(Minghui.org) I joined the Tian Guo Marching Band in the early days of its establishment in 2005. Twenty years have gone past since then, but memories of those early days still remain fresh in my mind and will forever remain so.
When I heard that Master wanted to establish a band, I felt really happy, but since I wasn’t good with musical instruments, I declined the suggestion from a couple of fellow practitioners to have a go at a band practice. However, they still tried to persuade me to go, so in the end I agreed—just to go and take a look.
We drove to the practice site and saw a few practitioners there. Feeling uneasy, I went to a quiet corner, hoping that no one would pay any attention to me.
Just then, Master waved me over, and asked me what musical instruments I could play.
I was very nervous, and couldn’t tell Master that I was there only because I was pushed by others, so I told Master, “When I was a kid, I used to play the bamboo flute, erhu, and violin, but I’ve forgotten how to play them now.”
“Just stay here, I’ll ask Song to teach you how to play the trumpet,” Master said to me, and left.
I had no choice but to stay. Just then, the band leader came over and asked me the same question—if I could play any instruments.
“I’m waiting for Master to get Song here,” I told him.
“You can play the flute then,” the leader said to me and gave me a flute. With no choice, I took the flute reluctantly, with no idea how to play it. I really wanted to leave, thinking it would be too difficult to learn to play it. But I had to stay, as Master had told me to wait. I was really struggling inside myself.
Just then, Master came back, and seeing that I had a flute in my hands, Master said, “Flute is fine too,” and guided me to the flute and piccolo section leader and said, “You can teach him.”
Suddenly, my mind went completely blank, and all my earlier anxiety and worries just vanished. I understood that Master had personally asked me to learn this instrument and to be part of the project. I let go of all my worries and began to learn how to play the flute from the section leader.
I managed to get the fingering right, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t produce a full sound. What should I do? I sat on the ground, feeling rather unsettled.
Just then, Master came over to me and bent down to listen to me playing. I became even more worried, thinking: How can Master bend down to listen to me playing. Please don’t listen to me playing, I cannot do it properly.
But Master continued bending down, and listened to me playing for a long time. I felt really ashamed and said to Master, “Master, the more you listen, the more nervous I become, and I can’t even produce a sound.”
“Just keep going!” Master encouraged me.
Upon hearing these three words, it felt like a lightbulb was turned on, and I was no longer nervous. From that moment on, I made up my mind to practice hard, with no fear or worries, and I would live up to Master’s expectations.
When I got back home, I started practicing the first song: “Falun Dafa Is Good.” I practiced repeatedly, and each time I made a mistake, I would play again from the very beginning. After a whole day of practice, I could finally play the piece completely and fluently, with no mistakes.
In order to improve faster, I consulted a fellow practitioner who used to teach us how to play musical instruments.
“You may lay out 30 toothpicks or matchsticks when you practice. Move a stick over each time you finish playing the piece, but it doesn’t count if you make any mistakes. Keep practicing till you’ve moved over all 30 sticks,” he said to me.
I followed his advice when practicing the piece, “Sacred Song,” and true enough, it sounded so much better after I had practiced the piece thirty times.
In those days, we went to practice every Saturday from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Master often guided and offered us advice in person, showed us how to keep up in a parade, how to keep in line when marching or turning, and how to lift and place our feet while marching, and so on.
I followed Master’s demonstrations, and I felt really relaxed, with a wonderful feeling.
Once, as I was walking out at meal time, I heard Master say, “Fingering, walking, staves, and the musical piece. Practice them together.”
I followed Master’s instructions every time I practiced. Each time I practiced a piece, I would walk or march in place, follow the staves, and learn when to lift or place my feet and how to do it properly. Later, I never made any mistakes in playing the pieces and everything was in perfect synchronization.
Not long after, Master said to us one day, “You can participate in parades in two months time.” I had total faith in what Master told us, and practiced even more diligently. Sometimes, I practiced with fellow practitioners from other sections in the park, sometimes we practiced in the snow. Even though it was very cold, we kept going.
I wasn’t very good with sheet music, and often, I had to learn the piece first before I could memorize the staves. So I used small chunks of time to learn the musical pieces, such as when taking the subway.
Two months later, we were invited to participate in a parade in San Francisco. It was the first time our Tian Guo Marching Band participated in a parade. It was truly a wonderful experience. I couldn’t hold back my tears even before the parade started. I felt emotional, grateful, and sacred. It was amazing that someone like me, who had never learned how to play the flute, could play in a marching band in a grand parade in just two months! All this was kindly granted to us by Master.
Since then, each time a parade started, tears of gratitude would well up in my eyes, and my heart was filled with immense gratitude to Master and a strong sense of mission. I kept telling myself to try even harder to fulfill our mission.
I remember a 9-hour bus journey to a parade location in the early days. The parade route was a long one and took us over two hours to get to the finish. During the parade, Master took photos of us, and at the end of the parade, Master walked over, sat down with us and had a photo taken with the band members.
That was the second time I had a photo taken with Master. The first time was at the end of a Fahui held in Los Angeles in 1999, when Master suggested taking a photo with volunteer staff for the Fahui.
Playing in the band is also a process for our xinxing improvement. After we participated in a few parades, the section leader said that we needed six people to play piccolos, and asked the few of us who were more experienced to change to play piccolos.
I didn’t want to change at the time, thinking it was hard enough to do what I was doing, and I didn’t want to start all over again with a new instrument. However, as Dafa practitioners, we need to cooperate with the whole body. Other practitioners also encouraged me, so I decided to give it a go.
I’m not a person with great patience, and sometimes when I could not even bear the sound I played, I wanted to give up, but the sense of our mission kept me going, and I practiced again and again.
Due to a change of circumstances, I didn’t attend band practice for some time, and gradually I thought I might just as well quit the band. With such selfish notions, I kept making excuses not to join band practice, forgetting that it was an opportunity Master had arranged for me to validate the Fa and save sentient beings. Still, deep in my heart, I knew I shouldn’t give up, but rather, I should be grateful and cherish the opportunity.
One day, I happened to meet a fellow band member, who offered to practice with me. I regretted my earlier selfish thoughts and felt very grateful for the kindness of this practitioner. I thanked Master in my heart for giving me another chance.
Being part of the Tian Guo Marching Band has provided me with multiple opportunities to become more diligent in cultivation so that I can fulfill my vows and continue my mission to assist Master in saving sentient beings. Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners.
(Sharing article to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Tian Guo Marching Band)