PureInsight | December 10, 2006
[PureInsight.org] (Australian Fahui, 2006)
The first I knew of the Celestial Band was one Sunday when
practitioners were gathered in a park after the global time for sending
for righteous thoughts and a pile of black cases in the distance caught
my eye. I could see that they were musical instrument cases and was
immediately curious. Quite a few practitioners soon gathered around the
pile. Everyone took turns playing the brass instruments; they tried to
get a sound out of it before deciding which instrument they wanted to
play.
I was told that the practitioners were going to start a marching band.
After questioning, I found out that there was currently no one with
musical experience organising it. I was really horrified. I hesitantly
told one of the organisers that I could play most of the instruments.
Great! she said, you can teach others how to play.
I felt extremely uncomfortable. I could not understand why
practitioners would start a marching band and why practitioners would
spend time to learn to play an instrument when there is already so much
truth-clarification work to be done.
I drove home feeling very frustrated. I had often composed and arranged
music since I was in school, performed with different music groups, had
been a music teacher and could play a number of instruments. I knew
that I was to be a part of this new marching band but I simply couldn't
understand it from the Fa. I wasn't able to see my attachment and
instead intentionally avoided the band.
One day on Clearwisdom net, one of the top articles was about the
Celestial Band's performance in a parade in New York. The article
described the onlookers' amazement in seeing the band, how they said
that practitioners' participation in the parade kept getting better and
better each year and now they even have a marching band! Another
commented how Falun Dafa practitioners are amazing to counteract the
persecution in China through such a marvelous way as a marching band. I
was truly moved by how hard the practitioners worked to validate the Fa
in such a powerful way. They had such great compassion to put in so
much effort practicing at home and rehearsing as a group. Everyone who
was in listening distance from the band could not avoid hearing the
music, even if they had been poisoned by the CCP or didn't want to take
a flyer, the music penetrated their entire being.
Master said in "Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles," "Whether
it be the overall effect of the Gala, a song that is sung, or a music
note that's played, all of these things that Dafa disciples do have the
effect of validating the Fa in other dimensions. The energy emitted is
quite strong, and it dissolves evil."
Then I understood why I had been so frustrated. I had been holding on
to my ordinary thinking and notions towards playing music. I thought
that because I had experience in music I was better than those who
didn't. I thought that because I had spent so many years to develop my
skills, I questioned how others could expect to reach that stage so
quickly, especially on brass instruments which can be quite difficult
to play. I gave up these wrong thoughts and wholeheartedly agreed to
teach others.
I pulled out all my old instruction books and used one for the first
lesson. However, I felt very uncomfortable using an ordinary
instruction book during the lesson with fellow practitioners. I saw a
practitioner with no previous music skill playing Falun Dafa Hao after
learning in New York. I was really touched. Like Master says in Lunyu,
I had to "fundamentally change [my] conventional thinking". I decided
not to use ordinary instruction methods and I began to teach based on
an understanding that any practitioner can achieve a good effect and we
needed to learn quickly to keep up with the Fa-rectification and save
more sentient beings. And we did all learn very quickly.
I taught the saxophone players. However I didn't really want to play
the saxophone in the band and gave mine to another practitioner. Later
I realized that the trumpet section was lacking and began to help
teach. We also needed more trumpet players. I didn't want to tell
anyone that I had a cornet, which is similar to a trumpet, collecting
dust under my bed for the past ten years. I had tried to sell it before
but no one would buy it. I didn't want to play it in the band. I knew
that not wanting to play was an attachment, especially when it was
needed. Looking harder at myself, the cornet was an instrument that I
hadn't been able to play almost immediately like most other instruments
I play and when it had seemed too hard to learn, too loud and didn't
sound very good I put it away and stopped playing. Now, as a
practitioner, I couldn't keep that ordinary thinking. I realized that I
was attached to seeing results and was forgetting the process. I
wrongly thought that if playing well couldn't be achieved quickly then
it wasn't worth doing. It was painful, but when I got rid of this
attachment I was able to put aside what I did or didn't want to do and
help harmonise as a particle within the band to help fill a gap.
During weekdays I was busy doing other Dafa work and when it came to
Sunday rehearsals, I still hadn't made time to practice. I wrongly
thought that it was ok because I was still able to play a bit better
than most of the other players. I found that this thinking was wrong: I
was comparing myself to others' skills rather than comparing myself
with the Fa. I still couldn't play all the notes and knew that I should
be more diligent and take it more seriously. One day I promised myself
and Master that I would practice diligently, however I didn't keep my
promise. After a week of not practicing again, I opened my instrument
case and a large section of my shiny silver cornet had turned black. I
immediately knew why and felt tears in my heart for taking a promise so
lightly. After a week of practice, the black section returned to shiny
silver again.
I was still troubled by how to balance everything. There are so many
truth-clarification projects, some short term, others long term. Music
and art always seemed to be my last priority to the point where I
wasn't finishing the compositions I started, leaving them halfway until
another one entered my mind and the previous ones were still
unfinished. I knew this was wrong but I felt that I just couldn't keep
up with everything and left them unfinished.
In Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York,
Master said, "The Dafa disciples who compose music have a special duty
to do so, and that is on top of clarifying the truth."
Master's words reminded me that I should be more diligent to finish
everything I begin as everything has its process and purpose in
Fa-rectification. With this thinking, I have been able to balance my
time and tasks better.
Master also said,
"The fact is, you've learned what you've learned because you had that
wish and accordingly arrangements were made for you back in the past
since it would be needed in validating the Fa, that's all." (Teaching
the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference)
From Master's words, I understood more clearly that each of the skills
every practitioner has have been arranged for us to use to validate the
Fa and save more sentient beings.
Every step in Fa-rectification cultivation is important and should be
done well, nothing should be left out. It is all a matter of
cultivation. No matter how difficult it seems, with diligence in doing
the three things, I have full faith that everything can be achieved.
