(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners in Mexico have been involved in promoting Shen Yun since 2012, and we’d like to share our thoughts as volunteer promoters of the show.
2012 was the first year I had the opportunity to help promote the show. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempted to destroy 5,000 years of China’s civilization. So, when I saw how Shen Yun Performing Arts revives this ancient culture, I said, “I want to be part of this.”
There’s an old Chinese saying: “To create genuine art, artists have to possess internal purity and beauty.” Shen Yun’s artists are reviving this tradition of inner cultivation. This is one reason I want to help promote Shen Yun and tell people about the company’s vision and mission.
Being part of this is an invaluable gift for our family—we feel the performances showcase upright values and explain what dignity and honor are. These values are sometimes difficult to explain in words, and being part of this has helped me in my work as a college professor.
How do you explain these values? Shen Yun does it! These days, these values, as well as hope, faith, teamwork, thinking for the common good, and kindness, are so needed, so I wish to introduce Shen Yun to everyone I meet. I also feel people should know that practicing these noble virtues is very rewarding.
I’m a retired kindergarten director. When I learned that Shen Yun is a non-profit company that founded an academy which offers scholarships to its students—teenagers and young adults—who wish to share traditional Chinese culture and its values before communism, I was motivated to volunteer.
At Fei Tian Academy and Fei Tian College, all students receive scholarships. These young people wish to rescue and introduce China’s five thousand year old civilization. To do this, they train in dance techniques and enter professional internships like they would at any prestigious university. In this way Shen Yun allows them to perfect their skills, and many are invited to join the company and continue their noble mission.
I’m a university professor and for thirty-one years I taught subjects related to Philosophy and Pedagogy. I currently coordinate programs which help students integrate into university life. I feel that volunteering demonstrates one’s generosity without expecting anything in return. Volunteering for a noble cause helps this world become better than we found it—it also demonstrates our gratitude for the gift of life and all the material and spiritual benefits we received—therefore we are giving back.
I volunteer to promote Shen Yun because I know the historic and important role this classical Chinese dance and music company plays in current times. Being able to see Shen Yun every year and promote it gives me hope that the next generation can distinguish true art, akin to Renaissance Humanism. Through the performances people are shown high standards of professionalism, virtuosity, and ethical content—in contrast to these contemporary times where commercialism and materialism prevail.
Shen Yun showcases kindness and upright behavior. It awakens humanity’s innate intelligence and morality by reviving 5,000 years of traditional culture, which I feel satisfies peoples’ spiritual and emotional needs.
The CCP’s attacks on Shen Yun show how perverse human behavior can be, and is also exemplified by the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. I feel Shen Yun’s powerful performances are like a lighthouse, guiding people to safe harbor during a storm.
By traveling around the world, Shen Yun has quickly become a benchmark. I believe this is one of the reasons the CCP attacks it. Referring to the lighthouse analogy, Shen Yun emits a powerful light which helps people distinguish the truth, and the performances create a new cultural precedent. This is why my family I are volunteer promoters of Shen Yun.