Understandings After Watching the Shen Yun Performance: Clear on Our Mission and Role as a Dafa Disciple

(Minghui.org) I recently watched the 2021 Shen Yun performance and was very touched by one dance. [note: Shen Yun is inaccessible in China, so New Tang Dynasty Television broadcast the performance around the Chinese New Year exclusively to audiences in mainland China]. This dance tells the story of Cui Sheng in the Tang Dynasty and his miraculous experience.

Because of good inborn quality, a Taoist master chose Cui as a disciple. After being transformed into a crane, he carried a sword to the mountain where the master stayed. Through learning from the master, Cui was appointed an heir. After he became an immortal, however, his master told him to go back and finish up his earthly affairs, including returning the sword. To protect him, the master also gave him two items with divine power: a divine pass and invisible clothing. He also warned Cui not be to attached to the secular world or abuse his power.

After returning the sword safely, however, Cui became fond of the invisible clothing and wandered around in the royal palace. Suspecting something unusual had happened, the emperor ordered a warlock to investigate it. With his magical power, the warlock identified Cui and planned to execute him.

Cui had no choice but to present the divine pass to reveal his identity. Knowing Cui came from the divine world with a mission, the warlock convinced the emperor to release Cui.

I learned a lot from this story especially about the role of us Dafa disciples. Through Dafa teachings, we know our mission of telling people the facts of Dafa, so that they can be saved and return to the divine. That is, we are messengers of the Creator. Moreover, Master has given us Falun and protected us with Fashen as well as divine power.

Therefore, when encountering interference or danger, we should be clear on our identity. Maser said,

“‘I’m not just anyone. I am a practitioner. You shouldn’t act this way toward me, since I practice Falun Dafa.’” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)

“Do things well in an upright and dignified way, negate them, and strengthen your righteous thoughts some. ‘I’m Li Hongzhi’s disciple, I don’t want other arrangements or acknowledge them’—then they won’t dare to do that. So it can all be resolved.” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)

If we forget about this, we could be acknowledging the persecution against us and be victimized.

On the other hand, our identity does not mean we can do things casually at will. Take Cui as an example. After returning the sword, he did several things that contributed to his tribulation. One was helping a young girl retrieving the candied haws. This might be an innocent act for an everyday person. But a practitioner should be clear that earthly incidents may have karmic reasons behind them. Therefore, meddling with worldly affairs – especially through divine power – would likely lead to consequences.

Cui, however, did not stop there after helping the girl. With attachment to his invisible clothing, he wandered around in the royal palace and even stole delicious food, which was against human principles of being a good person, let alone violating the high standard for a practitioner. No wonder this led to his tribulation of being spotted and facing execution. Although he could get away in the end through the divine pass, it was nonetheless a stain on his legacy.

Similar situations exist for us practitioners. By being strict with ourselves, we should remain unmoved by worldly affairs and avoid things inconsistent with Dafa’s standards. Otherwise, we may run into various interference. Although we may get away in the end with Master’s help, the tribulations would nonetheless weaken our efforts of saving people. Furthermore, the undesirable observations of us by everyday people could leave a negative influence on their attitude towards Dafa. This, as we know, is against the mission of us Dafa disciples.

I would like to end this sharing with a poem from Master:

Don’t Be Sad

Imprisoned as you are,
      don’t be sorrowful or sad
Carry on with righteous thoughts and actions,
       and the Fa is with you
Calmly reflect on the attachments you have
Remove your human thoughts
       and evil will naturally die out
(Hong Yin II)

Editor's note: Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions, for which the author is solely responsible. Readers should evaluate the article's merits on their own.