Greetings, revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
Master and Dafa guided me through a bumpy path of cultivation practice since 1996. Looking back at the two decades of cultivation, I realized that Dafa is so big and me myself is a very small element. I often can see my shortcomings and attachments.
Today I want to share some understandings about cooperation and harmony without letting my ego get in between. To whole-heartedly cooperate and harmonize with fellow practitioners, it requires one truly cultivate xinxing and be Truthful, Compassionate and Forbearing.
I had volunteered to work in the mountain for 3 months. Master gave me many chances to let go my human notions, including ego, age, respect and dignity. For shortly 3 months, I was lifted to a level where I could seamlessly cooperate and always take the overall situation as the most important.
I wanted to join the costume team. The team leader also agreed to take me. However, I was assigned to iron works team and my task was to paint the iron pillars. At the beginning, I was assigned to paint the pillars on the ground. It was a heavy work for a woman of my age but I didn’t mind at all. I painted all the iron pillars on the ground and thought I completed the task.
After a short break, I was told to pain the pillars that had been installed. The pillars were two stories tall so I needed a cart ladder and its best to have two people work together. One pushed the cart ladder from the bottom and the other painted the pillars on the ladder.
I realized that I need to cooperate with someone but there was no free hand available. No other choices, I borrowed a cart ladder from another team and decided to work alone. Telling myself not to fear the height, I started to climb the ladder. Master Li happened to be working beside me. He looked at me on the ladder seriously. I didn’t understand what he meant so I continued to climb.
After I painted the area in front of me, I climbed down, moved the cart and climbed up again. A leader of another team told me that it was dangerous to work alone like this and I should find a person to push the cart for me. So that was what Master meant by looking at me seriously.
The next day, I thought I couldn’t paint by myself alone so I went to the costume team. I talked to the team leader and she promised to ask the office to reassign me to her team. Just at this moment, an old acquaintance from Atlanta came in. She grimly said to me, “You don’t belong to this team. Leader of the construction site is looking for you everywhere. What are you doing here? You’d better go back to your post immediately.“ I felt embarrassed especially she was my old friend and supposed to save me some faces. Others working in costume team were also embarrassed. The costume leader said, “I plan to keep her working for me. I have submitted the request to the office.” “Really?” the practitioner picked up the phone and said, “Let me call the office to find out.”
I suddenly realized my problem. Master’s teaching in Zhuan Falun chapter 4 emerged in my mind. I didn’t feel wronged any more. “No, you don’t need to call. It’s my fault. I am returning to my post now.” I also apologized to practitioners of costume team that I interrupted their work.
As soon as I walked out of the costume team, the old friend’s face smoothened and she said to me in a relaxed tone that the construction team had found me a partner to paint the pillars, but they couldn’t find me at the site.
I said to her, “You did the right thing. It’s my fault. I am going back right now.”When I walked back to construction site, I saw a young man had already climbed up the ladder and started painting the pillars. I smiled to him and said, “Sorry I am late. I am going to push the cart for you.”
Just at that moment, I turned around and saw Master walked by me and smiled kindly at us. This was the first time in a month that I saw Master smiled at me. I immediately understood that I had passed this test. Master wanted us to cooperate and work together in harmony. Soon, we completed the high painting work successfully.
As soon as the painting work completed, the leader of plaster team called me to be his assistant. I had already heard that he was difficult to deal with. So when he told me to go to his team, I only said I might just be there temporarily. I didn’t expect that I actually worked there for 2 months.
Working as his assistant, I had to improve my Xinxing every day. Sometimes, it was very hard. It was not about physical strength but rather xinxing. He had strict rules for everything, from how to move the ladder, handle plaster, watch container, sand the wall, to size the pellets.
Let’s use moving the ladder as an example. I had some human notions, such as I was older and a female. He was a young lad. So I expected him to be the person to move the heavy ladder. But he didn’t think like that.
“I am the main player. You must help me to save my physical strength.” He said, “If you move the ladder, you must move it to the correct position so I don’t have to waste my strength to adjust it again. “If you hand me the plaster, you must hand it to the right place so I don’t have to turn my body to get it. Care about every small details. So that I can focus on my job and together we can save time. “Look, you will see yourself soon. If we cooperate well, the speed to plaster a wall is very fast. “Don’t assume you are female so I will take care of you. Here in the mountain, we are all divine beings. We are no longer human. Understand?”
In his team, I gradually learned how to cooperate and forget human notions. Several times, we forgot the time and suddenly realized all walls of a whole classroom were plastered. At that moment, I felt that cooperation was a simple thing if one could give up one’s ego.
We had cooperated very well in some works so the final results were like magical and we could feel the happiness by seeing the outcome.
Working in the mountain was a good cultivation opportunity arranged by Master and I had enlightened to the meaning of cooperation and harmony in the process.
For several times, after we had lunch, we saw Master was still cleaning the trash at the construction site or sweeping the walking path so people could move around without baffles. Led by Master’s example, we also learned to clean up and remove the debris no matter who left it there.
Many times, we cleaned up the work site and continued to sweep off the mosquitos on the wall. We did it happily and my heart was simple and pure like a child’s. And we often saw Master was smiling at us at that moment. It seems like Master wanted to let us know cooperation and harmony are what he wanted.
A good natured young lad had worked with me for a short time. He once told me a story about working with an experienced team leader. One day, he was quite happy with his work, but the team leader was not happy and extremely picky about his work. He didn’t argue with the leader but held a grudge in his heart. Then Master suddenly showed up and told him to redo. “This must be re-done. This is not what I want”. Master said.
The young lad immediately heard Master was pointing to grudge in his heart. He was ashamed and realized the human notion against harmony and cooperation. So he let everything go and started the work again. The work was done the same way but the leader didn’t criticize him at all. A short time later, Master came back and smiled, “Um, this is right now.”
He shared the story to tell me that every conflict or test is a good opportunity for a practitioner. Master is using all kind of methods to let us realize our attachments and let them go. Master wants us to cooperate selflessly like divine beings.
Since I returned to Atlanta, I noticed that I didn’t do well in cooperation and harmony with fellow practitioners. I often recall the stories and time while working on the mountain. Here I am sharing with fellow practitioners and wish all of us can treasure the precious cultivation opportunity, look inward, give up ego, and cooperate selflessly.
Please allow me to use a poem from Hong Yin III:
Following Master
Massive, powerful figures,
They gathered for the Great Current
Assuming different social statuses, and different occupations
Dafa disciples are one body
Following Master in Fa-rectification,
Working against sinister tides
Thank you dear Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
