Learning to Be Tolerant and Compassionate During Shen Yun Promotion

(Minghui.org) I’ve been quite anxious about our local Shen Yun ticket sales. Most cities across North America and Europe had sold-out shows, but my city has been lagging behind. From my observations, the poor ticket sales are closely tied to the overall cultivation state of local practitioners. If we all work together and improve as one body, the results will undoubtedly reflect our efforts.

Master said, “Of all the projects we have for saving people, Shen Yun is the most powerful.” (“2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XV) So we must strive to do well in Shen Yun shows.

I had the honor of meeting Master during my first Shen Yun promotion event, which serves as a constant reminder for me to do my best in promoting Shen Yun.

This year, ticket sales in our city improved and I felt relieved. However, the turnout of Shen Yun shows in a city in Vermont wasn’t good. Later, I watched an interview with an audience member who saw Shen Yun in Florida. She said she heard about Shen Yun some ten years ago but couldn’t find any shows playing in Vermont when she lived there. She moved to Florida last year and eventually fulfilled her wish. This shocked me because Shen Yun had been performing in Vermont for the past few years. It was clear that the promotion of Shen Yun in Vermont had been insufficient. Then I heard that one show had been canceled in another city nearby, which added to my concerns.

The results of these two cities highlighted a clear deficiency in our Shen Yun promotion, which I believe could have been prevented. I felt helpless, as I lacked a comprehensive understanding of the overall situation and had no way to find out more. I could only tell myself that I had done my best, but not being able to provide any assistance left me feeling depressed and I also felt resentful toward the main coordinators.

I recognized that my cultivation had hit a block, and I needed to address it. I looked within and discovered several attachments: the desire for self-validation, sentimental feelings toward practitioners, resentment, looking outwards, and arrogance. However, the disappointment from our poor Shen Yun ticket sales weighed heavily on me, making it difficult to let go of my attachments or find solutions.

Improving Through Sharing with Local Practitioners

Coincidentally, another practitioner told me that their small group was about to hold an experience-sharing session, which I saw as an opportunity arranged by Master to help me untie the knots in my stomach. So, I eagerly joined them.

Everyone’s sharing during the conference was deeply moving. In the end, I spoke about my confusion, and the other practitioners offered insights from the perspective of the Fa, pointing out some of my issues: anxiety to accomplish things; lack of kindness toward other practitioners; and the tendency to complain or feel disdain in light of others’ shortcomings. Every practitioner is a disciple of Master, under his care and arrangement. We should cherish and treat each other with heartfelt compassion. The patient sharing from these practitioners opened my heart, and I immediately recognized where my problems lay.

Master told us,

“Dafa disciples, in your cultivation in the ordinary human world you all have understood something clearly that’s based on the Fa’s principles, namely, not to be attached to the “gain and loss” of ordinary people. So when things related to validating the Fa are involved, there too you shouldn’t insist on voicing “my ideas” or on having things done “my way.” It’s not like only then can you establish mighty virtue in the cosmos. If you’ve got a good idea, well, you came up with it, you’re being responsible to the Fa, and it’s not important whether your idea is adopted or whether your approach is used. If another person’s idea can achieve the same effect and you aren’t attached to your own idea and instead you go along with his, then whether you’ve shared your approach or not, gods will all see this and think, “Look, he isn’t attached, and he’s able to be so tolerant and broadminded.” What do gods look at? Isn’t this what they look at? When you’re attached to emphasizing your things you are too caught up in it and the gods watching above can’t stand it. Even though you keep claiming it’s for the good of Dafa, and that “my approach is good” and can reach such and such goal—and maybe that really is the case—still, we shouldn’t have attachments that are too much like ordinary people. If you can really do that, all the gods will say, “This person is truly remarkable.” It’s not like gods see that your idea worked and then they raise your level. Instead, they only raise your level when they see that your understanding in that area has improved. This is a principle of a true Fa. If you’re thinking, “I’ll have XYZ happen to me if I’ve gained such and such amount of merit,” well, yes, that’s how it works for an ordinary person, and it might be what’s looked at as far as certain facets of the cosmos’s Fa-truths go or in a particular situation. But true improvements come from letting go, not from gaining or getting your way.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)

Reflecting seriously on my cultivation state in light of Master’s teachings, I realized I had grown up with a rigid mindset, where everything was either black or white in my mind. I wouldn’t bend in the face of truth, nor would I commit any wrongdoing, even at great personal cost. Although I have become more moderate over the years, I have not completely changed. This stubborn mindset prevented me from easily forgiving others for their mistakes and made me narrow-minded. When things superficially aligned with my beliefs, I would cling to them tenaciously. If I believed someone else was wrong, I would form a fixed opinion of them and view them through that lens, making it difficult for me to forgive their mistakes. I decided it was time to change.

Missed Opportunity with Work Colleague

One of my former colleagues, whom I worked with for many years, had many bad habits. Once, he came to my desk, searched through my bag, and flipped through my notebook—something I happened to witness. I jokingly reminded him not to do that and let the matter go. However, even though I continued to be polite to him, in my heart I harbored negative feelings toward him and looked down on his character flaws. He often caused me trouble.

Two weeks before I left the company, I suddenly realized my mistake. He was merely a victim of society’s influences, and I had shown him no compassion. Instead, I disliked him and failed to share the truth about Dafa, which was truly unkind. As a life in need of salvation, his knowing side must have felt desperate; it was no wonder he kept causing me trouble.

After I recognized my error, his attitude toward me shifted dramatically. He began to greet me with a big smile and warm demeanor. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to share the truth about Dafa with him before I left, leaving me with a deep sense of regret.

Sharing Exposes Attachments

Recently, I experienced a conflict with a practitioner who was much older than me. She cared about me and shared her understanding of studying the Fa, hoping I would learn from her and improve quickly. However, I believed that everyone has their own path and that I shouldn’t simply follow someone else, but instead enlighten myself according to the Fa. I refused to accept her ideas even though she insisted strongly and pressured me.

I had generally respected her in other matters due to her age, but this issue felt different—this was a matter of principle. I wanted her to understand my perspective, and I argued with her multiple times. Both of us felt the other person was wrong, and neither of us was willing to take a step back.

Then I recognized my attachment and began to treat her more calmly. Whenever I felt the urge to validate my opinion again, I restrained myself and refrained from cynically accusing her, even though I still believed she was wrong. In turn, she too began to change, a process that required time. I learned to be more tolerant of others.