Improving in My Cultivation As a Coordinator for the Tian Guo Marching Band

(Minghui.org) I would like to share some of the ways I've improved in my cultivation as a coordinator for the Tian Guo Marching Band.

Studying the Fa Wholeheartedly

In the first few years, I shared the coordination tasks with a fellow practitioner and I felt that we cooperated well. After she resigned, I looked for another practitioner to take over her role, but no one stepped up and I ended up doing all the work myself.

In the years that followed, I was under a lot of stress from all the responsibilities involved. Many things needed to be dealt with, such as parade arrangements, making sure that everyone worked together well, putting the other band members before myself, ensuring the quality of our performances, managing the finances, and so on. When I realized that I had more and more responsibilities, I decided to increase the amount of time I studied Fa teachings.

For years, I’ve made a habit of waking up early. I use that time in the morning to study the Fa more. On the weekends and my days off from work, I also study Master’s lectures in different countries on top of studying Zhuan Falun every day. I understood that I needed to study the Fa with full concentration instead of merely just reading it through, which is disrespectful.

Master said:

“So when you study the Fa, don't just go through the motions. You have to calm your mind when you read it, and truly study it. Don't let your mind sneak away from you. Once your mind wanders off, you'll be studying in vain. If we look at it from another angle, when you study the Fa and your mind isn't on the Fa, it's not only a problem of just going through the motions, but also that the person studying the Fa is actually not being very respectful of the Fa. How could the Fa reveal itself, then?” (“Fa -Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. II) 

After gaining this understanding, I started to make certain I studied the Fa whole-heartedly instead of just reading it through on the surface.

Getting Rid of Fear and Becoming More Compassionate

I had the feeling that I would be tested as to whether I'd made the right decision and would second guess myself. As time passed, I understood that the results are not important. It is the process of looking inward that matters the most.

I realized that this happened due to my attachment of fear. I was afraid that the results would not be good and I was afraid of being criticized. When I started to look within, I asked myself what there was to be scared of. I didn’t do anything bad and we are all Dafa practitioners. Thinking this, I had a deep sense that Master will help us. Once I came to this understanding, the attachment of fear disappeared.

Master said,

“Should you have fear, it will seize upon youIf thoughts are righteous, evil will collapse”(“What's to Fear,” (Hong Yin Vol. II) 

In the years after establishing the band, we set up section groups. Some of the coordination tasks have been delegated to the section leaders. That way, there are more of us working on coordination. Aside from creating the annual plan for the band, I can focus more on improving our technical skills, where we still have some room to grow.

In the process, I've encouraged the band members to engage music teachers, set up small practice groups locally, and helped them to pass the annual band exams. Because band members frequently come to my house for group instruction, my house often resembles a music school on the weekends. We've also worked hard on our marching and have even found a marching instructor.

Despite all this, the overall standard of our music was not good enough. In my understanding, if our performance is substandard, it will leave the audience with a bad impression. As a result, it will be hard for our performances to assist in saving people.

I started to feel helpless and did not know how to resolve this. At the time, I did not know how to help everyone improve their ability to play their instruments. Sometimes, when my righteous thoughts were not strong enough, I treated the band members unfairly and made unreasonable demands on them. I felt bad when that happened. Whenever I realized it, I would intensify my sending righteous thoughts. When I was able to concisely point out the areas where they needed to improve in a calm and friendly manner, they would follow my guidance and the situation improved.

Master said, “However strong the righteous thoughts are, that’s how great the power is.” (“Also in a Few Words,” Essentials for Further Advancement II) 

I often had conflicts with one of the band members. After exchanging a few emails, neither of us would budge. I was very discouraged and angry at this practitioner, as this was not the first time we had clashed. I thought, “I am the main coordinator. Why must this person disagree with me?”

My first reaction was to write an email laying out my own strong opinions, but I ended up not doing that. Instead, I sat down to send righteous thoughts. I realized that I had to change the current circumstances, so I told myself, “I am a Dafa practitioner, Falun Dafa is good.” When I looked within, I realized that I was participating in the discussion with a lot of sentimentality and that I only thought about how to impose my will so that everyone would follow my instructions.

As a coordinator, that is not the correct stance to take and it showed my attachment to sentimentality. I realized that I needed to be more compassionate and understanding, that I should not lose my temper, because every band member is a cultivator. They all have their own levels and realms, so how could I behave like that? Now when I discuss things with them, I am more rational and look at the matter from a more practical perspective so that the band as a whole can benefit. If similar incidents ever come up, I will deal with them more compassionately.

Master said,

“As gods see it, for a cultivator to be right or wrong in the human world is not important in the least, whereas eliminating the attachments that come from human thinking is important, and it is precisely your managing to eliminate those attachments rooted in your human thinking as you cultivate that counts as important.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X) 

I recently started to give online tutorials and expanded the local small group practices and am looking for suitable methods to help everyone improve their musical skills more easily.

I see that there are many band members who are working hard; some even practice until late at night. Some improved very quickly and were able to pass the band exam within a very short time to become a band member. I think that we are becoming mature in many respects.

I am very thankful to be able to be a part of the Tian Guo Marching Band. There were many times when miracles happened when we met with problems such as storm clouds disappearing to reveal a clear blue sky. I also felt the energy when I first played the Dafa pieces. When I play in the band, I feel very much at peace, full of compassion, perseverance, and righteous thoughts.

Thank you, Master, for giving me the energy and wisdom to let me do the three things that a practitioner should do.