Since May 2020, I have been responsible for the email support of Shen Yun customers. At that time, the performances had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many people who already had tickets exchanged their tickets for vouchers. Many of these people were able to see Shen Yun in Salzburg or Graz in 2022.
This year, Shen Yun was only in Salzburg and there were still many people waiting for their seats since 2020 who had vouchers. I understand that our task is to help these people take their seats at Shen Yun. Taking care of the emails is not a temporary task, it goes on throughout the year. Of course, the time when the sales are open is a time when there is more to do. A lot of emails come in every day and there are also the people who want to cancel their vouchers. It's exactly those people that I try to educate again about the value and mission of Shen Yun so that they don't lose their vouchers i.e. their opportunity. So many have already decided to keep the vouchers again and are waiting for new dates in 2024. Often writing emails back and forth is time-consuming and there are all kinds of personal stories behind them, and so it has really become a great and important training ground for truthfulness, compassion and forbearance for me. Then there are the people who want to redeem their vouchers for one of the performances. And there are the people who rant or who have big problems. Some are sympathetic to me and some less so - but the important thing is always to separate myself from my human feelings, to have righteous thoughts and a heart for salvation. Most of the time, communication then works out well.
But sometimes I didn't manage to behave righteously. And then Master would give me a lesson. Then I realized that I really had to expand my heart and let go of my ego in order to be able to take responsibility. So I would like to tell you what happened to me with the following lady.
In mid-January 2023, I received an email from a lady in Germany who wrote about culture for an online portal. The email was curt - not rude - but not polite either - rather firm. She demanded a press ticket for her and an additional free ticket for her companion. Apart from the fact that tickets were already very scarce, Shen Yun's policy was not to issue free tickets to press people. I was not merciful and also replied to her relatively tersely and dryly, informing her of this. The next day I received another email from her, in which she wrote more extensively and kindly about herself and even apologized for writing so tersely before. I cannot say whether she had already read my reply or not - but in any case I replied again that there were no free press tickets for Shen Yun.
The next day, she wrote back briefly and succinctly that there would be no reporting from her on social media, the internet, etc. with pictures. She also said that she was very surprised because something like this had never happened to her before. I must confess that at first I thought to myself: What was she imagining? Shen Yun didn't need her coverage either. Who did she think she was? However, a few hours later I felt really bad, I had acted like an ordinary person. I was really worried about her as a sentient being, she definitely had a bad impression now. I looked inside and saw clearly that I had a fighting mentality and had not seen her as a sentient being to be saved, but just with a human mindset. What if she could not be saved now because of me? I had to let go of my own conceit and open my heart. I sat down and wrote to her that I could understand her reaction and began to tell her about Shen Yun's mission and, most importantly, I explained to her why there were no press tickets from Shen Yun. It was about Shen Yun wanting every audience member to watch Shen Yun completely unbiased and with a free mind, because they really want to see Shen Yun. And that the content inspired the mind and soul and the audience left the performance with a heavenly glow. At the end, I apologized for answering her curtly and upsetting her so much, and that I was sorry.
Shortly afterwards, I received an email from her thanking me for the "wonderful" response. She had received the flyer while leaving a theater in Bavaria and felt immediately engaged. I was glad that she was touched by the Fa's sincere heart and power and that I was able to turn the situation around. Whether she eventually came to Shen Yun, I don't know, but I hope so for her sake. This incident showed me my ego and also a fighting heart.
In Zhuan Falun, The Fourth Talk, Master says: "Of course, the reworking of your karma won’t always take place in the ways I just described; there are other possibilities as well. It could take place out in the world as well as on the domestic front. You might run into challenges as you are walking down the street or in another public setting. You will be made to give up all of the worldly attachments that you hold onto. Any and all attachments you have must be ground down, and it will take place through any of a number of scenarios where you will be made to stumble or do poorly, and from these come to new spiritual insights. This is how you will make it through and succeed.”
In this job I have a lot of contact with ordinary people. Through the many contacts with customers and also in this Fa lecture, I have learned that as a Dafa disciple it is important to really take responsibility for the future of sentient beings. Of course, sentient beings have to decide for themselves, but I play a significant part in whether they have an easy time positioning themselves well.
Miracles at Shen Yun
This year, the performances in Salzburg were on 11 and 12 February. Despite the 2022 performances, there were still the 2020 customers waiting to be saved and of course many new people who bought tickets directly.
In “2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington DC”, Master explains: “In every social class, in every setting in this world, in every form that living in this world takes, there are things that test the heart and mind. How a person handles everything in life reflects his mindset and character, and all of it is being recorded. Have you ever considered how it is that a single Shen Yun performance can save people? Wouldn’t they need to have had the necessary foundation and setting for that to be possible? I have always said that those who come to see Shen Yun’s performances are special; not everyone qualifies to get in. Those who enter the theater can do so because they have already had the groundwork laid and been chosen and given the opportunity to come, out of all the people out there. In other words, they have already, in effect, tempered and cultivated themselves in the larger setting of this world.”
I would like to tell you about two examples where I was able to witness miracles, how it takes a long time for some people to finally be able to watch Shen Yun, and how important our support as Dafa disciples is in this. And also how it strengthens my cultivation and faith in the Fa.
Example 1
A fellow practitioner from the hotline team asked me to call a lady back regarding her voucher. When I called, I could only reach her sister, who didn´t know what her sister needed. The next day I received an email from the lady's son asking me to redeem the voucher for a ticket at the premiere show and to refund the remaining amount. I initiated both and assumed the case was settled.
A few days later, another fellow practitioner from the hotline team wrote to me that this lady had called and complained asking why she had only received one ticket: she had had a voucher for 2 tickets after all. I was surprised and confused and didn't know what had happened - but the situation was also that there were no more tickets available by now. I called this lady to explain that her son had only booked one ticket from me. But when the lady picked up she immediately said, very kindly, it had been a misunderstanding. She wanted to come with her sister, but couldn't - and then she could ...for her as an elderly lady, it would also be difficult to get from Upper Austria to Salzburg alone by public transport. They did not know what to do. After some discussion, she decided to come and her sister decided to just go along and hope that she would then be able to get a ticket on the spot. I was touched by how strong the connection to the Fa was for these sentient beings. It encouraged me to continue to positively support and encourage these beings to come. Such moments are like a turbo-boost for me to focus on what I am there for.
In the second half of 2022 and January 2023, I did not have an easy time due to a change of job. The new job robbed me of a lot of time; at weekends I was mostly in Salzburg or Upper Austria distributing flyers or at the sales stand. Household chores and many other things fell by the wayside and put a strain on me. But no matter how much time I spent every day or night taking care of these beings, it was immediately like a sigh of relief and liberation for me. On the day of the performance, I was with a fellow practitioner at the box office and these two elderly ladies actually both came. At the time there were no available tickets and people were waiting to buy tickets. I advised her to wait at the box office. If there were people returning or exchanging tickets, I could give her the available ticket right then. Time went by, she kept coming back and asking for a ticket. When the bell rang several times for the performance to start, suddenly there was an available ticket. But I didn't see the elderly lady anymore, so I thought I'd run outside the Festspielhaus -where people were still waiting- to find someone else for the available ticket. I rushed out of the box office and ran straight into her arms. She was overjoyed and could see Shen Yun after all. What happened was unbelievable.
Example 2
The second example is about a lady who bought three tickets before Christmas 2022 for the premiere on 11 February. She paid for the tickets directly at the time of booking, but this payment did not work. As the payment did not go through, she was called by fellow practitioners from the hotline team. She was reached by phone and she said she would check. Unfortunately, no payment was received.
The tickets for Shen Yun were already sold out 3 weeks before the performances this year and there was already a waiting list of people. But the lady could not be reached again. The question was whether the tickets should be canceled so that someone else could have them? What would happen to her then? She might have given the tickets to others and those people would then come for free ... After exchanging with a fellow practitioner, I decided not to cancel the tickets. I had the impression that we needed to have confidence that she would come. And if she did come, she could also pay directly at the performance or we had her contact details and also her address - we could also send her an invoice afterwards.
Since she still couldn't be reached by phone, I texted her the day before the performance. On 11 February, the day of the performance, she replied. She had been abroad and only got the message now. She would pay at the box office and was very happy that we had not canceled her tickets and she thanked me for letting her experience Shen Yun. I arranged her tickets for her at the box office. But the lady was not yet seated at Shen Yun. At 7.30 pm, the performance started. It was getting past 7pm and she was not there yet. I sent out righteous thoughts for everyone - so that they would not be disturbed on their way to the theater and so that they would keep a steady thought. Also for this lady. It was 7:15 and she was not there yet. I wrote to her asking if she would still come? There were people who still wanted tickets. Was she not going to make it after all? No, I decided to keep trusting her and kept sending out FZN. At 7:19 she wrote to me that we would be there in 3 minutes. I thanked Master. Then she stood in front of me with her daughter, sweating and completely distraught, and said briefly that her mother, who was supposed to come to Shen Yun, had a slipped disc today and they had to take her to the hospital. But now let's hurry to the performance. And the 3rd ticket became the one for the sister I ran into in example 1.
Conclusion:
Through these examples I have clearly understood how important it is for every sentient being - no matter whether ordinary human being or Dafa disciple - to make the right decisions in this time period, and to do so at every moment. No sooner do you pass one test than the next one comes along, and at the end, suddenly and often unexpectedly, a miracle awaits. Master and the righteous gods take care of us and all things are no coincidence. It is important that I trust Master’s arrangement. I have realized that this trust is a manifestation of forbearance. As I have to endure in the process. I have to have the patience to carry everything on until the manifestation on the surface also shows itself. It is important that I do not do the tasks as work, but with a righteous attitude and clarity of mind and that I look inwards when there are conflicts. And this half year with all its experiences, has also clearly shown me again that no matter how arduous my life is at the moment, as soon as I do the three things, everything is harmonized and I receive wisdom and serenity. This realization encourages me to let go of attachments and human ways of thinking.
This year, I and my fellow practitioners in the team really felt how much sentient beings long for the Fa and I thank Master for the opportunity to help.
Many thanks to revered Master!
Many thanks to fellow practitioners!
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