(Minghui.org)
Respectful greetings, Master. Greetings dear fellow practitioners.
I am a Hungarian practitioner, and I started practicing Dafa at the end of 2007. I treasure this opportunity from the bottom of my heart. I would like to share my cultivation experiences regarding cooperation among practitioners.
In Hungary, I am the coordinator for the Dafa Association. I would really like to do my part well and help the cooperation between practitioners in our country. During the past years I could only do a few things regarding our activities, since I was at home with my baby boy, but now he is almost three years old. This time period has given me an opportunity to step aside and let go of my attachments, such as always needing to have a say, having to know about every step, and having control over every action.
For a long time I was always worried: What if others make mistakes or do something wrong and create a bad effect on the truth clarification in our country? I did not realize how bad my fear was, but it really blocked other practitioners. I realized my notion behind it, namely, the notion that my idea is the best. Now, I see that we all have various personalities and diverse ways of thinking and acting. We are on different levels and have different paths in Fa-rectification.
Our Master could surely do everything better than others, but he lets us establish our own mighty virtue and gives us the opportunity to find out things by ourselves. So, I really should not always worry about others.
Having realized this, I try to actively support others in their initiatives and do not always say anything if I have another idea about doing something. If their idea seems to be okay and if it does not disagree with Fa principles, then why shouldn’t I support it? Moreover, I think, it is also no problem when we make some mistakes, because this happens when we move forward.
However, I went to the other extreme: I became too passive and was not really self-confident; so in some cases, when I really needed to say something, I did not.
Master told us: “Sometimes the coordinator will first listen to others’ ideas before deciding which one is good to adopt. That happens. But, there are some people in charge who never have any opinions on things. They never have any ideas, and never put their heart into it. Then that really doesn’t cut it. Master has entrusted so many Dafa disciples to you, and expects you to lead them well. So it is something you must do, and it is your responsibility. If you don’t do it well, it’s directly related to your cultivation.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference (Questions and Answers)”)
I take part in a website project in Hungary, and this provides me with a really good example regarding coordination and cooperation. I had a conflict with the Hungarian coordinator for a long time. I only looked at her shortcomings and blamed her because the quality of the articles was not good enough and I thought she didn't really take care of the site, etc. I did not have a heart of compassion for her. I did not see how hard it could be for her to manage so many things well. Then I talked with the main coordinator of the project. It opened my eyes. I came to realize that I should not be so critical, but instead, I should be supportive. I should give a hand when I see that something needs to be improved.
When my thoughts changed, we could communicate in an open manner with each other. I began to actively help in proofreading the articles and meanwhile, she also changed a lot. She has been really leading the project and taking her responsibility seriously. Since our cooperation is working well, I can feel that our Hungarian Dafa website is shining like gold!
It is also the right time for me to take my responsibility more seriously and coordinate all practitioners and the Dafa Association well. We had a discussion about this with the second responsible person in the Association. She has a very strong personality and we often have different opinions about handling things. It seemed that if I mentioned “left,” she would go to the right.
I could not understand why she argued with me, and I felt helpless in coming to an understanding. I did not want to forcefully push my own opinion, so I usually took a step backward instead. So as time passed, I developed the habit of not saying anything when conflict appeared. I did not think it was a problem. I thought that I had no attachment to the position of leadership.
Once, in a conversation between us, this question about our conflicts popped up and we could finally speak in an open manner about this problem. She felt really sorry for these conflicts. We found that the biggest problem was that we did not communicate well. I realized that I have to take my responsibility much more seriously. Although I don’t have the attachment to pushing myself forward, I should play my part well. It is a question as to whether I am able to coordinate well in our area.
Our discussion led to a positive change immediately. Both of us are working together on the Free China film project. For quite a long time we had not received an answer from a certain person who could provide us with a very good place for the screenings. We called him many times and wrote him emails, but nothing happened. After our experience sharing regarding coordination, this person immediately wrote an email to us. He wrote that he had totally forgotten about the film, and said that we should write to him the dates when we would like to show the film and there shouldn’t be any problem.
So, this kind of conflict regarding cooperation has a great impact. The conflicts can be on the surface or hidden as well. Both of us realized that when we have a problem or feel a kind of inner dissimilarity with another practitioner, then we should not hide it and just sit on the problem. We should speak about it in an open manner as soon as possible, so that the evil cannot take advantage of it.
Master said: “If you fail to cooperate well, the evil really will exploit your weaknesses and you will suffer major losses. Losses, that is, in terms of both individual cultivation as well as our group projects that are meant to save sentient beings.” (“Be More Diligent”)
I take this very seriously now. We had many tests in this regard. On the way back to Hungary from a meeting in Germany, we, four practitioners plus my 2-year-old son, stopped the car for a rest. We were very tired and spoke in a disrespectful way about other practitioners and made some jokes. Our thoughts were not right and we did not pay attention to this. After a little while our car began to give off smoke and wouldn't go any further. We were near a shopping center, so we could stay there for a few hours. We sent righteous thoughts and thought about the cause of the problem. However, we blamed each other. In the end, a fellow practitioner from Hungary came out to tow our car and bring us home. We suffered big financial losses. Later on, when I was reading about cooperation, I remembered this incident and realized that we had this tribulation because of our bad thoughts about other practitioners.
There were also cooperation problems at home between my husband and me. We blamed each other many times because of our financial hardships and argued a lot. We tried to look inside and find our attachments. Each time we found many things, but there was no big change. One day, I saw two fellow practitioners, a couple, who kindly helped each other in their work. Then I came to realize the root of our problem. It was exactly that we cannot cooperate well with each other. That is why we suffered those financial losses. Not long after this we managed to sell our plot, which had been for sale for years, and now we are much more financially secure with that money.
The cooperation in our area is also strengthened by our daily Fa-study, which we began some months ago after an inspiring sharing with an Austrian practitioner. Every morning at 5 a.m. local time, we meet on the Internet and read one lecture from Zhuan Falun and share for a short while. This was a big step for me, since I was, before this, always getting up late and had an irregular lifestyle. I'd tried to study the Fa in the early hours in the first year of my cultivation, but I could not persist with it. Now, it was also a very big deal for me in the first month to get up early. But, I knew that this is a great opportunity and that when I could hear the other practitioners, then I would surely not go back to sleep and I would surely not regret it. It is a great support that we get up together to study the Fa. Some of us also call each other when a practitioner cannot get up. Sometimes there are eight disciples present, and a practitioner also joined who had not been coming to any activities for many years. I realized that our cultivation environment is also much better since we read together. Of course we also study the Fa together in person, but this regular morning Fa-study over the Internet is really making a difference.
To write this experience sharing has not been an easy process of cultivation. When I was writing my sharing article I faced many issues. I wrote it completely over at least four times, because so many things changed in me during this process. There were times I almost gave up, but I took it as a test that I should pass. I had a really strong attachment to complying with other practitioners, I did not want them to think badly of me, and this caused a big knot in my neck, which only disappeared after I came to realize this attachment.
I could recall the things that I did not do well over the years and also the things that I enlightened to. For the first time, I could clearly see a process of improvement. I would really like to do many more things to save sentient beings.
I also realized that in many cases my words were going to the extreme. This is also an attachment. I thought about it and saw that things were not really that black or white. So, it was a really useful process to see and learn where I could improve.
I want to thank the European Fa-conference for giving me this opportunity.
Thank you!
(Presented at the 2013 European Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference in Copenhagen)
