different since he prepared himself based on last year's experience. He tried not to think of anything negative. As a result, all the comments he heard from people were positive. He realized that what was in his thoughts affected others. If you get rid of your own attachment, what you see and hear will be different.
* Practitioner E: Master taught us, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master."
Practitioner E said: "It's so true. Teacher will arrange everything for you as long as you want to do it." One day she suddenly remembered an old friend whom she hadn't seen for a long time. Then she met this friend when she was selling tickets and the friend bought two tickets. The friend said, "I usually don't come to this area. I don't know why I came here today and I saw you!"
* Practitioner F: Facilitate what Teacher wants, and the result will certainly be the best
Practitioner G felt that everyone tried their best for the show. Why did we do that? Because we know that's what Teacher wants. As practitioners, we must facilitate what Teacher wants and follow Teacher's instruction, and then the result will certainly be the best.
She also pointed out something that needed to be improved. For example, we need to start taking action sooner rather than later. She also reminded others we should consider the image of NTDTV at public areas such as shopping centers. We should follow the local regulations and be considerate.
