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Experiences from Holding a "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" Art Exhibition in St. Petersburg
By a Dafa practitioner from Russia
(Clearwisdom.net) In November 2004, I visited the international art
exhibition called, "Truthfulness- Compassion-Tolerance." At that time
I thought that it would be good to hold such an exhibition in Russia. I was fortunate to see our Teacher in person afterward and deeply realized
how little I had done to save sentient beings. I also realized the great
responsibility that we carry in everything we do. In the gallery, as I passed by paintings composed by non-practitioners, they
did not attract my attention. It was just as Teacher described in His lecture,
"Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Creating Fine Art," "So the resulting so-called arts aren't human culture anymore, because
they're not produced with rationality or a clear mind, and they're not true,
beautiful things of mankind created with people's upright thoughts, good
thoughts, or a correct understanding of artistic beauty." When I crossed the threshold of the room where the paintings of Dafa
practitioners were displayed, I felt a strong energy field and understood that
this exhibition was not ordinary. It exerts a strong emotional and spiritual
influence and purifies the mind. With its mighty power, such an exhibition is a
good instrument for truth-clarification. During the European Fa Conference in Stockholm in 2005, I was told that we
would have access to copies of these paintings. So the moment of opportunity
arrived. We could clarify the truth with art and enlighten to much
in the process. During preparations for the exhibition when we ordered frames for the
paintings and looked for a hall, the process of truth-clarification started. At
that moment a very serious question emerged. Some practitioners had doubts as to
whether it was necessary to show all of the paintings about the persecution,
because some of them shocked people. A great help for us was an Internet chat
with Latvian practitioners who had already held this exhibition. They shared
their experiences and understandings on this issue with us. We appreciate their
help very much. Before sharing in this chat, I saw in others what I had to find in myself. I
constantly looked inward and found many communist and leftist elements, such as
the competitive mentality, desire to control the situation, mentality of showing
off, the pursuit for fame and profit, and jealousy. When conflicts arise it is a
good opportunity to find attachments. To be frank, it was not so easy, and wrong
thoughts did emerge. At one point I left everything. At that moment I asked
myself: Am I validating the Fa or myself? Every day, in addition to studying the Fa and reading materials about the
exhibition, I studied in-depth Teacher's lecture on fine arts. This is what gave
me strength and firm belief. Unfortunately, there were many omissions. I lacked
compassion and tolerance at the moments when fellow practitioners helped me to
upgrade my xinxing. We clarified the truth in exhibition halls, art galleries, cultural centers,
educational institutions and the St. Petersburg Union of Artists. We met with many interesting people, including artists and sculptors in their
studios. The "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance" art exhibition provided a
unique theme for discussion. We clarified the truth to everyone -- from caretakers to the director of the
Hall of Artists of Russia -- where, for the first time in our country, the
opening of the Falun Dafa art exhibit was held. It seemed to me that there were
no obstacles, but when we were done hanging the paintings, we heard,
"What's that? Oh, horrors!" There was irritation in their voices, so
we had to clarify the truth once again with tolerance. At that moment I was
scared. I had doubts about whether the people who would come to the exhibition
would understand us and understand why we were doing all this. Such an incorrect
state appeared right before the opening of the exhibition. The next day, when I
wasn't yet free of such thoughts, I sat down before the paintings and suddenly
they came alive. The cultivated infants frisked in the gong column and a
powerful energy emanated from the paintings. I was ashamed for my state. How
could I doubt such righteous work? Wasn't it a test of my belief in the Fa and
Teacher? The old forces had used my weakness. After the grand opening of the exhibition, the curator, a respected person,
told me that the day before he had felt my anxiety. I apologized to him. I
understood at that moment how important it is to control our thoughts and
actions. Ordinary people are watching us. They can form wrong impressions about
Dafa if we are not careful. I also want to tell you about an exhibition that was canceled. It was in the
former art school named after Mukhina; now it is an artistic-industrial academy.
During our first meeting, we didn't show photos, and didn't introduce our
exhibition as we did in other places. We just wrote down a request with concrete
dates. During our next meetings, we also didn't tell the official what the
exhibition was about. The person who was in charge of the hall was always in a
hurry. We thought that we could clarify the truth to him later. Only half a year
later, a week before the opening, did we begin to clarify the truth to him. He asked us why we hadn't told him more about the show at the very beginning?
He said that the head of the academy had recently returned from China and told
him that it was wonderful there, that there were no persecutions, and that he
had signed many agreements of mutually beneficial cooperation. They didn't want
to spoil their relations with the Chinese Consulate. To be frank, it was hard to
handle such a situation. We decided to meet with the head of the academy, but he
was absent at the moment. The person who was in charge of the hall learned about
our decision to speak with his chief. He took offense to it and refused to meet
with us. I realized that because of our always striving for results, we might
have very well done harm to a person. I called this person once again and asked
him for a meeting. During our last meeting he apologized for the cancellation of
our exhibition. He said that he would read our materials and expressed a hope to
hold our exhibition in the future. When I left him, there was a very tight
feeling in my heart. I wasn't satisfied. Human thoughts about the lost money
that was spent on the fliers, and about my loss of face intensified my bad
state. I saw my desire to triumph over this man at any cost. My compassion was
too little. Everything connected with this exhibition played an invaluable role in my
upgrading xinxing and gaining deeper understandings of the Fa principles,
and, most of all, in being strict with myself first, thus making me more
responsible for the mission of a Dafa disciple. Thank you.
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