Sharings from Participating in the European Choir "Coming for you"

My name is Andrea and I have been practising Falun Gong for 5 years. Since the founding of the choir over 2 years ago, we have had valuable occasions to convey our message to people about the truth of Falun Dafa.

The “Coming for you” European choir appeared for the first time in New York over 2 years ago, having been together for only a few weeks at that stage. Before this, I had no experience in such a task and never thought about participating. However, after deciding to follow this path, I really believed, “this is important and is something that I should be doing”. It is also a special way of giving people a chance to find out more about Falun Dafa and a chance to expose the persecution.

Losing my Voice

After the first choir training in Germany at the beginning of 2004, I had very strong symptoms of the flu. I was really unsure whether it was cleansing or interference. During preparations for the 2004 New York Gala, my voice stopped functioning. I tried to do my best in this situation and practised with everyone in silence. I suffered under the situation and knew that I had come to New York to fulfil a special mission. However, a terrible cough tortured me and my chest felt as though everything was stuck together, preventing me from singing a single note. Gradually, I realised that something wanted to hinder me from singing which meant that our choir performance must be extremely important. I knew from my heart that I had decided some time ago to devote myself to the choir, thus I decided to perform. After displaying firm resolve, I received support from the other practitioners. Our choir leader reminded me constantly to send forth righteous thoughts. Just before our performance, I thought about Master and the people, who were waiting for us. Finally, I sang and thanked Master for his help.

The Choir is One Body

By the time we had landed in Athens for the Olympic Games in summer 2004, we had already sung in New York, Paris and Geneva. We were now placing more importance on improving our singing quality, since we wanted to sing with “one voice”, being essentially one body. During rehearsals one day before the Athens Gala, my voice stood out as somewhat inharmonious with the other voices. Thus, I was asked not to perform. I felt pain deep down inside, which I had often felt before, as “I don’t belong”, “I am not good enough”. I was convinced that I should go it alone. However, it never came to that. I had just walked away a few steps, when practitioners from Sweden and Switzerland caught up with me. We shared and exchanged with each other. After studying the Falun Gong teachings that afternoon, I put-up my hand for joining the make-up and hairstyling team. The following day was the Gala performance and I had peeled off yet again that old layer of pain. By consciously looking after the other singers, my heart became very light. As we bade each other farewell, I heard many heartfelt "thank-yous" and astonishingly asked myself, “What for, I never sang”!

Master Looks at the Heart

An important choir rehearsal took place a few months before the performances in Hong Kong and London at the start of 2005. A few days before rehearsal, I began suffering from a fever which also prevented me also from going to work. On the morning of our rehearsal, I pondered after sending forth righteous thoughts at 5 o’clock, how I could possibly make it to choir training. In the end, I gave-up, I was too weak to travel the 2 hour long car journey. After falling asleep again, I dreamt that I was standing before a mirror at my parents’ house. I saw, a great big dark blister expanding and then popping. All that was left was a small blood stain. And suddenly, I saw a postcard appearing before me. On the card was written, “I’ll bring you home”. This sentence says it all: I felt Master’s compassion. Upon awaking, I knew that we receive help, when our hearts remain righteous. It is the heart that counts.

Evasion is no longer a Possibility

We have just recently performed in Paris. I had missed my flight to Paris. And when I went to work, my boss called me over and told me that it would be good if I applied for another position in the company. In black and white he meant “We must reduce staff and I cannot assign you any more tasks in the future”. I was not paying attention in that moment and suddenly, difficulty after difficulty piled-up one after another. I also noticed that I delivered the wrong figures to the board of directors of my bank. On this day, I completed many tasks, which appeared rather important. I was so busy, completing all the tasks to the satisfaction of everyone that I never found the time to check my flights. I also missed the train to the airport. At the airport, I thought that time was rather tight, but I would make it. At the check-in counter I heard, “you are too late for the flight to Paris”. I started feeling hot and cold. Why did it happen to me? I realised that I had left behind a gap and thus allowed interference to come in.

Separated from the Cosmic Principles

Late that night, I read Lunyu in French and had to cry. Very clear before my eyes was my attachment, not being wanted and not being good enough was separating me from the cosmic principles. How many lives would be lost, because I am so attached and placed this behind good principles? I am reliable, punctual, diligent, friendly and conforming. These are principles, they are principles of virtue. Yet, if attachments are still there, is it still pure?

My understanding is, the obstacles that I saw in myself and the obstacles that interfere with what I should be doing have been precisely arranged by the old forces. They inevitably and inescapably appear.

In Master’s article, “Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Midwest-U.S. Fa Conference in Chicago”, Teacher writes,

“So as I told you in the past, I've said that I knew I was bound to encounter difficulties in the Fa-rectification, and I knew to what extent that would happen. I was actually telling you that everything was under control. In fact I was saying that I knew they would do these things and that the old forces would show up. The cosmos is no longer good enough, so they were going to do those things. Everything that they're attached to, everything that they've arranged, and everything that they want--all these things were inevitable. Righteous Gods of course wouldn't behave like the low-level, bad beings that recklessly do evil things. They of course all act in a good way. But that goodness is warped, and there are attachments behind the goodness. Also, precisely because of their good behaviour, the obstacles they've created are the most effective at deceiving both themselves and others. If it weren't for Fa-rectification it really would be hard to break through those things”.

Righteous Thoughts

In Paris on the day of the performance, I awoke with a headache. It was not so bad and I tried to ignore it. As we went on-stage in the afternoon for our dress rehearsal, I felt this huge knife stabbing into me the entire time. I felt terrible. It was obvious that this was pre-arranged interference. Every time when I have a migraine that I have experienced over the last 20 years, I try to continue on. However, I felt a spur of resignation, “how can I overcome this interference?” Many practitioners supported me by sending forth righteous thoughts. Afterwards, I felt so terrible, but now I had the strength to say, “NO”. That I did the entire time until our performance that evening. Apart from that, I followed the advice of another practitioner, only to think about the task at hand or the next thing I wanted to do. I allowed no thoughts of interference. Stepping out on-stage that evening in front of the audience, to bring them our message to their hearts, was no longer a problem. There were no further complications after that.

In Master’s article, “Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Midwest-U.S. Fa Conference in Chicago”, Teacher writes,

“So to thoroughly eliminate all the evil elements, from now on when Dafa disciples send righteous thoughts they should completely clean out those old forces' behind-the-scenes helpers, meaning, eliminate them. They're specifically carrying out everything that the old forces want to have done. Only after they're eliminated can more sentient beings be saved”.

I really treasure this special opportunity with the European Choir in reaching people’s hearts. I would like to encourage all practitioners, who are not singing with us, perhaps because you are thinking, “I can’t do that so well, others are far more capable”, to leave those thoughts behind and simply sing and study the Falun Gong teachings with us as one-body.

I thank Master and fellow practitioners very much