Getting to Know Falun Gong: The Cultivation Path of an Accomplished Pianist

Janara Khassenova, a pianist, has been very interested in traditional Chinese culture. During our very first meeting, we had an in-depth conversation and shared many common interests. When I heard her touching story, I decided to share it with others as well. She has an extraordinary predestined relationship with China with all Chinese people.

Pianist Janara Khassenova	Janara is a pianist from a family of engineers

Janara was born in a city named Almaty in Kazakhstan, a satellite state of the former Soviet Union. Almaty means "father of apples" in the local language. There are many apple orchards on the mountains surrounding the city. The orchards belong to the villagers who plant and sell apples, generation after generation. On the other side of the mountain is Xinjiang, China. Many Kazakhstanians came from China, and many migrated to China. These people are now the Ughurian in Xinjiang.

Janaraâ's parents both graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and became engineers. She has two elder brothers and both are also engineers. In this family of engineers, Janara is the only musician. Janaraâ's mother majored in technology, but was later promoted to a high-ranking position, which is comparable to a manager of a company managing hundreds of subsidiaries. Janaraâ's father was a well-known expert in the area of power generation and electrical engineering in Kazakhstan.

Sadly, when Janara was only 16 and still in high school, her mother passed away due to illness. Kazakhstan is a Muslim country that has more or less preserved some religious traditions, even in the period of being part of the Soviet Union. There were some mosques, but her family never went to attend services. Although it was not completely forbidden, it was still not specifically allowed, which was especially true for Janaraâ's mother. Being a leader and a member of the communist party, it would have been inconceivable and impossible to take part in religion.

Janaraâ's musical talent was discovered when she was four or five years old. She was extraordinarily sensitive to pitch, tone and rhythm. She loved singing and could quickly learn to sing from the radio. When her family had visitors, Janara was invited to sing and entertain the guests. When Janara was seven years old, she, as a young genius, was admitted to a specialized music school and began learning to play the piano.

Although she was born with artistic talent, Janara said, her achievements are from her love of music and her diligent practice. She said, "I love music and have always had a great adoration for music. I never felt bored when practicing. When I was 10 or so, it was normal for me to practice for 3 to 4 hours a day. When I was 16 or 17 years old, I had to practice for 6 or 7 hours every day to give a perfect performance."

Besides music, Janara deeply loved her relatives because it was they who helped her get to where she is today. Her nieces, cousins, and aunts are all very kind people. Janara told me frankly that her mother was extremely busy and somewhat bossy due to the pressures of her high-ranking position. However, she received an abundance of kindness, compassion and love from her grandmother, aunts, and cousins, who lived in Moscow.

Strict Traditional Music Training

Janara said, for musicians, no matter how excellent and talented you are, practicing is always the most important thing. You have to completely focus on music and try your best. At the age of 17, when she was in 11th grade, she transferred to the Music School of Almaty. Later on, she was admitted to learn piano at the Moscow National Music College, one of the best music universities at the time.

Hard-working Janara received traditional teaching and training from famous Russian artists. She graduated with the highest honors, receiving a Master degree and a Doctoral degree in piano. She earned many awards as a pianist, orchestral pianist, soloist, accompanist, and piano instructor, among others. Janara said, the exam of qualifying as a pianist is the most difficult, which demands a solo performance and receives strict judgement from the examiners.

In a short period of time, Janara demonstrated her outstanding talent in various competitions. First, she won an award in the Kazakhstanian Young Pianist Competition. Then, she won awards in the Italian International Piano Competition and Athens International Piano Competition. After arriving in America, she gave solo concerts in Boston, Rhode Island, and other northeastern cities, winning great acclaim and affection from American audiences.

Arriving at a New Continent

When Janara completed her academic program, the Soviet Union collapsed. It was hard to find a job and living accommodations. Everything appeared difficult for her. She did not want to return to Kazakhstan, so she had to live with her grandmother. She had spent so many years studying, and now her future looked miserable and unpredictable. Her situation resulted in a deep feeling of depression, which accompanied her all the way to the United States.

Originally, Janara came to visit her friends in New York and Boston. Shortly after arriving, she came to love this new world. In 1997, she was accepted at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and her boyfriend obtained a scholarship to the Longy School of Music. Although she already had the highest degree in piano performance and did not need further training, just like many Chinese people newly arriving in the U.S., the Visa problem forced her to start over. In order to stay with her boyfriend, who later became her husband, she decided to stay in Boston.

In Boston, Janara married her boyfriend, a violinist. One and a half years later, they had a son named Elias. Little Elias is also interested in music and reacts differently to different styles of music. He prefers classical music.

The Spiritual World of a Pianist

In telling about her spiritual journey, Janara firstly told me one story that happened in her childhood. Kazakh people eat lamb. When one visits a farmer or herdsmanâs relatives, the host will kill a sheep to treat the guests. In northern Kazakh, this tradition is firmer. To treat the guests, a live sheep must be killed, and the head is dedicated to the most respected guest. Janara said that this was a very sad moment for her because she did not want to watch the scene in which a live sheep has its throat cut, and she could not eat a piece of lamb. She knew that the sheep was alive, eating grass shortly before, living happily. During that year, she stayed in her relatives home for one week. She did not eat lamb or drink broth. She only ate bread and tea during her week there.

In the period of the Soviet Union, Janara never read the Quran (the principal text of the Muslim religion), and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, she did not return to the Muslim society of her hometown. In Moscow, she read books on a broad variety of subjects, including oriental cultivation books and Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. She also read writings by Confucius, the Book of Changes, and Chinese books translated into Russian, but she never read Buddhist books.

One of her relatives in Moscow is a Buddhist, who helped her learn about the sitting meditation, Yoga and some spiritual beliefs from India. Janara thought those theories, as guidance for her cultivation, were too complicated, unclear and ambiguous about how to and what to do. Nevertheless, she learned some basic concepts, for example, about karma, paying karmic debt, and samara, etc. After arriving in the US, Janara forgot about all these but still knew that she was seeking something.

As a musician, Janara said, "I was easily excited and sentimental, which was not good. It was hard for me to proceed in this way. I suffered from too much pressure, and I had difficulties exercising self-control. I was so puzzled. Sometimes I was thinking I might have to be like this and why would I want it to be changed? However, there was another voice in my head that told me that I was wrong and that it should not be like this. But I did not know what was wrong.

"I often have many complicated thoughts in my mind, the good coming along with the bad, which was just the same as my life. But I had never thought about totally changing myself from the inside out.

"Right before my baby was delivered, I was at work. I felt exhausted all over. I could not control myself, then suddenly my whole body collapsed and I fell down. I knew this was because of my depression and nervous tension. But, the doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me and which part of my body was out of order. The laboratory results showed that I was totally normal. Nevertheless, I was clear that there must be something wrong with me."

Linked with Chinese Culture

"The day I changed," Janara said, "was in fact quietly approaching me. One day, in March or April 2003, I met a Russian lady in a dental office in Boston. She was so peaceful, quietly sitting there with a smile. Her peaceful situation was remarkable, while the others were excitedly talking about the Iraqi war."

This Russian lady gave her a flyer about Falun Gong. "She told me that she had been seriously sick and had a complicated heart operation before. She could not work until she read the books of Falun Gong. She also showed me the book, Zhuan Falun, the Russian edition, that she was reading.

She told me that the cultivation system is easy to learn. But, you have to begin with changing from inside, through improving your morals and character. She gave me the flyers and website addresses. She also left me her phone number and asked me to call her back. We had never met before. She did not talk too much, and said just a few words. However, each of her words penetrated my heart."

A few weeks later, Janara gave this woman a call and visited her home. Obtaining a book from her, Janara returned home, listened to the exercise music, and attempted to try the exercises from memory. She also read the stories about the persecution happening in China. She could not believe that such brutal things were happening in the 21st century and could not understand why it was happening. Although two of her grandfathers were persecuted in the Stalin era, and she knew the concept of persecution, she had never connected this word with China.

Janara began reading the Russian version of Zhuan Falun. She phoned the contact person for the local exercise site. A man named Michael Chen taught her the exercises. "Mr. Chen was so patient. I was so touched and wished to become a person like him and be equally peaceful and kind."

That summer, Janara finished reading the book. In September, just as mentioned in the book, Janara experienced many manifestations of karma elimination. She knew that on the path of cultivation, there is no turning back. She did more and more reading and her body experienced unbelievable changes accordingly. The serious headaches and illnesses she used to suffer from gradually disappeared. Her fears, depression, breathing difficulties, and neurasthenic are now all gone. Janara believes that not everyone could be qualified to be a practitioner. She says that you have to do the actual cultivation and it is not enough if you only read the book and do the exercises.

In March of 2004, Janara traveled to Geneva to participate in the World Conference on Human Rights, where she met many Falun Gong practitioners from different countries all over the world. As a European, she wanted to meet other European practitioners and find out how they learned Falun Dafa. During her three days in Geneva, she met practitioners from Australia, Europe, Taiwan, and various American locations and felt the strong energy field. She listened to them share experiences and sensed what they were doing. All these were very different from her previous knowledge.

"It is such a great feeling when you stay with a group of nice people." Returning from Geneva, Janara said to herself, "This is it. I have decided to practice Falun Gong." This day was one year after she first heard about Falun Gong from the Russian lady.

Falun Dafa, Janara said, is the principle of the universe. Falun Dafa makes people in different backgrounds and life experiences come together. She truly appreciates being offered the Fa. "Once, I visited a friendâs home. They were very excited to see me and told me that I have really changed and no longer take fame and money that seriously." Janara also said, "Master is taking care of me and will help me with everything. If you put your heart in it, everything will turn out good." Her biggest goal right now is to read the Chinese edition of Zhuan Falun. She believes that if you are a real practitioner, then nothing can block you.

Upon our parting, Janara exhorted me to pass along a few words to the Chinese people: "You have fantastic ancient cultures, beautiful music, poems, and paintings. Chinese composers, poets, writers, and Chinese people are all so beautiful. You should be proud of being Chinese. However, the persecution makes it so unbelievable to the world that such beauty can coexist with such persecution. I know, the persecution should not happen. The evil cannot sustain itself much longer, and there will be a day when everything will be completely changed. From ancient times until now, benevolence and beauty always prevail in the end."