(Clearwisdom.net) On June 6, 2009, Falun Gong practitioners staged a grand parade, "Call for Conscience, Stop the Persecution," in Manhattan, New York. Over six thousand practitioners participated in the monumental parade that stretched to the horizon. The final section of the parade arrived one hour after the parade began.
In the crowd, this reporter met Buddhist nun Fa Yun. When he discovered that Fa Yun started Falun Gong practice as a result of watching the Shen Yun Performing Arts, he asked to interviewed her.
Simple music shook heaven and earth
Seeing the grand New York Falun Gong parade unfold on such a scale, Fa Yun was moved by its might. The music "Falun Dafa Is Good" that accompanied the parade was simple in form but shook the heavens and the earth.
When asked why she came to participate in the parade, Fa Yun stated, "I believe everyone should take advantage of this opportunity, they should come. This is an outstanding day. Do you know why so many people all over the globe come here? How much time and money have they spent? They want to spread the good news of Dafa. New York is an important financial district worldwide. The fact that Falun Gong is able to parade in this area is the share of happiness allotted by destiny for the beings here. I cherish this impressive grand sight very much. Only a mighty Master is able to do this, able to convey such compassion and to unfold Dafa in the world, in Western society. In religion, nobody has been able to bring their teachings to the public and magnificently unfold them in front of the world's people. It is not easy, that is why Falun Gong is great. Falun Gong is bound to be a beacon in the world. That is why I have to come. The meaning is significant--it would have been a loss if I did not come."
I watched Shen Yun Performing Arts thirteen times in a month
Fa Yun stated that it was Shen Yun Performing Arts that guided her to Falun Dafa.
She remembered, "I watched Shen Yun Performing Arts perform thirteen times in one month in 2008. It led to my transformation, a new beginning for my life. Shen Yun is a great creation. You will never find an artistic creation of this type in this world again. Shen Yun Performing Arts has such deep connotations, the meaning is profound and it reaches the acme of perfection. It belongs to the Buddhist heaven, not the human world. The choreography, the performers, their beauty and softness and purity--they have reached a state of tranquility. This is an achievement that is described in Zhuan Falun, a clear and clean mind and a state free of intention. You not only can see it in the performers, but also feel it.
"Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra is truly a miracle. I used to attend concerts with the Taiwan Guoyue Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. When I was in Berlin in 1994, I enjoyed the Berlin Symphony Orchestra very much. I held season tickets and went every September. I enjoy Chinese music and also Western music with its drama and spirit, but in over twenty years, I had never seen anyone combine the two types of music. Now a performing arts group is able to integrate Chinese and Western music. I was taken completely by surprise.
"I believe it is not just me, musicians all over the world, no matter how highly skilled, nobody ever imagined or combined these two types of music before. It is very difficult to do with these two types of totally different musical instruments, notations, and forms of composition. What surprised me is that not only is the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra able to combine them, but it can blend them to such perfection. I could not see the instruments, but I could distinguish the music notes. I thought it must be coming from the heavens or the Buddhist world. It is very hard to achieve this combination in the human world."
My heart and soul reached the highest realm when I watched the Shen Yun Performing Arts the very first time
When we talked about Shen Yun Performing Arts, Fa Yun was deeply moved, "I followed Shen Yun Performing Arts, one show after the other, because I wanted to find its origin. From the very first show I saw, I knew it was not created in the human world.
"It was unbelievable! I was so surprised I almost stopped breathing. I was completely absorbed in the show. I melted into the harmony between the stage and audience. I could not imagine that my heart and soul would reach the highest realm when I watched the show the very first time.
"I have been a nun for 23 years and put a lot of effort into following Buddhist rules. It took me by surprise when I saw Shen Yun Performing Arts. Within three short hours, I was able to reach the highest realm. I had been cultivating all my life and had not been able to do that. I felt my body and mind were gone, Shen Yun dissolved my body and mind. My tears never stopped throughout the entire show. How did I find this show, such a wonderful creation? It was beyond my imagination.
"I noticed the performers have reached very lofty realms themselves. Without cultivation, they would not be able to reach such realms. Their suppleness and softness, their state free of intention. I did not see human beings dancing--it seemed like fashen dancing. Who is behind them? In order to inquire thoroughly, I gave up everything and anything, followed Shen Yun Performing Arts one show after another. I purchased the best seats--I wanted to feel the best scenery."
Shen Yun let me find a Master
After being a nun for twenty three years, after being deeply touched by Shen Yun Performing Arts, Fa Yun began reevaluating her cultivation. "I discovered Shen Yun is a living Bodhisattva in performing, Shen Yun is Buddha providing salvation to the worldly beings. This is hard to describe as it is beyond words. Because of this, I wanted to quit my cultivation of 23 years and start from scratch. There were too many religious dogmas and thought karmas in my previous practice. I was struggling, my mind and body struggled day and night, I was in the conflict of life and death. I believe you have to have a very serious and solemn mentality when you practice Dafa, a completely different mentality compared to the past."
Fa Yun described her first experience of Falun Dafa, "I first experienced Dafa through its five exercises. At the time, I was watching the teaching tape, and my movements were not quite up to the standard. But after I finished the exercises, my entire body felt comfortable and relaxed. It is hard to describe in words. Oh, I realized, there was a mysterious mechanism in the gong.
"I began to practice Falun Gong. After several exercise sessions I felt great. There are enormous mysterious mechanisms within the gong that helped me get rid of many of my attachments. I am very grateful to Shen Yun Performing Arts, which brought me a complete new hope by leading me to find a Master. I have been in search of an advanced Master all over the world, from the Himalayas to Wutai Mountain and Emei Mountain. I never knew that there was a Master not in a monastery. For Buddhism, this is special."
I learned a great deal at the Fa conference
Coincidently, the reporter met Fa Yun again the next day during the Fa conference. Fa Yun talked about what she had learned during the Fa conference:
"This Fa conference is the height of my cultivation for a year. This is an international Fa conference. Dafa practitioners all over the world are participating in Fa rectification. All the xinxing tests they described, we have also encountered. Some tests we passed well, some we did not pass well. The latter we have to do over, or our cultivation will be stuck in a swamp. From the experience sharing, I found out that their problems are similar to my problems. I also learned what I should do to be more diligent.
"For example, in the Washington, D.C., practitioner's experience sharing, he mentioned how he promoted tickets for Shen Yun shows. For me, that is a big test. I have to face individuals from the religious community. They do not understand why I changed to practicing Falun Gong. They remind me, "Do not forget you wear a kasaya, Falun Gong are not professional cultivators." Facing these types of pointed questions I felt powerless and didn't know how to handle them. I did not know who I should discuss this with. Nobody has encountered this type of situation. From the fellow practitioner's experience sharing, I was able to see what his mind set was, and how he broke through, and I suddenly understood.
"Maybe I have a strong attachment, and I wanted to save those individuals in the religious community, but my way was too rigid, I had a blockage, and the questions they asked reflected my own thoughts--I was struck by my own thoughts. Whenever I talked with followers of Buddha and other religions, I had doubts, and it became a blockage, it became a loophole. Now I realize I have been limited by my loophole."
A problem has not been dissolved for a long time, but Master is able to solve it in two or three sentences
Fa Yun stated, "Because my belief has not been firm towards Master's mighty virtue and the Buddha Fa's boundless power, I was taken advantaged of by my loophole. I found my shortcoming at the Fa conference."
Fa Yun was fortunate to see and hear Master teaching during the Fa conference. She shared her feeling, "I was able to see Master and feel Master's mighty compassion. I am thinking how can I learn Master's compassion and be forgiving. Just like what Master said, we have been taken advantage of by the evil forces--our energy has been scattered. People have felt dizzy, had headaches, and not known what to do. I feel that we did not study the Fa well enough, still have disagreements among ourselves, and did not do well. The problems have not been solved for years, but Master is able to solve them in two or three sentences."
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