Practitioners Should Look Inward Regarding the Attacks on Shen Yun

(Minghui.org) Many Falun Dafa practitioners have met with difficulties while promoting Shen Yun after a certain media outlet made several allegations against Shen Yun. I would like to share some of my insights in the hope that we can alter the current situation.

It is evident that the attacks by the Western media outlet was manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, if everyone cultivated diligently and had no loopholes, the old forces wouldn’t be able to take advantage of practitioners’ shortcomings. Where did practitioners go awry then? I have listed some of the things that I have noticed. I would like to share of my limited insights in the hopes that we can bring about better circumstances for everyone. Please kindly correct me if anything is not aligned with the Fa. 

Excessive Admiration for Shen Yun and Its Performers

In truth-clarification projects, it has come to my attention that parents excessively admire the Shen Yun performers. They are also very attached to having their children join Shen Yun. Of course, there isn’t anything wrong in nurturing their children to become Shen Yun performers. But if we delve deeper, are there attachments to fame or profit mixed with those parents’ wishes? Is there a mentality to shift the burden of educating their children without having a clear understanding of the children’s true potential or whether or not they will qualify to enter Shen Yun? Have there also been miscommunications with children? Are parents giving insufficient consideration to their children’s choices, which results in excessive pressure on the children? 

After finishing school work, many children study Chinese language and other subjects. In addition, they also have dance classes and learn two to three musical instruments. Many of them aren’t able to maintain good quality daily Fa study and cultivation. Some practitioners, without being considerate of others’ financial situations, urged other practitioners to have their kids learn a certain instrument, which could end up being costly in the long run. Some have urged kids to take dance classes without knowing whether they were already involved in other activities. 

Shen Yun receives the utmost admiration among practitioners, like no other Dafa projects. However, the original intention of participating in Shen Yun was to assist Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings. During the process, many have gradually forgotten to be true cultivators. Parent practitioners are now more focused on the child’s techniques and skills instead of reminding them to focus on sound cultivation. Parents are anxious when their child cannot live up to their expectations. The anxiety then turns into pressure, which is put on the child. The child in turn becomes unwilling and begins to resist. This becomes a vicious cycle. 

Are practitioners seeking ordinary people’s fame and gain when they have the desire to send their children to Shen Yun? Are they enjoying the satisfaction of winning a moment on stage? Or are they envious of other practitioners’ children being praised? Or is it more or less parents’ own childhood dream being instilled in their children? 

The excessive admiration for Shen Yun and its performers may bring the opposite result. The old forces arranged a former Shen Yun dancer to attack Shen Yun and even file a lawsuit against Master. Isn’t this a result from some of our own attachments? Shouldn’t we look inward? We should be rational and should not mindlessly admire projects that Master is guiding. 

By looking inward, I realized that I may have had these human attachments, such as admiring Shen Yun, Fei Tian, or the practitioners there, and have thought that they must cultivate better than other practitioners. I also found I liked to participate in Dafa projects that are personally led by Master. 

Upon learning more about Shen Yun, I realized that in order to be a Shen Yun performer, one must start from a young age and receive strict training (from stringent teachers) and control one’s weight. Sometimes dancers will get a physical injury and they’ll go get medical treatment. It seems as if Shen Yun was no different from any other performing arts company. In addition, I also got the chance to meet some former Shen Yun performers and felt that they are no different from other practitioners. I began to get rid of my attachments to overly admiring Shen Yun performers and my heart of vanity. 

In addition, some young practitioners and junior practitioners have started to admire the self-media created by Shen Yun dancers, behaving like fans of stars. Perhaps this is a loophole. 

I met a former Shen Yun teacher toward the end of the last year who used to train performers. He had left Shen Yun due to family reasons. He left a deep impression on me, because I felt that he still had a long way to go in getting rid of the Communist Party culture. I was quite shocked at this finding. I left China more than ten years ago and have lived in many cities in different countries. I actively participate in Shen Yun promotion and have been a loyal Shen Yun fan. I had never thought I would meet someone like this who was once in Shen Yun. 

I looked inward and realized I might have been overly admiring the Shen Yun project, and other practitioners must also have excessive admiration. This Shen Yun teacher “broke the illusion” for me and allowed me to understand that no matter what Dafa project it is, regardless of being led by Master, we are all cultivators. We are all cultivating our character. There may be aspects where we do well and other aspects where we don’t do well. It is a process of becoming mature.

I might have also mixed in some human sentimentality toward Master, such as worshiping Master and regarding Master as my family member. Rather, my attitude should have been a sense of respect and one of faith, believing in Master and in Dafa. 

Thinking back to the former Shen Yun teacher I met, perhaps his demeanor was the result of other practitioners’ praise and admiration? 

We all know that Shen Yun is a great project for saving sentient beings and has a great effect. I hope practitioners can look inward together, eliminate human attachments, improve our xinxing, and not hinder Shen Yun’s mission of saving sentient beings. 

The above is what I understand at my level of cultivation. Please kindly point out anything that is not in line with the Fa.