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Validating the Fa With Music
By Anders Eriksson from Sweden
Shared at 2004 New York Falun Dafa Conference (Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners! My name is Anders and I come from Sweden. Being a Dafa disciple who began
practicing Falun Dafa almost 9 years ago, I went through the calm period of
self-cultivation and promoting Dafa before the persecution, and defending Dafa
by clarifying the truth to the people, media, and the government around the
world after the persecution. Now we practitioners are using all our different
skills in ordinary society, given to us by the Fa, to validate the Fa and to
stop the persecution. I would like to share some of my cultivation experience
about using music as one way to do Fa rectification. Music has always been an important part of my life. I have been writing songs
and playing and singing since I was young, but after I obtained Dafa it became
less important. I often wondered, however, why Master had given me these
creative skills. When the persecution started I used my computer skills and
writing skills in different ways. But during this time there was always a
question in the back of my mind: How could I use music in the Fa rectification?
When I understood the meaning and the significance to use music as one of the
ways to do Fa rectification, as well as to establish righteous music for future
people, I started to compose music about the persecution. I wanted to make it as
upright as possible so I had to cultivate my way of singing and my way of
writing and arranging music. I took one step at the time, and overcame many
challenges, that wouldn't have been possible without having the Fa to guide me. In the beginning of 2003, I formed a music group with some Swedish
practitioners who have some music skills. We called ourselves Yellow Express.
Our goal was to reach ordinary people and the music community with our music. We
recorded two songs on a CD and performed in many places. The response was quite
positive. We appeared in a local radio station, and a member of our group
appeared in a big radio station in South Africa, so in this way we reached many,
many people. This project gave us the chance to clarify the truth to people we
otherwise never would have met, and the message came via our music, which could
reach people in a different way. The message was quite clear: "Stop the
persecution of Falun Gong"! The music project was of course also cultivation for me. During Fa
rectification I usually avoided tasks where I had to stand in the front. I was
the kind of person who was content with working quietly, and I never liked to be
in the center of attention. Before cultivation it was very difficult for me to
sing for other people, and I never performed my own songs in public. During my
cultivation I gradually overcame many of the attachments that hindered me in
this regard, especially after I started this music project. In Yellow Express, I
was the singer and the songwriter and could not hide behind anyone else. It was
of course arranged to help me let go more, and there was no way for me to escape
from my attachments. Before every performance I went through a lot of
interference. Old concepts and bad thoughts wanted to stop me. Afterwards I
usually criticized myself and put myself down. It has been a process of letting
go of myself and my ego more and more, and I learned to think I did this for
others. Sometimes it was hard, but after all I knew the reason why I did this
-- it was to save people. So I had to "Walk on!" Now we can see how many organizations are working together with us to sue
Jiang. In this way we can have more people indirectly support Dafa. It's the
same with music by practitioners. If a person hears and likes music performed by
Dafa disciples, he will have a chance to obtain Fa in the future. This is all
thanks to Masters great compassion. With this in mind the European Choir was
formed at the Fa conference in Berlin in November 2003. We would sing the song
"Coming For You", which is not only a great song, but also has a
positive message to the Chinese people. I thought this was a very good idea and
the arrangement of the song was marvelous, but I had some human notions that it
would be difficult to sing with so many inexperienced singers. On the other hand
I knew that for Dafa disciples nothing is impossible. I felt that we would be
able touch people's hearts with our choir. We met first time for rehearsal in a small town called Rüdesheim in southern
Germany right after New Year 2004. We, about a hundred practitioners from all
over Europe, stayed in a youth hostel up on a mountain with a wonderful view
over the valley. We did the exercises, studied Fa together, sent righteous
thoughts -- and we sang. During these days of practice the choir gradually
matured. We all had to let go of ourselves, and to cooperate well to sound good
and harmonize together. Some practitioners used their professional skills in
helping us improve our voices in different ways, and the choir was led by a
practitioner who is a professional choir leader. I personally found it very
developing from a musical perspective, and also from a cultivator's point of
view. Sometimes when we sang I was overwhelmed and even moved to tears by the
beauty of the music and the meaning of the lyrics. I really felt the power of
Dafa, so at some moments in the middle of the song I was so moved that I could
not even sing. I liked this idea with the choir also of another reason. To sing in the choir
would mean that I comfortably could be one in the crowd, and feel pretty safe on
stage. I had heard that there would be a couple of solo singers, who would sing
in German, French and maybe Italian. One evening in Rüdesheim all those who
were "candidates" for the solo parts would sing for the choir
coordinators. I was of course on my way out of the hall to do something else,
since I could not sing in any of those proposed languages. But one of the
coordinators, surprisingly to me, asked me to stay. I thought to myself,
"OK, it's time again to face another challenge." I was aware that our first performance would probably be in the Chinese New
Year Gala in New York in front of 2500 people, and that the gala would be
broadcast to Chinese people all over the world. It was decided that I would sing
one of the solos -- in Swedish! Many thoughts came up; some fear, some
hesitation, and bad notions, but they were not strong enough. I knew that this
was a great honor and this was doing something for others, and I knew that I had
Teacher with me. During these days of rehearsal my voice changed. Many
practitioners told me that they had never heard my voice like that. They felt it
had opened up and was much purer and stronger than before. The choir traveled to New York in the middle of January to perform in the
Chinese New Year Gala. The time for rehearsal and preparation was limited so we
had a tight schedule during our stay. I found it important to always be upright,
to mind every detail, always be in time, and to be effective and concentrated
every moment. To succeed in all these matters, and keep this Xinxing [moral
character, mind nature] standard with such a big group of people, we needed
to send righteous thoughts and study the Fa a lot, and so we did. Before our performance we sent forth righteous thoughts behind the stage. I
was focused and a little bit tense. We had 84 practitioners in the choir. We had
traveled from thirteen different European countries all the way to New York. We
were supposed to go quickly to our positions on the stage without making any
noise, while the curtain still was down. We could hear how the gala hosts were
introducing us and the curtain went up slowly. This was the moment we had been
preparing for the last weeks, days and hours -- our first performance with the
European Choir Coming For You. We saw that the whole concert hall was full of
people, full of sentient beings waiting to hear our song. We looked at our
conductor. He was smiling. At a given command we started to sing. Normally when being on stage I am most often lost in thoughts, and I can't
enter into the music as much as I want. But this time was not like anything else
I have ever experienced on stage. With so many righteous voices singing with a
Dafa disciple's pure heart and compassion, the energy was so powerful. When we
sang the line "Falun Dafa Hao", the audience clapped their hands. I
felt that moment we were singing for the whole universe! I became a little bit
too emotional so my voice was trembling. Time for my solo. The audience would not understand the lyrics in Swedish,
but I wanted to give them my compassion. I tried my best to let go of myself. I
felt pretty calm, but after my solo, I must say, I felt a kind of relief. After
the solos in Swedish, German and Italian we sang the last two verses in Chinese.
When the audience realized that, they gave us a spontaneous applause. I felt
warm inside. It must have been remarkable for a Chinese audience to hear a
western choir singing in Chinese, and the content of the song obviously moved
their hearts. Music has the effect of reaching the inner parts of a being. Music, if
performed well, can give the listener a moment of peacefulness, harmony and
beauty. I will continue to use music to validate the Fa. I will continue to
write songs, and sing them for those who want to listen. I will continue to sing
in the Choir. Our heartfelt voices will reach all the way to China and the
precious Chinese people. When we are in the Fa, Dafa's voice will come out, and
if we can let go of ourselves and melt into Dafa, Dafa's power and message will
come through and effect people in the art, music and culture, because Dafa
encompasses everything. Thank You Master. Thank you all for listening.
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