Cultivation Experiences While Organizing the Truth-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition

A Canberra practitioner brought the Truth-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition paintings back from New York after the 2008 New York Fa Conference. We needed some frames so I went to speak with a framer who informed me that the price for the style selected would cost $8000 to have all our paintings done. Oh my! Where was I going to get that much money? I started to clarify the truth to the lady. I told her what the paintings were for, and explained what Falun Gong was and about the persecution. I also told her that we were all volunteers and had to pay out of our own pockets for the framing. She then said that the best she could do was $6000. I agreed, thinking that it was a good deal.

During the process of framing, I met with this lady several times and was able to show her all the paintings one by one. When it came to the organ harvesting one, I explained what was happening to Falun Gong practitioners in China and that was why we were doing this art exhibition. Upon hearing this, her face changed. I felt that her heart was touched. Her staff and her two sons who did the framing also got the chance to hear the truth. When I went to pick up the framed paintings, this lady told me to just give her $4000. I felt so happy for her, for she had positioned herself so well.

While we were waiting for the exhibition materials to come, I approached a few people asking them where I could exhibit the paintings. The responses I got were not very positive, like: it was difficult to find a place to display them as they thought our paintings were political and all the galleries in Canberra had been fully booked for the next few years. This situation made me realize that our mentality as practitioners has to be right from the start and that our paintings are "NOT POLITICAL". This is very important because if we also think as ordinary people, who have been poisoned by the CCP's (Chinese communist party) propaganda, then it creates a barrier for ourselves.

The paintings were stored in one of the rooms in my house. I felt very uneasy each time I saw them instead of having them out on exhibition. At one stage, I felt so bad that I couldn't even concentrate on my work, thinking that I must not let the paintings just lie in my room.

At that time, we were planning to do some house renovations, so I got a builder to come and give me a quote. When this builder saw the paintings, he asked curiously about them. I showed him and explained about the paintings. He said: "These paintings are really beautiful, what are they doing here?" His comments were like a reminder pushing me to get the paintings out for exhibition. He offered me some suggestions of who I could contact.

Then I started to approach galleries. When I dropped in to the first gallery, I bumped into the right person. We had a long talk with this lady, and she was very sympathetic upon hearing our truth clarification. Unfortunately our paintings did not meet the requirements of their gallery. However, she offered me very helpful advice, which gave me a lot of confidence in our paintings. Unlike other people, she said that she didn't think our paintings were political. She also said that people all knew the Chinese Communist Party had done a lot of bad things, and that it was the right thing to do to have the paintings exhibited for the public to see. She recommended two suitable galleries for displaying our paintings and even suggested that I mention her name when contacting them.

Then I went with my sister, also a practitioner, to one of the galleries recommended by that lady. We were first told by the receptionist that the person in charge was not in. But later we happened to bump into this person. She said that she was going to a meeting and could only talk with us for 5 minutes. We took the opportunity to clarify the truth to her. She was a kind person, but seemed to know very little about Falun Gong and the persecution. My sister told her about the organ harvesting. Master gave her the wisdom to talk about the issue from an angle that caught this lady's attention. She said Australians go to China for organ transplants, but are not aware of what's happening there; they had no way of knowing that someone might be killed so that they could receive an organ. Then this patient would become an indirect killer. Upon hearing this, this lady's facial expression changed and listened to us seriously. The talk lasted over 30 minutes until the lady was told that the person she was going to meet had come looking for her.

This lady later told us that she was very grateful that we made the effort to let her know the truth. She also said that those paintings were very powerful. Our exhibition at this gallery has been scheduled from the end of January to the end of February. In addition, she encouraged us to contact the Mayor. So we managed to get a meeting with the Mayor before Christmas to clarify the truth to him. A few days later, I received an email from the Mayor's office saying that he would be happy to come and open the exhibition for us and also requested that his wife be part of the opening as he felt very honoured.

I contacted the first gallery as well. Through truth clarification, our exhibition has been scheduled at this gallery for later this year. It was the power of Dafa that made this happen. At first, I could not even get an appointment to meet the person-in-charge. When I decided just to go there, Master made the arrangement for me to meet the right person and clarify the truth.

I also encountered a case that was not successful. I contacted another venue for exhibition and met with the person in charge a few times to clarify the truth. She gave a very positive attitude after my extensive truth clarification. She said that she would discuss the matter with other committee members and get back to me. But I heard no reply from her. When I managed to get a hold of her, she said to me nervously that they could not give us the venue and that she couldn't tell me why. At that moment, I was so discouraged and upset that I went to my car and cried for 5 minutes. I was sad about the setback on the one hand and on the other, I could really understand why Lu Dongbin said he would rather save animals than human beings. At that moment, my xinxing (heart and mind nature) was driven to a very sentimental and emotional state, like an ordinary person. Then I thought that I shouldn't be affected by this person, otherwise I would be at the same level as her. She's an ordinary person and I have obtained the best things in the universe and even Gods envy me! I knew that the situation had to turn around quickly as I remembered Master's words:

"Without your improvement, nothing can be achieved, and that includes saving sentient beings. If you fail to improve and achieve Consummation, where will the sentient beings that you save go? Who will take them?" ("Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference")

Having these words in mind Master once again uplifted my spirit. Thank you Master.
While I was approaching those galleries, another practitioner also applied to the ACT Legislative Assembly for exhibition and was approved. She will share her experience later. So we started to prepare for the exhibition to be held in the Legislative Assembly building in the first week of December. As all our paintings could not fit in the exhibition room, I decided to accommodate by adding more easels. I found a shop in Melbourne which offered a good price, so I called them. Again through truth clarification the owner gave me the wholesale price. I drove to Melbourne and a Melbourne practitioner helped me drive the easels back to Canberra. On the way back to Canberra, we saw a gallery in a small town. I popped in and happened to see the owner of the gallery so I clarified the truth to him and put in the application for exhibition.

In the meantime, some Canberra practitioners were starting to make protective covers for the paintings as we had heard that some of the precious paintings in other cities were stained or damaged. A Sydney practitioner helped us prepare the materials. During the whole process, I felt the power of practitioners working together as one body and this feeling was so inspiring and encouraging.

During the exhibition, I encountered three impressive cases. The first was an elderly couple. The lady was blind and her husband took her around, reading the description of each painting for her. They came to us and the lady said: "When I walked in, I had a very special feeling, very peaceful. If anyone sees these paintings and his/her heart is not touched, then this person's heart must be made of stone." We were all touched and felt that it was Master using her words to encourage us.

Another lady from Victoria said when being interviewed by NTDTV that the paintings were so beautiful and touching that she was moved to tears. She told us that she could feel the artists had really put their hearts into them.

The third case was about a relative of mine. As a Christian, she had been very resistant towards the truth about Dafa. I tried many times but could not even bring up the topic of Falun Gong. Even after watching the Shen Yun show three times, she still thought that the show was beautiful, but it should not have had the "political part" about Falun Gong. I invited her to come to the art exhibition. Upon seeing those paintings, particularly the one showing a young female practitioner in jail trying to protect other practitioners from violence, she was touched and understood why there was this scene in the show. That day I was able to talk to her for a half an hour about Falun Gong.

After the exhibition, there were several people who expressed their interest in learning Falun Gong, so we organized a 9-day lecture during the holiday period.

I witnessed the amazing power of those paintings, and realized what we are doing is so sacred. I have realized that during the whole process, Master has been watching me, guiding me and helping me, like teaching a baby to walk. When I was determined to take this project, I wasn't sure how to do it. While I was worried about how to find places to exhibit the paintings, Master used the builder's mouth to give me advice. When I wasn't confident about the paintings, the lady at the first gallery I approached said very encouraging things, which gave me a lot of confidence. In addition, I always bumped into the right people at the right time. It is like Master had made arrangements for those people to wait for me to clarify the truth to them. All I need to do is go out there and do it.

In doing so, Master also let me see my own attachments. For example, while preparing for the exhibition, I asked a practitioner to help me draft materials for the art exhibition. When I got it, I found there were some errors in it so I asked him to correct them. He did so and emailed it back, but I found that there were still uncorrected places. So I requested he to do it again and he replied that he wished that I could tell him the corrections all at once because it was very time consuming and he was busy. I was a bit unhappy, because I actually emailed him all the places for correction. So I told him if he had corrected all of them in the first place, then I wouldn't have bothered to ask again. Through this conflict, I realized my attachment -- lack of patience and tolerance. When I see things that are not done properly or the way other practitioners do things are not appropriate, I would feel uncomfortable and would not want to be part of it. These conflicts have made me realize that I do not have great patience, tolerance and compassion towards others.

But now whenever I feel unhappy about someone or something, I recall Master's words in Teaching the Fa to Australian Practitioners (paraphrase): "You should know that it is really not easy for you to get together. This is an extremely rare opportunity that you get together during this special Fa rectification period. Dafa disciples, once you reach consummation, it will be truly difficult for you to meet again. Because different lives have different regions, you come from different remote celestial bodies and represent lives from different remote celestial bodies. When you go back, even if you want to see anybody, you won't be able to. Therefore, you should cherish this."

Through doing the art exhibition, I find that my tolerance has been expanded a lot. My daughter should know the difference because I use to always lose my temper with her.

I truly feel fortunate to be able to practice cultivation in Dafa in this Fa rectification period. Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!