(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, Teacher!
Greetings, my fellow Falun Gong practitioners!
We Falun Gong practitioners in San Diego have gained much experience and grown a lot during our marketing campaign to promote Shen Yun shows here in San Diego. In fact, we broke through a number of the notions we earlier had in the process. Whatever I was involved in, I tried to remind myself constantly, “One thought differentiates a divine being from a human being.”
When I was feeling reluctant, timid or lazy, I would ask myself, “What is the origin of this thought? Did it come from a human being? Or is it a righteous thought from a divine being? Is this something that Teacher expects from me? Or is it what the old forces have designed to obstruct me from the path to godhood and to keep me as an ordinary human being?”
I volunteered myself in several different task forces in our marketing campaign this year. I feel I was forging myself to become a genuine Falun Gong practitioner in the Fa-rectification period while assisting Teacher with Shen Yun.
To reach more people in mainstream San Diego society, we called on many local clubs. None of us had done this before, so we did not quite know how to start. We decided to form teams of two people to help each other and to send forth righteous thoughts for each other.
However, one day it became impossible for my partner to go with me on a visit a club close to my home. We had to join their breakfast meeting at a club in southern San Diego, but my partner lived in northern San Diego and it would be unreasonable for her to travel all that way early in the morning. I struggled to go by myself. First, a Falun Gong group exercise practice closest to my home would be at 6 a.m. that day, but I would have to leave at 6 a.m. to join the breakfast meeting. It meant I would have to miss the group practice and actually leave before 6 a.m. My attachment to comfort made me hesitate. Second, we were not invited to their breakfast meeting. I did not feel like going to a meeting in the early morning. Third, I was timid. I feared I might not be able to express myself well if I went alone. I feared rejection.
All of sudden three words popped up in my head: “Save people immediately.” Regardless who those people might be, I must save them! I wrote down these words in big letter in order to remind myself. Once the thought came forward, I felt Teacher and righteous divine beings were right beside me! I felt I had eliminated all elements that caused me to be timid, selfish or self-protective!
Determined to save people, I arrived at the club located on the top floor (20ish floor) with absolutely no fear. I felt myself brimmed with compassion. As long as we remain steadfast on the path Teacher has arranged for us, there will be no room for the old forces. Thus I stepped out of my shell. I set an objective for myself: obtain an opportunity to fully explain what Shen Yun is for each and every club I visit. Normally I tried to get a 30-minute window. If they could not grant me 30 minutes, I would try to get at least 5 to 10 minutes of their time.
Because my heart says “save people immediately”, nearly all the clubs I visited gave me a friendly reception and enough time for a presentation. I knew Teacher had opened a door for us to offer His salvation and all we had to do was to walk into the door and take action!
These breakfast meetings take place in early mornings, so I was able to call on these clubs before I went to work without having to take time off from work. Eventually I managed to visit the clubs during their dinner meetings as well. I truly felt the sky was the limit once I purged my notions!
After I overcame my fear for the very first visit alone, I realized that I had become independent. In the past few years, I had to rely on fellow practitioners to drive me to destinations that were far away because I am bad with directions. This year I had to visit many places in a limited window of time, I must not depend on the help from fellow practitioners or wait until fellow practitioners became available to make the trip together. I learned how to use a GPS to get around. This year I was never late and never got lost on any of my trips to market Shen Yun.
I cannot see anything with my Celestial Eye. I know at the rational level the significance of sending forth righteous thoughts, but I cannot feel or see the effects. However, I did personally witness two manifestations of our righteous thoughts that made me realize the importance of believing in Teacher and Falun Gong.
One day we planned to post Shen Yun show posters on large cargo trucks. It was going to rain according to the weather forecast, but that was the only day we could do it because re-scheduling was not an option. Many practitioners in San Diego showed up and tried to finish the work before it rained. One group of practitioners prepared the trucks while the other group was sending forth righteous thoughts. They said they would clarify the truth to those divine beings in charge of the weather and ask them to cooperate. In the afternoon gusty wind prevailed in San Diego, but it did not rain. At 3:30 p.m. I felt a drop of rain on my face, but we still needed time to finish work on the front of the trucks. I immediately contacted the practitioner in charge of coordinating the group efforts to send forth righteous thoughts and ask fellow practitioners to delay the rain for another 30 minutes. The group concentrated on sending forth righteous thoughts. It did not rain until much later when I was driving home.
One Saturday evening while local practitioners were having a group Fa study and exchanging their cultivation insights, a fellow practitioner and I were doing street promotions. We went to a local theater to distribute Shen Yun marketing materials to the audience leaving the theater. On our way to the theater, there was a thunderstorm with gusty wind. It is quite rare in San Diego to have thunderstorms. It was so windy that the fellow practitioner could hardly keep her umbrella over her head. The rain even got inside our rain coats. I told her that the old forces were trying to intimidate us with bad weather, assuming that would deter us from saving people. But nothing would stop us! On our way there, the visibility was very poor even when the windshield wiper was on the top speed. She told me that she had to focus on driving so it left me to send forth righteous thoughts.
I thought, “How can I possibly turn the tide?” But I immediately eliminated the thought. I decided that I must speak to the divine beings in charge of weather. In my heart I said to them, “Lord Buddha has descended to the earth to rectify the Fa. Falun Gong practitioners are assisting Lord Buddha in His Fa-rectification by saving the world’s people. We are doing the most righteous deed in the universe. The Fa-rectification is bound to succeed. The Three Realms exist for the sake of saving all sentient beings. If you cooperate with us in saving the world’s people, then you have positioned yourselves correctly and you will obtain an opportunity to enter the future. If you continue to assist the evil stubbornly by obstructing Falun Gong practitioners from promoting Shen Yun performances, we shall use the divine powers bestowed upon us by Lord Buddha to completely annihilate you all.”
When I opened my eyes again, the storm had started to diminish. By the time we arrived at the theater, the storm stopped completely although there were puddles of water all over the streets. I was glad that the weather gods had made a good choice for their own sake. The audience exiting the theater gladly accepted the marketing materials. As I distributed the materials with a smile on my face, I kept sending thoughts to their knowing side, “I have come here to offer Teacher’s salvation. You must go watch Shen Yun.” There had never been more people accepting our marketing materials at the theater.
These experiences have helped me reinforce my righteous thoughts as a Falun Gong practitioner in the Fa-rectification period, as well as my faith in Teacher and Falun Gong. As long as I keep up the good work, cooperate with fellow practitioners unconditionally and think about saving people, Teacher will present the path that He has already arranged for us.