(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I am from Britain. Like many fellow practitioners, I have experienced an usual cultivation process during the preparations for the Chinese Spectacular by Divine Performing Arts and have witnessed the miracles of saving sentient beings through the performance and the elevation of practitioners as a body.
1. Master Has Arranged Everything
Last September, our local practice group started intensive preparations for the Chinese Spectacular. We met every week for Fa study and discussion. However, when it came time to be very busy with the show, I was sent to Australia for two weeks on a business trip for my company. A practitioner joked that it was the right time for me to clarify the facts to my boss. Otherwise, why would I be sent off at this critical point?
I did not realize the reason for the trip until after I arrived in Australia. In order to facilitate the work, my company sent a Chinese colleague from Malaysia to assist me. We had worked together quite a few times and harmoniously. She was also a firm supporter of Falun Gong and had joined parades, distributed truth-clarification materials, and helped me in truth clarification in her spare time. Despite all this, however, for some reason she seemed so offended by me this time that she did not even talk to me for two days.
I felt that she intentionally opposed me. Each time, she would redo whatever work I had done, no matter how minor it was, such as analysis reports and data checking. I felt it was very strange. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she trust me even though I had a higher position than hers? Of course, as a practitioner, I knew that I should be broad-minded and should not compete with everyday people. I just thought, "As you do not trust me, you can just be my leader. I am a Dafa disciple and I do not care." Therefore, I stopped making decisions and started to be her assistant.
Although I regarded myself as behaving very righteously, she did not even bother to talk to me for two days. Later, when we opened up to each other, I asked her why she did not trust me. Surprisingly, she said it had never been the case that she did not trust me. She just wanted to do the job well and she felt more confident if both of us checked the work.
I was shocked and speechless. I had to check my own cultivation. During the whole process, what I had been thinking was how she was treating me and how I could put myself on a higher level in the conflict. On the other hand, she did not consider herself at all, and what was in her mind was just the work instead of her personal interests.
I thought about whether I had the same mentality in the interactions and conflicts with fellow practitioners. I found that I often thought about others using my own selfish way of thinking. I would first consider that others were wrong. Then, I would think that no matter how wrong he or she was, I should elevate myself in the conflict. I have never been able to find my problems using this kind of mechanism of looking inward. Actually, when I say that another practitioner is not right and using a human mentality, that practitioner may have actually cultivated to a higher level.
After I returned to Britain, I devoted myself to the preparations for the Chinese Spectacular. Whenever I was in a conflict with practitioners, I would remember what happened in Australia. I started to realize that in order to clear the barriers for the preparation for the Spectacular, Master first made me enlightened on the Fa.
With the approach of the Spectacular, practitioners became busier and busier. Occasionally, they would try to convince me to quit my job. During a group discussion, one practitioner even asked loudly when I would come to London since they had already prepared a place for me to stay. I felt embarrassed and mumbled something without knowing what to say.
After going back home, I asked myself over and over again what I should do. Although work was very important to me, it was not an issue if it was necessary for me to give it up. As a Dafa practitioner, I know how valuable the Fa is. However, that is exactly the reason why we must walk our paths of cultivation righteously. I rationally considered the situation and concluded that it was not appropriate for me to quit my job.
What made me uncomfortable was that I was afraid that fellow practitioners would criticize me for not being diligent enough. However, during cultivation, I should follow the Fa, not humans. Actually, what the practitioners had mentioned was a reminder to me that although it was not appropriate to quit my job, the job in everyday society should not become a barrier to Dafa work. When the timing was right, the solution would present itself.
Not long afterwards, the situation indeed changed. One morning, when I was trying to make some copies, I found an application for time off that I had never seen before on the copy machine. The first line on the application was: Keep the position but stop the salary. In my current package, there was no such way to ask for a leave, and I had never thought about this. After I read those words, I was cheered up. Wasn't this prepared exactly for me?
That same day, I submitted my own application for such a leave of absence. I could tell that my manager was curious why I had done so. I hesitated and did not tell her. I was afraid that telling her would not be a good idea because I wanted to sell group tickets in my company.
After I got back home, I thought it over and found my mentality was not right. We should cultivate with dignity. Why was I afraid of clarifying the facts? The next morning, I found my manager and told her why I had applied for the leave, and why I wanted to help the Chinese Spectacular. After listening to me, she showed complete support.
After that, everything went extremely smoothly. Even before I talked to my boss, my manager had already helped me in getting the approval from my boss. The next day, my company released a notice that I would be gone for two months. Many colleagues came to ask me what had happened. This provided me opportunities to promote the show to my colleagues. My boss bought eight first-class tickets and took the introductory brochure from me to introduce the show to his friends.
The day before I left, my boss came to me to say good-bye. I handed the key to the company car to him. According to company regulations, employees are not allowed to use the car during a leave. Nevertheless, he said to me, "Don't you need a car during the two months? The car is yours! I wish you success!"
I smiled all the way back home. I knew that the car was a tool for the Fa given to me by Master so that I could accomplish my mission. Looking back, I realized all this had been arranged by Master and there lies Master's expectation of practitioners. What I could do was only to be responsible wholeheartedly.
2. Be Part of One Body Only after Eliminating Attachments
In the initial stage of coordinating the preparation for the Chinese Spectacular, I always felt that there were some formless barriers between me and other coordinators. I did everything carefully and spelled out my ideas, but I did not get any responses. At the same time, I did not know anything that they had been doing. It seemed that they were very secretive.
I felt uncomfortable, and I knew why. It was the self that was disturbing me. I did not feel that I was considered important and felt lost. It was the attachment to fame that stood out. However, the feeling of being lost was not weakened during the first several days even though I increased the intensity of Fa study. I even thought irrationally that as they did not need me, I could just leave. I could choose not to be involved in the project.
That evening, I sat down to meditate and my hearted gradually became calm. I was surrounded by a compassionate energy. Suddenly, in my mind, I walked out of myself and talked to the human side of me: "Hi, Eva, why do you consider your own feelings so important? As a sentient being created by the Fa, you would have nothing to regret during this lifetime even if you could only add a little bit of strength to the Chinese Spectacular after losing everything!"
After hearing that, my tears poured out, and once again I realized my life's mission--to assist Master in Fa-rectification! After the meditation, I opened my eyes and felt everything had become crystal clear. The feeling of being lost just a while ago had become so distant that it seemed it had never happened. From then on, I was able to be part of the whole body and started to cooperate with other practitioners.
The beginning of my cooperation was a new beginning in my cultivation. The practitioner responsible for marketing had majored in marketing and was very capable. When we needed to write up a plan, she would have drafted a beautiful plan even before I started to work on it. In comparison, my plan was really poor and rough and could not be shown to others. After several times, the better and faster she did it, the less likely I would dare to present my plan. I eventfully put things off and thought, "As you can do it so well, you can just go ahead and do it. I can do other things." Although I thought that way, I knew I was not right. However, because the attachment was there, it was really uncomfortable.
One day, when I was studying Fa, I read the following:
"This universe consists of two major schools, the Buddha School and the Tao School. With either of them excluded, it will not constitute a complete universe, and neither can it be called a complete universe." (Zhuan Falun)
I felt this was referring to me. We are all part of this great universe. There is no issue as to who is higher or lower. There is no jealousy or competition. We cannot be a whole body if anybody is missing. Each practitioner, as a part of the immense universe, has his or her responsibility and cannot be replaced by anybody else. I thought that when Master asks us to cooperate in a project to save sentient beings, He is also asking us to put down ourselves to cooperate with others. Only in such a way, can we compose an indestructible firmament.
In addition, I often felt that I was not good enough. This was exactly like the person who died due to thinking that the sound of dripping water was his blood dripping. The thought killed him. I am a Dafa cultivator. How could I be controlled by those kinds of things? As I became enlightened to that, I took action immediately. After I released my marketing plan, the coordinator sent me a message, "I am really happy for you." After reading that, I was both touched and felt sorry. My fellow practitioners had never blamed me for anything. However, due to my reluctance, they had shouldered too much.
During the interactions with practitioners for two months in London, I had a lot to say, but it was hard to express myself. I understood better what Master has said, "A well-known person does not necessarily know things well." (Zhuan Falun).
One day, a practitioner who always does things quietly asked me how many times I had listened to Master's lecture to Australian practitioners. I said about five or six times. She said, "We really need to study it more. I have studied it more than 30 times and I learned a lot."
I realized how much I had been left behind. Those practitioners are always very humble. Some of them have never coordinated any project, but they cultivate solidly. It was those practitioners who had been silently harmonizing the whole body by quietly compensating for what we had missed under the pressure caused by the lack of good coordination.
After we got the feedback from the surveys, it turned out that 95 percent of the audience had gotten the fliers on the street, in subways, shopping centers, and other places. The tickets were sold out. This was accomplished by many practitioners who did different, small pieces of the work. It was the preparation of the Chinese Spectacular that gave us the opportunity to become an unbreakable whole body.
I am honored that I was involved in the effort of saving sentient beings with Master. However, in the last stage of Fa-rectification, how many chances do we still have? When the earthquake happened in Sichuan Province, after seeing so many dead bodies, I could not stop crying. I felt that I could see in the near future that, when the grand trial comes, those who could not be saved and those we did not get the time to save would face disaster and destruction. That would be thousands of times more cruel and sad. Fellow practitioners, what we have done for the present is the hope of sentient beings for tomorrow!
Thank you, Master! Thank you, everyone!
