(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
My sharing has to do with how our Fa study group promoted the NTDTV Spectacular.
Last year when we heard that the coming Spectacular show would be part of Fa-rectification, and it would be Master leading us disciples to do Fa-rectification, we were all very excited.
Master said in "Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference,"
"Everything I've been doing during the Fa-rectification and everything I want, to spell it out, are the choice of the future cosmos and the needs of the future cosmos. (Applause) So for the beings of the old cosmos, and this includes all the elements of beings, when it comes to the Fa-rectification and what I choose, all beings' harmonizing and completing things according to my choices and contributing their best ideas and approaches--not to change what I want, but to harmonize and complete things according to what I've said--is the best thought a being in the cosmos could have. (Applause)"
We realized that this show would be a good opportunity to tell people the heavenly origin of upright human culture. The show would do its part to clarify the truth and rescue sentient beings. Every single ticket could be a lifesaver. We needed to let sentient beings know about this show. We had to help whoever has a predestined relationship with us to buy our tickets and see the show.
There are about 20 practitioners in our Fa study group. Everyone had a clear understanding of our mission during this promotion. We knew we were doing the most righteous and supernatural thing in the universe. We were doing this to rescue sentient beings. Therefore, everyone in our Fa study group contributed to the ticket promotion efforts.
People saw us at schools, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) stations, restaurants, supermarkets, shopping centers, movie theaters, the downtown area, and senior centers [offering tickets for sale]. Many of us promoted tickets at work. A seven-year-old boy practitioner sold tickets by knocking on every neighbor's door and showing them the photo album of the Spectacular. Several high school students promoted the show to their classmates' parents. They sold more than 10 tickets. Minghui School students performed Chinese dances in a street to attract a crowd. Sometime they danced for seven to eight hours. Some of us invited friends and relatives to our homes during Christmas and the New Year to promote our show and sell tickets. We all thought of our own ways and used our imaginations to go full speed in selling tickets.
We worked very hard. We arrived as early as 6:00 a.m. at a BART station and went there again in late afternoon to distribute flyers, because the commuter traffic is heaviest during these two time slots. We arrived at 7:00 a.m. at a shopping center and stayed until 11:00 p.m. We sold more than 1,000 dollars worth of DVDs and more than 10,000 dollars worth of tickets. Many local residents called our ticket hotline due to our promotion efforts.
Eliminating Fear and Clarifying the Truth in a Noble and Dignified Manner
For the Chinese, school is a focal point. Chinese people's minds are poisoned to the worst extent, and at the same time in greatest need of being rescued. We decided to promote our show in Chinese schools.
There is a Chinese school in our area that has an enrollment of more than 1,000 students. Because of the Chinese Consulate's influence, this Chinese school's officials did not allow us to distribute flyers in the school. We were told to leave right away, otherwise they would call the police. We were shocked and started to leave. We shared our understandings when we walked out. We realized that we needed to clarify the truth to the school officials. We could not just leave.
We returned to the school. Some of us sent righteous thoughts, and the others went to talk to the school authorities. We told them, "The reason you are teaching Chinese here is to spread traditional Chinese culture. This NTDTV Spectacular is promoting the most authentic, traditional Chinese culture. Grand scenes and opulent costumes highlight this performance. Why do you want to stop us from promoting our show here? Even if you call the police they are not going to stop us." The school administrator kept silent. We started to distribute flyers, and most of the students and parents thus gained a good first impression of our show.
This experience encouraged us very much. At the same time we were deeply moved by the power of the righteous mind. We need to have righteous thoughts and righteous actions. We need to eliminate fear and the competitive mentality, and clarify the truth with compassion. We successfully visited many Chinese schools. We heard feedback from a practitioner that many people from our area had called to buy tickets. We believe a large percentage was from the Chinese schools.
Eliminating Human Notions in the Process of Ticket Promotion
We had many human notions to begin with. We were afraid that people would not accept or might not like our show. Before long, Master's Law Bodies brought people with predestined relationships right before us. They watched our introduction video and told us "This is so beautiful, so gorgeous!" Some of them bought tickets immediately. Some of them stood in front of our table and watched the introduction again and again and did not want to leave. We realized that we were only doing things on this human level, and that it's Master and the Fa doing the rest and saving people.
Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital,"
"People with predestined relationships and those who can be saved can be made to--made to by Master's Law Bodies, righteous gods, or the immense field that Dafa has formed in the world--appear right before you in any of a range of settings, providing them with a chance to learn the truth. But you have to carry it out, and it doesn't work if you're not out there doing things."
Ten days before the show's opening we rented a place in a shopping center. We decorated the place very professionally. We put four big screen TVs in the four corners, to face four different angles. We played videos and displayed the photo album.
Since we were promoting a world class performance, we needed to pay attention to our appearance. All gentlemen put on suits and ties, and the ladies put on light makeup and dressed in their best clothes. The young ladies wore Tang Dynasty costumes.
Right away we found that this shopping center is not located in an affluent neighborhood. Most of the people there are minority groups. We doubted if those lower income families would buy tickets, and we wondered if we had rented the wrong place. To our surprise, at the end of the day, we found most of our tickets had sold to those ethnic minorities.
One couple arrived with a two-year-old child. The husband was disabled. One of the practitioners thought they would not buy tickets for sure. It turned out that they watched our introduction, became excited, and bought tickets right away.
Our experiences made us realize that we cannot hold any human notions when clarifying the truth and saving people. Our notions will cause us to lose the opportunity of rescuing those with predestined relationships.
Master said,
"Of course, the effect of the Fa-rectification's situation is part of it too, but if the Dafa disciples don't all clarify the truth to individual people, or clarify the truth to society, then as for the process of ordinary people's minds being transformed at the surface level, that's not something gods will do for them on an individual basis. So things that involve the surface level of human beings have to be done by Dafa disciples." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")
After Fa study everyone had a good understanding based on the Fa. We eliminated our human notions. During the following couple of days we sold lots of tickets and DVDs.
Ensuring Fa-study and Group Sharing
We did not slack off in Fa study during our ticket promoting time. Some practitioners finished Fa-study and exercises before they went out in the morning to promote the tickets. If we had to stay outside for the whole day to promote tickets, we would take turns to make sure each of us had time for Fa study.
Every Thursday we have a group Fa study and sharing. We first study the Fa together, then we share opinions on the basis of the Fa and improve as one body. When sharing incidents about the ticket promotion activities, we realized that just handing out a flyer promoting the show to people passing by is not enough. We needed to grasp every opportunity and talk about the essence of the show.
Because we studied Fa diligently and always had group sharing, we clearly felt our righteous thoughts were strengthened, and that our xinxing levels met the Fa requirements, and thus we were able to reach the desired effects. Many people who passed by in a hurry would stop and listen to our Spectacular introduction.
Having the Righteous Mindset to Save Sentient Beings
A few older practitioners at our practice site do not speak English. But this did not prevent them from introducing the show to Westerners. When they promoted the tickets to Westerners, they pointed to the photos of the show on the flyers, thus guiding them to watch the highlights of the show on TV. Then if those Westerners wanted to know more, they would lead them to practitioners who spoke English. Although our older practitioners did not speak English, they sold several of the most expensive tickets.
In another town, an older practitioner was clarifying the truth to a lady at the subway in New York City. She spoke about Falun Gong and about the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, and the withdrawals from the Communist Party and related organizations, as well as this wonderful New Year's show. She talked for a long time. This lady said, "In fact I have received many of those materials that you gave me. But I never thought about going to see the show. Today, because of your explanation, I really want to go see the show. I'll bring my son to see traditional Chinese culture!" The practitioner was very happy that the lady and her whole family had an opportunity for salvation.
On another occasion, this older practitioner clarified the truth to a lady. The lady immediately decided to go see the show after hearing the truth. Our practitioner took the opportunity and brought her to the ticket sales office. The lady bought two tickets at $180 each.
The experiences of our older practitioners promoting tickets made us realize that when we let go our human notions, with the strong thought of rescuing sentient beings, regardless of whether he/she is older, cannot speak the language, and other hindrances, all those factors do not matter. The power of the Fa will manifest.
Some Small Ticket Promotion Incidents
We also noticed and collected some touching stories during our ticket promotion activities. We contacted our media to report those stories immediately to help further promote ticket sales.
One young lady saw our show's TV advertisement. She then received our flyer about the show. She was very excited and said, "I saw the introduction on TV. It was beautiful, and it deeply touched me. I think this is the best New Year's gift for my mom!" She immediately called the ticket hotline and bought two tickets. She also quickly arranged for the airline ticket for her mother, who lives in southern California, and she flew to New York to see the show. This young lady also posted our advertisement at her office and on a wall at the entrance to her workplace.
Another Chinese woman wanted to bring her 91-year-old mother to see the show. She said she talked about the show with her mother. Her mother was very excited and said, "I want to see the show. Although my eyes are not very good, my ears are OK. If I could listen to our traditional Chinese music and keep it in my memory, that's good enough for me." They bought the previous year's show DVD and left their phone number. They asked us to call them when the next year's New Year Spectacular comes. Some audience members had driven two hours to see the show. Those small stories are touching.
Cultivate Diligently, with Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Acts, and Fulfill Dafa Disciples' Mission
As practitioners said in a Minghui/Clearwisdom article, the New Tang Dynasty's New Year Spectacular is a stage. In fact isn't our whole human history a play on a stage? Myth and legend, past and present, all of us are all in the play. We came to understand that during the Fa-rectification period, Master is compassionately saving beings with tireless effort, and constantly gives sentient beings all kinds of opportunities. The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, withdrawals from Communist Party and its related organizations, and the New Year Spectacular are all like Noah's arc prepared for sentient beings. They are also opportunities for each practitioner to establish his or her mighty virtue. The Fa-rectification progresses very fast. We need to follow the progress and cannot slack off. We should exert the best of our talents to validate the Fa.
We realize that to do the three things well, cultivating diligently and studying the Fa diligently are fundamental. In addition to studying the Fa well, with righteous thoughts and righteous acts, we can clarify the truth well to sentient beings, and fulfill our Dafa disciples' mission.
