Leaps of Faith

Venerable Master,
Fellow practitioners,

It is with pleasure, yet not without personal effort, that I write this sharing. I have benefited greatly from listening to others share their experiences at past European Fa conferences—sometimes I was moved to tears—yet I have always felt that I had nothing interesting enough to share. That was until I looked within and realized that this was a very selfish attitude, consistent with my selfish way of viewing life.

I first encountered Falun Dafa around 2005 through some housemates. My girlfriend at the time, now my wife, was immediately interested in it and began practicing. It took me several years, but eventually, on my wedding day, June 10, 2012, I told my wife that I wanted to read Zhuan Falun with her.

From that day on, my life was never the same. Within a few months, I managed to give up my unhealthy habits and vices. The benefits I received from studying the teachings were more visible in my character than physical—I had always been healthy.

I started to consider many of my behaviors, which I used to view as normal or even virtuous, from a different perspective. For the first time in my life, I felt that I had found precious guidance. I had always been very spiritual, yet I had always been convinced there were no paths that would work for everyone. Most religions followed by the masses were, after all, designed for the masses, and as such, they could never have guided me and my inner feelings.

At first, reading Zhuan Falun felt difficult, but my wife encouraged me to persevere. After a few weeks, I realized that what was holding me back was a layer of black substance accumulated over many years of living in ordinary society. Once I was able to break that barrier, I found incredible peace and a sense of wholeness in the reading. Master said: “Moreover, it is not an easy thing if one wants to cultivate. I have said that this is a very serious matter. It is something beyond everyday people and more difficult than anything of everyday people. Isn’t it supernatural? Therefore, the requirement for you is higher than any matter of everyday people.” (Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun)

Over the years, I also participated in some truth-clarification activities. This, too, wasn’t easy at first, as I did not quite know what to say, and I feared saying something wrong, something that might drive people away from Dafa. Regularly reading the book and Master’s jingwens made me realize how valuable this opportunity to improve my xinxing was. Master asked us to assist him in saving sentient beings, and this is a precious task for all Dafa disciples.

Cultivating Within the Shen Yun Project

The first time I saw Shen Yun, I was not a practitioner yet. Shen Yun was coming to Florence, our city, for two performances, and my wife was helping with the promotion. I remember that they hadn’t sold all the tickets. I recall my wife’s tears, and that the show was an incredible experience for me. During the performance, I felt like I was being transported to distant lands, to discover a glorious past and civilization.

In the following years, the only Italian city Shen Yun performed in was Milan, one of the largest cities. The thought behind this choice was that the people there were more likely to appreciate this type of show. For those events, I helped with the promotion. I remember the difficulties we faced in selling the tickets and filling the theatre for a three-day run. I was a relatively new practitioner back then, but I still recall the behavior of some of the other practitioners. Those memories helped me later on, when I became more involved in the promotion.

I first became actively involved in the project in 2015, and I clearly remember the difficulties right from the start. Our daughter was just over a year old. At the time, I didn’t fully understand my wife’s determination and felt she was neglecting her duties as a mother. On a personal level, even wearing a formal suit was a struggle for me. I had avoided formal clothes all my life, but now I had to wear them in order to pitch the show to theatres and at corporate events. Thankfully, the group study sessions were incredibly helpful. In a relatively short period of time, I managed to overcome my fear of losing face and moved past my perceived sense of injustice.

I was once part of the security team at one of the shows in Milan when somebody came to tell me that the company urgently needed someone who could speak English and rushed me backstage. The performance was about to start. It was pitch black, with only a few blue lights and a single red one. In a rush, I was told what to do—a “very easy” task: hold up a drape in the center of the stage, right behind the curtain, to prevent smoke from drifting through the central opening, which would have spoiled the surprise for the audience. It seemed simple enough, except for the fact that I was standing in the middle of the stage; the dancers behind me were sending forth righteous thoughts before the curtain rose; and hundreds of people were chatting while taking their seats, before me. At the orchestra’s gong, I was to drop the drape on the floor and dash quickly through the smoke to the side of the stage. My heart was pounding, and my legs were shaking, and yet, I could sense a great force supporting me—the very same force I would come to know so well in the years ahead. Master said in 20th Anniversary Fa Teaching: “No show put on by human beings today can compare. Of course there’s no comparison, for as you know there are divine beings on the stage helping the performers and it can bring people salvation. Who could match that? Nobody can. And moreover, it is Dafa disciples who are performing, and the performers’ skills are in and of themselves world-class.”

Years went by, and I continued to participate in the project, constantly facing my attachments to comfort, the fear of losing face, and self-interest. In 2018, I was offered the chance to work backstage in my hometown, Florence. By then, however, I knew that the offer meant I should do it. I had come to realize that the more daunting a task seemed, the greater the benefit derived from it. I then learned to welcome all opportunities.

By then, two more things had become clear to me: the first was that when we are offered a task, we cannot always make sense of it right away. I rarely understood what was happening straight away, but everything became clear at the end. I often made the mistake of relying on human notions to process things, and it never worked. It is Master who guides us. We just need to be diligent and align ourselves with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The second lesson I learned was that I cannot plan everything; the best strategy to prepare for a change is to keep an open mind, remember that nothing is impossible, and put my heart into it.

In 2018, I threw myself into assisting Shen Yun backstage, without knowing what to expect. In hindsight, what helped me most during those challenging moments was the extraordinary kindness of the production team. Despite having to work against a tight schedule, in theatres that were not completely suitable for the performance’s needs, and having to face a myriad of obstacles, they always managed to remain calm and find solutions.

That experience still felt traumatic. Over many nights afterward, in my dreams, I kept hearing my name—“Giordano!”—shouted hundreds of times in that American accent. It was 24 hours of immense pressure, trying to piece everything together in a foreign language filled with technical terms I didn’t understand, all while managing many other tasks around the performance, such as unloading, setup, rehearsals, teardown, and reloading. The night before the show, I couldn’t sleep, and when I finally hit a bed, 48 hours later, I collapsed, overcome by exhaustion and happiness. I knew I had given it my all. The struggle I’d endured stemmed from battling my own attachments—attachments that had been worn down even more than I had.

Since then, I have been supporting Shen Yun’s numerous performances across Italy. Those once-incomprehensible technical terms gradually became familiar, and I was able to fully understand their meanings and use them. I have learned so much and had the privilege of working in some of Italy’s most prestigious theatres, contributing, even though in a small way, to the show’s success and to the salvation of tens of thousands of people.

I have always enjoyed manual work, so this was naturally the right position for me. I hadn’t realized it before, but it then became clear. I grew up in a family of carpenters where, from a young age, my brother and I learned how to build wooden structures and other things by watching our grandparents and father. I then spent time abroad, where I acquired the English skills that I needed to communicate with Shen Yun’s company. Everything fell into place, within this predestined path, after I said “yes.”

To this day, Shen Yun remains an incredible opportunity for cultivation and growth for me. Not only does it bring my attachments to the surface, it also grants me the great opportunity to fulfill my ancient vow to assist Master. Today, I look back, with compassion, at all the times I complained, during those early years. Those moments exposed my arrogance and selfishness. I remember getting angry because I wasn’t eating or sleeping enough, and I recall how the company members helped me see myself through their actions.

In 2020, the CCP virus brought all activities to a halt. It was a very strange time for me, yet still full of opportunities for self-improvement. That year, some dates in the Italian tour were cancelled, and I vividly recall the hard work of the ticketing team, who had to call audience members one by one to offer a refund or a ticket exchange, ensuring that disruptions didn’t cause them to miss out on their opportunity to be saved.

Many chose to hold on to their tickets throughout the pandemic, right up until the spring of 2022, when the shows were able to resume. In Italy, the theatre season usually ends in March, but that year the tour was scheduled to begin in May—raising concerns about the high temperatures in the venues without air conditioning. This was the case in Florence, where Shen Yun was set to perform from May 25th to 29th. During that time, temperatures climbed above 30°C—unusually high for spring. Despite renting cooling units to lower the temperature inside the auditorium, many people seated in the upper balconies left before the end of the first act.

This experience made me realize that we cannot let our guard down, even when we think we have achieved a result. During the promotional phase, I often tended to think that the project’s main goal for us practitioners was simply selling tickets—meaning I could relax once sales were finished. But experience showed me, time and again, that this was not the case.

On a personal cultivation level, however, my biggest challenge was fear of losing face, which manifested as an inability to meet my work commitments. I work both as an employee for a tourism and hospitality business and in partnership on a farm with my brother. While, on one hand, I faced the problem of what to tell my employers, on the other hand, there was my brother, to whom I would have to provide a plausible explanation.

At first, when I learned that the tour would take place between May and June, I immediately thought that it would be impossible for me to take part in it. As soon as I thought of this, I recalled the words I recite every day with my family, in front of Master’s photograph: “When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)

I knew I would have to deal with a financial loss, given that I wouldn’t be able to work, but what I feared the most were people’s reactions. My attachments surfaced, and I knew that the more doubts and fears I harboured, the harder it would be.

“With this fear, it may indeed bring this person some trouble. Once you are scared, it is an attachment of fear. Isn’t that an attachment? Once your attachment surfaces, shouldn’t it be removed?” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)

After sending righteous thoughts to clear the field, I spoke with my employer. I had only one thing in mind: ensuring he wouldn’t harbour even the slightest negative thought about the show or Dafa. I expressed my request, reassuring him, and myself, that I would certainly make up the time by working overtime upon my return, also explaining that I could go back earlier, if necessary. To my great surprise, they were happy to let me go.

Things were more difficult with my brother, my family, and my wife’s family, since she was also joining the tour. We had a small child, and they were all aware of our financial situation.

While my wife and I were on tour, our parents were supposed to look after our daughter. In my view, this could have been a wonderful opportunity for them to spend time with their granddaughter, but they were scared and worried. After some heated discussions, I began to understand them and became kinder and more empathetic. My wife and I had discussed the best course of action several times. Could we perhaps participate in only part of the tour? Could we take turns staying at home to care for our daughter? I knew the solution lay in the Fa.

At that moment, I felt that I had to close my eyes and take a leap of faith. And I did. We decided to leave my daughter with our family and join the full tour. The tour was a huge success. For the first time, every show was a sell-out, and people were beginning to understand the true value of this magnificent performance.

The following season again began in the spring, but a couple of months earlier than the previous year. Due to scheduling constraints, it had been impossible to resume the habitual winter season. Once again, despite my work commitments, I closed my eyes and threw myself into an even longer tour.

This time, however, the fear had vanished, and I felt immensely proud to be part of this increasingly renowned theatrical experience. It is difficult to put into words the feelings one experiences during the tour, alongside the people who work for Shen Yun—the dancers and the musicians. It is a little like stepping into a space-time capsule, where time and space take on a new dimension, and everything moves in unison toward a single goal: saving sentient beings.

The tours in Italy are now highly successful and, beyond my own personal journey, I see that this is also due to the many practitioners who, like me, have grown alongside this project—letting go of their attachments and pouring their hearts into it. The workload is always heavy, and interference is around the corner—especially now that international scrutiny has revealed the extent of the CCP’s attempts to hide the truth.

As disciples during the Fa-rectification period, we must strive to improve quickly and gain ever-greater clarity regarding our mission.

Looking back at all these years, the immense benefit I have gained from participating in the Shen Yun project is now clear to me. Through the many difficulties I faced, I managed to improve my character and communicate more clearly with the people I met. Incredibly, my financial situation has improved significantly. In my regular job, I have more than once felt Master’s help—as if He were looking after me and those close to me.

The greatest reward, however, has been the opportunity to work closely with Shen Yun’s incredible artists—so young and determined. They have been a tremendous inspiration to me. We faced setbacks and defeats, yet we picked ourselves up and soared to new heights.

Looking ahead, I am aware that new challenges await me, but now I know what to do: be courageous and put my heart into overcoming the obstacles. I realize that any slight pain I feel is merely an attachment being eliminated, and this brings an immeasurable reward.

These are my experiences, based on my own cultivation. Please point out if any of my views are not in line with the Fa.

Thank you, Master,
Thank you, fellow practitioners.

(Speaker at the European Fa-Conference 2026 in Prague)