(Clearwisdom.net)Although a week has passed, the memory of performing in the Divine Land Marching Band in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 23 is still vivid.
Together We Walked in Wind and Rain
I never thought it would rain when we performed. In the morning when it drizzled, I believed it would stop when we started performing. Of course we kept sending forth righteous thoughts to clear all interference. When some practitioners were practicing at the gathering spot, the rain stopped for a while, which made me believe more than before that it wouldn't rain when it was time for our performance.
While all of us practiced beside a lake, tourists and sailors on the boats watched us in the rain. Some waved at us and applauded.
As the time of the performance approached, it rained harder and harder. Thinking about the discomfort of being wet all over, I started to wonder when the rain would stop.
Walking to the starting point of the parade, I saw some practitioners dressed in white and holding photos of practitioners who died of torture inflicted under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s policy of persecuting Falun Gong in China. Tears came to my eyes. At that moment, I felt that those dead practitioners were with us. Actually, aren't the practitioners in China with us, too? All practitioners in the world share the same Teacher, learn the same Fa, and follow the same principles of "Truthfulness - Compassion - Tolerance" to be good people. We all have the same wish that people could know the greatness of Falun Dafa, be free from the CCP and its lies, and have a good future. Then, at every truth clarification event, aren't we all together?
As the time of the performance grew ever closer, the rain drops became as large as peas. The color of our clothes turned darker as they got wet, from our shoulders to our waists, and eventually to the bottoms of our trousers. We were soaked, but no one moved a bit. Everyone stood there and sent forth righteous thoughts quietly. In the rain, the Divine Land Marching Band, the floats, the maiden dance team, the waist drum team, and other practitioners all stood there orderly and quietly waiting for the parade to start. There was no need for discipline. It came from every practitioner's heart to let more people know the truth of Falun Gong.
In the rain, I no longer minded being wet or cold. On the contrary, I felt relieved. I knew the rain couldn't move practitioners' resolution. And we would not let the rain prevent more people from seeing our performance or learning about the greatness of Falun Dafa. The rain must stop. Practitioners in China are suffering much, much more than a storm. Our performance could take some pressure off their shoulders and proclaiming that "Falun Dafa is good" would help them. Our performance would be their performance, too, because people were going to watch the performance of Falun Gong practitioners, not just the performance of Frankfurt practitioners or European practitioners.
Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Acts
The rain stopped shortly after the parade started. As more and more people gathered along the route, I started to worry about making mistakes. The more I worried, the more mistakes I made. Sometimes I even felt my steps were wrong. Especially when playing "Falun Dafa Is Good," the melody that I was most familiar with, I forgot the notes and didn't know what I was playing. I had lost the serenity and confidence I had before.
During practice, I felt I was very familiar with "Falun Dafa Is Good," so I didn't spend much time on it. I realized there were two reasons behind this: one was self-complacence and another was the mentality of depending on miracles. In the Divine Land Marching Band, miracles do happen a lot. For example, I knew nothing about music before I joined the band, but I was able to play after a very short time. It is the marvel of Dafa. Our skills also improve along with our xinxing improvement. However, it doesn't mean that we don't need to practice. Playing well is my responsibility as a member of the band. But I didn't take practice seriously.
It also made me think about the reasons why I felt nervous when more spectators came to watch us. It was because I forgot the true purpose of our performance and started to worry about my skills. We didn't come here to show how skillful we were. We came to show the greatness of Falun Dafa to everyone through our performance. Then shouldn't I think, "The more spectators, the merrier?" We should let our performance present Dafa's compassion and righteousness to all the spectators.
Unforgettable Performance
Before I realized, the over-three-hour-long parade was about to end. Many people cheered and applauded for us along the way. Some clapped along with the beat of our music.
Approaching the judging area, we played "Drums and Trumpets Shake the World in Ten Directions." I still remember seeing a journalist--who was recording in front of the judge's stand--jump up and cheer after we finished the piece. He must have been cheering from the bottom of his heart. The judges didn't want to disturb our performance, so they didn't speak until we left the judging area. After we left, the Falun Gong floats and celestial maiden dance team came to the judging stand. A judge said, "So great! So unbelievable! Look, they are not done yet. There are more from the Falun Gong group."
When we reached the end, our clothes had already dried. After we disbanded, a young Chinese girl and her friend came and asked, "How many Falun Gong practitioners are there? Did all the practitioners from Europe come today?" We told her, "Not even every practitioner in the European Divine Land Marching Band is here today. Falun Gong has spread to more than 80 countries all over the world. About 100 million people are practicing Falun Gong. We do not have any membership lists, so we don't know how many people practice in Europe."
The girl then asked many questions about Falun Gong. We told her that the "Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation" was staged by the CCP. We also told her about the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party published by The Epoch Times and the tens of millions of people who quit the CCP after reading it. We suggested that she read the Nine Commentaries and quit the party. I knew then that our performance had led the girl to understand more about Falun Gong, which then enabled her to come learn more about the truth.
The next day, near the Frankfurt train station, two tourists on a bus smiled and waved at me and another practitioner. Since we were wearing our Divine Land Marching Band shirts, the tourists must have been among the tens of thousands of spectators who had seen us the day before.
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