[International Online Fahui] Learning to Set Aside My Ego and Sincerely Cooperate While Participating in a Media Project

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

I began to practice Falun Dafa in 1999 and through the years I’ve participated in many media-related projects. For 7 years I worked with a local practitioner to produce videos to clarify the truth. 

In October 2020 a coordinator in another country asked if we could film footage for their background videos. We worked on the project a few years ago. Since I had no assignments from the TV station I talked with local practitioners and we agreed to accept the task. The coordinator asked for some scenes of a prison in China where practitioners were tortured. This required setting up a scene that was new to us.

The practitioners from the other country knew that we lacked experience in setting up a scene like this, so they had three meetings with us. They shared their experiences on how to set it up, select materials, and how to make them look old. They even explained the size, design, and many other details. After our meeting, we knew what was needed and how to do it.

Our first challenge was to find a suitable place to set up the scene. Since we were going to set up three prison cells, it required a large space. A factory workshop would be suitable. We asked local practitioners if they had a workshop we could use but we found none. All available private residences were too small. We considered renting a workshop, however, no one wanted to lease their space for only 2 months.

Then a practitioner told us that he had a relative who had half of a workshop available. We went and looked at it. It was smaller than we expected and we would also have to share the space with another tenant. The rate was the market price. We explained the situation to the overseas coordinator and received confirmation to lease it. So we began to prepare the lease agreement. However, we thought the rent was high, so we decided to share the situation with local practitioners.

Just before the meeting, a practitioner suddenly said, “I just bought a workshop but it may not be the size you need.” What a coincidence! We checked the size of the workshop and found it was narrow but we could still use it if we divided the setting into two phases. With this practitioner’s help, we had a workshop to use. The overseas coordinator also thanked the practitioner and said that his contribution relieved them of a lot of financial stress. We didn’t expect a face-to-face meeting could bring such a big breakthrough. All of us understood that compassionate Master was helping us.

All our teams: transportation, carpentry, and art worked smoothly together. I was busy coordinating various tasks. One day, we started to cover the skylights. The aerial platform was raised up to the ceiling while I stood on the ground and watched out for them. Then I saw my wife standing underneath the platform, speaking with another practitioner. I was anxious and yelled at them to pay attention to safety. When we returned home that evening, my wife said I was unfriendly when I yelled and it sounded like I was swearing. She reminded me that I yelled at fellow practitioners during previous projects. She pointed out that I should mind my temper. Her words let me see the test I didn’t pass and I made up my mind to do better this time, especially to control my temper when I was busy. 

Filming the footage went on for two months from the end of February to the beginning of April. I’d like to share some of my cultivation insights with you.

Learning to Understand Others

I had a conflict with another practitioner because we had differing opinions, and I began to complain. I remembered what Master said about supporting and cooperating with each other. So, the next morning I brought my equipment to that practitioner’s home. Although in the end, he didn’t use it, I could suddenly relate to his role in the project and his cultivation path. The complaint in my heart turned into appreciation. I understood that every practitioner wants to do his best but sometimes we can only do a small part because our capabilities are restrained by other factors.

I suddenly understood that when others looked at me, they might feel I had the same issue because sometimes my contribution was limited. If I didn’t want others to complain about me or blame me then I shouldn’t complain about them. I must increase my tolerance.

Master said, 

“So what's their state of mind? It's tolerance, an extremely immense tolerance, being able to accept other beings, and being able to truly think from other beings' perspectives.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. II) 

One day I complained about a practitioner/actor’s hairstyle. The scene we were filming was during the time when he was incarcerated so his hair should be very short. The practitioner wanted to use a wig and the makeup artist tried to accommodate him, but it didn’t look real. We spent a lot of time but couldn’t find a good angle to avoid showing his wig. I looked within and found it originated from me—I didn’t ask him to cut his hair short. Instead, I hoped he would make the decision himself. My reasoning was that I should not impose my opinion on another practitioner and we would harmonize the situation. As I came to this understanding, the situation changed. The following morning, the actor/practitioner said he wanted to cut his hair short to make the shooting easier. The other practitioners were happy that he raised his xinxing and that day the atmosphere was serene.

When I looked back, I realized that both of the issues changed on that Saturday night when I made an effort to understand other practitioners. Even though I started to look within I am far from what the Fa requires. I have so many attachments that I need to identify and eliminate. I realized that I could see other people’s merits when I could understand them. Master said, 

“Who came up with the idea is not what’s important, but rather, who has fully developed himself through the process; whoever works on himself has grown from it.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2019 New York Fa Conference,” Team Yellow Translation)

The Importance of Looking Within

I was surprised when I realized I had so many complaints during the filming. I complained about nearly every team member especially when we lacked this or that like having no art director or secondary camera operator. I helped here and there but I complained the entire time. I knew I wasn’t behaving like a practitioner but I didn’t look within. I thought some practitioners were good but others were not good enough.

My heart was troubled and I couldn’t calm down. I developed negative opinions and was upset with some practitioners. I had a dream that night that I was operating a drone along a hilly riverside. I felt confident that I could manually operate the drone because I had passed a test on the subject. However, I saw the drone was not responsive and flew towards the middle of the river. I looked into the sky and saw a large cartoon figure balloon attached to the drone. The balloon was bigger than a human and was dragging the drone away. The wind increased and the drone floated further away. I tried the maximum power to fly back the drone but failed. I woke up after it dropped into the river. 

After the dream I enlightened that I should let go of my opinions about certain people. I should allow them to manage what they were in charge of and not let my notions hurt the entire unit. Master said, 

“And when problems arise between you and others, it doesn’t matter who’s at fault: start by reflecting on your part in it. If a cultivator cannot manage to form this habit, if he isn’t able to look at things in the opposite way of how people normally do, then he will always be stuck at the human level—at least in regards to whatever issue he may have failed to resolve.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2019 New York Fa Conference,” Team Yellow Translation)

Master also said, 

“When a person harbors resentment it’s because he has grown fond of hearing pleasant things and having things go well. And then when things don't go that way, he resents it.” (“2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C. ”)

Reflecting on the entire process, I saw my attachment to fame in two areas. The first was that I accepted this project with a desire to uphold my reputation and that I would feel embarrassed if I refused to help. The second was that I was afraid if the project didn’t meet the requirement it would hurt my reputation. In other words, I desired to raise my reputation so I raised my standard. When I felt fellow practitioners couldn’t meet my standard, I became resentful.

If I didn’t have the desire for fame, I would be more realistic and happily accept whatever fellow practitioners could contribute and I wouldn’t be resentful. The accumulated resentment could only make communication more difficult with others and form barriers between us.

After the project was completed, we made a “behind-the-scenes” feature showcasing our efforts. I was moved as I watched—it recorded the process from start to finish and showcased all the participants’ contributions. I regretted that I had complained so much. I regretted that I had not devoted more energy to the project and that I lacked a pure mindset to cherish this opportunity. It certainly let me see where I needed to improve.

Understanding “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

During the filming, many things seemed to be “just right.” Thanks to revered Master for his insight, allowing me to re-learn the path a Dafa disciple is on. The following are some examples of amazing experiences we had in the process.

To cover the skylights, we bought two large pieces of cloth and a medium-sized one without knowing the actual size. All the fabric was just right. Such an amazing coincidence made us realize that Master is always looking after us. 

Due to my lack of preparation, I forgot to order four sets of costumes. I later ordered them online and waited. The shooting was scheduled for Saturday. I worried whether they would arrive before the shooting was scheduled to begin. Fortunately, they arrived in the morning so I brought them to the workshop and had them adjusted in time.

My wife and I decided to return twelve large panels we borrowed from another city. It was the long weekend of the Ching Ming Festival. When we arrived at my company to borrow a truck, the white truck we wanted was blocked. However, a manager returned a blue truck to the company and suggested we use it instead. We drove the blue truck to the workshop and loaded the panels. Shortly after we left, the transmission of the truck began to fail. It could only drive in second or third gear and could not reverse. We had to bring the blue truck back to my company and move the panels to the white truck. At that time, a commercial truck driver came back and reminded us to put on a dust net because it was required to drive on the expressway, otherwise, we would be fined a few thousand dollars. We borrowed a dust net from another truck and set out. 

We noticed policemen checking each truck at the expressway ramp. My wife and I both knew Master protected us again. From the manager returning a blue truck, the transmission failure, and a kind remind from a professional truck driver, everything was arranged.

Another time, we borrowed a box truck from a company as a prop. We took two or three hours to shoot. The truck drove back and forth in the alley several times. After the filming was finished and we were about to leave the alley, the truck’s battery was out of power and it wouldn’t start. The maintenance worker told us the following day that the battery needed to be replaced. It seemed that the battery of the box truck gave its last drop of energy to help us to finish filming the scene.

We experienced several coincidences like this. From the beginning to the end of this project, many amazing things happened, including the workshop beccoming available at the beginning of the project. Through these experiences, we were not shocked or frightened and only had endless gratitude in our hearts. A series of coincidences also made me feel that, “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun) With Master and the Fa, as long as the disciples have the desire to do it, Master will give them the best arrangements. 

After the first week of filming, I joined the morning group practice. While I practiced the exercises, I wondered why so many coincidences happened—that the people and materials we needed showed up at exactly the right time. 

Through my third eye, I suddenly saw the following scene: Practitioners knelt in front of Master to accept our missions. Master told us that the right people and materials would come and assist us at the right time. We all told Master that we wouldn’t fail in our missions. Since then I had a new understanding of what “vow” meant. It is not like the kind of pressure in the human world, nor is it something we can accept or refuse, it is the destiny in life, in other words, we have this life and the arrangements followed because we have the mission. With the mighty grace of Master’s Fa-rectification, our crystallization in the process could join into the torrent and become a little bit in the process of Fa-rectification. 

The understanding shook the knowing part of me and moved me to tears. Dafa disciples experienced miracles and glories every step on their journey because it is a journey we are destined to walk on. 

Master said, “Dafa disciples are God’s messengers” (“I Sing for You,” Hong Yin IV)

Thank you, Master! Thank you, everyone!

(2021 International Online Fa Conference)