Forming One Body

[PureInsight.org] (European Fahui
2007) A practitioner informed us that
he would act as head coordinator for organising the CIPFG torch relay
in Munich. At first, I was a little hesitant about the whole
situation, but quickly enlightened. Instead of blocking the
situation, I came to a new understanding of supporting this
practitioner's wish, from the bottom of my heart.

The
opening ceremony of the torch relay activities signalled very good
chances to clarify the truth in Fa-rectification. Hence keeping pace
with Fa-rectification requires us to understand the new requirements
in the process of holding these events.

Master often talks about cooperating
and coordinating with each other well. From my understanding this
point is essential for any project or big activity involving many
practitioners. And in this case, the global Coalition consists of
everyday people, with many involved in high society. Thus as an
individual Dafa practitioner, it is still fine to involve ourselves
as individual entities and yes, it is very necessary for Dafa
practitioners to help out with many if not all facets of preparation
work for the torch relay events. Understanding this aspect was
crucial to the success of our events in Germany.

Whenever I undertake a task, I
always look at ways of involving as many practitioners as possible.
From my experience, this only works through communicating your
understanding in a compassionate manner. Some practitioners felt that
this event was too much for Munich. I noticed that a fear of failure
was present. I quickly offered from my understanding, which helped
ease the situation.

Group Fa-Study

Every week we would convene at a
practitioner's house for group Fa-study. We all decided that
Thursday is the most important day for us. I feel that group Fa-study
is a very solemn event. It is something, which we should always
treasure. Yet, this became a problem, because the room in which we
studied was really chaotic. The practitioner's apartment is
situated on a major road, making it difficult to open the window for
fresh air, due to the noise.

Furthermore the practitioner's
cultivation state was not at an optimal level. All of these factors
affected the reading environment in a major way. This really
concerned me, since Fa-study in a solemn group environment is
essential for fulfilling our vows made long ago. It forms a
fundamental basis for yourself and the environment. Hence treating
group Fa-study with the utmost respect is the only way, in which we
can move forwards together. I proposed that we change the location.
Conditions at the new place were much better. After sharing about
this issue, there were two lines of thought. The first was, it
doesn't matter where you study the Fa; studying together is all
that counts. The other thought was, "if there are better conditions
for Fa-study, you should utilise them. There is no need to seek out a
tougher environment, when better conditions are on offer." After
careful consideration, we opted for the better conditions.

From my understanding this point was
crucial to our learning environment. We are quite dedicated now in
studying the Fa in a concentrated manner from 19:00 until 20:53,
since we send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all evil factors
from important Dafa-related activities at 20:55. Group Fa-study for
me is paramount for validating the Fa as a group. Master writes, in "To the Australia Fa Conference 2006": "The regions that have
done well saving sentient beings and validating Dafa, and where great
changes have transpired, are always places where people have studied
the Fa well."

Now
during Fa-study we are respecting each other more and more. More
emphasis is placed on thinking of others, before thinking of oneself.
One practitioner holds the meeting and ensures that everyone remains
focused on the task at hand. It carries a great deal of
responsibility, but offers a way for all practitioners to involve
themselves more in Fa-study.

We normally have translations
running throughout the evening, but they are not simultaneous. It is
also a very good test of patience.

Sharing in this type of environment
really feels sacred. The environment seems more peaceful. This also
requires someone to moderate. They need to monitor the environment,
keeping everything under control. It requires concentration for the
entire time and a great deal of responsibility.

Organising the Human Rights Touch
Event in Munich

Even though many practitioners were
supportive of the event, only a few contributed in a big way. This
posed many problems for us. Time was running short and Berlin was
approaching fast. I am part of the European Choir and learnt the
torch relay song for the event. I also wanted to experience the event
first hand, since Munich was holding it one week later. Upon arriving
in Berlin, I sensed that Berlin had not arranged any sound for the
rally. After asking around, a few practitioners organised some sound,
which acted as a rehearsal for us.

It was a very testing environment.
With the time allotted to us and the circumstances in setting up
microphones, mixer and a PA system, never allowed us to rehearse
under real conditions. We managed to set-up a working sound-system,
but in terms of sound quality, it was of low quality. This really
shocked me, since our arrangements in Munich were heading in this
direction as well. Even though practitioners have very good hearts, I
could see that our level of professionalism was very low. This really
disturbed me; since CIPFG's global torch relay is a world event. A
world event requires quality and organisation at the highest level.
It is also important for media, VIPs and the general public to also
sense a high level of professionalism. Hence I started to think deep
and hard about Munich.

I pledged a vow to myself stating
that we would offer high quality conditions for our event in Munich.
Hence we requested that a professional sound engineer bring his
equipment for the stage area. I wanted to take the quality of sound
to a higher level.

Strangely enough, I had 8 female
practitioners staying in my apartment. Other local practitioners came
over as well. Utilising the time together was difficult at first.
Everything was hanging on me. I could also see that many
practitioners were not very productive. Hence, I asked for help from
other practitioners to coordinate a few of the tasks. This enabled us
here to focus a little more on organising the event and inviting
media to cover us. At some stages the phone would never stop ringing
and my mobile would also ring. I gave one phone to a practitioner and
just asked them to answer it for me. Apart from that, the other
practitioners helped out in other essential areas. Cooking food and
cleaning with so many people was also essential. Everyone helped out
where they could, and I think most could see that I was extremely
busy for the entire time.

Sometimes, I was busy organising
some things and the others would exercise or study the Fa during the
day. It was a true test of my patience, since everyday people work
from 9 till 5. Hence, if we miss out on contacting people during this
time, then you miss out altogether. I remained calm and approached
all practitioners with a great deal of mercy. I knew that any sign of
frustration would allow the old forces to capitalise. This remained
focused in my heart for the entire event. At one stage I was
participating in 2 TeamSpeak conferences simultaneously, answering
phone calls, having to answer questions on both TeamSpeak conferences
and, on top of it all, one practitioner criticised me for acting too
passively during one of the TeamSpeak meetings. Yet I always kept in
mind how to involve more practitioners and how to coordinate among
ourselves as best as possible.

In Zhuan
Falun Chapter 8, "The Heavenly
Circuit," Master writes, "The heavenly circuit that we usually
refer to is the connecting of the two energy channels of ren
and du.
This heavenly circuit is a skin-deep heavenly circuit which accounts
for nothing but healing and fitness."

If we use normal everyday approaches
in coordinating projects, then we will only utilise this low level
heavenly circuit. If we want to work together as a team and achieve
big things together, then we need to cultivate the great heavenly
circuit. This happens when we coordinate and work together as one
body. It is also like opening up all energy channels at once like
Master describes further on in Zhuan
Falun, "The cultivation practice
in our Falun Dafa avoids using this method of one energy channel
bringing hundreds of energy channels into motion. From the very
beginning, we require that hundreds of energy channels be opened up
and make simultaneous rotations. All at once, we practice at a very
high level and avoid the low-level things." My understanding from
this is that my compassion and mercy will radiate from me, when I'm
assimilated to the Fa. Thus I will not block anything, and everyone
around me will sense this wonderful feeling. Thus the energy channels
or in this case the other practitioners will work with each other.
Cooperation will occur naturally. Conflicts that arise can be quickly
resolved and all of us can concentrate more on saving sentient
beings.

The Day

I went to bed at 3:30 am before the
event. Many things required organising and now time was very limited.
On the day our responsibilities were divided. I remained at
Marienplatz and the other coordinator went to the rally to coordinate
it and the torch relay along the streets of Munich. One practitioner
responsible for the sound at our rally arrived early morning. The
European choir was also arriving in the early morning and I wanted to
ensure that the conditions were right for them. We had planned
something grand for the choir, combining them with the arrival of the
torch onto Marienplatz. Hence coordinating with them was extremely
important.

What most people don't know is
that we had a major incident involving our stage area. Two mechanical
pieces broke. This added a further 2 hours onto their setup time,
which meant that 2 hours were no longer there for sound checks and
rehearsals. Through our coordination efforts, we communicated via our
mobile phones many times during the parade. We could gauge the
progress and report on any problems. This was essential in slowing
down the torch relay. Otherwise everyone would have arrived too early
and the stage area with sound would not have been finished in time.

As it turns out, the torch arrived
at the perfect moment, the crowd consisting mainly of non
practitioners built up. We organised some international flags to
symbolise the global event and laid a path for the torch. Singing in
the background was the European Choir. This moment was so special.
Members of the press were also present and everyone could sense that
a solemn event was taking place. We shared beforehand the need to
symbolise the torch. Connecting it to an international event and
conveying this message to the people present. This led onto a very
successful open air concert.

In my opinion, this event was a
great success. We had many non practitioners run in the event and
there were many present at our stage area for the outdoor concert.
The media coverage for a Munich event organised by practitioners, was
the best ever. Yet we still need to strive even higher and build on
what we have achieved.