Play the Proper Role of a Dafa Particle in Shen Yun Coordination Work

I obtained the Fa in 2002 and have been taking part in Shen Yun promotion since the first show in New York in 2006. In 2016, when Switzerland was split into German-speaking versus French-speaking regions, I was lucky enough to be made a coordinator.

Since the beginning of the Shen Yun coordination work, I realised that as a coordinator I must continuously expand my capacity. It is the most basic requirement for a coordinator. As I continued to reach higher levels, I found my capacity expanded as well. Below is my enlightenment regarding various aspects over the past three years.

Play the Role of a Particle in Master’s Gong
Since first taking part in Shen Yun promotion in New York in 2006, I have spent almost half a year every year in various cities helping with promotion. I gained a lot of experience. But 2016 was the first year that I started coordination. When my husband became the chief coordinator for Shen Yun, I didn’t want to take the initiative to be the coordinator for any specific project. When it came to finding a person to coordinate booking promotion venues, however, everyone passed the buck. Two practitioners had venue-finding experience, but they both felt it was difficult and thus refused to take on the task. When no one wanted to do it, I accepted the challenge. Although I didn’t have much experience, my cultivation through the years has made me think that, as a Dafa disciple, so long as I follow the Fa there is nothing that I can’t accomplish.

In the beginning, I visited shopping centres with a Western practitioner. Every time we met the person in charge, I asked the Western practitioner to take the lead because I had the notion that it’d be better since he is a native German speaker. Surprisingly, after one month nothing had been accomplished. As we got closer and closer to the start of promotion, I became anxious. Each day I looked inward, but couldn’t find a solution. One day the Western practitioner said that he was too busy at work. He asked me to phone the manager of the shopping centre. As it turned out, that phone call led to the securing of our first promotion venue and it was completely free of charge. Then, I realised, I could not rely on anyone. Master wanted me to improve by maturing. I needed to walk my own path.

Later I switched to working with a non-German-speaking Western practitioner. We cooperated well. One day we obtained the contact details of the manager and assistant manager at a large shopping centre. Having listened to my introduction, the staff member at the information desk told me that the weekly rent was more than 2,000 euros and was never discounted. I calmly responded with a smile while thinking to myself, “What you said doesn’t count. It’s up to Master to decide.”

I told the Western practitioner we’d sit down at the bench near the entrance to send forth righteous thoughts. Then I’d phone the manager to make an appointment. As we were sending righteous thoughts, I saw a gentleman in a suit nodding at me. Suddenly I realised that he was the person I was looking for, so I chased after him.

I told him straight away why I had come and showed him the promotional video. At the start of the audience feedback, he said abruptly, “OK, I’ll give you a space, free of charge. My assistant will be in touch in the afternoon.” Immediately I felt a surge of energy throughout my body. I turned around and saw the Western practitioner with tears in her eyes. She said that when I was speaking with the manager she felt we were surrounded by very strong energy. That day, three shopping centres agreed to give us free promotional space. That night, as I was driving alone, I felt contented looking back at how the day had gone. I remembered Master’s teaching:

“You are one body, just like Master's gong.”
(Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference)

I silently said to Master, today, finally, I could be a particle in Master’s gong. At that point I felt a surge of heat through my body. Just like that, the promotion venues were all free of charge. Most tickets were sold at those venues. A small portion came from practitioners sending mail, so our advertising costs were zero.

When the tickets were almost sold out at these venues, I moved to Bregenz and managed all the promotional tasks, including renting a place to stay, finding promotion venues, advertising, etc. As time was limited and the tasks were challenging, it was constantly a test of my righteous thoughts and righteous actions. Thanks to Master’s benevolent arrangement, I smoothly sailed through various tribulations. In the end Bregenz achieved 95% tickets sold for the first time in three years. We didn’t let Master down.

Put Practitioners’ Improvement First
Since there are limited numbers of local practitioners, our methods for the past three years have roughly been the same. In each city, we would rent accommodation for practitioners from other countries taking part in the promotion. For half a year, I would stay with fellow practitioners. In the morning, we sent righteous thoughts together and did the five sets of exercises. During the day, we went out to promote Shen Yun. In the evening, we studied the Fa and shared.

All practitioners treasured this cultivation environment. We spurred each other on in cultivation. When encountering conflicts, we’d share in a timely manner. In sharing, I only allowed three subjects: 1) discussion of Fa principles; 2) examples of xinxing improvement; 3) the process of looking inward. This leaves no room for gaps among practitioners.

Since the very beginning I knew the importance of improving together. As practitioners improve, the effect of saving people is naturally very good. On the other hand, if only the human side is at work, not only are the desired results not achieved, the evil can also easily take advantage of loopholes.

For the first year of Shen Yun in Bregenz and the second year in Basel, those who came to help were mostly Chinese practitioners from Germany. Many committed to staying for a month or two. We had the same cultural background and no language barriers. It was easy to communicate. Of course, when practitioners get together there is bound to be some friction and different understandings of the Fa. I organized honest sharings after Fa study each night. Since practitioners came from different cities in Germany and were not used to working together, initially the contributions were not enthusiastic. So, I took the lead to look inward, letting go of the attachment the attachment to fame. For tasks not done well, I took the initiative to apologize to fellow practitioners, exposing my attachments. Whenever I enlightened to something new from the Fa, I shared unreservedly with practitioners. Soon practitioners became more and more proactive.

Under such a mechanism of constantly looking inward, practitioners naturally cooperated proactively. Practitioners felt that our entire field at the time was a large mechanism of looking inward. Those practitioners who had been stubborn for years or were not looking inward in the eyes of fellow practitioners changed under the influence of this field. In this way, practitioners who were there every day went out happy and returned happy. In this relaxed environment, all tickets were sold out in advance.

Playing the Role of “Still Water”
During that period, my biggest enlightenment from the Fa was that coordinators need to play the role of “still water”. That day I happened to recite this section from the third lecture of Zhuan Falun.

“It is possible for one person to reach this tranquility. But with four or five people sitting over there with tranquility like that, it resembles a pond of still water with nothing in it. I tried in vain to experience them.”

The next day I happened to read:

“Looking further, one finds a situation: One finds something without material particles and that is tranquil—I usually call it still water. It’s also called the origin—lifeless water. If you toss something into it there won’t be any ripples. Sound vibrations won’t cause waves, either—it’s completely motionless. Yet the most fundamental composition of matter comes from this type of water.”
(“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco”, Lectures in the United States)

All of a sudden, I enlightened that a coordinator needs to play the role of this still water to the greatest extent. Be it external interference or internal conflicts, if a coordinator can play the role of still water, external interference would not cause turmoil and internal conflicts would be abated to the point where they cannot interfere with saving people. In other words, losses would be minimized and the power of saving people would be maximized.

A few days later at a promotion venue, it was our group’s turn to sell tickets. But a practitioner in my group was held up by a discussion with a practitioner in another group. I went over to remind the practitioner it was our turn. She glanced at me but continued the discussion. It was crowded at the French-speaking locality. My French is not up to scratch. I never learned it and could only understand customers at French-speaking venues thanks to wisdom given by Master, and manage simple replies. So, after a few minutes I went over to the practitioner again and said with urgency, “Stop talking. What is more important than saving people?” Unexpectedly, she turned around and replied with anger: “This is indeed more important than saving people!” Her rage startled me, but I was not moved.

Shortly after she came over to explain that the other practitioner had irritated her by repeating the words of an ordinary person who felt that this mall is not as good as another one. That’s why they had argued. I knew she was annoyed because we worked so hard to land such a great spot (the largest shopping centre in the area). I said with a smile: “What’s there to be angry about? The other practitioner doesn’t have any ill intention. She only wants to help us find a better venue to improve the effect of saving people. She means well. Why are you mad?”

She was surprised by what I said. After reflecting, she walked over to the other practitioner to apologize. The other practitioner also felt that she herself had done wrong. She promptly came over to me to apologize, saying that she should not harbour any negative thoughts towards my arrangements. She did not know how tough it was to secure a promotion venue. This largest shopping centre was even provided to us for free. She should treat it with righteous thoughts.

Just like that the conflict was resolved within a few minutes. Afterwards there was more harmony at the promotion venue. Our cooperation was seamless. Later I enlightened that the primary reason why the conflict was resolved in such a short time was that I did not waver or become moved, which stabilised the situation. Otherwise the entire field would be turbulent and out of control.

I enlightened that the role of still water is firstly to stabilize the field. Secondly, if I can't achieve emptiness or still myself, I may end up playing a role in strengthening the disharmony. It would be even worse for saving people.

Tolerance Needs to Be Boundless
During coordination work, we need to continuously expand our capacity. This is easier said than done. Based on solid cultivation, I also realized that no matter how unfairly fellow practitioners treated me, it’s easy to tolerate the other party if I only focus on and magnify their strengths while turning a blind eye to their weaknesses.

I have mainly coordinated Chinese practitioners from various places over the past two years, and can do so with ease. This year there was a week of shows in Zurich. Although the majority of the German-speaking practitioners in Switzerland are concentrated in Zurich, they are mostly Western practitioners. Due to conflicts among practitioners that had been harboured over a long time, our cooperation was marred by various problems. Furthermore, practitioners who turned up to help this year were mainly Western practitioners from different countries. They differed in cultivation states, culture, and living habits. Living together day in and day out was a brand new challenge for me.

Compassion Dissolves Long-term Gaps
A Western practitioner from another part of the country stayed in our rented accommodation for Shen Yun promotion for three or four days a week. Over the years she had worked very hard and done a lot, but she would easily lose her temper. Others felt she was self-centred. Since I became a coordinator some felt this practitioner had a tendency to pick a fight with me. But because I didn’t see her often, I didn't pay much attention to this.

Since there was only one city to promote this year, she had to stay in the place we rented. There was no escape. In the beginning, I inquired if she harboured any resentment towards me. She denied this each time but she would easily become furious. Before Christmas, noticing that the tickets were not selling as fast as in the previous two years, I was very anxious. As the coordinator there, I believed I must first bridge the gaps with fellow practitioners, otherwise it’d be easy for the old forces to take advantage. But I didn't know where to start.

During the New Year period, I attended the annual Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference held in Germany. Sitting there before the Fahui began, I thought of this fellow practitioner again. I asked Master, “What should I do?” Suddenly I noticed the banner on each side of the conference stage: “Compassion can harmonize Heaven and Earth, ushering in spring. Righteous thoughts can save the people in this world.” In that moment I realised that Master had hinted to me that my compassion was not enough. Additionally, I enlightened that “the people in this world” refers to not only ordinary people, but also to the side of practitioners that has not met the standard. We also need to harmonize them with compassion.

Thinking of the stubborn practitioner, I felt I was not capable enough. Also at that moment, the two small side banners proclaiming “Falun is constantly turning. Dafa is boundless" made me realize that Falun has been turning in my lower abdomen. Dafa is boundless. Why should I artificially limit the ability of my side that has met the standard? At this thought, I felt the penetration of an energy flow. Later that night I returned to the rented accommodation in Zurich.

The next morning, the practitioner again got herself into an emotional state over a tiny matter. I calmly replied that I wanted to have a chat and clear up the misunderstanding between us. Although she was not willing, she gave me the opportunity to speak. I started out by thanking her. She was the first Swiss practitioner I had come into contact with when I started cultivation. I expressed my appreciation for her understanding and help. To my surprise and gratitude, she told me that she often recalled the first time we had met when she clarified the truth to me. In this way, we talked peacefully.

One after another I went through the events that she had been rumoured to have misunderstood, explaining the real situation and my feelings at the time. In the end, I found that due to the lack of real communication between us over a long period, the old forces had created many misunderstandings. What I had heard about her was not the truth and she’d had similar misunderstandings about me. Just like that, we both opened our hearts and the misunderstandings over the past few years were dissolved. As we finished our conversation, another practitioner said, “Fantastic! I feel that our fields are all clear now!”

Resolve Conflicts with a Smile
A practitioner called me a few times asking me to explain something. The day before I had already spent a long time explaining things to her and felt that she had pretty much understood it. After hanging up I thought of how difficult things had been for this elderly practitioner. Although she had her human attachments, it’s not easy to consistently urge people to quit the CCP every day for so many years. Her husband had passed away and she was by herself. It was tough for her to find someone to talk to. So when she got into a conversation she tended to drag it out.

The following day she called again. She wanted to do something that I felt should not be done. I patiently explained to her based on the Fa principles. Not at all pleased, she exploded on the other end of the phone. Instead of being moved, I felt it was funny that she behaved like a child. As she yelled into her end of the phone, I laughed at my end. The more she yelled, the more loudly I laughed. I couldn’t stop laughing. After letting off steam for a while, she felt rather embarrassed. Then she patiently listened to me share based on the Fa why she should follow the requirements on this matter rather than going her own way. Finally, she fully understood.

A week later another incident took place that gave me some comparison. One morning a practitioner was not pleased with me. In the street, he suddenly got angry. Worried that he might disturb the neighbours, I gestured for him to be quiet. He ignored me and carried on yelling.

Later I looked inward for the reason why I couldn’t control him. I discovered that even though at the time I was calm on the surface I didn’t achieve true stillness in my heart. Therefore, I couldn’t stabilize him. In other words, my field was not strong enough to overpower his anger. I continued looking inward. Why in the previous incident could I resolve the conflict with a smile, but failed to do it this time? After the comparison, I found that because I’d known him a long time, I relied on him to carry out a lot of tasks. After a while, human sentimentality grew, and I had expectations of him, whereas I didn’t have any expectations of the other practitioner. In addition, the male practitioner was indeed not in a good cultivation state for those few days, so I focused on his negative traits instead of his strengths. Therefore, using human sentimentality I could not control his negative emotions. Just like Master said, “There is no constraint between this qi and that qi.”(Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)

At the sharing after Fa study that evening, I looked inward and shared frankly in front of all fellow practitioners and admitted my shortcomings. Still that practitioner maintained his position. Looking inward, I found that I had hoped that he would do the same. Two days later, that practitioner suddenly apologized to me. He also thanked me for the great help in his cultivation.

After Shen Yun, many practitioners sent me thank you messages for helping them in the process of their cultivation. One practitioner made a moving comment that gave me a great deal of encouragement. She said that in her eyes, I am truly a being created by Dafa. She cherished all the inspiration my sharing gave her. In fact, I am merely a particle in Dafa. I don't have much power on my own. Everything I have was given by Master. Of course, I still have a lot of shortcomings, such as attachments to showing off, competitiveness, complacency, looking down on others, and sometimes being strong-willed and so on. I will continue to purify myself in future cultivation and play better the role of a Dafa particle in coordination work in order to live up to Master’s expectations, practitioners’ trust, and the expectations of all beings.

Lastly, I’d like to thank Master for this opportunity to establish my mighty virtue. Thank you all practitioners for your understanding and support. My sincere apologies to all practitioners that I have harmed.

The above is my understanding at my current level. Please compassionately point out anything inappropriate.