Micheal is a 37-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner from Germany, who has sung touching songs one after another for more than a year now. Using music, he has told people about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. His music’s subjects are very vivid ranging from the opposition of the persecution of Falun Gong; calling for people to rescue imprisoned practitioners and suing Jiang Zemin. When I saw him in Geneva, he was taking part in the appeal activities with practitioners on the Place des Nations. He happily accepted my interview.
Question: Micheal, when did you start singing and composing songs relating to Falun Gong?
Answer: Before answering your question I want to briefly talk about my experience. I used to sing in a pop band for ten years, and also composed some songs. Music is my biggest hobby. In the summer of 2001, I saw Falun Gong practitioners performing in a Health Expo in the German city of Mannheim, and I started to practise along with them. At the end of 2001, I read the main book of Falun Gong Zhuan Falun and I was deeply convinced by the contents of this book, and after that I decided to follow this cultivation path. In the summer of 2002 I befriended a Falun Gong practitioner, Jacek, who lived near Heidelberg. He studied music and at that time he had composed a song called “Story of Falun Dafa”. I found this song very beautiful and was very willing to sing it. I also began composing Dafa songs. The two of us started to explore music together, and co-operated very well. We comprehended each other very well with regard to music. We participated in the large-scale activities where we introduced Falun Gong and the persecution to people in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the summer of 2002. We performed the songs we had composed on the streets. The effect was very good. This enlightened us a lot; we can use our own music to clarify the truth to people, validating Dafa.
Question: Can you introduce to us the songs you have composed?
Answer: My first song that was composed in German was in the summer of 2002, called “Immerfeiner, Immerklarer” (Finer, Clearer). This song reflected my understanding of Dafa cultivation and my comprehension of the three principles of Falun Gong Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. I want to pass on the beauty of Dafa to more people through this song. I realised more and more that music could unlock the doorways to people’s hearts; we can use it to let more people know about Falun Dafa. Then a wish just grew in me: to reflect in my singing the facts of Dafa practitioners being persecuted, to arouse people to help stop this persecution together. I was trying to find a typical example of a persecuted practitioner to be the subject of a song, when one day, I read about the tragic incident of the murder of Wang Lixuan and her baby son in a Falun Dafa newspaper published by German practitioners. My heart was hugely astounded. A housewife, just because of exercising and believing in Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance, was actually tragically murdered together with her son. The persecution is this cruel. I felt that this example could reflect the whole situation of the persecution of Falun Gong in China very well; therefore I soon composed a song for Wang Lixuan. At the end of 2003, this song was recorded on our second CD.
Question: Can you talk about the music CDs you’ve made?
Answer: With lots of help from a couple of Dafa practitioners, Jacek and I made the first CD, “Falun Dafa’s Peaceful Journey” at the end of 2002, in which we mainly recorded our songs, as well as recording other Dafa disciples’ music. 2500 disks were made altogether. They were soon all sent to Dafa practitioners’ friends. The feedback we got was very good. In November 2003 we produced a second disk “Free for Xiong Wei - Liedergegen Verfolgung von Falun Gong” (For Xiong Wei’s Freedom - against the Persecution of Falun Gong). We wanted to support the efforts to rescue Xiong Wei and other detained disciples, for example Li Xiangchun (also known as Charles Li to westerners), thus opposing this persecution. This time 3000 were made in total, and the impact was very good, especially when German practitioners sent this CD to many German radio stations, asking them to broadcast it on Xiong Wei’s birthday. There were five radio stations that broadcast in time, and there were also some radio stations that thanked us for giving them CDs and truth materials. I felt the effect of Dafa music in clarifying the truth more.
Question: This time on 13th March, at the concert in Geneva, you sang a newly composed song about suing Jiang Zemin. Please talk about the composition of this song.
Answer: German practitioners filed a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin at Germany’s Supreme Court on 21st November 2002. This court is situated at the German town of Karlsruhe, near where I live. I had a thought of supporting this lawsuit against Jiang with my voice, because I felt more and more that music could move people; enlighten people and urge people to take part in upholding human rights. Jacek and his wife Tina supported my thought. Tina is very gifted and soon wrote the words. She wrote the lyrics to quite a few of our songs. Jacek composed the tune. At the Geneva concert we successfully performed this song. After the performance, many practitioners came to congratulate us on our new song. I think it was because this song rang out in everyone’s hearts: Put this criminal to trial; end this persecution. We are planning to make this song into a little CD to be used in truth-clarification.
Question: You, as a Dafa practitioner, sing and compose these songs; can you talk about the differences between them and the pop music you have performed previously?
Answer: In the past the songs I sang were depressing, dim, meaningless, it was only releasing emotions, seeking excitement. Since I started to practise Falun Dafa, the songs I sing and compose are upright, lucid, rational, confident, wonderful, and full of righteousness, persuading people to become good. I experienced the mighty power of using music for Dafa.
Finally when I asked Micheal if he spends lots of time and energy into composing Dafa music, I found out that he is professional gardener and goes to work everyday, so he can only use his free time to compose music. Every disk takes a lot of painstaking effort. Apart from that, he also runs an exercise class voluntarily, attends regular reading sessions of the teachings of Falun Gong and exercise activities. Half a year after he began to practise Falun Gong he was already going out to do the exercises, distributing flyers in the city centre by himself every Sunday. Some people with predestined-relationships started to practise with him and gradually formed a little practice group. Recently he and the practitioners from the practice group held a calling and supporting suing Jiang activity in the city they were in. He told me that they are all for this activity, started preparing it a month ago, so the effect was very good, and it gained a lot of support from the local governors, politicians, German human rights organisations and a famous lawyer.
After saying goodbye to Micheal, I felt the diligence and maturity of this western practitioner who only came across Falun Gong two years ago.
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