[European Fa Conference] My Cultivation Experience as a Salesperson for Shen Yun Gifts

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

I am honored to be able to participate in the Shen Yun gift booth during the 2022 Shen Yun European tour. I have seen the audience’s feelings of expectation and grateful appreciation of Shen Yun, and I have truly felt Master’s compassion. I have made only a little breakthrough in my cultivation, but Master has given me so much.

People Are Eagerly Waiting for Shen Yun

“We’ve been waiting for two years, and we’re finally able to see Shen Yun!” During the 2022 Shen Yun tour season, this is what most people tell us. Many audience members bought tickets for Shen Yun performances two years ago, but the performances were canceled due to the COVID outbreak. The understanding sides of the people that have survived this pandemic are really looking forward to seeing Shen Yun.

When a much older woman came to the theater to collect her ticket, she was holding the Shen Yun flyer she received eight years ago. It took her eight years to save enough money to buy a ticket.

The spectators are deeply touched by the splendid performances, and as they walk out of the hall, they talk about the wonderful moments of the performance with their companions and select gifts for themselves and their relatives and friends from the Shen Yun gift booth.

In addition to the silk scarves, jewelry, picture albums, audio-visual items, and other products, the Shen Yun Shop launched a new subscription service for the “Shen Yun Creations” website, giving keen audience members an opportunity to learn more about Shen Yun and Chinese traditional culture. It is a valuable resource, and many early Shen Yun performances can be viewed on the website. This year, for the first time, Zhuan Falun was available at the shop. Revered Master is merciful, allowing those who are predestined to get Zhuan Falun and fulfilling the opportunity that they have been waiting for for thousands of years!

Before each performance, during the intermission, and after the performance ends, patrons browse the Falun Dafa book section of the gift booth and talk to the staff, hoping to learn more about Falun Dafa. Many people bought books and asked where they could learn the exercises. I remember one family made a special trip from Switzerland to Germany to see the performance. They really loved Shen Yun. The father asked his eight or nine-year-old son to choose a gift. The little boy looked and looked and the only thing he wanted was a copy of Zhuan Falun. The father and son showed it to the mother and they purchased the book. They seemed content when they left.

Some audience members wanted to know what the banner the dancers were holding in the last piece said and even wanted to take the “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” banner home and hang it on their wall. Another person came to the booth, held the hands of one of us running the booth, and said, “I finally know why the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) persecutes Falun Dafa! I believe the CCP will collapse for sure.”

Many patrons said that Shen Yun took them to a heavenly world. Some said they felt no longer troubled by their illness, forgot their concerns, and felt purified. I feel that every moment I participate in the Shen Yun gift sales program, I am being purified step by step by Dafa. Master said, “We just want to cleanse, cleanse step by step, all the way up.” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)

Rectifying Myself and Not Allowing Negative Factors to Take Advantage of My Loopholes

I feel that I’ve been able to eliminate my negative thoughts. As we work the booth, there are always conflicts or emergencies, which inadvertently lead to negative thoughts. When they are not managed, the negative thoughts grow, which will affect other practitioners in the project and the project itself. But being able to identify them and remember that they are not my true self can suppress and clear them away, and things will change for the better.

Due to the pandemic, the global supply chain was affected. Some of the goods we ordered arrived after the tour began and had to be counted in the theatre right before the performance. There is a new jewelry collection called “Xianlian.” It includes necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, which are very elegant and beautiful. We looked forward to receiving them for a long time, but when the shipment finally arrived, although each bracelet was packaged separately, nearly every one was tangled. We had to take out all the bracelets before the audience entered the venue, untangle them, and put them back into their bags one by one, which added to the work we already had to get done.

Several thoughts quickly flashed through my mind: “How did this happen? Was it caused by the practitioners who picked up the goods and handled them carelessly? Could it be the packaging design for the bracelet itself is not good enough?” But time was tight, and we had to work quickly before patrons entered. I realized that those thoughts were not helpful in the current situation and thinking them would not only magnify my complaints but also delay the work of sorting them out. It is not my job to complain about other people’s omissions. Instead, I should focus on how to improve the imperfections in the workflow. So, I dismissed the negative thoughts and started sorting the bracelets. As I did, I thought about how complicated it was to produce them, from designing them to making them in a factory, putting them on a truck, etc., They were not easy to come by. Not all the cities on the tour received them. As I had these thoughts, gratitude rose in my heart.

I have a bad habit of choosing to do the easy things and avoiding the difficult ones. When I encounter a problem, I always see the problem first, so I complain that others are causing trouble for me, but I forget others’ hard work and the setbacks they have overcome. I don’t know how to be grateful.

I explained to the patrons that this jewelry line was called “Xianlian,” which represents the divine lotus flower that grows out of the mud but remains clean. This symbolizes people who maintain their noble character in turbulent times. As a Dafa disciple, shouldn’t I maintain a noble character? You cannot complain just because you are unhappy about your situation. You cannot let your own selfishness sully the pure field where Shen Yun saves people. The jewelry was immensely popular from the moment it appeared to the end of the tour this season.

After the first two days of the show at one venue, we realized we could make some adjustments to our table to better display Zhuan Falun. As we did, some practitioners raised questions about the way the coordinator adjusted it but she didn’t respond. I noticed that one of them who’d raised a question seemed a little upset and left the booth for a while.

When the patrons were about to enter, that practitioner returned to the booth, but her expression was still gloomy. I wondered why she couldn’t temporarily put down her emotions for the sake of the whole group. Some of the negative thoughts I had about this practitioner in the past began to re-surface. If I tried to straighten the situation out at this time, whatever I said would not be pure. I knew I could no longer indulge my negative emotions like this and had to correct myself right away. I realized that I just wanted things to be resolved the way I thought they should be, but I had no intention of listening to another opinion. When there is a sudden change in plans, the lack of communication and the lack of real consideration for others will lead to misunderstandings among us.

When I felt that my mind was finally back on track, I went to talk to her. I discovered that she wasn’t upset about what had happened, she was upset because she was aware of her stubbornness and was struggling with how to get rid of it. I am fortunate and grateful that she quickly adjusted her mental state and greeted the audience members with a smile. During that performance, the items she was in charge of sold well. She later told other practitioners what had happened during an experience sharing and that it had had a very positive impact on her.

Through this experience, I also reminded myself not to judge other practitioners so easily and draw quick conclusions. I won’t be able to discover my own issues if I only focus on how others are in a bad state.

Who Has the Better Idea?

During a break, another practitioner shared an interesting experience: A certain item was out of stock at our booth, so she went to the downstairs booth to see if there were any left. She took the items back upstairs and was about to put them on display when she noticed that the layout of the booth had changed. She wondered, “Why would someone change my layout without asking me?”

She took it up with the general coordinator, saying, “Please tell the team to put an end to this kind of thing.” When it happened a few more times, she realized that this was directed at her attachment. She’d always thought that her layout was good and that changing it was disrespectful. After she realized this, she felt as if the gods in the heavens were purposefully having people change her layout to test whether she could really let go of her attachments. When she thought about it like that, she calmed down and reminded herself, “Just look inward a little bit and let go of your stubborn self.” After her candid sharing, other practitioners on the team were inspired and saw that they had a similar mentality; they realized they needed to respect others and be less stubborn.

Another practitioner who was responsible for selling Zhuan Falun saw that her arrangement of the books had been altered a few times. At first she thought others might be more experienced and have their reasons for changing the display. She realized that she did not need to spend much time changing the layout if the books were placed properly. When the patrons come, it is more important to tell them about the books. Later, such random changes occurred less and less, because everyone realized that it works out better if you keep your mind stable and do things properly.

This year, Shen Yun gave several performances in one city and some practitioners were only able to help during a few of them. During the first few shows, I oversaw the jewelry part and arranging the exhibits. When I ran out of inspiration, other practitioners gave me good advice. When more practitioners came to help with the next few shows, others took time off work to come to support them. We talked before we got started.

One practitioner’s way of working was different from mine. For the first few shows, I inventoried the goods before putting them on display. She suggested displaying them and then inventorying them. After the show, I would pack the displays away according to the product category, which was convenient for the next day’s inventory. She suggested that the displays should be put together in one box for the next day. That was more convenient for her, and it was important for her to be able to do it quickly. I told myself, “You do not have to bother discussing whose idea is better—just do it. And didn’t I also learn how to improve from fellow practitioners? How nice. To let go of yourself is not a loss but a gain.”

After writing this article, I felt ashamed. After Shen Yun left, I realized I could not let go of everything calmly at home and at work when faced with trivial matters. That is why I want to remember the happy experience of being part of the Shen Yun sales team that was full of positive energy and working under the guidance of Dafa for the past two or three months. During this time, I saw the Shen Yun performance that saves tens of thousands of sentient beings and experienced the cultivation opportunities that Master arranged for us. Complaining, worrying, arrogance, etc., is completely incompatible with this sacred field. Sometimes I think cultivation is like running the 100-meter hurdles: You will never win if you bypass the hurdles and just sprint to the finish line. Only by letting go of our attachments can Master enable us to grow taller and overcome those difficulties.

This year, the title of the erhu solo piece is “The Mind of a Dafa Disciple.” I do not know how ordinary audience members perceive it, but to me, it is more like Master’s entrusting Dafa disciples to cultivate ourselves to have a mindset that is worthy of the title “Dafa disciple.”

Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!

(Presented at the 2022 European Fa Conference)