A Western Practitioner: Clarifying the Truth through Poetry

(Clearwisdom.net) I have practiced Falun Dafa since September 2004 and I am 30 years old. I recently published my first collection of poems in the Greek language.

These poems were written prior to my practicing Falun Dafa.

In the past I also had thoughts about publishing my poems but I never did anything in this direction. But on a Sunday morning a couple of months ago, I woke up and said to myself: "I will do it now. I will send the poems to publishers and see what happens." And so I did. I received positive feedback from two publishers and I decided to cooperate with one of them.

I have now realized that the reason I hadn't published this collection before is that I needed to mature in my cultivation in order to use this book as a way to clarify the truth, while at the same time getting rid of any attachments connected to the whole process of writing poetry and promoting it.

But how could I clarify the truth about Falun Dafa through this book? At the beginning of the book I wrote the following dedication: "Poetry beyond poetry is Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are being persecuted in China. This book is dedicated to all Falun Dafa practitioners." Underneath the dedication I added the main Falun Dafa web-pages.

In order to promote the book I intend to organize poetry readings. At the poetry readings I will always talk about the persecution in China. I will also have my petition to the UN and the Greek Minister about the human rights violations in China for people to sign and take a stand. Furthermore, publishing the book will give me the opportunity to come in contact with book handlers, intellectuals, and journalists. And all these are people to clarify the truth to and people who could help us with further clarification of the truth.

These poems were written before I started practicing Falun Dafa; however, they were judged and reviewed according to my current understanding. Some were changed and some were excluded. Even though attachments to sentiments, for example, are to be detected in some poems, I truly believe that the poems have something to offer to non practitioners who read them. Perhaps the poetry I write today has fewer attachments than the poetry I wrote before becoming a practitioner, but it still is definitely not totally free of attachments, since I am still a cultivator.

I have the understanding that good poetry and art in general are manifestations of the Fa in the human world. Reading poetry and coming in contact with good art can awaken non-practitioners to the Fa and can give hints to practitioners about their cultivation.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please, kindly point out anything inappropriate.