After Righteous Enlightenment I became a Tianguo Marching Band Member

Greetings to our graceful Master, greeting fellow practitioners. I would like to report to our Master my cultivation journey of joining the band, improving my xinxing and taking responsibility in this project for saving sentient beings.

Starting my path of joining the marching band

I live in the Netherlands and visited Felix and Petra’s house before the pandemic as we were working on a truth clarification project. After starting cultivation I lost interest in doing things related to music or even playing musical instruments. It seemed to have nothing to do with me, as well as watching any videos or listening to music which are not directly related to cultivation. At that time I did not have any intention of doing something with music or joining the marching band. However, that day Felix asked me to try joining the band and play the trumpet as there was a need for trumpet players. I had been playing music before such as keyboard or guitar so I thought it should be easy and not that difficult for me to learn another instrument. Things didn’t end up that way though as that thought was based on my experience before as a non-cultivator and not based on the righteous thoughts that a Falun Dafa cultivator should have.

Master arranged for me several xinxing tests at that moment to see whether I had the courage to join the band. As I experienced several situations in which either people urged me to not go this direction or I was tempted to spend my time on something else. This ranged from family matters, work or other truth clarification projects which I was involved with. Luckily during my cultivation I had developed the tendency to look within when encountering difficulties or frictions. I found many attachments to family matters, prestige at work, personal gain and living a life of comfort and ease. Certainly the latter one could not be achieved when traveling with the band and performing parades in different weather conditions. To put it bluntly, Instead of having a pure heart to follow the path that our benevolent Master had arranged for me I desire a life of comfort deep within and held on to the self-centered notions which are involved. The attachment to laziness was also quite strong, which was exposed whenever I started playing the trumpet.

In the end I did not improve fundamentally and practice the trumpet diligently, though I was most fortunate that Master had arranged a previous band member to help me learn trumpet, I chose to focus more on other projects. The excuses deep inside were that “Now is the pandemic time, who knows when I will have the opportunity to save people with the band, let me focus on other important projects”.

Overcoming human notions, laziness and thought karma to become a true band member

These human notions kept me in an invisible cage for more than a year. I only practiced from time to time, or for a period did not do anything seriously at all. When I played I would also regularly face interference from thought karma, which made me play the wrong notes or even forget them. I knew deep inside that this was not a correct state for a cultivator, either I stop completely and stop wasting time or let go of my selfish notions and follow Master unconditionally and do my best to join the band.

Eventually I choose the latter and had a very strong righteous though “If I can pull our resources into assisting Master with the band then everyone who has contributed will earn mighty virtue and have truly played their role of assisting Master in Fa rectification and fulfilled their vows, the same is true for our family members and those at my workplace.” I talked it over with my wife and she agreed and since then is very supportive of our marching band activities. People at work also support our music activities and I have shared with them several videos of our activities or explained the mission of our band. Getting days off from work and planning other family members to help with getting my son to school also fell into its place. Sometimes other family members assisted when I asked them and sometimes my wife would have quietly arranged everything so that she could both bring and pick up our son from school or even took days off from work to manage this. In the past I knew how much she cherished her days off from work, and now she would use them to support our band activities! I truly saw their selfish and altruistic nature come forth after I developed righteous thoughts, shared them and started changing myself fundamentally to become a being of righteous enlightenment, to do what Master has arranged for me.

As Master has said in Essentials for Further Advancement:

Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature

"I also want to tell you that your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. So from now on, whatever you do or whatever you say, you must consider others--or even future generations--along with Dafa's eternal stability."

Clearheadedness

"I often say that if all a person wants is the well-being of others and if this is without the slightest personal motivation or personal understanding, what he says will move the listener to tears."

Looking within is key to becoming a band member and staying diligent on this sacred path

After a period of cultivation where I would examine my xinxing frequently on a daily basis I learned to let go of the selfish attachments deep inside me, sometimes I would find dozens of them or even a hundred. Eventually I started to cultivate what I should and became more diligent in trumpet practice and attended in person trumpet lessons every two weeks, and also tried to attend all band rehearsals and workshops. Since 2023 I have been actively part of the European Tian Guo Marching Band. My wish is to contribute to this sacred project of validating Dafa and saving beings to the fullest. To bring glory, joy and grace wherever we go for the sentient beings.

This process for me is one of constant xinxing cultivation, both before the parades as well as during them. During more recent periods I regularly started to memorise the Fa for 2 hours daily and also sent forth more righteous thoughts. This helps me greatly during the activities, also I would recite Lunyu or other parts of the Fa during the parades whenever there was an opportunity. I try to maintain a state of looking within and also focussing on the drum major when walking during the parades. I remember very vividly that during the 2023 parade in Athens, we had to go uphill near the end of the parade.

When we were close to coming up I did not have any breath left in me at all, actually I was close to choking but I neglected this notion and wanted to continue playing the trumpet.

At that moment I felt that Master filled both of my lungs with a lot of air and I could continue playing. When we finished going up and came down, the public showed a great and warm applause in response. It deeply encouraged me. Sometimes I also felt that Master took away the karma and all the fatigue of my lips, which were swollen a couple minutes ago due to all the playing on the trumpet. I remember also that in another dimension I saw how Master bore the karma for me as his mouth was pierced by needles and strings, all so that I could play more and let our music reach more people. Everything I learned and gained was only possible because of Master’s silent and merciful guidance.

I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to our Master and our fellow band members who give of themselves in a variety of ways to help me play my role in the band. I notice these all the time and am greatly moved and inspired. Nothing could be achieved by myself, and by myself I am nothing, but together we are the European Tian Guo Marching Band assisting Master in Fa-recticitation. What a great honor, what a holy blessing, how fortunate I am, In no words can I express the greatness of my Master, Dafa and the mighty virtue of Fa-rectification Dafa disciples.

Another practitioner remarked during the last London parade “You are their savior”. I feel that during the parades we are like noble knights forged by Dafa purging the evil that keeps people from being saved. I learned how precious and sacred this path we walk is.

Lastly I wish to share a poem in Hong Yin 6 to encourage our righteous thoughts:

“The Sacred Path Leads Not Astray

Our lives pass by in the blink of an eye

Striving for worldly success, fiercely we vie

But at the grave we part with all to which we cling

Ashes to ashes, in our hands nothing we bring

To await the Creator to this earth we did come

Learn the Way, practice accordingly,

and be brought to a divine kingdom

Atheism and evolution are the Devil Red’s deceit

For who else is behind modern thoughts and conceits

Hold fast to goodness and to tradition’s way

The sacred path redeems and leads not astray”

The above is limited to my own understanding and cultivation state.

Please kindly point out if anything I shared was not on the Fa.

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