Inspiring Each Other, Working Together and Forming One Body

Greetings, dear Master. Hello, fellow practitioners.

My name is Robert and I obtained the Fa in 2016. Below is my sharing about working with Shen Yun and looking inwards when experiencing personal tribulations.

Master speaks about forming one body. In 2023, I had my first chance to help with Shen Yun in Linköping, Sweden. My wife and I went there thinking we would only distribute flyers in mailboxes. We were lucky to stay in our friend’s house and were able to see up close how good cooperation, forming of one body and making a cultivation environment can be done well while working on a Dafa-project.

To our surprise, on the first day when everyone else was sent off to work delivering flyers to mailboxes, our host wanted us to go with him visiting store owners to promote Shen Yun by hanging posters and leaving flyers for their customers. I had never done this before, but I knew with an upright mind and a heart for Dafa, you can learn anything. After visiting a couple of stores, our friend suggested that we lead the conversation at the next place. I felt a little nervous, but I knew I had Master’s guidance.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well it went. From this, I learned the importance of working together and learning from each other through doing things. For me, no amount of preparation, reading, planning and organizing can compare to the energy that appears when practitioners unite and learn from one another.

We also experienced the warm environment in Linköping, where practitioners came together to do the exercises, reading the Fa and share meals together before or after long days of promotion. I believe this kind of environment truly inspires and motivates us, while also creating valuable opportunities for sharing and improving xinxing. This was for me a good experience of working as one body. I think this is hard to achieve if we don’t meet physically.

Some time later, we were promoting a movie screening in Norway. In our group, there was a lack of enthusiasm and inspiration for doing the promotion work. I was somewhat affected by this environment and felt I had done my part by doing some online promotion through our media channels.

Then I saw one of our younger practitioners truly having a heart for this work, eager to hang posters in stores. This moved me and inspired me to help as well. I remembered Master’s words about cultivating with the heart we once had. I should not become complacent and seek comfort. The other practitioner was a bit timid about what to say to store owners and how to approach them—just as I had been in Linköping. So, we went together, inspiring each other and working as a team.

Before this, my truth clarification experience had mostly been with passersby in Hong Fa activities in the street or in conversations with family, friends and colleagues. This approach to actively reach out to specific individuals with a specific purpose, such as giving promotional materials to stores, was a new experience and a breakthrough for me. Since becoming a Dafa practitioner in 2016, I have faced many personal challenges in assimilating to society, especially because I had previously been an outsider to ordinary society. Looking back, I see that each step was preparing me for the next, and each past experience paved the way for new responsibilities.

These experiences laid the groundwork, and made me ready for our meetings with state officials and politicians in 2024/25. Ahead of the 2025 Shen Yun tours, the CCP’s transnational repression had intensified. Blessed with Shen Yun performing in Norway for the first time in over a decade, we took this threat very seriously. The CCP’s horrible misinformation campaigns targeting Shen Yun and Falun Dafa could influence both the venue and public perception.

We made good preparations, studied all the facts, and presented them clearly to the Norwegian state department, the national security agency, and the venue. All these meetings were very successful, and I believe a key factor was our proactive approach in exposing the fabricated and malicious media reports. We also opened dialogue and prepared for possible sabotage or terror threats against the venue—tactics that are very common in the CCP’s transnational repression.

Personal tribulations at the show date

When traveling to the city of Bergen for the 2025 Norwegian Shen Yun performance, personal tests and hardships seemed to pile up one after another. My wife and I had been arguing, and I could not control my anger. This has been an ongoing issue for me, one where I have yet to make a real breakthrough, and it has been draining my energy.

On the train from the airport to the city, our one-year-old daughter began crying uncontrollably. At that very moment, I received a message from our landlord informing us that we had to move out of our home. Our contract was being terminated because he was selling the house. This was very unfortunate timing for us. We were already in the middle of many things in our lives and had travel plans for the summer. This situation made me stressed and anxious.

When we arrived in the city, my mind was elsewhere, and I forgot our luggage on the airport train. I didn’t even realize it until we reached the hotel. Frustrated, I ended up taking my anger out on my wife over something trivial, and then I realized the bag held our formal clothes and our daughter’s essentials. I had to find it.

The search turned into a long process lasting several hours. I first tried to catch the same train on its return trip, but it had already departed. The office for lost and found could not help me because it was Easter, meaning I would not get assistance until after the holiday. I calculated that there were about 15 trains running between the airport and the city. I decided to board each one, hoping that after my train had completed its round trip, the luggage would still be there. After boarding one train, I would search for it, get off at the next station, and wait for the next one. I didn’t find the bag on the first few trains, and I realized the search could take a long time. I estimated that my train would arrive after about 13 trains—roughly 2 hours—but I didn’t dare to skip even one, or I might have to wait another two hours. This gave me time for reflection.

Luckily it was a nice day, and as I sat outside in the sun, watching busy people passing by, I felt like a lone cultivator wandering the world. I read some of Master’s poems and tried to center my mind in the Fa. It felt as if this situation had been arranged by Master to give me time to reflect on the conflicts with my wife. I realized that this is a crucial time in history, and I cannot remain stuck at the same cultivation level.

The importance of our work with Shen Yun in Norway also came to mind. All positions of responsibilities were well-covered by other practitioners during the show, and I did not have a critical role during the show. But even so, I felt that my state of mind and personal cultivation could still affect the overall situation and our one body, indirectly in other dimensions.

I deeply regretted not having a bigger heart toward my wife—for not being more tolerant and forbearing. With other practitioners, I tend to act more tolerant, but when I’m with my wife I’m strict with her but not with myself.

Master said:

“Dafa disciples should handle everything positively. Don’t look at the negative side of other people. You should always look at their positive side.” 

(Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)

I had been focusing on my wife’s faults and feeling she wasn’t supportive enough of me, especially given my workload and responsibilities. I made excuses for my anger and let myself become stressed instead of taking a step back. But how could I cultivate in every environment except my own home?

Feeling the seriousness of the situation, I told Master in my heart I would look within to find the root of this problem. As I continued searching for my bag on the trains, I reflected on my own shortcomings, and my desire to change. I realized I cannot wait for others to change before I do. My cultivation is my own responsibility, and cannot have any conditions. We are in the transitional phase to the Fa’s rectification of the human world, and I feel the weight of this moment in history. It is even more important that I walk my path well. We must step up in our own cultivation and in our truth clarification work.

Like lightning out of a clear blue sky, I got a phone call from the lost and found office telling me they found my suitcase. It felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders, and at the same time I gained insights on how to improve my character.

If I excuse my bad behavior simply because my wife isn’t acting like a servant to me, that is unfair and inconsiderate. She bears many hardships in her own cultivation and is already doing many sacrifices. In a relationship, I must also consider her and support her during her difficult times. I believe Master has arranged our personal challenges to coincide, so we can improve our xinxing together. I need to take a step back and not only be considerate if she is considerate of me.

Master said,

“Don't argue when people argue with you

Cultivation is looking within for the cause

Wanting to explain just feeds the attachment

Breadth of mind, unattached, brings true insight”

(Don't Argue, Hong Yin III)

Reasons for my stress

One of the main reasons for my stress is that I make my responsibilities more arduous than they need to be. Since childhood, my perfectionism has made it hard for me to fully let go. I want control of situations, and when I feel it is not under control, I feel I need to take action. It creates an extra burden. Sometimes it can manifest as being fixed on doing things one certain way instead of seeing all options and being flexible in the process. When I make a plan, I want to execute it as planned. If obstacles to the plan come up, I always find new solutions in the end, but the course takes a lot of stress and mental effort. This is like not trusting my arranged path—and not trusting Master. I need to let go and walk my path with the faith that Master is guiding and watching over me.

When Master talks about not being a person who is afraid of stepping on ants in Zhuan Falun, he said, “You should focus on the big things and practice with confidence and poise.”

I hope I can unravel this deeply rooted attachment and better understand what is connected to it.

This concludes my sharing. I sincerely thank the Norwegian practitioners for all the precious cultivation opportunities, and also our Nordic neighbors for the good cooperation.

Due to my limited level, please kindly point out any mistakes or shortcomings.

Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.

Heshi

(This article was presented at the 2025 Nordic Fa-Conference)