Why Shen Yun Can Save People
Reprinted by Minghui.org
Many people ask why practitioners would form an arts company, and what its connection is to cultivation. I would like to say a few words about the meaning of Shen Yun. On the human level, Shen Yun Performing Arts presents traditional culture to modern people and conveys the beauty of that culture. But on a level higher than the human world, it is a more magnificent manifestation of saving people. In the eyes of the divine, Shen Yun exists to save people. Human beings were created by gods, and ultimately, people are meant to return to heaven. Yet modern people have forgotten tradition—forgotten the goodness upheld in traditional culture, the virtues of mutual respect, love, and helping one another, and the harmonious relationships among people. If a person continues down a path devoid of goodness and virtue, he will no longer be able to return to the divine realm. Therefore, the divine seeks to rescue humanity and encourage people to choose goodness. All upright religions have been doing this. But people today still focus solely on technology while neglecting traditional morality, slipping further and further away from the path the divine intended for humankind—and thus further away from the road back to heaven.
Therefore, as someone whom people regard as the spiritual leader of Falun Dafa, I established Shen Yun Performing Arts—an arts company composed of practitioners. Its purpose is to present traditional culture, especially the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, and to show modern people how precious the things they have abandoned truly are. If people can return to the path of tradition, then there is hope for salvation. This is what all upright religions seek to do, and it is one of the essential conditions for a person to return to the heavenly realm. Of course, all Shen Yun performers—including trainees—must be practitioners. Aside from rehearsals and performances, they are required to study the teachings, do the exercises, and follow the standards of cultivation. Only those who can truly cultivate may remain; those who cannot may leave at any time, because cultivation is a serious matter.
The divine beings all hold the same view: what we are doing is exactly what those who walk on the path of the divine should do. I, of course, know that this is what I and my disciples—practitioners whom people also regard as a religious community—ought to do. We have accomplished something truly remarkable, something that other religions have not managed to achieve. This is also the purpose behind my establishment of Shen Yun Performing Arts.
