Significant Background [1]
The Divine Performing Arts (DPA) shows are performed at a significant time. It is a time when the evil force in the world, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is going to disintegrate without any doubt. The evil specter has haunted Europe and it is now bound to meet its death in China.
The second significant background is the decline in virtue and morality, not only in China but also for all humanity.
The third broad background is the persecution of Falun Gong cultivators in China.
It is within the context of these large backgrounds that one can understand the messages conveyed by the designer and performers of the Divine Performing Arts performance.
Boundless Power of Compassion
The first message is the boundless power of compassion. The CCP looks powerful, and with nuclear weapons, millions of armed forces and armed police, it has carried out extreme atrocities in suppressing the Chinese people. When it meets the powerful force of compassion, however, the CCP is extremely weak. The power of compassion is beyond our imagination.
The second message relates to the battle between good and evil, which has unfolded over thousands of years of recorded history. The climax of the battle has manifested in recent years in the CCP’s unprecedented evil.
Falun Gong cultivators have been working to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. The force of democratic movements, and the anti-suppression forces have not been strong enough to overcome the CCP. But now things are different, and the weak can surpass the strong, the little can win over the many, and compassion can suppress evil. Many, many things have come into focus. A hundred or a thousand years from now, when we look back, we will be touched by how good overcame evil.
Remember 1999, when the CCP head Jiang Zemin claimed he would eliminate Falun Gong in three months? The whole world thought that Falun Gong would be crushed under the attack. Today, people admire Falun Gong. In the battle between good and evil, the power balance has shifted; the time has come for good to completely defeat evil.
The DPA performance has a dance called “the power of awareness.” One scene in the dance moved me to uncontrollable tears – it was the moment when people united. Although the evil people had sticks and whips in hand and were very threatening, they became weak when faced with the power of compassion
The DPA performance sends a message, and you must understand that message in order to appreciate the performance. Today, watching the performance, I sense the strong message of compassion being continuously conveyed. Most people, I believe, can accept the notion of compassion. There are a small number of people who cannot accept it, especially in the beginning, as the CCP has heavily brainwashed them. Do not worry though, I used to be one of this small number.
The DPA shows made a deep impression on me. Last year, I watched a program in which a teenage girl in white danced in candlelight. She was a child, so fragile, but very calm and peaceful; there was no sign of violence. The CCP has nuclear bombs, tanks and they threaten you with their military power in parades. But can the CCP really subdue people?
The power of compassion is the strongest. Gods control human history. When there is compassion, it can grow and spread, and with it, the soft can overcome the hard, and good will conquer evil.
Two Magical Hours
When I watched the DPA’s Christmas performance, I took a friend with me. He is a professor from Beijing University, and had many misunderstandings about Falun Gong. But after he watched the program in which the bad guys were chased away in a park (in “The Power of Awareness”), he concluded, “Wow，it is time when Falun Gong comes back at the CCP.” Shocked by the power of the performance, he remarked that the CCP would soon meet its end.
He changed after watching the performance for just two hours. Before that he had many biases against Falun Gong, saying Falun Gong could not even stand one blow by the CCP. After the two hours, seeing Falun Gong’s righteous thoughts and firm determination, he realized that the CCP would fall. He said it out loud, “Wow, once Falun Gong starts to fight back, the CCP will be done for.”
Changing the Balance in the Battle between Good and Evil
Throughout human history, there have been battles between good and evil. As we look back in history, we see many battles where the few defeated the many. All are stories of victory of the righteous, not of tales or tricks or skills.
There is a Hollywood movie called First Blood, in which Sylvester Stallone played a man who was about to meet his end. He was desperate, but at the last moment, he started to fight back. He was on the righteous side and those people who were trying to catch him were in the wrong. Finally when he gathered his courage to fight back, he won with some extraordinary power. The essence of the story is its truth.
In history, when good fights against evil, it is always weak at the beginning. Why is it? Because it tells people not to fear evil. Although the power of good is weak, because of its righteousness, it will eventually win.
There is also another important detail here. It is like taking exams. School does not teach you everything in one day. You receive an elementary education first. After that, you pass the exams, and you continue on to a secondary education. Too much teaching and too fast learning is not good for you as you cannot bear the burden. If you have not accumulated enough virtue, you cannot bear the burden.
The same goes for righteousness: Righteous forces cannot manifest all at once. Without enough suffering, people cannot treasure righteousness, and cannot persevere; nor do they value conscience. They won’t have the strong determination of their faith. If one gets help from righteous people as soon as he gets into trouble, then he will not develop any appreciation. The same goes for wealth. If all of a sudden one is given a lot of money, nine out of ten of such people won’t enjoy a happy life, because wealth should be accumulated slowly through hard work and good intelligence. Then one can feel content. The Chinese people know the truth: a wealthy family cannot last for three generations.
The reality is, “easy come easy goes.” It is the same with justice. The more difficult it is to obtain justice, the more suffering one endures, the longer a society lasts after justice finally conquers evil.
Gods give hints to human beings again and again, and in front of gods we are tiny and very inferior. We know the growth of ten thousand things follow the natural law; this law is Gods’ intention. If it is not what gods want us to do, it is not in accordance with the law. If it is not in accordance with the law, or the Dao in Daoism, then it is not gods’ will and you will be punished.
I would like to use an example. It is about the relationship between an ant and a human, an easy example to follow. Suppose you are an art. You are a very big ant, one time or two times bigger than an ordinary ant. You are very proud of your size. You feel very proud, you show off and you think you are capable of doing everything. But if a human sees this ant crawling toward his cabinet, he can destroy it or millions or even billions of ants with a basin of water or a fire. That is to say the destruction of the ants depends on one human thought. But the ants have no idea of this destruction at all. That is to say, ants don’t believe there are human beings above them, though this analogy may not be accurate in a real sense.
The relationship between ants and humans is the same as that between humans and gods. If you realize this, you will not go extremes in doing things. The CCP does not realize this at all, so it will meet its miserable end. Those dictators from Eastern Europe to Indonesia and those military dictators in South America—all of them had a miserable end. This includes dictators from North Korea.
Artistic Expression of Lofty Realms
The third point I’d like to make is my high praise for the performers. These cultivators have melted their inner nature and cultivation into the performing art. It is beyond comparison – way above such programs as the “Spring Festival Evening Show” of Chinese Central TV from mainland China and shows from Hollywood.
The fourth point is the sense of beauty the 2-hour DPA performance demonstrates. The power of justice and compassion is the spirit upon which human society depends for its existence. This essence, Qi, or divinity has reached its high realms from different perspectives. Such realms cannot be reached easily, not with artistic talent or simply by learning to dance or sing. This is true with film art or music art. To reach high levels, you cannot simply rely on your artistic skills but on your cultivation.
I think it is appropriate to describe the DPA performance as having both divine spirit and form. This performance is not just entertainment. From entertainment and artistic perspectives the show combines spirit and form – this is how you would assess a Hollywood show or any performance.
When you watch the dancers from DPA, you can feel there is spirit coming from them; it is not of form, but of spirit. I watched every dancer carefully and could feel that kind of spirit. It is all about spirit. You can even feel that they have the same educational background and the same learning. That is the feeling you get, because they are in touch with the same message, that kind of spirit. They all possess that spirit. Those performers were not focusing on themselves or showing individuality on stage, but they were expressing this spirit. In other shows of this human society, however, no matter how excellent the performance may be, the performers, every one of them, all want to perform for themselves.
If performers only want to perform for the art’s sake, they may look in sync and their skills may seem excellent. But DPA shows express a kind of spirit. When you see a doctor and a pupil, they don’t look much different in appearance. But from their talk and behavior, you will see different temperament and character. The DPA performers have inner beauty, which is of great depth. This cannot be found in any other performance troupes.
I do not know the details of the show, but I think whether it is the performers, those who work behind the stage, or the designers of the performance, one very important design intent is not just to entertain. I don’t think they would perform like this if they only wanted to entertain.
Some friends of mine do not understand this. They said to me, “Can’t you give them some suggestions? Can they sing some songs to entertain people? Can Guan Guimin sing songs like ‘Youth, Oh Youth’”? I explained it to them. I pointed out that from the perspective of entertainment, it is reasonable for them to say so, but their performance is not for momentary pleasure that passes quickly. We entertain ourselves every day, watching exciting TV programs in the evening and feeling content for a few hours. But after you get up the next morning, your mind is blank and you forget everything. Nothing sinks in. You can take or leave that sort of entertainment. It is like you sleep and you forget things. But this DPA performance is different. The designer and the performers bring the audience a message. That is what I talked about just now: the message is brought to you in the three important backgrounds of our times.
I have watched the DPA performance several times and I can feel that there has been improvement in their cultivation. On many occasions, they demonstrate their inner beauty. Take the sound of beating drums for example. You can feel their drumming is close to purity. If one’s mind cannot reach that high state, one cannot make any pure sound of drumming. Like those so-called first class performers at the CCTV’s “Spring Festival Evening Show,” when they drum together, they produce discordant sounds with impure thoughts and bad attitudes despite their good performing skills. In the “Spring Festival Evening Show,” haven’t you found that they were playing video recordings, matching their lips to the music? Those performers have good skills; you would think, all are professionally trained. But they are so nervous that they often suffer from stage fright. They have no confidence because they have no such inner spirit.
But in DPA shows you have original sound and genuine performance, and they were broadcast live. They can do this despite the fact that their training period is short compared to others. Just because they have the spirit and cultivation, they have strong confidence and intention.
The DPA Performance Exposes the Evilness in “Spring Festival Evening Show”
The DPA performance can completely disintegrate the CCP’s Party culture because it will touch more and more people. When more and more people come to identify with the show, they will know what to do and what to pursue. It is that simple.
This performance will play such a role. It is like a mirror that exposes demons. Without the mirror, the demon cannot reveal its original form. The magic mirror that the Monkey King used brought the White-Bone Demon in “Journey to the West” back to its original form. The demon was really ugly! The DPA Show is similar to the magic mirror in that it reveals the demons of “Spring Festival Evening Show,” of the vulgar culture in China, and of those promoted by the evil CCP. The DPA show reflects all of the evil things that the CCP has done, revealing their paleness and fragility. Once the evil has been exposed to the public, the evil cultural and ideological environments, on which the CCP depends for its survival, will be gone. That is why the CCP is so afraid of the DPA performance and spares no effort to suppress it.
The “Redemptive Suffering” Erhu Performance Will be Remembered [2]
Yo Yo Ma once said that God gives him talents, that our inspirations all come from God, and that when we feel connected with God we will be able to perform to higher levels. There are performing artists all over the world. Why are artists like Yo Yo Ma few and far between? Today DPA’s high-level performance really moved me.
For example, take the erhu piece by Qi Xiaochun. To be frank, she may not be among the most well known artists. I have listened to many erhu artists including one who is very popular in Taiwan, who played the well known “Moon Reflecting in Two Springs.” I lost myself in the listening – totally enchanted. I listened to Qi Xiaochun very closely several times, and I realized that she was reaching higher and higher levels, particularly her “Redemptive Suffering.” I have a high regard for it.
Of all the classic music pieces in contemporary China, I think we all know “Moon Reflecting in Two Springs.” The essence of the piece is the sadness it is so good at conveying. Artist A-Bin has brought it to the ultimate height. As a blind musician, he was able to express the pains and sufferings of our life. But I think “Universal Salvation” is higher than “Moon Reflecting in Two Springs.” The composer and the musician will shine in the history of this art for hundreds of centuries.
“Moon Reflecting in Two Springs” expresses pain while “Redemptive Suffering” evinces a spiritual level. How to say it? Just that it surpasses pain and suffering; it is fearless, not sad, and not hopeless. This spirit encourages and inspires us. That is what I feel when working with Falun Gong practitioners. That is what I see in them.
The spirit shown by “Redemptive Suffering” is similar to the Falun Gong spirit. For example, you do not see helplessness in them; you do not see them as weak or lacking strength because the Communist regime looks powerful and outnumbers them in finances, resources and people. You just do not feel it. Sometimes, Chinese democratic activists sigh because in many ways we cannot compare with them.
In the show, particularly the erhu piece “Redemptive Suffering,” the performer reached a very high level and her music conveyed a message to the audience – that is, she almost let go of herself in playing it. She and the erhu became one. I do know something about the erhu. It is indeed very high.
Also, there is “compassion,” the power of compassion. There are many instances in history where compassion has overpowered evil. Then comes “forbearance.” The word had not deeply touched me before. Now I find the word has infinite power.
The Show Is More Powerful Than an Atomic Bomb
We all remember Lu Xun. We all read his work on a memorial to Ms. Liu Hezhen. Li Xun said he was beyond anger over an incident in which two or three students were killed. He went on to say how dark this world had become. He had a lot of complaints. In his time, at least people could complain. In 1989, the Communist Party slaughtered hundreds to thousands of students. Chinese remained dead quiet. During the past several years that Falun Gong has been persecuted, intellectuals in China have remained silent and some have even voiced pro-Communist Party comments, except for a handful such as Gao Zhisheng and Hu Jia. I will continue to tell people the truth and try to touch their conscience, until they feel so ashamed of themselves. Only then can they wake up.
I have met with many scholars from China including those from Beijing University. I often criticize them, without reservation. I find they still have compassionate thoughts. You have to touch the right spot and not be unreasonable. You have to lay out only facts and hit the right points. Then they will understand and accept. As long as they are scholars, they will change their minds. When they go back to China, they will change, like Jiao Guobiao. Many friends did not know the truth when they came. After they stayed with me and we talked and talked, they totally changed.
So from another perspective, we need the entirety of China and the world to be aware of the CCP’s evilness and of the power of compassion. It does not have to take an atomic bomb or other munitions. The DPA show can do it.
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Falun Gong’s Effort to Stop the Persecution Has Changed Chinese History
I have some understanding of compassion. I was imprisoned for about two years. While in prison, I had several obscure experiences with compassion. Things like this happened very often: if a head of a cell (also an inmate) is beaten, he will remain an underdog. Once the head inmate of my cell instigated 8 inmates to fight against me. They were convicted murderers, death-row prisoners, psychopaths, and all kinds of inmates. That same night, the tables were turned. The head inmate was sentenced to death, with his execution scheduled to take place in three months. For him, one day seemed as long as one year. He would rather die immediately than to live. Every day other inmates humiliated him. I did not ask anyone to do that. He acted evil and was paid back.
Later, I felt strange and realized that it was because of my compassion. I did not use mind control to lead people to help me, but my behavior won me their sympathy and support. They thought it was so unfair. It was a wonderful feeling. Had I begged them to help me, they would not have moved at all, no matter how much money I may have offer them. The prison was a perilous place and one might even lose his life there. Several of them came to help me, totally disregarding their own safety. It was because I demonstrated compassion. It was not because I had education and degrees. Not at all.
From the perspective of social impact, Falun Gong has done several things that have changed history. One is today’s show. Another is the Quitting-the-CCP Movement. The third one is what you call “clarifying the truth” or “the Nine Commentaries” revealing the true nature of the Communist Party. In my opinion, these three things have changed the history of China.
These three things, when combined, amount to three huge atomic bombs that the power of justice has fired into China. The three bombs will destroy the Chinese Communist Party. So clarifying the truth is to let the Chinese people know what the Communist Party is. Second, it is to save them and help them break away from the Communist Party. Third, it is to lead the Chinese people back to their roots and back to their true nature and original selves. They must become true human beings before society becomes healthy.
The Communist Party is not human or ghost – it is a gang of devils. Even when you change the system, they are still devils. Devils can play with democracy but cannot play well. Only when society returns to humanity can it become democratic. In Africa, there are some democratic countries and they frequently have wars. … Pragmatic democracy will not work well.
Why does democracy work well in the United States? It is because the people have a sense of democracy, and that is the root. Bush made an excellent remark: that we have done only one thing in the past two hundred years. It was not science or anything else, but to put the ruler in a cage. “I am talking to you in a cage.” This remark is a classic. The contribution that the United States has made to the world is not its science or other material things, but how they train their rulers.
From ancient times until now, basically, it has been the rulers who have brought disasters to mankind. They have infinite power and impose disasters when they abuse that power. If you could train and control the ruler, then mankind would have good days. Bush’s remark demonstrates the essence of the American Constitution. The Constitution is like this – put balances and checks on the government. There is a well-known statement in the Constitution: all rights that have not been regulated by the government belong to the people. As long as is the law does not prohibit it, you can do it. The law gives the government the right to do certain things. If the law does not give it the right to do something, then the government cannot do it.
Superhuman Strength and Great Wisdom
I just realized today that New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) has changed society. I think it is a good thing. In the past I used to view this from two aspects: promote Chinese culture and raise funds. More than ever, I have realized that today’s Holiday Wonders, sponsored by NTDTV, has linked the Nine Commentaries, Quit-the-CCP, anti-persecution and many other things together. NTDTV may be the last link. After people learn the truth and the Communist Party falls, people may still be the same as they were before and the country may still not be rejuvenated. The fall of the Communist Party does not turn the people into new, moral and compassionate people with a high sense of justice.
To illustrate, the Nine Commentaries is just like anti-virus software in a computer that locates the virus such as a Trojan and shows the damage to the computer. But the damage is so severe and the computer drives must be re-formatted. This is what the Quit-the-CCP movement does. With a new computer (re-formatted), one must install software. NTDTV serves the role of new programs. We cannot miss any one o the three steps. Once the last step takes place, the mission is accomplished.
Whether the result was unintentional or purposeful, it was designed. Someone designed it. If it was purposefully designed to achieve the effect, the designer is remarkable. If NTDTV succeeds, that is God’s will. Most of us understand things afterwards; some prophets know things ahead of time.
Definitely there are prophets. We can only see the current step and its meaning. But if the designer sees the result of the last step and then designs the steps, this person must have superhuman strength and great wisdom
Understanding What the Show Designer Wants To Convey
I paid attention to every word of the songs. They were perfect. There are differences in English and Chinese. And that is the right way. For example, Chinese says we are lost in the secular world. In English, we say, “Not clear.” Christians may not accept strong religious words. The designer of the show has considered all factors. For Chinese, one has to use some strong words; for westerners, you have to fit into western culture. It is well done.
I think the dances are exemplary, beyond words. The friends that I brought to the show were quite ignorant about dance and some resisted Falun Gong. After the show, they were full of praise from their hearts. They said these dances were gorgeous, and asked how the artists could perform so well. They could not figure it out. Once the show was over, I wanted to find a quiet secluded place to reflect on what I experienced during the show. That was how I felt.
We all have different personalities. For example, I would not see a show twice, no matter how good it was. My wife watched “Sound of Music” over a dozen times. Once was enough for me. But today, let me tell you, I want to see the show again. With several dances, I could feel that my mind was too slow to digest them. I could not comprehend every movement. When I watched their facial expressions, I missed the body choreography.
…
I was totally wrapped up in the show. I watched every artist. I want to see more whenever I have time. Better to bring a couple of friends. What a spectacular show. Speaking from the superficial to the deeper, the beauty pleases the eye; it touches your heart. A little deeper, and you may be enlightened to something. Lastly, you may rise up high and be with gods. Look at the lead dancer. She leads many dances. She is almost perfect. No flaws on stage.
The Communist Party is Finished
Tonight’s show was impeccable. I want to tell something to our fellow Chinese. People in China must understand that Falun Gong has already won. The Communist Party has been beaten and now is on the defensive. Falun Gong is on the offensive. No doubt.
What do we watch for in the future? To what degree will the Communist Party be destroyed? It is just like sentencing in court. It depends on the crimes committed. If the Communist Party continues on its path, it will be adding to its crimes. It will be tried in court and there are certainly people capable of presiding over the trial. It is obvious.
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Footnotes:
[1] Renminbao, February 9, 2008
http://www.renminbao.com/rmb/articles/2008/2/9/46874.html
[2] Renminbao, February 10, 2008
http://www.renminbao.com/rmb/articles/2008/2/10/46883.html