Ukraine: My Trip to Help Shen Yun in Different European Cities

Hello Compassionate Master!
Hello dear fellow practitioners!

I would like to share with you my cultivation experience since the beginning of this year, it was fabulous flights in a dream and in reality.

Letter for the President of Ukraine about Shen Yun

In the first days of this New Year I saw on the Shen Yun website how many shows there would be in different cities and countries of Europe. I was very happy and wanted to invite my acquaintances and friends from these places to see the show, and also to come to one or more countries to help Master with the Shen Yun project. But at that moment, I understood that due to COVID restrictions it was unlikely to work out, since we did not vaccinate and there were unpredictable rules all the time.

One day, I shared with my husband my understanding that I feel now it is important to go to Europe, and how good it would be if all restrictions were lifted as soon as possible. Then people could freely visit theatres from other countries and cities. When I finished talking, we looked at each other, smiled and said to each other, and maybe it will be so ..., and said out loud together: “Let everything go only according to Shifu's arrangements.”

At the same time, a fellow practitioner from Kyiv wrote in our group chat that he ordered Shen Yun calendars for 2022, and suddenly a thought flashed in my mind: how nice it would be to give our president a large Shen Yun wall calendar for Chinese New Year and write him a warm message from the bottom of my heart and to send a brief explanation about Shen Yun. We wished him to open the calendar on the most difficult days and be filled with the magic and warmth of Shen Yun. His birthday and the New Year almost coincide in dates, and it turned out very harmoniously. Several fellow practitioners helped me in this important matter: they wrote a letter and cooperated with the coordinator, prepared supporting materials, and we sent everything to the president.

We also decided to send similar letters about Shen Yun to several other important people in the country. I felt that this was one of the important tasks at that stage, and it was partially completed. A couple of weeks later, we received a response from the president's office: gratitude for the gift and for the support. A couple of weeks later, the war broke out in Ukraine.

Shortly before the war and the Chinese New Year, I had a dream that there would be a big Shen Yun meeting in the USA, and many fellow practitioners and Master were waiting for us there. My husband and I were slowly packing our things, but I felt that there was a little anxiety in the environment, and I thought to myself that it was important to hurry. In the dream, I talked about this to my husband. He also felt that way, but something distracted us, especially me during the preparations... And suddenly I saw a message on the phone that Master sent two dancers after us, and they were already waiting at the entrance of our house. This text sobered me up, and we quickly packed our bags and went down to the car. After that, we were all driving together to the meeting place, and I woke up. I realised that this was an important hint from Master, and that important Dafa matters related to Shen Yun were waiting for us.

Departure to Europe

I had to go to Europe with a fellow practitioner. Shortly before leaving, while sending righteous thoughts, I felt that I needed to be in Europe at that time, and this thought did not leave me for several hours. On the same day, I talked with my husband about my trip abroad. We were 15 minutes from the border. It was winter outside, the weather was cold. I packed a small suitcase and a backpack, as well as all the necessary things. Dafa books, materials, lotus flowers, and business cards for the children's Dafa project “Lotus Fairy Tale”.

These were the first days of the war. We walked to the border, and very quickly our turn came up. When we moved to the European side, for the first time I met such bright, caring, compassionate people. These were volunteers who helped people fleeing the war. At that moment, it seemed to me that they were all practitioners, that only fellow practitioners had such open hearts and a desire to help others... We left materials about Dafa for them, and they were so grateful and did HeShi. It was very touching.

I didn’t have enough experience with English, I was a little worried about how I would communicate with people... I realised that there was no need to be afraid of anything, I went with Master and only according to his arrangements. And everything really turned out like that - it was easy, accessible, and people came up to us and helped all the time when we needed help.

When I left Ukraine, I was surprised that I didn’t have to take COVID tests or show a vaccination passport at the border, and we also had free travel everywhere throughout Europe. I thought that this was meant to support the citizens of Ukraine who are fleeing the war in order to save their lives, and this was such a good opportunity for these sentient beings to see Shen Yun in Europe. And for us, this was support from Master, because we could freely and more actively help Shen Yun.

Just a few days after my arrival in Europe, I went to see my sister, who lives in Luxembourg. I felt a lot of pressure at that place. I searched this country for practitioners, but there were none. I went to the park or the waterfront to do the exercises by myself, sent righteous thoughts, and studied the Fa online in a group and on my own. After several days I wanted to escape from there, because it was very difficult both mentally and physically, the pressure was from all sides.

When I lived with my husband in Kyiv, we had our usual schedule for work and Dafa affairs, and when I got into a new space with new conditions, with a noisy lifestyle (the TV was turned on at full volume, it prevented me from concentrating), and I had to spend a lot of time in parks, to support my daily Fa study. I realised that the external picture is generated by the heart and the time had come to renounce many attachments. I started to look deeply into the root of this issue and comprehended one principle, that if struggle, rivalry, a feeling of envy are deeply stored in me, that means that I attach more importance to this and feed the demon nature with my precious energy, and thanks to all these external manifestations, people, through relatives, through TV, showed me that even being in a calm country, they struck me so hard and painfully that sometimes, although it could be bombs that drop in a troubled area, they are, however, much calmer than my unclean internal matters... As soon as I extinguished the intense emotion in myself, my sister became soft and accommodating, but if at the micro level I had feelings of validating myself or thinking about someone disrespectfully, I immediately saw it reflected on the faces of relatives. I realised that I was littered with various external messages and fears for the future, the fear of losing face, and suspiciousness periodically manifested itself: why am I here, no one understands me. Self-pity showed up. Familiar conditions and comfort were absent…

Apparently, the moment for me to show real truth, endurance and proof of integrity has come for me. During difficult and uncomfortable conditions, every microthought is checked for righteousness and devotion, how pure I am in front of Dafa and Master, in front of fellow practitioners with whom we came together to do incredibly important things ... When I realised that it is important to remember the main and basic principle - there is Master, there is Dafa, and everything that I have, it all belongs to the Creator. And how much is due to me and what is planned for me - this is only known to Him. After these reflections, many soap bubbles burst, external messages disappeared, and only the basis of Dafa and my important mission to fulfill here with the Creator remained.

Master said in “The Cosmic Orbit” The Eighth Talk in Zhuan Falun: “Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.” 

After a while, I got a call from a fellow practitioner from a neighbouring country who offered support and the opportunity to come to their city and spend some time with fellow practitioners. I realised this is support from Master. And I went to them. When I entered the environment of families of fellow Dafa practitioners with children, I felt so warm and like at home. I felt the principle of Dafa's righteous energy field even more deeply. I spent a lot of time with the children of fellow practitioners, and when I talked with them, I understood how much light and pure energy they had. It also helped me cleanse myself of adult imposed notions that sometimes interfere with doing simple and lofty deeds.

From that moment, my active assistance in participating in the Shen Yun project in Europe began.

The first city with my participation was Ludwigsburg in Germany

On the way to Europe, we stayed overnight at a fellow practitioner’s home, and I shared with her that my coming to Europe was to help Shen Yun, I did not come here as a refugee, I had the opportunity to support myself for a few months, and I understood that if I submitted documents with so many people who have arrived, it would not be easy nor quick to get support, and this could take my attention and time away from what is important and basic.

I told one of the local fellow practitioners that I was ready to be where help was needed. I didn’t get a definite answer, so I just let go of any expectations. And suddenly at night I received a text message from her: “Can you be in such and such a city tomorrow close to dinnertime?” Of course, I said: “Yes!” in my mind. But due to the fact that I still didn’t quite navigate the new place and the train schedule, I felt uncomfortable somewhere, but I immediately removed these thoughts and started looking at train options and realised that it was not far and, in principle, easy. I replied to a fellow practitioner that “I will be there tomorrow afternoon.” When I got on the first train, I felt manifestations of sickness karma, my head began to spin and ache. All the way, I listened to a Dafa lecture and sent forth righteous thoughts. When I arrived in a neighbouring city, I felt a little better. I was sent to one of the groups, where I helped guard the equipment in the auditorium.

I felt the pressure again at times. So I sent forth righteous thoughts, and this sticky matter was purified. It was good that we studied the Fa in our team, and during breaks we did the exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts. This energy was unusual.

At the same time, my xinxing was tested for righteousness: when I first arrived at the theatre and entered the room, I felt several unfriendly glances in my direction. Later it turned out that they were fellow practitioners who had been living in Europe for a long time, but had left there earlier from post-USSR countries. I realised that the current situation with the war in Ukraine had exposed many different kinds of hearts, and this also affected many fellow practitioners who did not work through some of their old information and notions ... I realised that Master showed me a reflection in the mirror, that there is a positive light side - the Buddha nature - and the still not purified side of envy and anger, which refers to demon nature.

I understood that I don’t need to sort things out with anyone, and I don’t need to defend my opinion, and not follow provocations from the outside. I thought that this is not why I came here, I don’t want to fight with anyone, neither to affirm myself, nor to put myself above someone else. All this is superfluous, since today's time is very valuable and precious, and it is important to fill myself with only positive energies, and thoughts, to remain and be modest, to treat everyone with consideration. Especially if this is a fellow practitioner who is now suffering from some part of the karma or he/she is undergoing a transformation and this manifests in the form of human emotions. I am Master’s disciple, this time is given to me, so that with a pure heart and thoughts, being among the Gods, I can help to fulfill the most important and basic thing: the salvation of sentient beings. And if even a drop of negativity is added to the One Body, then it is reflected in the whole process, and a hindrance is already created. Therefore, in order not to be swayed by any interference, I constantly listened to the audio Fa lectures or Pudu music.

When the tour in this city ended, I noticed how my fellow practitioners, who initially greeted me with a disapproving look, changed for the better. When I was returning on the train, I realised that I had improved, and Master gave me the opportunity to see my purified reflection in the mirror. I thank every fellow practitioner who was there and helped me to go through this extraordinary path of transformation from the old, dirty to the new and clean.

Graz (Austria)

The next city where I was invited to help with Shen Yun was in Austria. A fellow practitioner from Germany said that there were not enough people who could help in the kitchen. Since I already had experience, but in a different direction, it was a little exciting: I didn’t quite understand what needed to be done, but I was ready to work and do everything necessary. One fellow practitioner with whom we lived in the house, shared with me that she once worked in the kitchen, and told me: “working in the kitchen is very difficult: you are always on your feet and there is no time for anything.” It didn’t scare me. Other fellow practitioners who were on the buffet team said that I would need to help in the theatre at the buffet, and there would be nothing difficult: I needed to wipe the tables, keep them clean, replenish the dishes, everything else would be prompted to me. When I approached the theatre, they gave me a special uniform. It was very solemn. When I put it on, I felt that now I’m in a new circumstance with the new role, and was open to learning a new profession. In this theatre, we were given a small room in which the tables were comfortably set up. In this place, the Shen Yun troupe dined.

I tried to fulfill all the requests and wishes of my coordinator, we were 3 fellow practitioners and from time to time another fellow practitioner helped us. We did everything necessary in one breath and supported each other. It was necessary to constantly do something, there was a lot of work: to arrange drinks, to receive and put new products in their places (in the fridge, on the dessert table), some of the dishes had to be washed, to take dishes for lunch and dinner, to arrange them on the tables, to replenish what was running out after dinner or lunch was over. It was necessary to collect food for the staff separately in the boxes. Everything had to be done quickly and on time, while being easy, affordable and flexible. For me it was a tremendous experience, I learned from each fellow practitioner and took examples from them how to interact with each other easily, with a positive mood. I saw fellow practitioners' complete dedication to their work. Unforeseen circumstances constantly arose and everything had to be done correctly and excellently. I was inspired by this atmosphere and accepted important positive things for my xinxing. When rather difficult questions arose, the reactions of fellow practitioners were: everything that seems impossible, fix it and solve it silently. To complete a task, don't step aside or say, "I don't know how to do this or it's not my responsibility."

I realised that all reactions like: “I have nothing to do with it” or “I have my own tasks”, feelings of self-pity, feelings of protection and self-validation are all habits from the old universe and that I no longer want to allow this in my own space and reality. The right move is to think about others and help each other and understand each other. The surest key is to completely get rid of selfishness. Then the ship will sail easily and only righteous principles will act in the New Universe.

Paris, (France)

In the first days of the New Year, I had another dream: I was flying to Paris, instead of my city. Leaving the airport, I headed in the opposite direction from the rest of the passengers. Passing a short segment of the path, I ended up in the basement of some ancient building, and it was very familiar to me. It turned out to be the Opera House in Paris. I met dancers and musicians in this theatre and I realised that this is Shen Yun's troupe now in this theatre. A theatre representative approached me to give me a tour. When I walked through the corridors and halls in the distance, I saw how the artists were warming up before the performance, and also saw near the service entrance and near the stage familiar faces of fellow practitioners who were carrying suitcases with the equipment, scenery and costumes. And Shifu was there. In the buffet of the theatre I was treated to tea. I was so happy that for a moment I went into a fairy tale and met so many dear people. After the tour, going out into the street, I met my sister and her husband, who also accidentally flew to Paris instead of their city. At the same moment in the same dream, I thought that this is such an important chance - to get to Paris, and how important it is to go to the show. Suddenly, tickets appeared in my hands. 

The next day, my sister and I phoned and congratulated each other on the New Year holiday, and she told me: “I want to buy tickets for Shen Yun, we received a booklet and a poster for the near future by mail.” I had to pause for a few seconds, I remembered yesterday's dream and realised that Master was giving me hints and support for the umpteenth time so that I could take care of my relatives who want to see Shen Yun. But how to do this? I did not understand at that time.

In the spring, when I was already in Europe with my sister, I asked her: “When and where would you like to see the Shen Yun show? They are currently touring many countries and cities.” She asked: “Will there be a performance in Luxembourg?” Looking at the schedule, I did not find performances in this country. So they chose Paris. A month before the performance, I bought tickets for the show and we booked a hotel. I asked her to sort out the issue of train tickets to Paris. The day before leaving for Paris, I came to their home so we could go to the show together. It was a day off, all train tickets were sold out, only expensive tickets remained on sale. I understood that there would be trials for them and for me. I also understood that there is always a way out of any situation, the main thing is to keep the most righteous heart. This was a test for profit, for cunning, and testing the purity of their hearts. At the railway ticket office there were tickets for lunchtime, we could just arrive at the beginning of the performance. But my sister didn't want to come so late. At that moment, her husband joined in. He could not understand how it was possible to buy performance tickets, book a hotel, buy tickets to Versailles for a tour, but not buy the main train tickets to Paris. I understood that this was both a hindrance, and at the same time, we were in the process of cultivation.

We could go by car, and I understood that going by car would be the best solution. But they weren't really ready for it. An offer was received by my sister's husband - to go to a neighbouring city in France and try to find earlier tickets there. Arriving in this city, we found tickets for an early train, but the cost was very high. My sister decided to try to go as a refugee from Ukraine, so as not to pay the cost of the ticket. This made me feel a little uneasy, since she had left to live in Europe before the war, and that would have been dishonest. Especially when we go to such a sacred place. And with such inappropriate actions, it was simply unacceptable. I mentally turned to Master: “What should we do, because this is not true, Shifu, please tell me how to be?” And suddenly my sister's husband said: "Let's go by car, this is the best solution, everything will be fine with us." 

I thanked Master that the situation was resolved so quickly. 

Master said in “2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.”:“Dafa disciples aren’t the only ones “cultivating” or working on themselves; others are doing the same, in a sense. They are being tempered as well. As people lead their lives and go about their jobs, wherever they may be, and deal with things, think about things, and act in this world, they are all making choices—in the contest between good and evil—that will impact their future.” 

Before the performance, my sister's eyes became very red, her husband's head began to hurt, and I realised that they had begun to cleanse. I sent forth righteous thoughts. We watched the performance in its entirety, they were very happy and grateful that they came to the show and they liked everything. When we returned home, they realised that the road was not so difficult and that the trip by car was the right decision. They also shared with their friends, acquaintances and relatives about the trip to the show. 

Master said in “Fa Teaching at the 2019 New York Fa Conference”:“The strength of Shen Yun’s product has earned it worldwide recognition; that is why people think so highly of it. People are talking about it out in public as well as at home with their families, and this kind of snowball effect is real. When you tell your friends something is good, they’ll know you mean it. And the same goes for what you tell your family. So people trust what’s being said. Advertisements can’t achieve that kind of effect. So the number of people who want to see Shen Yun is continuing to grow.” 

All this is very unusual and majestic! This situation once again inspired and reminded me that Master's disciples have superpowers at a very subtle level, and people close to us, relatives, colleagues, friends, neighbours - all have a chance to be saved. The main thing is to remember and understand every hint from Master, and live with faith in Dafa and Master, help sentient beings, give them a hand and guide them to the righteous path.

Switzerland/Austria

A couple of days after the trip to Paris, I received a message that in Bregenz (Austria) they really needed support with the distribution of booklets. I was free and immediately went there. On the same evening, other practitioners and I were at the theatre in Bregenz, distributing booklets to theatre-goers. I thought about what language to communicate with them, because they mostly all speak German. A fellow practitioner told me that they can pass out booklets and speak English, this is not a problem, because the troupe is from the United States and for many people it is nice that they come from other countries, so do not worry, it will also be clear, especially the booklets in German. Yes, it was. I handed out booklets non-stop. Theatre-goers were mostly adults and I could feel the abundance of De in them and creative fullness in their eyes. They were so familiar and close to me, I have never felt such gratitude and expectation from people who received the Shen Yun booklet from me. I understood that if for some reason these people do not have time to attend the performance this time, they will definitely come next time. I was a little surprised that in many European cities where Shen Yun's performance takes place, for some reason there are no performance posters; this tool is very effective for many theater-goers, and even for those tourists who are temporarily in this city and were near the theatre, they can find a performance they are interested in and even stay one day longer to see it, since I myself have been working in the field of theatre and cinema for many years.

The next morning, we agreed that we needed to deliver booklets to certain addresses in a small town in Switzerland. I did it for the first time. I had a map with addresses in my hands, but since I didn’t know this area yet, I had to memorise houses, streets, so as not to return for the second round. These days it was very hot outside. But I did not feel the heat and fatigue, I carried the booklets with such joy and gratitude. In every letterbox that I put a booklet, I silently said “Falun Dafa Hao”, “Zhen Shan Ren Hao”, “This is what you are looking for, we are waiting for you at the show”. During these two days we distributed a lot of materials.

I am very grateful to fellow practitioners who directed me to where support was needed. Apparently, people predestined by fate were waiting for me there. This time I was assigned to the kitchen - exactly where the work was going on almost non-stop and you had to be very collected and dedicated to this work. And pure as jade. I put on my uniform, changed clothes, and went over to a fellow practitioner to accept tasks. It was necessary to listen about the task and unconditionally fulfill it. 

We were joined by a few other fellow practitioners from Ukraine. It was easier for us to coordinate among ourselves, and we periodically shared experiences and understood self-improvement. It helped us to be "at ease". But at some point, I felt that we were very different in our behaviour compared to fellow practitioners from China and from Europe. I became a little uncomfortable, and I began to work on clearing the show off attachment, the feelings of joy, and the state of comparison and evaluation of “who of us is better and who is worse”. I felt that this is not exactly righteous energy in our practitioners’ energy field.

We helped in the kitchen with everything: cut vegetables, fruit, as well as other products and helped with the preparation of dough for dessert. Very often it was necessary to wash and wipe dry the dishes with your hands. We alternated among ourselves. In fact, I didn't feel very tired. Sometimes it was hot and I wanted to go out into the fresh air for a couple of minutes.

The next day, another fellow practitioner from Switzerland joined us. As I understood, she was instructed to cut fruit. Suddenly, before lunch hour, a fellow practitioner, who kept track of the time and readiness of the dishes, came up to me and asked: “Is all the fruit cut and ready?” To which I replied: “Yes.” And then I realised that I probably got too excited with such a confident answer. I decided to go to the room where the fruit was kept and check what kind of fruit was available. And I saw that only watermelon was cut. I approached a fellow practitioner from the buffet to inform her and clarify what else needs to be cut? And when she gave a list of fruit, we quickly prepared them for cutting, and when we cut them and put them on trays, a fellow practitioner came up to us and asked if we were all right and was the fruit ready for lunch? At this point, an interesting dialogue took place regarding yin and yang. The fruit on the tray turned out to be all the same color in a yellow palette. A fellow practitioner began to share the understanding that it is important to stick to yin and yang - and to keep the golden mean. He drew my attention to the fact that a lot of yellow is the color of yang. He asked if there was more fruit to dilute the colors and flavors. At that moment, I felt that Master was helping me pay attention to yin and yang through his mouth. I realised that if I was shown this picture, it meant that I have more yang than yin, and it is really important to remember and maintain the golden mean from details to larger and larger deeds and circumstances. At some second after this situation, I felt great pity for myself, that “here I work in the kitchen for the first time, I came to help, and I have global tasks in front of me, I was not ready to take responsibility and make decisions about what fruit there should be, in what volume and how they should have been served. I was ready to help and learn this. 

I discovered these emotions of self-pity, as well as condemnation and accusation, I realised that this was not righteous and right now I needed to change the direction of my thoughts, to clear myself of all this. While I was in the process of improving my xinxing, I did not notice how a Vietnamese fellow practitioner silently approached the table and began to quickly cut fruit of different colors and flavors. I joined her to help and within 10-15 minutes the trays were beautifully and harmoniously decorated. I understood the principle - how to do things unconditionally and quietly.

Master said in “Be More Diligent,”: “All of the many amazing things that you are doing in the course of validating the Fa are being recorded in this chapter of the cosmos’s history, with nothing pertaining to even a single disciple being omitted. However, if you are focused on the superficial, ordinary human things, then you are attached and are using human thinking. Don’t give weight to such things. If you can manage to quietly complete what you notice is lacking, quietly do well what you should do, and quietly do something well when you find it to have been done less than ideally, then the multitude of gods will have tremendous admiration for you and exclaim that this person is simply extraordinary. Only doing things this way counts as what a Dafa disciple should do.”

After this trip, I realised that these were five happy days filled with all kinds of trials, upliftment, wisdom, support, new meetings with fellow practitioners and sentient beings who have been waiting for many millions of years to learn about Dafa.

Thanks to Master for such a great opportunity to manifest fabulous dreams into a fabulous reality.

Thank you fellow practitioners for trusting me to do Dafa work together.
Thank you all for listening to this experience.

 

(Submitted to the European Fa-conference 2022 in Warsaw)