(Minghui.org) A couple of years ago while I was watching Shen Yun in New York, I had a very powerful experience that helped me understand why Shen Yun is so important and why removing attachments is critical for Dafa disciples.
Before the show started, I remember reflecting on all my attachments and how I felt they were too strong for me to overcome–things like lust and desire, comfort, and timidness. I felt a huge weight on me from all of these attachments. The moment the curtains opened, I suddenly felt my body becoming light and my mind clearing. I sat there, eager to simply take in the sights and sounds of Shen Yun. As soon as the dancers started to move, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and wonder. Tears streamed down my face.
I felt all my attachments getting pushed away as if they were nothing, with a deep, wonderful feeling flowing throughout my body. With my celestial eye, I saw Master in the image of a Buddha behind the dancers and as large as the entire stage. He looked exactly like the statue that a practitioner made of Master, holding one palm upright and with a light smile on his face with his eyes full of compassion. As the dancers performed, I saw heavenly maidens in another dimension floating above the audience members and casting flowers on and all around them. More and more flowers landed on those who were more moved by what they were seeing.
At this moment, a brilliant golden light opened up on stage in front of Master, and inside the light I saw a golden gate. The heavenly maidens then reached out and led the audience members who were able to be saved into the golden light. I realized the light was the gate into heaven and that these people were being saved and led into heaven. After I saw the last of the audience members go through the light, I saw Master slowly step forward, offering his hand to his disciples.
I suddenly found myself getting up from my seat and walking up to Master with no thoughts in my mind. The scene was so real that I wasn’t aware of my physical body sitting in the seat at the theater. Without having any second thoughts, or any thoughts at all, I simply said, “Yes, I will go with you.” I then walked with Master while holding his hand without even wanting to look back or even caring what would happen in the human world in my absence. I didn't have any thoughts except “I want to go with Master.”
As I started to walk into the light with Master, everything started to fade away along with my clear mind and wonderful feeling in my body. I then realized that I was sitting in my chair watching Shen Yun.
Throughout the rest of the performance, I still saw a few scenes in other dimensions. During the phoenix dance, I saw a giant phoenix flying around the stage. During the male dances, I saw male Fa-guardian Gods standing on stage and many Falun being sent out. I saw Master behind the orchestra conductor and many righteous Gods behind all the musicians. As the audience heard the music, it healed their bodies on a deeper level and allowed them to hear the most heavenly sounds one can possibly hear as a human being.
After a few performances, all of the scenes in other dimensions faded away, and I started to feel all my human thoughts and attachments come back. Once again, they seemed too big for me to overcome. However, my thinking changed after this experience. I started to realize that no matter how big our attachments seem, they are really nothing. Although I still sometimes think I'll never break free of them, I realize that we still have human thinking because we wouldn't be able to cultivate otherwise, so we just need to be more and more diligent in our thoughts and actions.
After everything was over, a passage from one of Master’s Fa lectures came to my mind:
“To prevent you from slipping downward, as long as the part of you that hasn’t yet been fully cultivated is maintained among everyday people and the part that is cultivated remains untouched, none of your behavior will interfere with your mind or your body over there. That’s why they’re separated. That is the method we’ve adopted. Not only can you work, study, and live among everyday people, it also means you can cultivate. The consummated parts of you are continually being separated. Some people have said that their minds still have bad thoughts coming up and even filthier ones. Don’t be afraid. That’s because your cultivation hasn’t reached the surface. But you should still repress and reject them, for that is exactly what cultivation is. On the other hand, even if only a tiny bit, even if one cell of the human body had reached a realm beyond the Three Realms (one becomes an Arhat when the Three Realms is surpassed, so the cell reaches the realm of Arhat), it would dominate your entire body, so it’d be even more so when a large portion of your body had been fully cultivated. That’s because the rest of your body would be in the Three Realms and weak, whereas that cell is a high-level life and strong. So it would dominate your entire mind, and your speech and conduct wouldn’t be human—they’d be divine.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe)
From my understanding, I believe Master unlocked–for just a few seconds–a cell in my body that was able to take complete control of my actions and thoughts. In that moment, everything became crystal clear, and any attachments were small and insignificant. It was such a wonderful experience that I really had to force myself not to get attached to anything I felt or saw, since I am still a human experiencing things.
From my understanding, Shen Yun is connecting with people’s true selves, and though the audience may not realize it, in other dimensions they are being brought into heaven. Once Master’s Fa-rectification is over, the gate will be closed and the sentient beings will have no more opportunities to be saved.
I hope we can all aspire to save as many people as we can before the closure of Heaven's gates, as everyone came to obtain the Fa and we are their only hope of salvation.
I would like to end my sharing with Master’s poem, “Watching Shen Yun” from Hong Yin III:
The curtain opens, and there is paradiseDeities, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, auspicious cloudsGrand instruments begin the divine musicRibbons fluttering, heavenly maidens danceVajras, Arhats, and celestial Kings are presentThe backdrop is rainbow-like, the momentum majesticMerciful light of Fa melts the audience’s heartsA powerful energy field, 5,000 stunned eyesIt feels more like a dream than a showIt’s a realm where divine beings are right besidePeople feel grateful for the trip, as if just savedHaving to wait for next year’s show seems so hard
Thank you, Master, and thank you, fellow cultivators. I just want to remind others that this is only what I experienced at my level and that we should all take lightly what others have seen in other dimensions. Please kindly point it out if anything in my understanding is not in accordance with the Fa.