Raising My Xinxing as a Reporter and Doing Customer Service During Shen Yun

Greetings, Master!
Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I obtained the Fa in 2006, and over the past 20 years I have felt the infinite merciful guidance of Master every step of the way. Early in my cultivation, I supported several projects, such as translating content for various Dafa disciples’ websites, teaching the exercises to newcomers, distributing the printed Epoch Times newspaper, participating in the Zhen, Shan, Ren exhibition, and frequently traveling to other cities to clarify the truth and spread Dafa.

Back then, international and European Fahui events were also being organized, and I was always involved in projects and activities in one way or another. But cultivation is not just this, and although this is the path Master has arranged for me, I have not always had a sufficient understanding of what cultivation is and what it means to look inward.

Below, I would like to share some experiences from my cultivation.

Looking Inward

A year ago, I had a discussion with a fellow practitioner that made me see many of my deepest attachments, such as comfort, laziness, wasting time on ordinary things, complaining, and criticism, among others. This incident was like a slap in the face that opened my eyes, and I felt that I was nothing more than an ordinary person doing Dafa things.

I’ve generally never considered myself a Dafa disciple. I always think I don’t meet the requirements of Dafa, that I fall short of the standard because of the illness I’ve suffered from for so long. I often undervalue myself and don’t believe I’m capable of changing things, that I’m not worthy to be a Dafa disciple. I have a constant internal struggle with this and didn’t evaluate this matter based on the Fa.

Since I didn’t see any improvement in my physical condition, I sometimes even became discouraged and didn’t feel like continuing. Projects kept me afloat in one way or another, but they don’t replace cultivation, and it was very difficult for me to do the exercises diligently and study the Fa more.

In some projects, I wasn’t meeting Dafa’s requirements. I somehow validated myself, couldn’t tolerate others’ mistakes, and lacked compassion. For example, in the Customer Service project for Shen Yun, although I tried to address each team member individually about their errors, deep down I was complaining: How can they do things this way? Why aren’t they committed to the project? Where is their responsibility? etc.

But all of this was happening because it was a reflection of my attachments. Although I seemed calm on the surface, when I was dealing with them, deep down I wasn’t. I had all sorts of negative thoughts. I wanted things done my way, and whenever I had the chance, I complained about them. Criticism was also present. Over time, I began to focus more on the positive aspects of each fellow practitioner, and things gradually started to change.

Once, a practitioner notified me a few minutes earlier that she wouldn’t be able to do her customer service shift. This threw my schedule off because I had to cover the shift, since it was a holiday and it was difficult to find a replacement. As soon as she notified me, she turned off her phone and stopped receiving my messages. My first thought was, “How can someone notify you like that and then disconnect without knowing if the problem has been resolved?” I was angry and wanted to write her a long message, but then I reflected that perhaps something had happened to her and she had an emergency. So I held back and didn’t say anything to her. My anger also passed.

That night, she texted me to say that a family member had been admitted to the hospital and that she had to take care of them all day. I thought to myself, “It’s easier to get angry and look outward, but if I look at it from the perspective of the Fa, things become clear and work out for the best.” I was glad that I hadn’t sent her a message that would likely have caused her even more worry and upset.

On another occasion, a fellow practitioner from the Customer Service team—who can sometimes be very anxious—was having trouble with one of the platforms we use. Although I tried to help her, the problems persisted, and I didn’t know how to handle the situation. One day, a fellow practitioner shared this excerpt from Master’s Fa:

“When you lack wisdom it’s usually caused by your being anxious, being anxious in your mind to do something, giving it too much importance, and thereby developing a different type of attachment. Actually, with a lot of things if you calmly and gently talk to people and handle those things rationally, you’ll find that your wisdom will flow forth like a spring, and every sentence of yours will get right to the point, and every sentence will speak the truth. As soon as you become attached or anxious, though, or have some strong intention, your wisdom is gone, and that’s because at that time you’ve come over to the human side again, right? You should try your best to use righteous thoughts and try your best to be in the state of a cultivator, and the results will be excellent.” (Fa Teaching Given at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference)

When I read it, I thought of her and sent it to her. She thanked me and said she could relate to it and that it helped her look inward. It also helped me look inward and evaluate things from the perspective of the Fa, rather than from my human side. This also helped improve our relationship.

Similar situations often arise to test my patience and temper. Now I take all these opportunities to ask myself: Where did I go wrong, and what do I need to learn from this? As I reflect and look back on the past few years, I realize that my cultivation had stagnated, I hadn’t delved deeply enough into self-reflection, I hadn’t been diligent enough, and I hadn’t let go of many attachments, because I approached everything from my human side rather than from the Fa. Now I strive to do better and better.

Expanding My Compassion in My Customer Service Work

For the second year in a row, I had to juggle two roles during the Shen Yun shows. On one hand, I was with the Customer Service team, and on the other, I had to conduct interviews for The Epoch Times. Last year’s experience wasn’t entirely positive, as I had to handle issues with ticket sales, validate tickets, and simultaneously find people in the audience to interview later. At that time, I was nervous and very stressed, and the more I worried, the more problems arose. I was resolving the issues that came up in Customer Service, but in my head, I was thinking, “I won’t have time to find people and do the interviews on time.”

At the first stop on the tour, I had to handle both tasks. Several issues came up in Customer Service that I was able to resolve, and when it was time to go into the theater to handle the interviews, I left my coworker alone. A couple of issues came up, and she got nervous and made a mistake. Later, when we began to review what had happened, I explained to her what she should have done, but I felt neither anger nor resentment toward her. I remember that last year we also faced much greater difficulties at the same theater, and I did get angry with her and pointed out the things she didn’t do right in a harsh tone, without caring how she felt, thinking she should know things just as well as I did.

But this time, I put myself in her shoes and understood how she felt. I had gone through these experiences of frustration at not fulfilling our tasks 100%. The fear of making mistakes and the fear of losing face are attachments that have caused me to fall and get back up again and again. I saw myself reflected in her and felt that I just had to support her, no matter what mistake she had made. In that moment, I felt genuine compassion for her and realized that we were in the same boat, rowing in the same direction.

Overcoming Anxiety in My Work Conducting Interviews

In previous years, I would always ask for help before starting the tour so that a fellow practitioner could assist me in finding interviewees. Selfishly, I thought the NTD team had support in this area, and I also believed that I needed it. Sometimes, the pressure to secure interviews in about 15 minutes was quite intense, and after the show ended, time was also very tight, which caused me anxiety and worry that I wouldn’t be able to finish in time. But this year I had a very clear thought: “This time I’m not going to ask for help. I’ll take things as they come and do what’s asked of me,” and with that in mind, I began the tour.

Also, every year a few new questions are added for the interviews, and that always made me feel a bit uncomfortable because I’d try to memorize them. But this year, during the rehearsals we do for the interviews weeks before the tour, I realized that I needed to focus on listening to the interviewee’s answers and, based on that, ask the next question. This seems simple, but it’s not easy to do at first. I realized that the questions are vitally important for delving deeper and touching people’s hearts, so they’ll share their experiences with us. All this greatly eased my anxiety and worry.

At the first show of the tour, after I finished all the customer service duties and the show was about to begin, I went into the auditorium and sat down to watch. I didn’t look for people to interview, but deep down I felt calm, and for the first time, I felt neither anxiety nor worry. Understanding that this job was solely my responsibility, I relaxed and trusted that Master would guide me to the people predestined to be interviewed.

And that’s exactly what happened. When the first part of the show ended, I simply had to get up and walk through the rows to find these people. Usually, I find the first few days of interviews difficult, but this time I felt I had to do my best and that Master had entrusted me with this task because he trusted me. With this thought, opportunities soon arose. I quickly found a couple who seemed interesting and interviewed them. Later, I saw a family I had previously helped in Customer Service to fulfil a wish for their daughter, and it turned out the parents were a good fit for our profile, so I interviewed them as well. That day, I didn’t quite meet my target number of interviews, but it was a good start compared to other years.

In previous years, I often thought to myself, “Master, I’ll do my best.” But this time, I felt that wasn’t enough and that I had to push myself harder. I was in a calm state, and although unexpected things came up, I no longer acted the way I used to. I knew something had changed within me. I had relinquished the fear of losing face, of being criticized, of not having enough time.

From this year’s Shen Yun tour, I gained two insights regarding working with the media.

One is that if we are always at peace in our hearts, we can face any situation or conflict in the best way, and that leads us to perform our work exceptionally well. And the other is that if we think of others first, Master opens even more doors for us and guides us toward people without us having to seek them out beforehand.

Discovering the Attachment to Personal Benefits

For four years, I needed technical assistance to do my job as a reporter for Shen Yun. Since my cell phone wasn’t very up to date, I had to ask for a camera to take photos of the people I interviewed. I also needed help uploading the photos to the server, from which they are later downloaded to complete the articles.

But last year, the Epoch Times reporter who comes from Germany every year to conduct interviews told me that it was time to bring my laptop to the theatre and buy a new cell phone to handle these tasks.

This year, that attachment surfaced again. Before the tour began, I thought I’d take a break halfway through, and I had planned to skip two cities. But as the dates drew near, we realized we were short-staffed on the media team and needed one more reporter.

When I delved deeper into why I didn’t want to go to these two cities, I realized it was simply that I didn’t want to spend more money on accommodation and travel. At that moment, I recognized my attachment to personal gain and comfort. I was putting my personal interests ahead of the Shen Yun tour. I didn’t feel good about it, but it helped me see this selfish thought more clearly and reject it.

So I decided to go to one of the cities, and after making the decision, the accommodation and transportation were arranged immediately. Furthermore, the experience there was incredibly enriching, not only because of the media work, but also because I had the opportunity to visit a new theatre and meet its staff. On the first day of the show, I interviewed the theatre’s top executive without even knowing who he was, and then he introduced me to the events manager so I could interview him as well. The interviews flowed one after another. I felt a very familiar atmosphere that day interviewing everyone, and I don’t think I’ve ever done so many interviews in a single day.

Final Thoughts

Throughout all the performances I’ve seen this year, I felt Master cleansing my body time and time again. Sometimes I had a lot of energy despite the travel and some of the long days at the theaters. I had hardly any aches and pains, but when the tour ended, they returned. A week later, I suddenly understood that all of this was due to Shen Yun’s pure field and that somehow, I have to maintain it. And to achieve this, the only way is to cultivate diligently, believe in Master and the Fa, and completely reject the interference and manipulations of the old forces.

I know I still have a lot to improve in successfully passing the tests of cultivation and that I still have many attachments and some illness karma. I will remind myself that I am a Falun Dafa practitioner and return to my true home with Master.

Thank you, Master!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!

(Submitted to the European Fa-Conference 2026)