(Minghui.org) Greetings compassionate Master! Hello fellow practitioners!
Master has repeatedly mentioned the power of Shen Yun in saving people. Master has also reminded us of the importance of studying the Fa. Master said,
“When you don’t keep up in Fa-study sometimes, you will have many ordinary human attachments, and all sorts of human thoughts might even emerge. ” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)
“No matter how difficult your environment is, no matter how busy you get, you cannot forget to study the Fa. You must study the Fa, because it is the absolute, most fundamental guarantee of your improvement.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)
I attached great importance to studying the Fa while participating in promoting Shen Yun. Last year I began reading and memorizing the teachings with other practitioners and I benefited a lot. When encountering conflicts, tests, interference, and xinxing issues from the family or the outside world, I can look inward in time, correct myself in the Fa, and watch my xinxing. I do my best to maintain a state of cultivation while I help promote Shen Yun.
When I first started helping promote Shen Yun, I just distributed flyers to people’s homes. When I went to another city, the coordinator asked if I could put up posters. I said that I didn’t speak English, but in other cities I assisted other practitioners who could. I only thought about helping other practitioners. The coordinator said, “You can learn a few basic sentences in English.” I felt a little intimidated and lacked confidence in myself. In the past, I only accompanied practitioners who fluently spoke English to distribute posters.
I remembered what Master said,
“Everything has been prepared, and all that’s missing is for you to carry it out. Yet you won’t take that step,” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)
Master’s words eliminated my human notions. I remember another practitioner said, “As long as you’re validating the Fa, nothing is difficult. You can ask Master for help if there’s anything you don’t know!” This time I decided that I would break through my notions and use my righteous faith and righteous thoughts I cultivated from the Fa. As long as I want to cultivate, as long as I want to do it, Master has already prepared the path! I would use the few English words I knew. I also wrote down on a card what I wanted and I planned to show to the other person. It worked out well!
I did the same when I returned to my local area. Apart from going out to put up posters on Saturdays and Sundays with other practitioners, I also went out with my daughter when she got off work. Even if we only went out for two hours, or only posted five posters, as long as we kept at it, it was effective. Each time I headed out I asked Master to strengthen me.
Because we are cultivating, some unconscious and hard-to-detect human attachments are exposed. One day, my daughter, husband and I went to the city center to put up posters. Parking there was always challenging, so my daughter dropped us off in the shopping district. The first store we entered was clean and elegant. I could tell it was a high-end store. A young western woman greeted me. I greeted her and took out a poster and told her in English: “This is a beautiful Shen Yun show.” I quickly took out the card that introduced Shen Yun that I wrote in advance, and handed it to her. She nodded and smiled and excitedly said many things I couldn’t understand. I pointed to the window and asked if she could display it there. She said, “Okay.” Then she pointed to another window and put up the poster herself.
This store was on the corner, and because of the window she chose the poster was visible from two streets! I quickly thanked her, the waitress gave her a thumbs up, and I saluted her again and again with joy! After watching the waitress finish posting, I thanked and left the store happily.
When I saw my daughter, I kept describing what just happened. I was filled with overwhelming joy. I was happy the woman made the right choice. I kept replaying the touching scene in my mind.
When I passed the store a few days later, I was stunned - I noticed that the two posters we put up were missing. My daughter said, “Obviously it was caused by zealotry, right?” I was speechless. My feelings of frustration and self-blame were beyond words.
For practitioners to be able to put up even one Shen Yun poster is because of Master’s great compassion, which allows us to help him save people! We just move our mouths and limbs. If we can’t do it, we must have omissions in our cultivation. Everything has been arranged by Master, we just carry it out. Our ability to do this is Master showing us great mercy! How can I get overjoyed or brag about what I’ve done?
At that moment, I truly realized that if I can’t rectify myself, I won’t be able to save people! Cultivation is very serious.
One day I was distributing posters and everything went smoothly. But at 6:00 p.m. it suddenly started to rain heavily. The next business district we planned to go to was miles away. Should we go or stop for the day?
I remembered what Master said,
“But do you realize something? Those who were originally meant to have been saved last year [by Shen Yun, but didn’t go], have lost the opportunity forever. That’s because Fa-rectification is unceasingly forging ahead, step by step, and when it arrives at one cosmic plane it is time for that level of people; when it reaches a certain heavenly kingdom above, or a certain layer of cosmic body, it is time for that group of people to come see [the show], and next time around [when Shen Yun performs], that seat will belong to someone else. Do you realize how many lives have been lost?! Do you know how I feel when I see those empty seats in the theater?” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI).
Master’s Fa was hitting my heart like a hammer. Despite the heavy wind and rain we went to the next business district.
When we arrived we saw it is really a good area. Even though it rained heavily we were able to distribute posters to most of the shops, a lot more than usual. Some shop owners or assistants happily took the posters. Some helped to choose the best location in the shop to post them. One person took out his mobile phone and used a translator app to tell me: “I knew about the show and I wanted to see it. This time I must go and see it!
I felt their enthusiasm and friendliness, and I knew their knowing side was waiting to be saved! I silently said to Master in my heart: “Master, at least today I did not leave any regrets for myself on the path of cultivation! Thank you Master for your compassionate guidance and blessings!”
We distributed posters and information about Shen Yun to nearly every business in the area. The rain still did not stop. We got back into the car and drove home in the fog and rain.
I always thought that I did not write well, so I did not write down my cultivation experiences. One day, while I listened to the Minghui broadcast I heard a practitioner say, “I hope practitioners will write about their own cultivation. Master will give you wisdom and help you. The process of writing articles helps recall your cultivation path and is also a process of finding the gaps in your cultivation. It helps identify your various human attachments and you will see through them, and eliminate them.”
Looking back on my cultivation process while helping promote Shen Yun, I feel very emotional. I am constantly being tempered by Master and by Dafa, and every step of my growth is inseparable from Master’s compassionate guidance and care! I am deeply grateful and I cherish the many opportunities Master has given me to fulfill my vows!
Thank you Master!
This is a little bit of my experience in the process of participating in promoting Shen Yun. Please correct me if I’ve said anything not in line with the Fa!
(Presented at the 2022 Florida Fa Conference)