(Minghui.org) I graduated from art school and worked for the local government. My job was to promote Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda. I knew very clearly what the CCP is like and wasn't willing to give my life to it, so I focused on my painting.
It wasn't until I started practicing Falun Dafa, however, that I realized that my interest in modern art was not worthwhile. Human beings should take a righteous path, and so should art. We should promote kindness and beauty through art.
Before Cultivation
I have enjoyed painting since I was young. After graduating from art school, I was in charge of the paintings at a workplace. These paintings promoted the CCP's political campaigns by either praising the regime or fabricating lies on its behalf.
Vulgar and repulsive images and offensive language were part of my daily work. I became numb to any sense of morality. I started smoking, drinking, and playing Mahjong with my colleagues.
I am highly regarded by my colleagues, so my superiors pushed me to join the Communist Party, but I refused, because I knew very clearly the nature of the Party and wasn't willing to give my life to it.
I spent some time improving my painting skills. I found that the trends in modern art searched for inspiration in a befuddled state, and artists vented emotions, confusion, depression, and desperation.
My path of art demoralized me for ten years and I developed health problems. I had pain all over my body, and I even found it difficult to turn over in bed. I saw both Western and Chinese doctors in my city and took all kinds of medicines, but nothing helped. I was in my late 30s at that time and felt frustrated and hopeless. I thought my work in art would end soon.
My father practiced Falun Dafa at that time. His high blood pressure and heart problems disappeared soon after he started practicing. He worried about my poor health and asked me to join him. Unfortunately, my generation had been brainwashed by the CCP's atheist education, and I didn't listen to him.
I Started Practicing Falun Dafa
I had lost a lot of weight as a result of my illnesses, and it had affected my daily work. After I got paid each month, the first thing I did was to go to the pharmacy to stock up on medicine.
I started reading the book Zhuan Falun and doing the Falun Dafa exercises in 1997. I tried to abandon my bad thoughts and habits after reading the book. Through studying the Fa, my health gradually improved.
I had rheumatism and stomach problems, which completely disappeared in less than six months. My face became rosy and my weight increased. My filthy mind and bad habits faded away. Dafa brought me out of the darkness.
I now do things according to Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in my daily life. I have become more conscientious at work, and no longer fight over personal interest. When buying painting materials for my company, I don't take advantage or take some for myself.
Our company also owns a nightclub. People who work at our company don't have to pay to go there, but I stopped going there after I started practicing Falun Dafa.
When former head of the CCP Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Dafa in 1999, all my colleagues tried to protect me, as they all knew that I was a good person. They have seen the kindness and righteousness of Dafa through me and helped dispel the lies propagated by the Chinese Communist Party.
I experienced a big change in my painting. After studying Zhuan Falun I understood that I should walk on a righteous path, and that included my painting, too. I wanted to promote kindness and beauty, so I completely gave up my interest in modern art and returned to the traditional styles and techniques of painting. The style of my painting changed because of positive changes inside of me. There were no longer deformed images or shadows in my paintings; instead, there were images of peace, freshness, and hope.
I truly feel that Dafa gives me a lot of wisdom. I don't need to think hard when I paint. One of my paintings was once selected to join one of the highest ranking national painting exhibitions, and I was awarded the most authoritative Award for Art. I was also promoted on national television.
I did not let the awards go to my head, and did not pursue fame and profits. I kept my life as normal as possible. I just want to show people true art with pure kindness and beauty through my cultivation, in order to awaken the kindness in their hearts.
When recalling my experience, my heart is full of gratitude to Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa. It is my Master who changed my life for the better.
(Submission to “Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day” 2018 on the Minghui website)
