Cultivation and Artistic Creation

By a Falun Dafa practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net) Taking into consideration various the traditional Chinese art forms of dance, painting, poetry, music, etc., that Teacher uses to rectify the Fa, it is clear that art is really valued in the Fa rectification period and considered an important truth clarification tool.

As we cultivate and reach higher levels we understand that much of the art in today's world is degenerate. Some would say that this is due to the degenerate teaching in art schools, the degenerate minds of the artists themselves, or due to the degenerate path that modern art has been following the last hundred or so years.

Among practitioners there are those who have studied art and have artistic talent. As we cultivate we go through different stages and different understandings. I have heard some practitioners say, "I used to paint" or "I used to write, but after I started practicing I gave up everything." Why? Some have said, "Because I realized that painting or playing music is an attachment," or "Because I know now that I am not pure enough and what I will create won't be pure enough, either. I want to purify myself first and give up my attachments and then I will start painting, writing, etc., again." Is this understanding correct?

We all understand that we have attachments and that in the process of cultivation we eliminate more and more of these attachments and become more pure. As a result, what we create will be more pure as well. However, when we reach a given level in our cultivation, which is much higher than our previous level, we will realize that our current level is lower than the next level higher. So, if I stop creating art and say to myself that I will create art again when I am pure enough, wouldn't that mean that I will never create art because I will never be pure enough compared to the next higher level of pureness? I believe this could happen. And if I stopped creating art, wouldn't this mean that I have stopped cultivating my talents? According to my understanding, our talents have been given to us by Dafa to make use of during the Fa rectification period.

Let's imagine that all painters who created the paintings for the Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition had said to themselves, "Let's not paint for the exhibition now. In five years we will be even more pure and what we paint then will have an even greater effect." If they all had thought like that, the exhibitions that have saved thousands of lives around the world would have never taken place. Of course we have to be responsible to the Fa and be in a position to judge for ourselves whether what we create is good and pure enough to have a positive effect.

In our lives prior to becoming practitioners, different forms of art, including poetry, painting, music, etc., enriched our understandings and helped us reach a level whereby we can better understand Teacher's Fa. Even though many of these art forms were not created by practitioners, they still played an important role in our lives.

The message I want to convey in this article, according to my current level of understanding, is the following: To cultivate a talent or an artistic skill that we possess is very important and is connected to the cultivation of our inner selves. If we don't cultivate that particular skill, it could die out. Even if the pieces of art we create are not created with the purest heart we can reach through our cultivation, they can still be helpful for today's or the future's people. The clarification of the truth through art must also be in accordance with a person's level of understanding. Otherwise, it might not touch a person's heart or play the role it needs to play.

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