(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!

It is a great honor to have today's opportunity to share with fellow practitioners and report to Master some of my experience in terms of coordination and cooperation. Please point out with your compassion if there is anything improper.

Lesson Learned After a Trip-and-Fall

The April 2013 Shen Yun show in Buffalo was the last show that Toronto fellow practitioners traveled out of town to help promote. Just before the show started, I tripped and fell down hard. Fellow practitioners said that this trip-and-fall really woke me up.

Every year, Toronto is in charge of the Shen Yun shows in the three cities in our area, Toronto, Missisauga, and Hamilton. Right after Shen Yun ended in these cities, we always went to Rochester, and finally Buffalo.

When we finished Shen Yun in February, although the shows all had full-house attendance in the three cities, I felt that I was on tenterhooks. I hadn't finished the reporting yet when phone calls came from Rochester asking for support. When I finished coordinating for Rochester, I hoped not to receive any phone calls from Buffalo.

Nonetheless, the calls came right away, and ticket sales were really tough. What should I do? I had just decided to transfer from a being an Epoch Times salesperson to doing the same thing for NTDTV. I already felt great pressure, and wondered if I would be able to coordinate the Shen Yun promotion in Buffalo. At that moment the word “cooperation” appeared in front of my eyes. Eventually I agreed to support fellow practitioners in Buffalo. Within one week, we needed to finish delivering a large number of door-to-door flyers, to co-ordinate over twenty vehicles, and to arrange picking up and dropping off fellow practitioners at four ticket booths.

So I went to Buffalo on a sunny weekend in April. After dividing up the vehicles, I also joined the door-to-door distribution work. When I finished the third household, I went up to the fourth, when I suddenly felt that my hands were tied, I tripped and fell, and my head slammed into the cement sidewalk. I was bleeding and almost passed out. The practitioner on the other side of the street quickly ran over to me. She kept shouting, “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good! Master, please strengthen us!” Because I had tripped so hard, it felt as if someone had smashed my head into the ground. It hurt so much that I almost passed out. When I heard the other practitioner's voice, I thought of Master, but I could hardly get the words out. The practitioner told me, “Just shout out loud in your mind--you should ask Master to strengthen you!” I followed her advice and shouted in my heart, “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good! Master, please strengthen me!”

With her righteous support and Master's care, I stood up. The other practitioner said, “You are fine. Continue walking!” I truly could walk! Seeing that I was bleeding, she said, “You are bleeding, but you will be fine. Deny it, since they are all false appearances.” I was a little hesitant. Should I ask to be picked up so I could rest? The other practitioner encouraged me to continue. She said, “Please continue to distribute flyers on this side of the street, and I will continue to go door-to-door on the other side.” She went to the other side of the street with no human sentimentality. I had no choice but to continue.

Walking ahead, I continued to give out flyers door-to-door. My forehead, nose, eyes, and knees were all swollen but did not hurt. With nothing in my mind, I continued walking. Eventually I finished delivering door-to-do for the day. When I came back and was about to look at myself in the mirror, the other practitioner said, “Please eliminate your attachment to saving face and also your temper. What good will it do for you to look in the mirror? You don't need to look in the mirror--look inside.”

Such a serious trip and fall was obviously the old forces intending to drag me down. Our compassionate Master saw that I still had some righteous thoughts, and an opportunity was given to me. With the determined fellow practitioner's support, I quickly passed this test. The fact that Master protected me told me that I should not hold on to my attachments, but quickly cultivate myself well. Thinking about this, even if things are painful and pierce the heart, I knew I should dig out all the attachments and get rid of them.

Yes, I had a big attachment to reputation. I had tripped and fallen and ended up with a “big red nose.” I had a strong attachment to fame, so I ended up with a big “bold head.” The next morning, I could hardly open my eyes. I quickly went to look in the mirror and saw that both of my eyes were red. I looked really frightening. My son said that I looked like a cross between a panda and a pig. Looking in the mirror, I realized that I had many attachments--to jealousy, competition, complaints, etc.--written all over my face. I hoped this fall would teach me a lesson to seize the opportunity to cultivate, and that was the fundamental issue.

I now deeply understand how important it is to have righteous support from fellow practitioners during tribulations. Thank you, my fellow practitioners!

Cultivating Away My Complaints and Becoming Compassionate

My personality is open and enthusiastic, but can also be impatient and resentful. Some factors were arranged by the old forces, others from my own karma. Because I am open and enthusiastic, fellow practitioners like to talk to me and ask me to take care of things. That is why some of them said that I was a coordinator. I said that I was a coordinator who cooperated with others to coordinate myself. When I am impatient and resentful, I come across many tribulations in coordinating and cooperating with others. If I can get hold of it and cultivate myself, it is an opportunity to elevate myself.

Maybe because I have a hot-temper I ended up being a coordinator who always tried to "put out the fire,” or helped with last-minute situations. Last year, all three cities in our area had full-house performances, but we still had lots of room to improve. This year we heard that ticket sales training in New York was a big success, so fellow practitioners suggested that we invite New York practitioners to train us, and I was asked to assist. In the greater Toronto area, a large number of practitioners eventually passed the tests. That played a major role in the success of this year's Shen Yun ticket sales. We later also got help and support from Washington, DC. I would like to say thank you to the practitioners from New York and Washington for their great support.

Coordinating the test gave me many opportunities to cultivate myself, and I also increased my heart capacity. Fellow practitioners changed from not understanding to actively participating.

We continued organizing the team to target mainstream society. I thought this absolutely was not my job, since my English is not very good. I have only been coordinating the Chinese ticket booths, and when I worked in sales for the Epoch Times, I handled only the Chinese market. But fellow practitioners still asked me to be the coordinator for the mainstream team. They said, “You do not need to do anything specific, you just need to arrange other practitioners to do it.” So I agreed. This is how I became a coordinator for the mainstream team, even though I did not participate in doing the mainstream job. The team gave many Shen Yun presentations to big companies and business-oriented clubs.

When the ticket sales did not go well, practitioners needed to go to the businesses, law firms, and accounting firms. I turned out to be the coordinator for these efforts.

One month before the Shen Yun shows started at the first stop in our area, the ticket sales in that city were less than 50%. Many practitioners were dissatisfied with the local coordinator in that city, and their resentments were all brought to me. At a core team meeting, I criticized that coordinator and complained about him. He did not say a thing. The next day, he called me and said that since his cultivation state was not good, it had been having a bad impact on the overall coordination, and he had asked the main coordinator to allow him to quit the position. But he hoped that I could at least support him for now, since he was on his way to negotiate a very important ticket booth. However, my temper flared, and I said to him, “Do you think it would be fine if you just quit? You will commit more sins if you do, since you have no way to quit. You should just do your job well.”

That same night, I had a dream. We were still having our core-team meeting. It was the same place, the same practitioners, but each of us was dressed in the magnificent dress of an emperor or empress. It seemed that they had been meeting for quite a while. They had agreed on many things, and many problems had been solved. But no one was saying anything. It seemed that everyone looked so peaceful. The fellow practitioner I had criticized so harshly smiled at me. I wondered, "I was so hard on him, and he still smiled at me?"

After I woke up, I understood that that is what it is like when gods meet. Then I remembered that the practitioner whom I was so hard on was to go to the United States to bring a large number of direct mailers to Toronto the next day. How could he deal with that on top of my complaints? I immediately called him and apologized, hoping that his journey to the States would not be impacted by my bad attitude. He got my phone call before he boarded the flight, and I told him about my dream – Master's enlightenment that we should deal with everything with a god's state of mind. He accepted my apology, overcame all kinds of interference, and eventually succeeded in delivering all the materials to Toronto.

Master said,

“When this compassionate goodness emerges, its strength is without equal, and it will disintegrate any bad factors. The greater the compassion, the greater the power. Human society never had true principles to guide it before, so man has not resolved his problems via shan. Instead, man has always resolved things through fighting and conquest, and that has thus become man's norm. If man wants to become divine and transcend the human state, then he must forsake that frame of mind and use compassion to resolve things." (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”)

Only by Letting Go of Self Can One Be Selfless

I began practicing in 2002 and became a community reporter for the Chinese Epoch Times in 2003. I began working in sales in the Chinese market in 2009, and worked in that capacity for a decade. This February, when I saw that there was no one to take care of sales for NTDTV, I was very worried. Invited by the coordinator, I became a salesperson for NTDTV.

Both my husband and I used to work full-time at the Epoch Times. He is a reporter, and I was in sales. The commission I earned was our main income. If I was to do sales for NTDTV, I would have to start over. Therefore, for a while, I didn’t want to let my husband know I was switching. This March, I got the courage to tell him. He gave me a look and said, "Whatever you think is right, and as long as this is what Teacher wants us to do, you can go ahead and do it solidly.” I was moved to tears. I knew that he was under great pressure, yet I appreciated his support so much. Without his support, I wouldn’t have felt secure about stepping forward, because we have two children. Our daughter, who is older, goes to graduate school. Since her second year at university, she has had a part-time job and earned a scholarship to make ends meet. She truly understands us. She said to us, “I won’t cause you concern.” Sometimes our 12-year-old son expresses his understanding as well. He said to our neighbor’s child, "Other people work 8-hour days, while my parents seem to work all day. Other people work five days a week, while they seem to work every day. But it doesn’t seem they have earned much money. However, I know that they are doing what they like to do.”

I truly believe that we can break through the financial impasse created by the old forces. Teacher asks us to run our media well, and I believe we surely can make it. A few years ago, I was the first one doing ads sales to Chinese people at the newspaper. The third month I finally earned a very small amount. In the following months, my income was doubling, and the longer I did sales, the more confident I became.

Last August, the president of the Epoch Times came to Toronto to share how the San Francisco office of the newspaper was able to turn things around and begin to make a profit. Our team became more confident. In September, I was assigned a sales target, and I managed to achieve over double the amount in sales. Of course, teamwork is our guarantee for success. What Teacher said at the "Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting" became much clearer to me,

“If you are able to cooperate well in terms of management, really spend more effort on increasing your readership, and can manage to improve your profitability, then you will be able to guarantee a salary for a portion of your staff. And afterwards, when things are managed better and better, you will become an enterprise that has completely normal operations, you will be able to support the paper yourselves, and you will be able to provide for those who are involved. This is fully achievable. In previous years I referred to this as 'a goal.' Now I would say that it’s something doable.”

With that confidence, I joined NTDTV. After a while, I realized that the markets for TV and newspapers were very different, and I became a bit worried. That was about the time I got a phone call from the practitioner in Buffalo asking me to take on the coordination role to support Shen Yun ticket sales. With this unsteady state of mind, I went to Buffalo. That was when I had the big fall mentioned earlier.

On my way back from Buffalo, I was sitting in the car quietly listening to a new practitioner’s sharing. I was full of regret. A new practitioner like her could deeply look within--why couldn't I look at myself? Even after I had such a big fall, I still didn’t know how to look within.

When I stayed in Toronto for the weekend, I spent all day in studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and sending forth righteous thoughts. I felt uplifted. Other practitioners were worried that I only paid attention to the recovery of my nose and face, without looking within. So they called me to remind me, “Did you find it?” “Did you find what your attachments were?” “You need to look within even harder.” “Don’t just locate your attachments and not make efforts to eliminate them.” “For you to have such a fall, you need to get rid of all your attachments. Do you know that?”

I then asked them, "Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why wait until I had such a big fall to tell me?” One practitioner replied, "We didn't dare to. Only when you had that fall did we think you would listen to us.”

Encouraged by fellow practitioners, I was able to look within bit by bit. It was truly painful. Teacher endured for me the pain of the fall, whereas cultivating my mind-nature lies in me. I truly appreciate the kindness of practitioners, which made me feel even more the preciousness of true cultivation.

However, I still felt pressure about doing marketing for NTDTV. One time when I was doing the sitting meditation, I began to ask myself, “What are my fundamental attachments?” These words appeared in front of me, “Pursuing virtue.” I began to cry, and then gradually I felt relaxed. In the end, I put my palms together in front of my chest and said, "Thank you, Teacher!"

I have been fortunate enough to follow Teacher in rectifying the Fa. During the process, it seems as if I have worked very hard. There have also been some attachments, such as validating myself, and pursuing virtue. After I eliminated an attachment, I realized that Teacher did everything, so what did we still need to worry about? That immediately made me think about going back to work at NTDTV. But after I had a look at myself, seeing that my face was still swollen, I changed my mind.

Practitioners from the NTDTV team asked me to join them to send forth righteous thoughts and do Fa-study and the exercises every morning. I replied, “Let’s wait until I get a little bit better.” One practitioner said, “There is no such thing as 'face' with us. Don’t worry, we won’t look at you.” Encouraged by them, I returned to work and participated in the Fa-study and exercises in the morning. After I finished the exercises and was about to study the Fa, I suddenly felt my face get hot, then itchy. I touched my face, and the skin on my forehead, nose, and face began to peel off. After I finished studying one lecture, it had all peeled off. I am almost 50 years old. Without cosmetic surgery, my skin improved. Teacher gave me a normal face so that I could face my clients. I must eliminate all attachments to pay back what Teacher has done for me.

Here, I’d also like to thank practitioners from the Epoch Times, for their support and help. When I was busy with the Shen Yun promotion every year, my partners helped me by following up with my clients, so that I could maintain my level of income. I have now just started with NTDTV sales. They not only give me spiritual support, but have also shared commissions with me when we cooperated, so I am more confident in exploring the market for NTDTV. For example, the first ads I signed for NTDTV were through joint efforts with Epoch Times practitioners. I believe that we are one body and our media will become the biggest media in the world.

I’ll close my sharing by quoting a poem from Teacher’s Hong Yin III,

"Seeking
The human world is like a maze,
Ordeals are spread all along the way.
You were all Kings above, before descending.
Seeking,
You came to the world for the Fa.
Strive to advance in cultivation,
Don’t delay your steps to return."