Ten Months in the Divine Performing Arts Orchestra
By a practitioner in Korea
(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, Master! Greetings, Fellow Practitioners! I'm a practitioner from Korea. I am currently a violinist in the Divine
Performing Arts Orchestra. When I first began practicing Dafa with my father, I didn't know what
cultivation or Falun Gong was. In 1999, when the persecution of Falun Gong was
covered in the Korean newspapers, many Koreans thought that since Falun Gong was
persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), there must be something special
about it. As a result, many people were asking about it and were interested in
learning the practice. Therefore, we started an outdoor practice site, and I
began introducing Dafa to people and teaching them the exercises. In this way, I
started to practice. I didn't like being in the public eye, but since no one else was able to
demonstrate the exercises, I had no choice. With more and more people practicing
Dafa in Korea, we often went to experience sharing conferences in other parts of
Korea or overseas. We met many other practitioners, and I developed a deeper
understanding of Dafa and cultivation. I also felt that I was doing rather
poorly in cultivation. I was a college student, and I was busy with the school orchestra at that
time, so I spent little time and effort on cultivation. I was a practitioner on
the surface but actually didn't cultivate well. During the 2001 Fa conference in Washington, DC, I saw Master for the first
time in my life. I did not know why, but tears kept running down my face. After
the Fa conference, I decided to cultivate diligently. However, upon returning to
Korea, I start slacking off. Originally I planned to do better in cultivation
after graduation. By then, however, I had a lot of orchestral performances and
was teaching students, so I became even busier. At that time, I heard about the Divine Performing Arts Orchestra. I thought
that if I could play in the Divine Performing Arts Orchestra, how wonderful it
would be! Since I was a member of an orchestra, plus had teaching jobs, I
had a stable life, both socially and financially. It was not easy for me to let
go of this and go to the US. One big concern was the language barrier, and I was
also afraid because, although I wanted to join the Divine Performing Arts
Orchestra, I had never lived away from my parents before and I couldn't imagine
leaving my family and starting a new life. Several months later, less than one month before the Fa conference in
Washington DC, my father said that he had received a phone call from the US,
suggesting that I try staying with the Divine Performing Arts Orchestra for a
month after the Washington, DC, Fa conference. If things turned out well, I
could stay. I agreed without even thinking about it. But my father told me it
was part of cultivation, so I needed to take it seriously and make the decision
myself. When I heard the name "Divine Performing Arts Orchestra," I felt it
was the last chance Master was giving me. I felt that if I lost this
opportunity, I would regret it forever. Although I had not been diligent in the
past, Master nonetheless gave me this opportunity, and I was very grateful. So, I decided to go. I was thinking that even a single thought of not going
would be letting Master down. In fact, I did not have any other thoughts in my
mind except going. There were only ten days before the Washington, DC, Fa
conference, and it was not easy to settle everything at home prior to leaving. I
had originally planned to get married at the end of the year. I was going to be
away from the orchestra where I had been a member, as well as from the students
that I had taught for a long time. I hurried to get organized, and meanwhile I also examined myself. After
confirming with my father that I was indeed able to join the Divine Performing
Arts Orchestra, I submitted my resignation to the orchestra in Korea. I also
told my students about my plans and talked with my fiancé. Although several
months earlier it had seemed like a difficult prospect, now everything was ready
only two days after I received the notice from the US. When I thought about how
Teacher was helping me, my heart was deeply moved. In late July 2007, after attending the Washington Fa conference, I went to
New York with other Korean practitioners. In the evening, after other Korean
practitioners left, I went up to the mountain and got a ride to the Divine
Performing Arts Orchestra dorm and spent my first night there. On the following day, on the way to rehearsal after lunch, I was in tears
when I saw the pond. Practitioners were saying that you would feel as if you
were in heaven upon arriving at Dragon Springs Temple. But I wasn't sure how
things would turn out, and I couldn't understand what the others were talking
about. Could I make it, I wondered? My heart was heavy. Starting on the second day, my roommates helped me settle in just like older
sisters might, and I began to get familiar with life there. Every day we spent
half a day helping with things on the mountain and the other half practicing
music. In everyday society, a music professional does not need to do physical
work, but other orchestra members, including the female members, didn't seem
bothered by it. Seeing their happy faces, I was wondering when I could become as
good as they. On the weekends, we all got together to rehearse. The orchestra members were
from many different places with different backgrounds. Although most of them had
to travel five or ten hours for the rehearsal, they did not seem to be tired.
From morning to evening, we practiced one piece of music after another. During
the breaks, we did the exercises and then continued practicing. After lunch, we
had group Fa-study. We took turns reading in Chinese, English, and Korean. I was
the only one who read in Korean. I appreciated the consideration of the
conductor and other members of the orchestra. When playing the music, I realized that every piece of Dafa music was so
wonderful. At the beginning, I did not put much effort into practicing the
pieces, thinking that they were very simple. But seeing other orchestra members
working so hard practicing, I asked myself, "Why do they put so much effort
into these simple pieces of music?" When I really put my heart into them, I
felt it was indeed not so simple. Every note was a manifestation of Teacher's Fa.
After realizing this was the way we saved sentient beings, I felt guilty for my
previous ignorance and arrogance. In an everyday orchestra, practicing over and over again is boring. But our
music is different. Every time I practiced, the pieces seemed new and fresh.
Every time I thought that I needed to practice with righteous thoughts. Starting in September, we needed to start doing dress rehearsals, so every
day we had to spend half a day sewing costumes for the dancers. All the costumes
for the two dance companies, from the decorative elements to the actual clothes,
were handmade, so there was lots of work. At the beginning, we sewed small
decorative items. We had to sew them one by one, and our eyes easily got tired.
Plus we were not used to this kind of work, so it was difficult. Other
practitioners were chatting as they did these things, and they seemed very
happy. Because of the language barrier, I could only work. Sometimes I felt
lonely and a little depressed. When that happened, I would remind myself it was
a cultivation process. In this way, I readjusted my way of thinking. It was rather embarrassing when others misunderstood me and I was unable to
explain myself due to the language barrier. I could only find a place and cry.
After this happened several times, I started to look within. Every nation and
ethnic group has its traditions and customs. Insisting on doing things my way,
made it easy to cause misunderstandings. Therefore, I became more
self-disciplined and those problems disappeared. There were many areas that I could improve on. Very often I eliminated one
attachment, another one emerged. For example, I felt as if my life was very
tiring, but when I looked at the practitioners around me, they were working a
hundred or a thousand times harder than I, but they were always smiling,
especially the young dancers. Every day they practiced from early morning to the
late evening, which was very exhausting. In order to stretch their legs, they
had to bear lots of pain. They encouraged each other and practiced together.
Watching these young practitioners and examining myself, I felt very ashamed,
and I no longer felt tired. Finally it was September, and I played in the Divine Performing Arts show in
Toronto, Canada. During the rehearsal, while listening to the piano introduction
to the song Holy Law-Wheel King, or Chakravartin, an image of Teacher's
hard work came into my mind. I was very touched and was in tears. I could not
understand Chinese, but I was able to follow most of the lyrics in the song. I
deeply understood why I came to join the Divine Performing Arts Orchestra and
how I could save sentient beings. During the shows, in addition to individual practice every day, we also had
group Fa-study and exercises. When we needed to travel a long distance by bus,
we studied the Fa on the bus. During breaks, we got off the bus and
did a set of exercises. Little by little, I was able to understand some common Chinese words. Still I
could not understand in-depth discussions, and this upset me. But the orchestra
members explained these discussions to me using the Chinese words that I could
understand, or using English words that I could understand. I was no longer
lonely, since I was no longer "deaf." Every time before the show began, the orchestra members would get together to
send forth righteous thoughts and recite Hong Yin. We would
then start the performance. At the beginning, when orchestra members recited Hong Yin, I kept
silent. Later, I felt I needed to recite it with them in Chinese, so I asked
other orchestra members to teach me word by word. I am now able to recite
several poems of Hong Yin that we often recite together. When orchestra
members recited Lunyu, I felt it would be better to recite it
with them in Chinese. Although I am still not very fluent, I am now able to
recite Lunyu. When on tour with the performances in the US and Europe, the response from
the audiences was very strong. After the shows, the audience would stand up and
applaud for a long time. They seemed unwilling to let us leave. Looking at the
audience members, I really hoped they would be saved, and I was almost in tears.
It may have looked strange to others for orchestra members to be in tears, so I
held them back. After the show I heard that other orchestra members had similar
feelings. I felt we were one body. When we were performing in Belgium, I heard that the Divine Performing Arts
New York company had very successful shows in Seoul, Korea, but that the shows
in Pusan were canceled. I could not believe this and was very sad. What kind of loopholes could exist in Korea? Such an important Fa-rectification
opportunity was missed in Pusan, so what could we do now? There was indeed some
difficulty in holding shows in Pusan, but I believed that Korean practitioners
could come together as one to overcome them. After hearing news of the
cancellation, I could not calm down during the performance, but I believed
Master would arrange everything. While helping Teacher with Fa-rectification, I
realized I could not be too attached to this ethnic group, that is, Korean
people. When thinking this way, my heart gradually calmed down, and I was able
to focus on the performances themselves. I later heard that five shows were to be presented in my hometown of Daegu. I
could not believe it and was very grateful to Master. Through this, I came to
understand that everything is under the control of Master and we cannot judge
things on the surface, based on human notions. We need to eliminate our human
notions and remain undisturbed, no matter what. We need to have faith in Master
and walk our paths well. When performing at the last stop in Sweden, Master enabled me to enlighten to
new things. During those shows, I became a lead player and also had solos during
some sections. I had the burden of playing absolutely error-free performances.
After the first show, my roommates on the tour told me it seemed that I had been
somewhat nervous. I heard Master once ask the solo singers why they were nervous
when they are saving sentient beings? From then on, I often remember these words
when I play. My heart also gradually calmed down. When other orchestra members were lead players, I played my instrument
without pressure. While performing as a lead player, the sense of responsibility
and mission lifted me to a new level of righteous thoughts. Before that, I
thought I had been diligent with righteous thoughts, but I now realized that my
righteous thoughts had not been strong enough. The tour in the US and Europe is now over. Practitioners in various countries
overcame lots of difficulty to do the preparatory work so that Divine Performing
Arts could have a convenient and comfortable setting, and we are very grateful.
This makes me feel more that practitioners around the world are one body. Here I
want to express my gratitude again. Since we went on tour, I can now understand some Chinese. It is actually
easier for me to understand Chinese than English translations. In the past, due
to the language barrier, I tended to avoid talking with others. Now, I feel like
part of the family with other orchestra members and other people at the
mountain. Whenever I have time, I go to the pond to study the Fa or do the
exercises. The feeling I once had in my new environment of being lost is now
totally gone. Here I also want to thank the other orchestra members and practitioners at
the mountain who have given me so much help. I am thankful to Master for giving
me the opportunity to save sentient beings despite my many shortcomings. Master, I promise I will walk my path well until the end. Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners! Heshi!
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/5/28/179268.html
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