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Playing "Falun Dafa Is Good" and Walking Towards the Wonderful Divine Land
(Clearwisdom.net) When I was in China, I read on the Internet about the grand Divine Land
Marching Band in New York. However, I had never dreamed I would become a tenor
horn player in the Divine Land Marching Band, as I am almost seventy years old,
and had never learned any instruments before. Dafa practitioners in China are deprived of their rights to cultivate Dafa.
They could be illegally arrested and sentenced to prison for
clarifying the truth or distributing truth-clarification materials.
How can it be possible for them to play "Falun Dafa is Good" in
public? When I was in China, I admired Dafa practitioners abroad for having such
good opportunities. After I came to Canada, I found the practice site, attended the group Fa
study at the University of Toronto, and participated in Fa-rectification events.
One day after Fa study, a fellow practitioner enthusiastically invited me to
join the Divine Land Marching Band. He led me to take a look at the brass
instruments. A western practitioner happened to be holding a tenor horn. I
weighed it in my hand and felt okay carrying it. So I said, "I don't know
how to play it. But if you need me, I will learn it." Later I noticed a
French horn that was more delicate. I thought, "I don't have a car. It
would be easier for me to carry this one if I have to take a bus." So I
said, "I better learn French horn." A practitioner told me that they
were not short of French horn players. Another player nearby said, "French
horn is harder to play." It alerted me. "What's the matter with me? I
am a practitioner. I haven't started yet, however, I was calculating for myself.
Isn't it my attachment of selfishness?" I immediately said, "I will
play whatever is needed." A few days later, the band coordinator called me and invited me to the
rehearsal place at Toronto University in Scarborough. He asked if I needed any
help. I said, "About the transportation ..." Immediately he gave me a
phone number to contact for a ride. This stirred up my attachment. I thought,
"It's so far away from Mississauga to Scarborough. It would be wonderful if
I could always get a ride." However, when I called the phone number he gave
me, the practitioner who answered the phone was moving and could not give me a
ride. I again realized my attachment of selfishness. I decided to go to the
rehearsal place nevertheless, and planned to take a bus by myself. At the group
exercises on Sunday, I asked how to get to the rehearsal place by bus. A western
practitioner was also in the band, and he gladly offered to give me a ride. When we arrived at the rehearsal place, many people were earnestly practicing
their instruments. I hadn't gotten my tenor horn yet, so I observed with all
sorts of thoughts in my mind. There were many kinds of instruments - a
complete set of them. Many couples came to rehearse with their children. Several
of the players were project coordinators. I felt fortunate to be part of the
Divine Land Marching Band, however suddenly I thought, "Weekends are the
time for family reunion. I will not be able to stay with my family on
Sundays..." Watching the practitioners earnestly practicing the
instruments, I again realized my selfishness. I am a veteran practitioner. I thought that I had already eliminated many
attachments after years of cultivation. However, after I left the environment in
China where Dafa is being persecuted, and arrived in a more relaxed environment
in Canada, I felt relaxed, and also slacked off in my cultivation. My attachment
of selfishness was exposed in many trivial incidences. Teacher [Li Hongzhi] has
instructed us in Zhuan Falun that, "...the whole process
of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human
attachments." What shall I do? I must get rid of all the attachments. I
must cultivate myself in the Divine Land Marching Band. It occurred to me that
it was more than an honor to join the Divine Land Marching Band. It was another
reunion, a reunion on the path to the divine, an even greater reunion. In
addition, the reason why I took part in the Divine Land Marching Band was to
save the sentient beings, so as to reunite with more of my relatives in the
wonderful heaven of the future. A practitioner in the band brought me a tenor horn. The practitioner who used
to play it was too busy to come to every rehearsal, and had to resign
reluctantly. I tried to play the horn after getting home. At first, I made
nothing but noise even though I blew the horn with all my strength. There was no
rehearsal the next Sunday as we attended a Chinatown parade in east Toronto. So
I practiced "do re mi" for two weeks at home. I thought I would be
able to play in the band after practicing for a few more months. However, when I
came to the rehearsal field on the third Sunday, a practitioner asked me how
many music pieces I had learned. I said I could only play "do re mi."
Then the band coordinator told me that I must learn the several mandatory pieces
in a month. He said the band had been established for only one month before it
went out to perform in public. My goodness! I thought, "That's too much to
ask! I haven't been trained yet, and I have learned nothing." Later, I
thought to myself, "The young practitioners who go to work, especially
those project coordinators, may not be able to find much time to practice other
than the few hours on Sunday. I don't have to work, and I don't have a lot of
projects. I can practice every day. I am also a practitioner. If other
practitioners can do it, I can do it also by practicing hard." I later heard that Teacher personally selected the musical instruments for
the Divine Land Marching Band. Another practitioner shared with me that when we
played, the energy we emitted was the energy of Dafa. This helped me to
eliminate my worry of not playing well. I thought, "It is a very precious
opportunity for me to join the Divine Land Marching Band. The instrument I play
is a Fa implement granted by Teacher. So I must learn to play it and play it
well. I surely can play it well." I calmed down and integrated studying the
Fa, practicing the exercises, and learning to use my Fa implement - playing
the tenor horn. Magically, in one week, I was able to play the music pieces that
the band often performed. I played the horn, and listened to the demos at the
Celestial Melody website. I listened to the melody of "Falun Dafa Is
Good" again and again, and played it with more and more confidence. My wife
no longer complained that I made noises. I was finally able to play the complete
pieces including "Falun Dafa is Good." The weekly group rehearsal was a test of my practice. In the group rehearsal,
I noticed my improvement after one week of practice, and I also found my
shortcomings for improvement. Of course, I have also encountered some small
tribulations during the course. I wore artificial teeth and my gums were rubbed
broken after practicing the horn. It hurt when I ate or drank. I didn't know it
was due to the horn practice. I didn't pay much attention to it and continued to
practice the horn. After three group rehearsals, I was able to catch up with the
band. I have attended the band performances in parades since November 18, 2006.
Before I knew it, my broken gums have also healed well. On the first day of the parade performance, I carried the tenor horn with my
left hand and went to three parades in one day. Shortly after the first parade,
my left wrist became sore and ached. A practitioner told me that it was a trial
that every player in the band had to pass, and each one of them had experienced
this at first. So I no longer cared about the aches, and focused my attention on
the conductor and listened to the surrounding music. I was completely dissolved
in the solemn and harmonious music of Dafa, and without knowing it, we had
arrived at the end of the parade. I thus took part in every parade performance
from the beginning to the end. After each performance, we received very positive
feedback from the audience. In one parade a student told me, "You are all
such great players." In another parade, the team that followed us specially
came to tell us, "We have been following your band all the way. Your
performance was wonderful!" A practitioner once noticed a Chinese
audience-member who couldn't help shedding tears when he heard us playing "Falun
Dafa Is Good." Only with fellow practitioners' help was I able to attend the performance of
the Divine Land Marching Band. I don't have a car myself, however practitioners
gave me a ride so that I arrived the performance site or the rehearsal place on
time, far or near. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere
gratitude to them. From now on, I will continue to earnestly cultivate in the
Divine Land Marching Band. I will play my tenor horn, the Fa implement granted
by Teacher, and play "Falun Dafa is Good" - the most beautiful music
piece in the universe - better and louder. Let's follow Teacher to save
sentient beings, and to walk towards the divine land.
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