(Clearwisdom.net) Some fellow practitioners may think that there is no relationship between
"Disintegrating Communist Party Culture" and the "Worldwide Chinese Dance Competition." I would like to share some discussion and understanding between several practitioners and myself about these two activities and their intrinsic relationship.
"Disintegrating Communist Party Culture" is the name of the second commentary of The Epoch Times publication Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. When the Nine Commentaries was first published, it sent a shock wave throughout society as well as among Falun Gong practitioners. Many practitioners read the Nine Commentaries over and over, in addition to Dafa books. They also watched the NTDTV video broadcast on the Nine Commentaries. After reading it several times, my mind suddenly felt open and clear.
I also knew in the past that the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was no good, but I could not pin down the exact specifics. I found myself lacking in wisdom and at a loss for even proper words to describe my feelings. Even the examples I found were still superficial and not zeroing in on the main issues. After I read the Nine Commentaries, I not only realized its evil nature and saw through its deeply seated evilness, but this realization also made me feel a new kind of freedom and relaxation I had never experienced before. The Epoch Times eventually published the second commentary, "Disintegrating Communist Party Culture." I also felt that I should read it, but when I just started reading, some notion made me stop. A mental barrier prevented me from reading the whole article. Some personal events also emerged to interfere. So every time I picked up the article, I stopped reading before finishing the introduction. Gradually, I did no longer even wanted to read it. Now looking back, I think it was the effect of hidden and deep residue of the "Communist Party Culture" in my thoughts.
Once I heard that the Sound of Hope Radio was broadcasting "Disintegrating Communist Party Culture" I found a desire to listen to the radio program. This may have been because reading the Nine Commentaries had opened a window in my mind, or it could be due to Master's compassionate hint. Initially I encountered much interference. Sometimes after listening to a long section, I did not seem to hear anything. I thought it was the old forces' interference, but now I realized there was some thought karma in my mind, left over from the evil Party culture. I solidified my righteous thoughts and forced myself to keep listening. During the process I experienced magical mental changes. My thoughts became clearer, and the more I listened, the more I liked it. When the narrator completed one chapter and moved on to the next, I found myself reading the broadcast script in my hands while listening. Many sentences in the article were seemly planted in my brain. I could memorize some sentences after reading/listening once.
Culture is a kind of shapeless matter, yet it is a "material" existing in our thoughts all the time. I felt it was somewhat similar to emotions that some cultivators still harbor. We are all soaked in some kind of cultural atmosphere. Some are the same, some different, good, bad, pure and impure. Culture directly influences our thoughts and our ways of thinking. But culture is also different from emotion. Good, pure and righteous culture can direct people to improve their moral values and correct their conduct. On the other hand, bad, impure culture will pervert people's moral values, deviate their thoughts and confuse their normal family relationships. Some forces with dark motives can even utilize the culture to reach a more economical, more rapid and more solid effect than even a major and expensive war could have brought. Since the culture possesses such magical power, the CCP will not pass on the opportunity to use it. Thus, starting from remolding people's ideology, transforming words and writing, creating CCP's Red Revolutionary Art, and after violently destroying people's righteous and traditional culture formed in peoples' minds over thousands of years, the CCP used its created culture to fill peoples' minds. The CCP's plan is to comprehensively control peoples' thoughts and behavior and use them to the CCP's advantage.
We Dafa cultivators cannot reach consummation with even a tiny bit of the Party culture. We must completely cleanse all factors of the Party culture in ourselves. Chinese practitioners in particular have been soaked in this Party culture since birth. Everyone's mind was poisoned under mandatory brainwashing before he realized it. Some practitioners said the reason Russia got into today's situation is because the Communist Party culture still plays a role, although Russia became a democracy on the surface. In reality, the Russians have not eliminated the Communist Party culture from their minds. What about Eastern Germany, a European democracy? It's also the same situation. Remnants of the Communist Party culture are still influencing people's thinking in the former East Germany on a deep level. On the surface, the East Germans are under a democracy and have freedom of thought. But this is not the reality. Some Dafa practitioners who live in the eastern part of Germany feel that handing out flyers and clarifying the facts are very difficult. Many East Germans have directly said that they would rather not talk about politics, the persecution and human rights. Do they really not want to talk? Are they really not interested in such topics? I personally believe that deep in their minds, they still have fear left over from the influence of the Communist Party culture, because for many East Germans, that period of history is very hard to forget.
To completely disintegrate the evil Party's culture in our minds, reading the Nine Commentaries alone is not enough. I sincerely call for all fellow practitioners who have not read or listened to "Disintegrating Communist Party Culture" to please read or listen to it. I personally think that this might also be a requirement during the Fa-rectification. Only after we completely eliminate the Party culture can all Dafa practitioners accomplish the huge task of rescuing sentient beings and helping Master in Fa-rectification with pure hearts.
After so much of the discussion about Communist Party culture, I would now like to talk about my understanding of the Worldwide Chinese Dance Competition. As soon as I thought of the dance competition, I immediately recalled the ticket selling process for the Global Chinese New Year's Spectacular. At the beginning, from either my personal cultivation angle or my understanding on the Fa's perspective, I could not make a connection between ticket sales, and validation of the Fa and rescuing sentient beings. Because I did not see the importance for ticket sales and did not realize the significance from the Fa, I missed the most precious time and chance for the ticket sale. Later on I improved my understanding, but the time left was short. I believe that many other practitioners had a similar experience. Many practitioners recalled this period and expressed their regrets. However, I had not learned from past lessons when the competition was announced this time. I made the same mistake from my understanding. When I first heard about the dance competition, my immediate reaction was that this event is too far from my expertise and knowledge, and I had no idea what to do and what to say to people. So I put it aside and no longer thought about it.
Later, Master's lecture was published. The sentence I best remember is,
"I don't want to explain it in full this early on, as this way we will leave ourselves something good to talk about later." ("Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference")
This sentence let me feel Master's compassion. Master also gave us another chance to understand the Fa and improve our cultivation. But I still could not fully appreciate Master's compassion. Not only did I fail to take immediate action to rescue sentient beings, but my post-natal acquired notions made me miss several opportunities. Finally, the dance competition's time was delayed. Did we who were not diligent enough cause this? Is this not closely related to the state of our personal cultivation? Some practitioners aware of the significance said that many other practitioners were not interested. They appeared aloof. I believe that the reason for this happening is that many of us still do not know what we should do.
Actually, at the 2007 New York conference, Master had taught those practitioners who were unfamiliar with the arts some important and basic knowledge. Master spent ample time explaining Chinese dance and repeatedly spoke of a future Chinese New Year's Gala. All those messages serve the hints for how and why this dance competition should happen. Master's words are Fa principles, and behind the words are profound meanings and room for practitioners to improve. We should read the new lectures and think about this deeply. This is the prerequisite for promoting the dance competition and walking a righteous path with righteous thoughts.
I think everyone may see my thinking by now. Dance is a cultural expression. The CCP has destroyed traditional culture over the years, and of course they had eradicated traditional dance. Everyone is aware of the rapid advancement of the Fa-rectification. Many people have commented about catching up with the Fa-rectification development. We now have an opportunity to correct the essence of Chinese dance that the CCP has severely damaged. We also have an opportunity to disintegrate the evil in the cultural realm, and to rescue sentient beings. Are those not tasks that are requirements of the Fa-rectification progress?
This is my thinking right now: When the persecution began in 1999, Dafa practitioners started a lasting battle with the old forces in the visible space by displaying information at their booths, distributing flyers, and clarifying the facts to governments and the general public. Now, along with the fast progress of Fa-rectification making breakthroughs towards the superficial space, the battle has escalated to the invisible level of spirit and culture. This may be the last level on which we will completely eliminate the old forces. Thus the real significance of the dance competition is far greater than a professionally choreographed competition. It should also be an inevitable process brought by the mighty current of the Fa-rectification. As Dafa practitioners, we should give our best effort and not fall short of meeting Master's expectations, so as not to have regrets in the future.
What I have written is my personal understanding. Many thoughts and feelings are hard to describe with human language. Some of the ideas expressed may not be correct. Please point out my shortcomings as you see them.