Improving in Cooperation and Coordination

Respectful greetings Master,
Greetings dear fellow practitioners,

I am a Hungarian practitioner, and I obtained the Fa at the end of 2007. I treasure this opportunity from the bottom of my heart. I would like to share about my cultivation experiences regarding our cooperation.

In Hungary, I am the responsible person for the Dafa Association. I would really like to do my part well and help the cooperation between practitioners in our country. In past years I could only do a few things regarding our activities, since I was at home with my baby boy, but now he is almost three years old. This time period has given me an opportunity to step aside and let go of my attachments, such as: I always need to have a say, I have to know about every step and I have to control every action.

For a long time I was always worried: What if others make mistakes or do something wrong and create a bad effect on the truth clarification in our country? I did not realise how bad my fear was, but it really blocked other practitioners. I realised my notion behind it, namely, the intention that my idea is the best. Now, I see that we are all various personalities and have diverse ways of thinking and acting. We have different levels and different paths in Fa-rectification.

Our Master could surely do everything better than others, but he let us establish our own mighty virtue and he trusts us so much he gives us the opportunity to find out things by ourselves. So, I really should not always worry about others.

Since I realised this, I try to actively support others in their initiatives and do not always say anything if I have another idea about doing something. If it seems to be ok, what the other person says, and it does not disagree with Fa principles, than why shouldn’t I support it? Moreover, I think, it is also no problem when we make some mistakes, because this happens when we move forward.

However, I went to the other extreme: I became too passive and could not be really self-confident; so in some cases, when I really had to say something, I did not.

Master told us in Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference: “Sometimes the coordinator will first listen to others’ ideas before deciding which one is good to adopt. That happens. But, there are some people in charge who never have any opinions on things. They never have any ideas, and never put their heart into it. Then that really doesn’t cut it. Master has entrusted so many Dafa disciples to you, and expects you to lead them well. So it is something you must do, and it is your responsibility. If you don’t do it well, it’s directly related to your cultivation.” (Questions and Answers)

I take part in the Clear Harmony project in Hungary, and this provides me with a really good example regarding good coordination and cooperation. I had a conflict with the Hungarian coordinator for a long time. I only looked at her shortcomings and blamed her because the quality of articles was not good enough and I thought she didn't really take care of the site etc. I did not have a heart of compassion for her. I did not see how hard it could be for her to manage so many things well. Then I talked with the main coordinator of the project. It opened my eyes. I came to realise that I should not be so critical, but be supportive. I should give a hand when I see that something needs to be improved.

When my thoughts changed, we could communicate in an open manner with each other. I began to actively help in proofreading the articles and meanwhile she also changed a lot. She has been really leading the project and taking her responsibility seriously. Since our cooperation is working well, I can feel that our Hungarian Dafa website is shining like gold!

It is also the right time for me to take my responsibility more seriously and coordinate all practitioners and the Association well. We had a discussion about this with the second responsible person in the Association. She has a very strong personality and we often have different opinions about handling things. It seemed she would go to the right when I mentioned left.

I always thought about Masters’ words in Be more diligent: “So, I want to tell you that from this day forth, the main coordinator for each project—the one principal coordinator—is that project’s representative. This holds true for the main coordinator of each region’s Dafa Association as well. He or she is its representative. Whatever it may be that the coordinator does, requires of you, or decides—carry it out unconditionally.”

I could not understand why she argued with me and felt helpless. I did not want to forcefully push my own opinion, I usually took a step backward instead. So as time passed I developed the habit of not saying anything when conflict appeared. I did not think it was a problem. I thought I had no attachment to the position.

Once, in a conversation between us, this question popped up and we could speak in an open manner about this problem. She felt really sorry for these conflicts. We found the biggest problem was that we did not communicate well. I realised that I have to take my responsibility much more seriously. Although I don’t have the attachment to pushing myself forward, I should play my part well. It is a question as to whether I am able to coordinate well in our area.

Our discussion has immediately led to a positive change. Both of us are working together with the Free China project. For quite a long time we did not receive any answer from a certain person who could provide us with a very good place for the screenings. We called him many times and wrote him emails, but nothing happened. After our experience sharing regarding coordination this person immediately wrote an email to us. He excused himself and wrote that he had totally forgotten the film, and we should write to him the dates, when we would like to show the film and there shouldn’t be any problem.

So, this kind of conflict regarding cooperation has a great impact. The conflicts can be on the surface or hidden as well. Both of us realised that when we have a problem or feel a kind of inner dissimilarity with another practitioner, then we should not hide this and just sit on the problem. We should speak about it in an open manner as soon as possible, so that the evil cannot take advantage of it.

Master said in the jingwen Be more diligent: “If you fail to cooperate well, the evil really will exploit your weaknesses and you will suffer major losses. Losses, that is, in terms of both individual cultivation as well as our group projects that are meant to save sentient beings.”

I take this very seriously now. We had many tests in this regard. On the way back to Hungary from a meeting in Germany, we, 4 practitioners plus my 2-year-old son, stopped the car for a rest. We were very tired and spoke in a disrespectful way about other practitioners and made some jokes. Our thoughts were not right and we did not pay attention to this. After a little while our car began to give off smoke and could not move any longer. We were near a shopping centre, so we could stay there for a few hours. We sent righteous thoughts and thought about the cause of the problem. However, we blamed each other. In the end one fellow practitioner from Hungary came to tow our car and bring us home. We had big financial losses. Later on, when I was reading about cooperation, I remembered this incident and realised that we had this tribulation because of our bad thoughts about other practitioners.

We had also cooperation problems at home between my husband and I. We blamed each other many times because of our financial hardships and argued many times. We tried to look inside and find our attachments. Each time we found many things, but there was no big change. One day I saw two fellow practitioners, a couple, who kindly helped each other in their work. Then I came to realise what was deep inside the root of our problem. It was exactly that we cannot cooperate well with each other. That is why we suffered those losses. Not long after this we managed to sell our plot, which was for sale for years, and now we can manage things with that money.

Our cooperation is also strengthened by our daily Fa-study, which we began some months ago after an inspiring sharing with one Austrian practitioner. Every morning at 5 am local time, we meet on sonant and read one lecture from Zhuan Falun and share for a short while. This was a big step for me, since I was, before this, always getting up late and had an irregular lifestyle. I tried to also study the Fa in the early hours in the first year of my cultivation, but I could not persist at that time. Now, it was also a very big deal for me in the first month to get up early. But, I knew, that this is a great opportunity and that when I can hear the others then I will surely not go back to sleep and I will surely not regret it. It is a great support that we get up together to study the Fa. Some of us also call each other when the practitioner cannot get up. Sometimes we are 8 disciples present, and one practitioner also joined who was not coming to any activity for many years. I realised that our cultivation environment is also much better since we read together. Of course we also go to study the Fa together in person, but this regular morning Fa-studies are really making a difference.

To write this experience sharing is not an easy process of cultivation. When I was writing my sharing article I faced many things. I wrote it completely from new at least four times, because so many things changed in me during this process. There were times I almost gave up, but I took it as a test that I should pass. I had a really strong attachment to complying with other practitioners, I did not want them to think badly of me, and this caused a big knot in my neck and it only disappeared after I came to realise this attachment.

I could recall the things I did not do well over the years and also my enlightenment. For the first time, I could clearly see an improving process. I would really like to do many more things for saving sentient beings.

I also realised that in many cases my words were going to the extreme. This is also an attachment. I thought about it and saw that things were not really that kind of black or white. So, it was a really useful process to see and learn where I could improve.

I want to thank the European Fa-conference for giving me this opportunity. Above are only my limited understandings from my own level. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.

I would like to close my sharing with Masters words in the jingwen Cautionary Advice: “If every one of you can understand the Fa from the depths of your mind, that will truly be the manifestation of the Fa whose power knows no boundary—the reappearance of the mighty Buddha Fa in the human world!”

Thank you!