(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 2016. This is my third year working on security and stage construction with Shen Yun. Every time I work for Shen Yun, it gives me a lot of new understandings. Because the work is multi-faceted, I always learn a lot of new things and accumulate new experiences. I am very honored to be a member of this team. Apart from the Shen Yun artists and musicians, there are many volunteers who have contributed to the success of Shen Yun. I am one of these volunteers.

This year I was fortunate to participate in working for several performances of Shen Yun in Germany and Austria. I was moved greatly by Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) Jingwen (scripture/article) entitled “Wake up.” So that I could participate in the service for the first performance in Cologne, Germany. I had prepared everything. My employer allowed me to tell him my plans for my holiday period this year. This was a totally new thing for me. How should I plan it? However, I thought this was a very good sign. I saw the schedule for Shen Yun in my vicinity and arranged for being given my holiday period during this time. My holiday breaks allowed me to participate in working for Shen Yun’s performance in Salzburg, Ludwigsburg, Graz, Fussen, and Bregenz.

Coming to Understand Deeper Layers of the Meaning to “Zhen, Shan, Ren”

One of the security personnel’s assignments during the performance was to make sure that no one took photos or videos. At the beginning of the performances, the audience was reminded twice that they were not allowed to record any audio or video because this would violate copyright law. Part of the job of indoor security was to monitor the audience to see if that was going on. If it indeed happened, then we were to intervene and ensure that the audience member deleted the audio or video recording. During the past two years, I'd been very “lucky,” and nothing had ever occurred that required me to intervene in anything I was monitoring. I understood that I had not yet undertaken this responsibility. I was frightened of having to deal with this issue, which happened this year, so I had to learn how to deal with it.

When I was in Cologne, an experienced fellow practitioner who had dealt with this before and I sent righteous thoughts to support this practitioner. At the time, someone in the audience was brazenly video recording the entire show. Many others in the audience near this person were complaining, and showing much displeasure. It was necessary to immediately put a stop to this during the performance. When I saw the fellow practitioner directly and strictly dealing with this, the audience and I were very shocked. The reason is, according to my understanding, the practitioner’s action was not in line with compassion and tolerance. But was it really so? I thought about it a lot and thought about how I would deal with this matter based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, but I had not found an answer to my dilemma. In general, I felt that this way of doing things was going against the Fa, however, was my point of view and understanding of this wrong? I still hoped that such a thing would not happen to me.

Should I continue like this to take a roundabout way when meeting with troubles? All the way up to the performance in Ludwigsburg, I still held this wrong point of view. From the porch of the second floor, I could see that a woman was obviously recording the first program of the performance. I was thinking that my other colleagues would see it. However, I was the only one who noticed this. At the interval, I went downstairs and told the colleagues there to pay attention to this woman, and then turned around and went back. I had shifted the responsibility to my fellow practitioners, did not deal with it, and refused to accept responsibility for the issue.

After the intermission, I saw right before my eyes someone in the audience taking a photo at the end of every program as a souvenir. Actually, as the audience members filed into the theater, I was still thinking that this patron wouldn’t do that. He did it very covertly and was not disturbing the other people. I finally understood that Teacher was teaching me a lesson. There were no other practitioners there to help me, and this was the first time that I had to intervene personally. When the curtains closed, I went to talk to this audience member, and he stopped taking photographs after that. But after the performance finished, there was still the job of asking him to delete the photos. I very politely requested that he delete the photos. He admitted that he had taken some photos but said that they were very important to him. No matter how I tried to persuade him, he wouldn't budge. Why wouldn’t he delete the photos? Finally, with the help of another colleague with more experience, he expressed his understanding and deleted the photos at once. I felt very helpless. Was I still able to complete this task well? Was it possible that I was not cordial and friendly enough? Don’t the principles of compassion and forbearance imply that one should be cordial and friendly?

In the evening when sharing experiences, I spoke of this and asked how we could use compassion to settle such situations. This to me was like a mystery. I realized that my understanding of compassion was still very worldly on the surface. I noticed that Master in his Fa teachings in Switzerland spoke of “Compassion.”

Master said:

“Since you’ve mentioned compassion, I need to correct your thinking. Let me tell you what compassion is. People in the society of ordinary people think that if they live quite comfortably with no disasters or hardships, if each day is pleasant and carefree, and if they’re not short of money and have everything they need, then God is compassionate toward them and is being really good to them. Let me tell you though, that God isn’t like that. If He were really that way, He would be being terrible to people. That’s because human reasoning is totally reversed.” (Teachings at the Conference in Switzerland).

Being Taught the First Lesson

I realized that all along I was treating the issue of compassion from the perspective of an ordinary person. Is it compassion to pretend not to be aware of it while an audience member takes photos? If, because he had made an error and was guilty of wrongdoing he met with calamity on earth and in heaven above, was this a good thing for him? Up until then, I had not thought of it like that. If I didn’t stop him and correct the problem, did it mean I was being friendly to him? Even though the person might feel bad at first due to my intervention, the final result would be good for everyone.

The next day, I helped my brother prune vines at a vineyard. The sun was shining brightly, and it was time to go to work. I had never done such a thing before, so I had to learn how. To clip a grapevine is called pruning. This includes cutting off all the sprouts apart from one or two of the new buds just above the roots. That's how you get a bumper harvest. Then the remaining branches and twigs are bound up and bent in the necessary direction, and sometimes they also snap. A lot of liquid seeps out of the fresh incisions. It appeared as if the vines were “bleeding,” and it looked very ruthless. From reading Zhuan Falun, I came to understand that plants are lives with feelings too. I was frightened of doing this work and was afraid of harming the grapevine. My brother explained to me that, if he didn’t do it like this, the grapevine would starve to death because it would not be able to supply enough water to its many branches. He would often speak to the plants and always dealt with them quietly and softly so, to the best of his ability, he didn't harm them.

This lesson from the vineyard seemingly was prepared for me. From it I learned that to have compassion doesn’t mean that one has to be friendly and cordial on the surface. Then how should I go about this? What did I learn from this lesson, and what did I enlighten to?

Learning the Second Lesson

When Shen Yun performed in Graz, Austria, I learned the next lesson. A friendly older lady who was about 75 made a lot of video recordings of the performance. It was the same as before. Although she was not disturbing anyone else, it was happening right before my eyes. My way of thinking changed. I now knew that this woman would create karma by doing this, and for her own good, I had to stop her. I was very friendly but pointed out to her directly that two other colleagues and I saw her recording.

This prohibition was announced at the beginning of the show and that constituted an infringement of copyright law. I told her that I had been instructed to ask her to delete the video recordings. Without beating about the bush, she agreed and deleted the videos without arguing. This amazed me. This older lady deleted the videos in a few seconds, very skillfully, just like a teenager, as if she had always done this sort of thing. This was something I couldn’t have imagined. I was aware that I was responsible for this. I had decided firmly that this was right for her. And she did, too. Her knowing side completed it in a few small steps, and in a very short time corrected her mistake. At this moment I suddenly felt that I had finally enlightened to the inner meaning of compassion.

Amid all of this wasn’t there also “Ren” (Forbearance)? After having my first experience of success, I was thinking about how I could do this even better. In the following days, I again experienced two trials, enabling me to do this even better.

Learning the Issue More Deeply

The first time this happened it was a young woman, and in my discussion with her, I emphasized the importance of deleting the photographs, and also told her, that if she would like a photo as a souvenir, that she could take a beautiful souvenir photo in front of the Shen Yun advertisement in the main hall of the theater, and moreover she could purchase many mementos and keepsakes at the Shen Yun gift shop. Apart from this, she could find many first-class photographs and videos on the Shen Yun webpage. In this way, this woman could be affected by and could cherish my good intentions and conciliatory action. She listened to my words, and I also thanked her for understanding.

Teaching about Infringement of Copyright

Following that, a fellow practitioner informed me that an audience member was taking photos. Because I had not seen this for myself, I couldn't decide if I should intervene or not. I asked this couple if they had taken photos, and they admitted they had. They had not understood the prompt (in German and Chinese) at the beginning of the performance that they were not allowed to take video recordings. I explained to them in English that taking video recordings was an infringement of copyright law and asked them to delete them. I reminded them to take with them only beautiful memories of the show. I let them know that I wasn’t only carrying out the assignment but that I understood them.

After the show ended, something happened that shocked me. As everyone was leaving, the couple who had been taking photos specially came to find me and apologized several times. I thanked them and said that I was very pleased that they had come to find me again.

After gradually coming to a deeper understanding of Zhen Shan Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) and what this means for us practitioners, I am able to complete the task with a clear conscience. Before this, I was not able to complete the task because of an attachment to fear. Moreover, with the strengthening of righteous thoughts, I was able to help those people who had come to see the performance not to make mistakes, and so that they would not regret it afterward.

My Process of Learning Wuwei (“non-intervention”)

As a stage security volunteer, I learned a lot this year with the help of Master and fellow practitioners. It was the first time for me to do a lot of these tasks. A very prominent point that I learned was to remain calm when encountering something.

My hometown is only 30 kilometers from Fussen. I was honored that Shen Yun would be so close to my hometown. Here I was responsible for security outside the theater, and it required me to be truly calm. To take guard and watch a quiet space for three or six hours was a big test of my patience. How could I spend this time without being bored? From this, I learned how every post and assignment that is assigned to us is very important. Sometimes when I would see that there was a task that was forgotten it would fill this gap. Sometimes this task that was beyond our plans required a lot of time to complete. Furthermore, I was often worried about whether I would be able to take on such extra loads. This time I was finally able to omit sleeping, and moreover, make what seemed impossible possible.

When it was my turn to go on duty, the first task assigned to me was to be the security for the Shen Yun artists, and the vehicle. I waited for several hours but the artists still didn’t arrive. Just when my time of duty was about to finish, the coordinator phoned me to say that the artists had made use of this time to visit the surroundings. The coordinator said that it was very much later that he came to know of this change of plan. I very anxiously caught up with them, and in the end, found the coach and lorry. I finally could start my work. An hour later when I was making the payment at the checkpoint to park, I came across some problems, and at that time the performance troupe once again left for dinner, and I once again lost contact with them. I was thinking that they must have gone to the hotel to register for their stay, however, it was not like that. My other colleague had received correct instructions and hurried to the restaurant to be the security there.

From the beginning, my task was not ordinary, and this was very challenging for my patience. In this aspect, I still had many attachments that still needed to go. This is an attachment that has already followed me to this day, so how could I do better at this in the future? Why was it so difficult for me to complete such a simple task?

Nothing is accidental, so what was this telling me? Days have passed, and I have gradually let go of my edgy emotions and been able to face things that happened and the tasks I was given to achieve a peaceful mentality. But during this process, I was still lacking good communication with the security team. Sometimes I said too much and gave too much detail and wasted their precious time. Sometimes, also because of communicating too little, I made them unsure if everything was well or not. Sometimes I couldn’t properly understand my own responsibilities. Now I still need to find a moderate means and method of collaborative communication. Sometimes some conflicts occur. No matter whether it is a conflict that is unnecessary, or whether it has a specific cause, I will look inside myself and try to do it better.

On the last day of the performances, I had the job of being security staff for nine hours. I also needed to help for around two hours with packing up the stage, in the middle of which was a rest period. I was a little worried about whether I could work for so long and was afraid that I couldn’t do better.

After waking up at six o'clock I did my first round at the hotel where the Shen Yun performing artists were staying. Three hours later I went to the theater. I discovered that no one was there to guard the coach in front of the theater. Actually, it had already been arranged for me to take a rest, but I felt it was necessary for me to fill in this gap. I didn’t ask anyone and directly got to work. I stood there until the performance ended and they needed my help to pack up the stage. Afterward, I planned to rest. But I couldn’t stop there and let this coach full of equipment stay there without anyone guarding it. So, I stood there again. I stood there until I went to the hotel to guard it and then stayed there until midnight. Then I slept in my car for three hours.

Most of the time I was sending righteous thoughts. In the end, I guarded the coach with another practitioner until six o'clock in the morning when the sun came up. This was the most difficult part. But the good part was that we two could share experiences with each other. Altogether I worked for 18 hours but only rested for three, the impossible became possible. I myself was amazed. I came to know what I could achieve with Master’s help.

With this new understanding, several weeks later I was able to deal with the last day in Bregenz in a new way. I arrived at the theater in advance, to clear away the dimensional field there. Also, on the road from the hotel to the theater, I sent righteous thoughts to clean up the entire city. After arriving earlier, I could play the role of doorkeeper for the artist's entrance, greet the staff members of the theater and the kitchen team staff, and open the door for everybody. This small act of opening the door for others, letting them in, bowing, giving respect and a smile to others is truly important: These are all old traditions, but they endowed me with a mystical meaning during the period of the Shen Yun performances, especially when opening the door for the Shen Yun performing artists. When I would open the door for the cleaning staff of the theater, they would be astounded and say, “no one here has ever done this for us before.” They were moved by this small action. We started discussing ancient traditions, as well as how I have been trying hard to study these traditions because they have become very important to me. We as practitioners can use these small details to display Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to the world’s people, and it is exactly these traditions that give positive impressions to the people we meet. On that day I guarded many doors and passageways, and each door and passageway was very special, because of the many experiences associated with them.

On this day I was determined: I would not leave until there was no one who needed help. Up until now, I would always determine what finishing time would be, and most of the time that would be when I was very tired. I wanted to do better after I had the experience in Fussen. This time I didn’t help take down the stage or guard the coach to wait for them to drive away from the theater to then resume my work, but instead, I helped those in the kitchen team pack their things, and, in this way, I spent several hours. I put aside my thoughts of already being very tired, and moreover, I only left when everybody had left the theater. I once again was astounded to discover that, with the help of Master, I was unexpectedly able to achieve this. This was the first time for me to achieve such a challenge. Sometimes I would think that, aren’t I older now, unlike how when I was young and could do anything? Is it truly like this? Is this how I want it? Is this illusory? I think that when it comes to Dafa one should rethink one’s boundaries. Zhuan Falun clearly points out how we can become younger. We must use this possibility. When my starting point is full of righteous thoughts, I can experience how to become younger.

I have always disliked wearing suits and clothing that is proper and suited to the festival atmosphere. I like more casual clothing and sneakers, even at my workplace. After Master spoke of traditions, I noticed in many old photos, many ordinary and poor peasants and workers in our village used to always dress well for work, and this astounded me. They even wore hats to cover their heads. And even when the weather was blazing hot, they would wear long sleeves and long trousers. If they wore shorts, they would wear long stockings. People could tell from their clothing their profession. Every village had its own traditional clothing. Some traditions are still kept to this day.

From the perspective of my security job outside the theater, I could observe how Shen Yun performance artists on their journey from the hotel to the theater and upon returning, were so peaceful and disciplined. Whether it be with their clothing or their behavior they all gave me an excellent impression. Was I suited to doing security work? Did I have this disposition in my every action and move?

Shen Yun performing arts is a first-class arts group, and as personnel security even though I am just doing simple security work shouldn’t I also dress better like the artists, and according to old traditions and decorum restrain my own actions and consider my clothing more? For me, being able to use righteous thoughts at the parking lot which I was keeping watch over, to smile and politely give one’s respects, and to welcome and bid farewell to the Shen Yun performing artists and those who have a predestined relationship with me was my honor. I pointed out the entrance to the theater to many people and answered many questions and offered further help. Sometimes I would think about how I could do better. I immersed my mind and body in my tasks, and several hours passed by very quickly. I experienced more and more how we cultivators could form one body, and many visitors also merged into it. Perhaps I was one of the first practitioners that the visitors see on the way to the theater, so I had to give them a good first impression. Even though this looks like a job that’s not worth mentioning it is also very important, and this brought me new understandings in my cultivation practice.

Wishing to Fall Ill

In order to take part in Shen Yun, for a long time, as volunteers, we were not sure whether we should be vaccinated or not based on the new epidemic situation. After reading Master’s article “Wake up” I decided to be vaccinated and in this way no matter what stipulations Austria and Germany had I would have been prepared. Although I had accepted to be vaccinated for Shen Yun, however, I still had an attitude of preferring not to be. According to the Austrian stipulations in the law I had two options: One was to be vaccinated, and the other was to be regarded as immune after being restored to health for six months after catching the virus.

I was supposed to get my second vaccination after the first performance of Shen Yun in 2022. I was wishing I could get ill and therefore would not need to be vaccinated. This wish came true. Two days later, on the way back from Cologne I lost my sense of taste. My PCR test said that I was infected and needed to be isolated.

As a practitioner, going as far as to wish to get ill, was this right? Was this according to the Fa? And by doing so, was I not also harming other practitioners?

For the next several days I felt powerless. Five days later after going through a test I could decide whether to conclude my isolation period or not. But the test showed that I still had the virus. I had invited it but now it was unwilling to leave. Was my point of view correct? Wasn’t I giving the evil a loophole to take advantage of? Very soon I was required to help out at Salzburg. On the day before setting up the stage in Salzburg my isolation concluded. However, I still had the symptoms of the new virus such as coughing, and moreover was in poor health. So, at the time I decided not to go to Salzburg.

My neighbors knew that I had not gotten sick for six years, so after suddenly being infected with the virus, they were all shocked. I had once told them that I wouldn’t get sick because the curative effects of Falun Dafa are very good. Wasn’t this a bad signal when I was infected with the virus? Looking back afterward this really was a bad situation, with such a strong attachment to wanting to become sick, as a result, I had no way of making good on my promise to help in Salzburg.

I carefully thought about it, and whether I had this attachment before. Actually, when I was still a child and whenever I had exams, I would always wish that I would get sick so that I could postpone my exams. Sometimes my show of despondency was an excuse for me to shirk my responsibility. When the pressure was too great for me, I would always wish I would get sick. Because sick people could be sympathized with and given attention. Wasn’t this also an addiction? Wasn’t there an attachment there for me to get rid of?

As for being a cultivator, I used to, when sitting in meditation in a group, always pay attention to when it would start hurting my legs, and how long it would hurt, and after this, I could tell everybody else there. Did I always hope to be the one at the practice site for who it hurt the most? Was this a competition for who it hurts the most? Should I complain, and then gain sympathy from others? After I got rid of this attachment I didn’t think about when the pain started while sitting in meditation or consider how long it was painful. Whenever this thought came up or when my legs were in pain, I would immediately remind myself to get rid of this attachment. Now, this no longer has any meaning to me.

Taking part in Shen Yun this year, and taking part in group activities with other practitioners have been a great help in my cultivation, and allowed me to be aware of the tribulations I needed to pass, and moreover to pass them well.

I would like to give thanks for being able to more deeply take part in a Shen Yun project. I was very curious about what I could learn or realize from it. I very much thank Master for the time and chances he has given us, the experience sharing with other practitioners, and their pointing things out to me. I also regret that I didn’t complete my tasks one hundred percent, but next time I will try to do them even better.

Because my level is limited, please compassionately point out my mistakes for correction.

Thank you, great Master, and thank you, fellow practitioners!

(Presented at the 2022 European Fa Conference)