Relinquishing Human Attachments: Harmonizing What Master Wants

A Dafa Disciple in North American

PureInsight | January 24, 2017

[PureInsight.org]

Greetings Master, greetings fellow cultivators.

In 1997, I flew back to China from Singapore to visit my mom and obtained the Fa from her recommendation. After reading only a few lectures of Zhuan Falun, my whole vision of the world changed. I was thrilled about the Fa; I felt that “Zhen Shan Ren” was great and I wanted to follow the principles to be a good person, and to follow Master to go back home. I moved to the United States in 1999. During my 19 years of cultivation, I have deeply felt that each tribulation or challenge I faced happened mainly because Master wanted me to relinquish my human notions and attachments, so that I can be transformed from a human being into a divine being. I would like to share with you some of my recent cultivation experiences in promoting Shen Yun and hosting a training program on the RTC platform.

Cultivate Away the Ego; Harmonize the Whole Group as Coordinator

For this year’s Shen Yun promotion, the main coordinator wanted me to take charge of the flyer distribution project. Since I have been coordinating this project for years and all the participating practitioners cooperated very well, I accepted the role again without hesitation. However, when I called the practitioners who had formerly participated, one by one, they all told me that they could not join the flyer distribution project this year, since they were engaged in other things. I thought that perhaps those who had cooperated with me before might have fulfilled their mission already, thus I should let those new and young practitioners participate. When I called them, they all agreed to join.

However, lots of issues arose during the distribution process. Some practitioners notified me at the very last minute that they couldn’t go hand out the flyers. Some were late because of a traffic jam; others had been trapped in family affairs and couldn’t make it. In the beginning, I felt an understanding towards those practitioners, thinking that they were not deliberately finding excuses. But when such issues happened frequently, my human notions and attachments were aroused, and I blamed them, thinking, “how could they forget or delay such an important thing?!” Things like this had never happened previously. The former leafleting team had been very committed in distribution and had had strong righteous thoughts as well. Later, I realized that nothing is a coincidence, so there could be some Xinxing problems on my part. Maybe my heart was not completely pure; maybe I still wanted to prove myself. But on my part, I was in charge of the flyer distribution, so I should play my role well and then the project should go very well. I had many thoughts. I realized that I had never really put myself in the other practitioners' shoes. Were they going through hardships and needing help? Did they have a Xinxing problem and need someone to talk to? Did I still have compassion? I thought that I should forgive and try to understand those practitioners, and meanwhile help them strengthen their righteous thoughts, since everyone wanted to do well. From then on, we had an open sharing every time, after we finished a distribution.

One time, a fellow practitioner didn’t show up for distribution. I called her and asked if she would like to talk. She told me that she had had an accident and was severely hurt. I felt deeply sorry for her tribulation and for her going through it alone there. As a coordinator and fellow practitioner, I should have taken care of her in a timely manner. I had had a similar experience before, so I shared my story with her.

I said, “During a Shen Yun promotion period, I went out to distribute flyers as usual, but fell down in my garage when I came back home. I was badly hurt, but still had righteous thoughts, thinking, ‘Old forces, don’t even think about persecuting me. I am still going to go out to distribute flyers’. Even though I was in pain
when I stood up, I still went out again and distributed the flyers. Since I had to hold lots of flyers in my hands, both arms and hands hurt a lot. When I was giving a ride to a fellow practitioner, I was only able to hold the steering wheel with one hand, but I didn’t share what had happed to me. That night, my arms and hands swell up and I could hardly rest them anywhere.

The next day, only practitioner A and myself were scheduled to hand out flyers. I was intending not to go. But lots of everyday people would lose their opportunities to get a flyer without enough practitioners there. I told Master in my heart, ‘I won’t acknowledge the old forces’ interference. I must go, otherwise a great number of beings would lose their opportunities of being saved, and I would feel sorry.’ Then, a miracle occurred. My arms and hands stopped hurting, despite being a little swollen. I deeply felt Master’s Fa in (Hong Yin II: The Master-Disciple Bond), ‘When disciples have ample righteous thoughts, Master has the power to turn back the tide.’ I felt the strong power of the Buddha Fa, and was very grateful to Master. After that, I drove to the theater and we successfully finished distributing the flyers. ”

After hearing this, she said, “Thank you so much. My arm is fine now; it doesn’t hurt. I know what I should do.” I found that when I put my ego aside and kept looking inward, expanded my inner capacity and thought of the state of others, the coordination work became easy.

At the start of the project, I rarely received any replies after releasing the distribution schedule. So I would then call practitioners. Some still said that they couldn't decide right then. But as time went by, I began to receive lots of messages from practitioners, right after releasing the weekly theater schedules. Some practitioners even told me to feel free to put them on the schedule whenever they were needed. Others said that they were available from Monday to Friday. I was really moved. Even on a rainy day, fellow practitioners still distributed flyers as usual. Some practitioners came to the theater directly from work, and hadn’t even had time to change their outfit. They apologized for not following the dress code. I said it is OK, as long as they are clean and tidy. Some practitioners still joined the distribution even though they had an exam the next day. Sometimes, practitioners would be late. I didn’t blame them and asked if they needed me to pick them up. They were very thankful. Eventually, more and more practitioners participated. Sometimes, one theater was covered by four or five practitioners.

Through everyone's cooperation, the circumstances changed as we all improved our Xinxing. At first, we were not allowed to distribute flyers right outside the gate, so we could only hand them out by the road. Later, however, theater staff allowed us to stand by their gate so we could hand out more flyers. We greeted each other friendly whenever we met. Even the police patrolman was nice to us. More and more people received our flyers. Some said that they’d been waiting for the flyer and some said that they would go see the show. Some went back to the theater and bought their tickets. The practitioners on the mall sales team called me, saying, “You guys are doing really well. Some customers got their flyers outside the theater and came to buy tickets.” I knew it was Master’s encouragement for us to keep doing well.

Assisting Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings is extremely serious. The whole process demands high standards of us and any distraction or selfishness will likely bring problems. For example, it was really hard to find a downtown parking space. To save time and money, I parked my car outside the theater like everyday people did. But I got a ticket. One practitioner told me that as I was doing things for Dafa, I could appeal it. Once I won, I wouldn't need to pay, but I must also remember never to park outside the theater again. I knew the practitioner wanted to save me money, but I’d got the ticket since I didn’t do well. Every country has its own rules and regulations. Especially as a Dafa disciple, I should always walk on the righteous path. So I paid the ticket. Since then, I could always find cheaper parking places. Even though it cost me a lot whenever I came out, Master increased my income in other way.

Miraculous Experience in a Mountain for Putting Up a Shen Yun Poster

After the Boston Shen Yun performance was finished, we went to another city to help put up posters. We were assigned a very remote town to visit. When we were first planning to go, one fellow practitioner rented a huge van for me. He reminded me to drive carefully, since some others had just come across a car collision. I was shocked, because I wasn’t familiar with driving a huge van. However, it came to me for a reason, so I accepted it. The weather was sleety that night. I was in a hurry and got detoured by following misleading GPS instructions. Finally, thanks to a practitioner leading me, I drove back safely. The next morning all the roads were frozen. I thought that Master would look after me; nothing bad would happen. After picking up all the other practitioners, I told them we’d better study the Fa while in the car. Although it was the first time I drove on a winding and slippery road and despite witnessing a few car accidents, three hours later, we arrived safe and sound, thanks to Master’s care. The main coordinator told me, “I was worried about you all the time.” Luckily, we had completed postering successfully in that remote town.

The next day at noon, one of my attachments was aroused. Considering that I would easily fall asleep after having lunch, I told all practitioners in my car to please talk to me, as if they fall asleep, I will fall asleep as well. So they started chatting loudly. I then felt quite annoyed and told them, “Don’t talk; your voices are so loud that I can hardly hear the GPS directions. We went the wrong way again.” I suggested that they study the Fa and they agreed. However, since I couldn’t calm myself down, I could barely hear the Fa while they were reading. So I then forced them to send forth righteous thoughts. But they all fell asleep while they were sending forth righteous thoughts. My heart was filled with complaints. I was dozing off while driving, but I couldn’t stop, since I had places to be. The other practitioners even started to snore and this made me even angrier. I knew that complaining was wrong; I forced myself to tolerate it and try to keep calm. However, inside myself it was like rivers and seas overturning.

Half way into the trip, the car was running out of gas. At the services, I stood in the chilly wind, swiping my card again and again. The gas pump wouldn’t accept my card, for no apparent reason. Although a couple of everyday people came over and asked if I needed help, not a single practitioner stepped out of the car to ask what was wrong. At that time, my angry complaints reached a peak. How could my fellow practitioners behave like this? I completely forgot to look inward. I managed to fill my gas tank with the help of the gas station staff.

Back home, I calmed myself down and looked inward. Why had I had so much friction with fellow practitioners on the way back? It was totally the opposite to our journey there. In fact, it is because Master wants me to improve. Master wanted me to enlarge my inner capacity and be compassionate to my fellow practitioners. Those practitioners had been putting up posters for a whole day and were exhausted. I should remember that Master is watching me all the time. How could I rely on other practitioners? I was wrong and needed to apologize to them. Why had I encountered the card problem at the gas station and why didn’t they help? This is because Master wanted me to learn to be independent and not rely on others. When I thought this way, I felt that the other practitioners were good and then I only saw my own problems.

Why had the practitioner rented a huge van for me? On our way to the small town, we had witnessed some car accidents, but we stayed safe because the van was heavy and stable. Renting the larger vehicle was also cheaper than a small one. Now I understand that Master has already arranged the best path for me and is taking care of me all the time.

The third time, I went to the mountain all by myself. The road was steep and muddy. Even though my car was skid resistant, all the tires were still slipping around. That day, the GPS couldn’t find the company that I was searching for in that remote place, and I drove around the same area many times. I told myself not to give up. Then a miracle happed. A young man came out of a small road, driving a small tool car. He asked if I needed help. I told him that I had come to deliver a Shen Yun poster, but that I couldn’t find the company. He told me that he worked at this company and could pass the poster to his boss. At that time, I was quite tearful. Master’s mercy touched me; He wouldn’t miss any predestined people, even in such a remote area. I couldn’t let Master down; I would find every company on the map.

When I went for the next company, the GPS couldn’t get the location. I was worried and kept looking around. Then I saw a large and decent building and drove in. The hostess came out and I asked her about the company I was looking for. She replied that she didn’t know it. Suddenly, I understood; I had to introduce this lady to Shen Yun. She was very happy. On my way back, I noticed lots of places that hadn’t been marked on the map—a ski resort, a school, a City Hall, a restaurant, a library, a pizza house, and so on. I put up posters and dropped off flyers at each place. Once I started seeing posters that other practitioners had been putting up, I knew that I had completed what I should. I still had a three-hour drive back home. Even though I was exhausted, I knew that I should keep my mind alert. So, I listened to Master’s Fa lecture on the way back and reminded myself not to make any mistakes. The road was slippery and dark. I thought that I should think of others, so I drove ahead and led the way for other drivers. Since I was selfless, other cars passed me and led the way for me. I had driven over 10 hours that day and returned safely. My car and boots were both covered in mud.

The fifth time, I went to the mountain with a practitioner’s company. We drove over two of the highest mountains to get there. The roads had been closed previously, due to their steepness and dangerousness. One road had just been reopened to the public, so we went there and delivered flyers into the afternoon. But when we drove to the second mountain, the two roads ahead were still closed. Should we continue or go back? Shen Yun was performing soon; we still needed to fulfill our mission.

I was convinced that there would be another way to reach the small town, so I kept driving. Suddenly, we saw a man with a motorcycle. We stopped and introduced Shen Yun to him and asked for directions as well. He was very grateful and pointed the direction for us. But because the road markings were not clear, I got lost again. I kept driving, but another practitioner reminded me to stop, since we were already going the wrong way. I thought that there must have been a reason for us to come here. Then, a lady drove by and we introduced Shen Yun to her. She happily told us that her daughter was a dancer and that she would definitely take her to see the show. She also knew that we were lost and said, “Follow me; I can lead you out.” I knew it was Master’s arrangement. The road was long and uneven; filled with small stones. She led us out of the mountain and pointed us to our destination. My fellow practitioner and I were deeply touched and were moved to tears by the lady’s kindness. My heart was filled with gratefulness to Master. I continued driving forward and we introduced Shen Yun to everybody we met. We arrived in a small town and saw an elementary school. A teacher came out to close the door and I showed her the Shen Yun poster. She said, “Great. I’ll put it up now.” She reopened the door, taking a poster and some flyers with her. We then went to the town center and put up posters in every store and on every community bulletin board.

For others, the experience of putting up posters in a completely new place may not be a big deal, but for me, it was a great breakthrough, especially because I was used to always living in a comfort zone and depending on others. The experience made me strong, independent and confident. It helped me to get rid of my outer humanness and transform into a divine being. Thank you Master for your elaborate arrangement and benevolent care.

Learning from the RTC Platform as a Training Host

I insisted on clarifying the truth on the RTC platform, while promoting Shen Yun. Recently, the platform coordinator wanted me to train beginners. I accepted and had the wish to be a good trainer; be selfless and do whatever I could for them. But in the beginning, my selfishness came out. Before I’d taken on the role, I could make lots of phone calls in a day. But since becoming a trainer, I could only make a few and instead had to spend most of my time listening to beginners making calls. I wasn’t happy. Sometimes I could only persuade one person to quit the CCP; sometimes none at all.

One day, as I studied the Fa on the RTC platform, I was brought to tears.

Master said in Zhuan Falun, “When one’s Buddha-nature emerges, it will shake the ‘World of Ten Directions’. Whoever sees it will come to give a hand and help this person out unconditionally."

Master had seen my selfishness and had used these words to remind me. Our ultimate goal is in cultivating to consummation; cultivating to fruition. My human notion of selfishness and thinking of myself had dragged me down a huge distance from a Buddha’s level. If I couldn’t let go a little, how could I be a Dafa disciple? I felt extremely ashamed.

Relinquishing my attachment, I decided to devote myself wholeheartedly to the task. I put myself in other practitioners’ shoes. They’d come to the RTC platform with a wish to clarify the truth. Different practitioners had different ideas and needed to forgo different attachments. For example, some couldn’t speak Mandarin well and this blocked them from speaking. Some lacked confidence and didn’t know where to start. Some only wanted to learn the technical methods first. Considering all these factors, I realized that I couldn’t do the training superficially. I had to communicate with my fellow practitioners and encourage them to express their inner thoughts. Only after improving our Xingxing can we achieve things as practitioners.

Whenever I saw some new faces on RTC, I would let them know that there was a training room and that they were welcome to join. I encouraged them to relinquish the attachment of fear and told them, “The more you practice, the better you’ll get.” It had a huge impact on one practitioner, who became willing to speak. Another practitioner had always kept silent in the training room. She then said, “At first, I just wanted to listen, and wasn’t intending to make a phone call. I even refused a technician's offer to install the software for me. But hearing everyone here, I’ve decided to make the phone calls.”

As a training host on RTC, I learned to put other practitioners before me and not mind setting aside my own things. Whether it was my scheduled slot or not, I helped fellow practitioners whenever they needed me. Once, some Australian practitioners wanted me to train them. So instead of attending the Boston group study that night, I stayed to give training. Half an hour later, one of the Australian practitioners texted me, saying, “Thank you. Our team successfully persuaded seven people to quit the CCP in such a short time.” I was happy to hear that. As a matter of fact, everything is done by Master; we just have to act.

Through the training process, I’ve approached many practitioners and they’ve all had different states. Some weren’t clear about the facts and could barely speak more than a few sentences. Others couldn’t speak Mandarin well or didn’t know how to communicate with others, while remaining calm, poised and determined. Some practitioners couldn’t achieve any withdrawals after calling three batches of phone numbers. I talked to them patiently and encouraged them to keep going. Gradually, their righteous thoughts strengthened and I could see them making improvements daily. Knowing that more practitioners were actively clarifying the truth and that the sentient beings in their worlds could be saved, I was deeply happy, since it is what Master wants.

I would like to share some experiences from those practitioners who recently began on the platform.

Practitioner A is elderly and speaks in a dialect with a strong accent. At first, people would hang up the phone after she spoke a few sentences, because they couldn’t understand her. Now, she is getting better. People listen for longer and some have agreed to quit. The experience is precious for her, as she can put to use what she learned from RTC in her daily life. A few days ago, she was happy to tell me that she had successfully persuaded her relative’s friend to quit the CCP. Now, she wants to clarify the truth to whoever she meets. She says that before she came to RTC, she had no idea how to clarify the truth. So, it was a great breakthrough for her. Her whole heart was devoted to saving sentient beings.

Once, another practitioner had clarified the truth on the RTC platform, but people had hung up after hearing only a few words. Practitioner A then continually called the same people. I could see that her heart for saving people was like gold. I also saw her confidence improve. She didn’t care that she was only a beginner. She could put herself aside; her only wish was for more sentient beings to hear the truth.

During the time when everyday people couldn’t understand Practitioner A, they always shouted at her and hung up the phone. She had been very depressed and asked me, “Why can't I do this right?” One day, she decided to give up RTC and went to another platform, where they just called and played an automated recording, rather than speaking directly. But after one day, she had some problems with her computer and she realized that she couldn’t avoid hardship and obstacles. She felt that she should open her mouth and clarify the truth. I encouraged her nonstop. For Practitioner A, to keep calling was her largest Xingxing test.

Practitioner B is a young girl. At first, she couldn’t talk too much in truth clarification. She was a little bit wordy and always spoke in a soft manner, such as: “Sir, please quite the ccp. Quit as soon as possible, ok?” Her tone sounded like begging. I reminded her that we were calling people with the purpose of saving them, thus we must have confidence and determination. Our truth clarification is their hope of being saved. We should be compassionate and noble at the same time. We can’t make others feel like we are begging them. She understood. After a few days, she acted totally beyond my imagination and behaved like a completely different person. She could talk about every aspect of truth clarification, including the self-immolation case in Tiananmen Square, the Cultural Revolution, the Roman Empire persecuting Christians, etc. Her voice was soft but with a solid tone. I was astonished by her calling capacity. I said, “Master gives you the wisdom; you’re speaking very well.” She was filled with confidence as well.

Practitioner C is very kindhearted and active, and always arrives at the training room early in the morning. She speaks in a normal manner and isn’t nervous when speaking to people, but she doesn’t know how to speak over the phone. She becomes serious and speaks as if reading a script, such as, “Sir, Hello, Good Night. I tell you that now everyone is quitting the CCP to stay safe. I will give you a name to keep you safe.” The person quickly hangs up. I told her, "You’re very kind when normally chatting; how can you get so serious on the phone?” She smiled and replied, “Yeah, I have no idea either. I should breakthrough the problem.” I suggested, “You can’t talk all by yourself. You should interact with the other person and get close to them. Listen to them, so you can know their concerns and problems; then solve them.” Afterwards, she made huge progress in truth clarification.

Practitioner D is 18 years old. She was born in Japan and couldn’t speak Chinese very well. She could only clarify the basic facts. For example, “The CCP did lots of bad things, like organ harvesting and killing many good people. Since you are one of them, you are in a dangerous position. I will give you a lucky name and then you quit the CCP, OK? If you quit the CCP, you would avoid the disaster and stay safe, when heaven punishes the CCP.” Her pure heart touched sentient beings' hearts and made them feel the power of compassion. People would normally say, “Ok, help me quit.” She would reply, “Thank you, thank you.” She helped many people quit. Every time I listened to her calling, I was touched by her lovely and pure heart. At the same time, I realized the distance that I have yet to go in my Xinxing.

The above are the things that I’ve learned in my cultivation. I benefited a lot during this period. I feel my inner capacity has been enlarged. I’ve learned to think of others, put myself aside and relinquish the attachment of selfishness. It’s one step closer to Master’s requirement of selflessness and altruism. I also learned a lot from fellow practitioners. I was frequently moved by their diligence and heart for saving people.

Whenever I introduced the RTC platform to new beginners, I would say that the platform was running 365 days a year; every day, from morning to night. RTC has many time slots for studying the Fa, making phone calls, communicating and sharing, sending forth righteous thoughts and practicing the exercises. I feel that the RTC platform is like a rotating Falun; never stopping. Thinking of this, I was moved. On the platform, practitioners cultivate diligently together and do the three things well. Whenever we encounter problems with technique or go through Xining obstacles, Master looks after us and there are practitioners to help. Master is taking care of Dafa disciples all the time. I can hardly express my gratefulness.

Lastly, I am going to quote one paragraph of Master’s Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference as mutual encouragement: "Dafa disciples, although Master spoke a little sternly, it was to lift up your spirits, because you are the hope for humanity! The hope for sentient beings! You are also Master's hope!”

As a Dafa disciple, the only thing I can do is to cultivate well and be more and more diligent. I’m wishing that Master will be able to smile.

Thank you, Master!

Thank you, fellow practitioners!

Please feel free to point out anything I should improve on.

 

Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/155038

 

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