PureInsight | May 23, 2006
[PureInsight.org] The
Zhen-Shan-Ren Art Exhibition that was created by Dafa disciples to
clarify the truth to the world's people and to save the sentient
beings, have been shown in different countries all over the world
during the last couple of years. The paintings have had the effect of
cleansing both practitioners and ordinary people who visit the show.
The exhibition can, as a practitioner once said, be called a giant
washing machine. It can have the effect of breaking the notions in
people's minds, and have them come closer to their own true selves as
well as the Truth.
I am a practitioner from Sweden. In Sweden we have been able to set up
around 10 shows mostly because many practitioners have been taking the
initiative to host the show in their own city. Those practitioners who
already have had some experience from working with the exhibit have
tried to help out in other places and this has lead more and more
practitioners to become mature in how to go about handling things
related to the exhibition.
There are many things one could share when it comes to the art
exhibition, but I will mainly share my thoughts on the role we play as
guides.
I started to learn how to guide from a Canadian practitioner at the
exhibit in the National Arts Club in Manhattan in 2004. After that I
have had the opportunity to guide people, as well as helping other
practitioners learn how to guide, at several different exhibitions.
I've experienced that acting as a guide truly requires to completely
let go of myself, my own notions and complicated thoughts and to reach
a state wherein I can melt into the Fa, have confidence in the Fa and
let my wisdom come out naturally.
For me, to guide has been a test as to whether I can truly have trust
in Master, can fundamentally change my conventional thinking, as well
as keeping my thinking clear and compassionate. As one might imagine, I
couldn't completely achieve this state all of the time, but sometimes I
could, and that is probably why I now can share some thoughts about the
differences between the two.
My impression is that when people come to visit the exhibition, they
step into the venue and what they see is something that they have
never, ever, seen before. It is totally different from all that they
have experienced earlier.
Then, as I understand it, they become "cleared," that is, a kind of
reset to zero and their minds have, none, nothing. Then, this is the
crucial time when we as guides need to take action. Because this
"cleared" person, who seems to be like a white sheet of paper, can from
this point on, either be led by external interference or human notions
and thoughts, or take the road of listening to a Fa-rectification
period Dafa disciple telling them the Truth. And I think that since
they have come so far already, having already stepped inside the door
to this precious opportunity, it is all the more important that we as
guides do our best in order to give them a successful guided tour.
When my righteous thoughts have been strong, I have experienced
overwhelming situations, seemingly supernatural and unexplainable by
human concepts. When I have stable righteous thoughts, I can complete
the whole tour in a state such that the wisdom comes naturally in the
words that I speak and I seem to say exactly what the person or persons
in front of me need to hear in order to accept the facts.
On the other hand, when my righteous thoughts have not been as strong,
interference has shown itself in no time. Either people don't want to
be guided, or I start to doubt my own wisdom. Then the interest of the
visitors fades away which results in the tour not being completed. I
always feel regret when this happens, because I feel I haven't been
responsible to the sentient beings that I am supposed to save, and have
instead let my not yet cultivated side dominate.
My understanding is that for a practitioner to do a genuine guided tour
is like a test as to whether one can let go of the notions about
oneself and one's own shortcomings, to be able to set oneself
completely aside and only speak from the perspective of a Dafa
disciple. This is an opportunity to effectively raise ones own xinxing
and a grand moment for validating the Great Law of the cosmos.
If one is to speak about Dafa disciples' paintings, one cannot use the
mindset of an ordinary human being. Since some of the paintings are on
a very high level, containing the Fa as well as gods, it is impossible
to use human ways to explain them righteously to the audience. This
doesn't mean one has to use high-level concepts to describe them, it
just means that the state of mind must be that of a cultivator. Then,
what you say will be successful and the effect just right.
Then, how can one prepare oneself to be a guide? Needless to say is, of
course, studying the Fa diligently and sending forth righteous thoughts
to make sure there is no external interference in ones mind.
Then of course one needs to know what the paintings are about and what
they are depicting. There is a very good video on the Internet that can
be downloaded to watch. In this video you will see a practitioner give
the tour and talk about the paintings. This is a great help for anyone
learning how to guide.
Another thing is to read about the paintings and the artists a lot. These descriptions you can find on the website www.falunart.org.
There are also others, more extensive ones that can be provided to you
if you want. It's good to read them carefully more than just once. You
can also deepen and develop your understanding of the paintings by
writing down your own knowledge about each painting. The more you know,
the better prepared and more flexible you will be when you are guiding.
Yet another good way is of course to listen to someone else guiding and
also share your thoughts with fellow cultivators. One time we went
through all the descriptions together, reading them, discussing them
and deepening our understanding of them.
I think that was very helpful and we benefited in many ways. It seems
as though we improve a lot faster when we do things together.
In conclusion, I hope that all of us who want to help with the art
exhibition can increase our cooperation and sharing somewhat and,
together, organize many successful art exhibitions in the near future.
Please share your ideas as well, and please tell us if you find any inappropriate views in my sharing.
Note:
If you still have time, I would like to share something that happened as I was in the process of writing this article.
I am working as a conference technician and, due to traveling for this
job, I meet many people I've never met before. One day, while sitting
stand-by at my place during the conference, I started to draw a lotus
flower in my notebook. Beside it I wrote with Chinese characters: Falun
Dafa Hao. A local technician sitting beside me saw it and said it was
beautiful.
Then he told me that he likes art very much. I told him that I'm
working with an international art exhibition that exists for the sake
of protecting human rights. Then I asked him whether he would like to
see some of the artwork from this exhibition. He said yes and I opened
my laptop and started to show him some of the paintings, one after
another.
It all came down to me basically giving him a guided mini-tour. I told
him just about the same things that I do when guiding visitors at the
actual art exhibitions. It was all very natural. Then, all of a sudden,
he stopped me and said "Thank you." I thought maybe he wanted me to
stop and thanked me as a conclusion but, as that didn't seem to be the
case, I continued to talk about some more paintings. I put together a
balanced little show and after I finished I asked whether he would like
to get the website address (www.falunart.org). He said yes, and I wrote
it down on the same paper where I had drawn the lotus flower and gave
to him. Later on, as we occasionally passed by each other, he
spontaneously said "Thank you," again.
