PureInsight | June 26, 2006
[PureInsight.org]
(2006 Chicago Fa Conference) [In
the months of May and June 2006, 8 art exhibitions were held. More art
exhibitions for autumn and spring are planned. The Austrian
practitioners involved in this project have taken great steps in
achieving their goal as well as awakening many predestined
relationships and thus saving many people. They would like to share how
they overcame attachments in difficult situations as well as removing
the attachment to oneself. ]
Birgit:
Directly approaching the goal with Dafa's craft
From the very beginning, as we decided to take on this project in
Austria, it was very clear to us that we wanted to reach as many people
as possible!
We obtained the exhibit items for two months, which meant there was a certain
pressure of time. Firstly, we wrote to all the galleries, although we
were not expecting any great success, in relation to obtaining
exhibition rooms. For us, it was very important that as many people as
possible would be saved, even if they only received our information,
everyone should have the chance to contribute their part to Fa
rectification!
Actually, according to my information, we received not one response
from any gallery in Austria, which encouraged us to explore other
avenues. We wrote to banks, insurance companies, museums, castles,
palaces/châteaux, fortresses, businesses, and other public places and
establishments. Each time we used a personalised information packet,
which described the goals of our newly founded arts and culture
association, general and technical information about the exhibition and
the artworks themselves. Thus, everyone could obtain a short overview
of our project. Subsequently, we rang back those places, enquiring
whether or not our information packet arrived. This also enabled us to
clarify the truth on an even deeper level.
A few possibilities came out of the blue, since we just followed the
natural path. We obtained hints or went open eyed through the streets
and spoke directly to the people, armed with flyers, an art catalogue
or other special material.
Most people were very impressed. However the timing of the project was
mostly a problem, since most places were already booked-up or they had
limited financial means.
In Vienna for example, it was very difficult to find an appropriate
place that we could also afford. The end result, though, is important
and we found a well-visited gallery that offered a discount, was
centrally located and offered us a very nice room.
It was just a coincidence to have discovered this room: the owner
seemed to have a strong predestined relationship. During our first
visit, he wanted to read Zhuan Falun.
We held exhibits in various places, in large cities and small towns,
each time was an uplifting moment, when we opened the exhibition
together with the choir.
Following the Natural Path, Full of Confidence
I think some things we learned along the way were not forcing anything
and only following the natural path, always keeping our eyes open,
always keeping our hearts on the project and in the Fa, and always
being involved and not easing-up. Only so was it possible. Our regular
team speak meetings, which we held twice a week, coupled with Fa-study,
helped us to prevail along our path.
I am very thankful for the time given to me, enabling me to contribute
my part to this very precious project. The process is still running. We
are very busy and sometimes we reach our limits, but, when we allow it
and our deep belief in the Fa remains steadfast, Master helps us every
step of the way.
Rosi:
Carrying the Exhibition in my Heart
Austria has a very long artistic tradition, especially in music, so all
practitioners with artistic talent are constantly pondering how we can
best clarify the truth. Shortly before we began to organise the art
exhibition we had a big meeting, during which we shared and ended the
meeting with the firm decision to promote the art exhibition in
Austria. First of all, we founded an association for art and culture to
lay the foundation to serve the various projects.
We had planned for some while to form an art and culture association,
as we have many practitioners involved in the arts or who possess the
necessary capabilities. An association would not only help us to more
easily introduce projects, it would also enable other people to help in
a simplified manner. They would not have to be directly endorsing the
Fa or actually cultivating in Falun Gong. The association was founded
in preparation for the Chinese New Years Gala in Vienna but,
unfortunately, this project never came off and the association remained
dormant for half a year. We made the necessary preparations for a
homepage but, without a definite project, it never made it any further.
As soon as we had the art exhibition in focus we needed to act quickly
and a fellow practitioner set up our email addresses, so that we could
send out our invitations under the association's name. Afterwards, we
finished the homepage, which still is bothering us a little because of
the layout. But we can live with it and it also serves its purpose. Our
homepage consists of the following topics: projects, dates, press,
about us, contact us, etc. For the "about us" section, every member has
a resume and photograph. Soon we will add a press clippings section, as
we have gathered together many media reports.
I can highly recommend founding an association. It makes it very easy
for people, whether they are politicians, media, NGOs or other
positions. It comes across in a serious manner and I never needed to
explain much about myself or why I am doing this. I could concentrate
more on the most important things. For example, when hanging up posters
for the exhibition, I visited the larger municipal council offices. I
said: Gruess Gott (Gruss Gott, Good-day in Austrian), I am from the arts
and culture association "Ars Cara." We are holding the international
art exhibition, "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," encompassing
"Art for Human Rights" during this time. Would you please hang-up this
poster?
Everyone said yes!
We also thought it would be good for the association to have a motto
for the art exhibition, thus we chose: Art for Human Rights. It is also
an easy expression to understand quickly and I felt each time I used it
for a contact, everyone wanted to help straight away. I think it is
important that we make it as easy as possible for everyone, so they
support Dafa. I received many calls from representatives of highly
placed politicians, who apologised for not being able to attend. They
wished us good luck for the exhibition. I always told the secretary
that she should hang the invitation up in the office and everyone is
welcome to attend.
The people who visited the exhibition were overwhelmed by the artworks.
Many were deeply shaken by the atrocities of the Chinese Communist
Party and many had known nothing about it. A few wanted to donate some
money, which I refused. One person really wanted to donate, so I placed
that money in our moneybag for the sold art catalogues and posters.
I experienced in every contact and opening that the art exhibit offers
an easy method to clarify the truth. It really is a joy to prepare and
experience firsthand how many tiers of society can experience the
truth. Many politicians in Austria and the media, etc. are always
hearing something about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, however
this way is really special and thus they are noticing how profound it
is and the importance of acting upon it.
Accepting Responsibility, Assuming Responsibility, Maturing with the Responsibility
My region's exhibition location came about through a predestined
constellation and, apart from that, it was also the "European Museum
for Peace". Hence it was a very good place for our artwork. My fellow
practitioner, who is coordinating the exhibitions for Austria, asked me
whether I could take on this place and organise all the necessary
things for it. This entailed: finding speakers like politicians, NGOs
and well-known personalities; printing of invitations; searching for
the invitation addresses and sending them off; sending off press
releases; contacting media, transporting the artwork from one
destination to the next; contacting the exhibition location, in order
to plan everything well; organising a buffet on the opening day; and
many other things. On the opening day, I had the feeling that everyone
held their most appropriate position, everything was in place
accordingly and seemed to run automatically. A wonderful harmonious
atmosphere was present within, us and the premises and as we were just
finishing all preparations, the first people arrived.
Recognising Fundamental Attachments
During all of these activities, I was able to remove many attachments.
I would like to explain an example more clearly. It involved personally
contacting the media and informing them about the date, since I had
already sent a press release. I planned this for Thursday, as Monday
was the opening. On Thursday, I had many other things to finish off,
thus by midday I still had not phoned anyone. No matter whether it is
media or politicians and whatever the occasion, I always find that
nothing beats personal contact. I had often experienced that my emails
never arrived, were sent to the wrong address, were never read or were
filtered out because of the numerous email addresses.
Until 3 p.m., I still had not contacted anyone. I had the thought that
there was no need to contact them, I had already given them ample
notice via emails that I had sent. Thursday just disappeared without a
single call. To me it is rather painful to hear, on the one side, my
heart telling me to call and, on the other side, feeling unable to do
anything.
This pain inevitably asked a very big question of myself: what would
the living beings do who never obtained the chance? Why have I come
here? For my family, for my life as a normal human being? No, I came
here for this very moment, being allowed to help Master rectify the Fa.
I came here to save sentient beings.
When these thoughts flow through my heart, I know that nothing can stop
me and I can break the shackles. On Friday I began to ring all of the
media and the effect was really good. I learnt once again that I should
not become dependent on external factors, for example, how I find the
time. No, I must firmly anchor in my heart what I need to do and
everything else arranges itself around that. Even time appears this way
to me.
Combined Improvement through Constant Sharing
One experience I had and the understanding I gained from it, deepened
through joint effort, which also prompted me to write these words, is
the importance in the time of Fa rectification of improving ourselves
together, co-ordinating well and sharing our understandings together.
It is not enough to cultivate oneself well and do things to clarify the
truth. The joint sharing and coordinating tasks together are an
important part of our process in this time.
Through this exhibition, I have not only been allowed to experience
Austria and how precious this environment for us and myself is. In
fact, all practitioners who helped along the way, the artists
themselves, the fate of the practitioners depicted in the artwork,
everything is just so divine and precious.
Of note is the fact that we will oversee this project in Austria for
quite a while. The art exhibition is for two months here and we have
about 10 stations. Overall, there are different requirements and every
day there is something to do. We are really working together
continually and, through the power of the Fa, we will accomplish it as
well.
Karin:
Not immediately Recognising my Role, nonetheless quick Action
When I heard that the artworks for the exhibition were coming to
Austria, I contributed nothing to begin with, because I thought that I
knew nothing about art and thus followed the whole thing externally.
Only after being personally asked to find a room in my location, did I
begin to think about this and one place came to mind. My first big
hurdle was asking there. It was a hurdle for me, because I thought that
it depended on my words (on my cultivation state), whether we obtained
permission to hold the exhibition there. This responsibility made me
nervous. In hindsight, it was totally unnecessary, since it was just a
room to rent. The man in charge was not interested in the exact details
of what was being exhibited; he looked for a possible date and thus the
room was rented.
One other large hurdle for me was overcoming approaching strangers,
inviting them to our exhibition and asking them to hang up a poster for
us. I sometimes fell into the notions of everyday people. I never
thought about whether people could be saved. I only saw my inner
resistance, "wanting or needing to convince" someone of my needs. This
caused great problems for me.
At the very beginning, I could balance all the three things well.
However, during the whole course of the preparations, I neglected
Fa-study and the exercises and, subsequently, my righteous thoughts
became rather weak. I felt the whole thing was just a burden. Through
this I have definitely caused great damage, since I never personally
delivered every invitation to the appropriate people as I had planned.
Instead, I delivered some to mailboxes or sent some via post.
I telephoned all media and also had some great discussions, emailed
them information packets, and hand-delivered invitations. However, only
one media representative came for the press conference. I neglected on
the day or one day before the press conference to call again, since I
thought the previous contact would have been enough.
From today's perspective, I think that, no matter whether one knows
something about art, if one organises the exhibition, it all depends on
the heart. In hindsight, I know, too, how important personal dialogue
and a hand-delivered invitation is and how important it is, shortly
before the exhibition to once again to make contact, so that the
interference preventing people from attending can be broken through and
eliminated.
Maria:
Proceeding Independently, Validating Dafa and not Ones Self
During the search for rooms, I predominantly followed the natural path.
I benefited from the founding, in the previous year in Austria, of the
art and culture association. Subsequently, we have handled the
exhibition through the association and came across very seriously. In
this time, I was able to discard many fears, since it turned out that I
had to work with people in higher society. They included officials from
the state government, whom I asked for a grant, the magistrate, school
principals, and castle owners. Universities, galleries, libraries and
surrounding cultural offices of councils were also contacted.
I took a great deal of time to telephone, email and hold personal
discussions, since I am a pensioner. I also have a part-time job, where
I had, at this time, a great deal of work. However, I always tried to
join the two together. I felt that it was not interference but more of
a test to see where my capacity lay. I also learnt that I may not
compare myself to others and what they are achieving, instead I must
constantly follow my own path. Master says (not an official
translation): "Don't look at others"! It was very important to me that
I could at any time share with the others. The process of recognising
deeply rooted attachments and wickedness showed themselves in a very
strong manner and were very difficult to overcome. One falls easily
into the trap in such a large project to validate oneself and not Dafa.
We had Team Speak meetings twice a week with an hour's reading,
followed by sharing about our progress with our various contacts. The
German coordinator was always present, who told of his experiences with
the exhibitions in Germany. Our coordinator, who always first thought
of the others, compiled an Excel contact list with name, telephone,
email and possible locations.
Honouring many Predestined Relationships
Because of short notice, I could not find a room in Graz. After we
decided upon contacting castles and forts, I contacted a castle at my
place of birth, where I knew that exhibitions were always held. On my
first phone call, I had the possibility of speaking to the owner. Since
an exhibition had just cancelled, we received the opportunity to hold
the first art exhibition "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" at
Castle Kornberg.
The owner spoke at the opening and said among other things: "After
viewing a few of the artworks in the catalogue, I dreamt about it and
knew that I must do something for this exhibition." Artwork reaches the
soul better than many words.
Lastly, she wrote to me: "You all radiate goodwill and kindness. It is
wonderful that there exists such people" and she will also obtain Zhuan Falun.
The predestined relationships, which I could also see during the entire
exhibition, have touched me deeply. Two ladies travelled 100 kilometres
(64 miles), because they read an advance notice in a newspaper. The
regional newspapers were informed via a press kit, at other
exhibitions, television were present.
One should never forget to invite family relations to the opening. I
deeply regret not having informed them, even though I had made a note
of it. Like Master says (not an original translation): Don't forget
your relatives!
I helped out at other exhibitions, which was rather nice for me since
we continually formed one body. Once, I spent a day in a bookstore,
where a portion of the artworks were exhibited. During the time of the
exhibition, there was a death in the family. On the day I was there so
many tears were shed in this room but, now, in hindsight, I know that,
in spite of the pain and sorrow, this room was full of good energy and
harmony.
I have also recognised venerable Master was always there to help.
Everything which I could not achieve by myself was arranged and all
sides helped.
I am very thankful that such a wonderful project came about. One can
really clarify the truth to the people in the simplest way, save
sentient beings and progress in ones' personal cultivation.
Exhibitions with Only a Few Artworks Still Have a Big Effect
My understanding is that it does not matter how many artworks are
exhibited or how large the exhibition room is. It is important that the
artworks are presented. When I think back to the bookstore, a poster of
a Buddha was hung and four works on easels were set up amidst other
pictures. These artworks gave the room grandeur, overshadowed the
others, and contributed to the cleansing. I have no idea what happens
in other dimensions when we clarify the truth with the available means
and with righteous hearts. Yet it is quite noticeable that gods are
always watching.
Melanie
Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere
The visitors to the exhibition could deeply sense a basic principle
when they stepped into the exhibition room. I have no idea where the
quote originates from, but "Buddha's light shines everywhere.
Propriety, justice, harmony and clarity!" occurs to me. The press
conferences were unique evenings. When one went home, one was beaming
with bright light. Only through tireless preparations, team work, and
the craft of Zhen, Shan, Ren were these evenings made possible.
In the forefront of the exhibition, regional politicians and
personalities or representatives of human rights organisations were
invited to say a few words at the press conferences. Two or three
speakers were always found who supported the opening with their words
and positioned themselves well.
In between my speech as association president and the guests' speeches,
the Austrian Choir, "Coming for You" consisting of 10 Austrian singers
of the European Choir, sang another time. The choir, with its radiating
sound, cleaned the field for the speeches at the beginning of the
conference. At the beginning the atmosphere was hectic or nervous, but
as soon as the choir commenced singing, "De Du" it became rather calm
and everyone listened to the music. They sensed inside, why they had
come and could assimilate the words of the speakers with a calm heart.
Immediately after the speeches, the guests were given tours of the
exhibition and received explanations of deeper background correlations
and facts about the persecution. Rounding off the evening was a
comprehensive buffet for the visitors. It was always advantageous
having the choir sing, since at least 10 practitioners attended each
exhibition who personally clarified the truth more deeply to the
visitors after the official opening ceremony.
For me as an artist, it was wonderful to witness how fine arts are able
to directly save people. It was interesting how people had changed
during the exhibition. For example, I saw a journalist go about his job
with a serious and almost ferocious look. Irritated and abrupt he
placed the mayor, a state politician and me next to an artwork and
quickly took our picture. It did not matter to him, how we stood and
which artwork to use as a background. I sensed his rejection.
During the evening, after the choir had sung and I was explaining what
our arts and culture association is about and the human rights
situation in China, his face lightened up. With every explanation of
each artwork and every tone, he metamorphosed. He took many notes and
suddenly smiled at me. After the opening, he asked permission to take
another picture with us. This time he chose his favourite artwork,
"Banner," and grouped us next to the work. The next day, an extremely
positive article in one of Austria's largest newspapers appeared on the
internet. He understood the background material so clearly, praised the
exhibition, and condemned the CCP most harshly.
I have the feeling that, in Austria, the media are slowly taking more
notice of us, believing us, and are also building up the courage to
write about us. For a long time now, the media only spat out the
propaganda of CCTV, yet ever since we contacted the local newspapers,
the circle is closing. One definitely senses here the progress of Fa
rectification. One also senses that the practitioners with greater
energy, craft and refinement are rectifying the Fa together with our
venerable Master.
Cultivation is the most earnest, trying and precious of all things in
our life. We can only gain if we give. And one can only gain as much as
he has given and suffered. I thank our benign Master for this unique
opportunity.
