Experience sharing for European Tian Guo Yue Tuan conference 2025
Good afternoon honourable Master!
Good afternoon fellow practitioners!
I am a young practitioner originally from Ukraine, currently living in Spain. I would like to begin my article by expressing my gratitude to the senior members of the marching band! In 2017 TGYT visited Kyiv - the capital of Ukraine. It was the first time I ever saw you all, it was absolutely breathtaking, and I surely decided- I'm gonna join you one day! 2 years later I got accepted to the band and attended my first ever parade in Athens in 2019. But then Covid started and I wasn't able to join band activities for 2,5 years and only in May 2022 I was able to join my first workshop after such a long pause!
Crucial moment in 2022
In February me, my mom and little brother urgently left Ukraine, taking only musical instruments and a couple of Dafa books. We expected to return in a couple of weeks…we didn't know where to go, my mom was driving the car and we were staying in hotels in random cities without knowing where we would drive the next morning. The whole way we were listening to audio lectures and doing FZN, all we had was belief and trust in Dafa and Master! Since the beginning of our journey we have met so many kind and empathetic people. Some of them simply approached us at gas stations and gave us supplies or food.
With the help of fellow practitioners we ended up in a little village in Germany. A family sheltered us into their home. A month later our grandparents also joined us. The German family was very supportive and heart-warming, they positively took information about Dafa and even learned a couple of exercises!
Me and my brother went to local school, where we both had challenges, but every time we tried to clarify the truth about Falun Gong, people were reacting very positively. Once we were able to make a tutorial with paper lotuses in my brother's class thereby spreading the word about Dafa to many children and parents!
The other challenge was that we were the only practitioners in that area, so we decided to make exercise spot for the weekends. Practitioners from other cities provided us with banners and flyers , and even though none of us was
speaking german at that time, I was able to clarify the truth to people in English.
Since my musical life was very active back in Ukraine, I was trying to play in different ensembles and orchestras to stay in shape and one day got invited to travel to Strasbourg, France and play a concert in the European parliament. I immediately realized that this was my precious chance to speak out about persecution and clarify the truth in such a formal and official venue. I knew that our orchestra would be able to talk to members of parliament, so with the help of some practitioners, I prepared a speech. Once we arrived and reached the hall with parliament members , my throat went dry immediately and I began to shiver. I did FZN to remove these interferences from the old forces. Master said about FZN: “But no matter how dif icult it is, you must steadfastly eliminate the evil with righteous thoughts, because while eliminating the evil, Dafa disciples are establishing their magnificent mighty virtue in the Fa-rectification. The ef ect you've had eliminating the evil with righteous thoughts is truly significant.” (Jingwen “The Effect of Righteous Thoughts” 2001)
As a result, I said everything I had planned, but inside I felt it wasn't enough… I had flyers and other information about Dafa and persecution with me, I realised that I have to find someone to pass the information on to. Immediately, I had the opportunity to get away from the orchestra for a little while.
At this point I've got a new challenge. I travelled up and down the floors trying to find someone to talk to, but everyone was busy with reporters and interviews… The structure of the parliament building was so complicated that in order to get to one of the floors, you had to use a special key card every few steps! In all this hustle and confusion, I felt like I was in an endless maze, and before I knew it, not only had several hours passed, but I had completely lost my orchestra. They left for the next concert venue without me. I hurried up and finally left the building, feeling emotionally and physically drained. But thanks to the Dafa miracle, I arrived at the next venue right on time and walked in with a smile!
A quote appropriate for this situation: “Remember that a holy being would never let anything affect him or her emotionally; worldly things simply don’t occupy a holy person’s mind. They will always be pleasant and upbeat, however badly they might be treated.” (Zhuan Falun, The Ninth Talk “ The Spiritually Adept”)
To cherish practitioners group
In November 2022 we moved from a small village to Munich. I planned to study music professionally there. I found professors and new teachers, all of them were really positive about Dafa, and also since it was time for Shen Yun, it was a great chance to promote the show to such important people in the art industry.
For entrance exams in german music universities, besides the mandatory flute program I performed with a great chinese piece - Liang Zhu ( Butterfly lovers) that not only sounded mesmerising, but also had a touching legend at its core. Every time examinators enjoyed this music so much, even once a professor from Nürnberg asked me to leave sheet notes to him, he was so curious.
After being the only practitioners in our village, meeting a group in Munich felt like a blessing. They were always very active! On Shen Yun promotion time we’d go to different cities and villages to distribute information and magazines. Mainly we were distributing to postboxes. With every postbox passing by I felt that it's my responsibility to have righteous thoughts and a clear mind, so people’s God side will wake up and face Shen Yun! Since it was a Bavarian winter, you can imagine how fresh it was there! Most of the time our hands were frozen and we also had to carry a lot of materials at a time, but we were truly happy to take part in this activity! Deep inside I felt that we might not always have such an active group around…well, seems like my intuition didn’t let me down. In 2024 me and my mom moved to Spain!
Keep cultivating in new environment
Since I didn't get into a music university in Germany, I decided without hesitation to move to Spain with my mother.
It took us 2 days to get from Germany to Spain by car with all our staff packed inside. My musical friends in Munich helped me to find a great professor in the music university of Barcelona, and he immediately invited me for consultation. It went great and, I felt so free and confident playing with him. Surely it was Master`s plan, I can't explain it another way.
Unfortunately, we ended up living far away from the practitioners group again, but sometimes we get a chance to join Dafa activities like Infostand or help with Shen Yun, even though it takes more than 200km round trip. The first time we ever attended a Barcelona group was 2 weeks after we moved to
Spain. We felt so happy to finally join the activity, and this is where the next hardship came up.
On our way back after practicing with a group in the park, we stopped at a gas station, I went to pay, and my mother filled up the car. Coming back, I saw her frightened face, turned out the moment I left to pay , a couple of young men reached the other side of our car and rapidly stole all our bags from the front seat. My mom grabbed one of them, but they kicked her and threw into the dirt. We didn't have much money in the bags, but they stole our passports and ID’s ...Half hour later me and my mom were driving to the police station, but the only feeling we both had inside is - appreciation to Master! What if this situation was a way to prevent a worse situation, like a big car accident etc?
Master said :“Accounts do have to be settled, though, so it’s possible some dangerous things will take place on your spiritual journey. But those events won’t be frightening to you nor result in any serious harm coming to you.” (Zhuan Falun, The Third Talk “ What I Do for Learners”)
The next morning I started to overcome intense physical karma. I had intense coughing fits a few times per hour which often turned into vomiting. Сonstantly i couldn't simply take a breath, i clearly felt something ( obviously old forces) were suffocating me and squeezing my throat. I knew this challenge was such a great moment for me to improve and be more diligent in my cultivation…my mom would always support me by studying Fa or encouraging me to do exercises together.
A month later my hardship has intensified. Due to constant coughing, it felt like my ribs were broken and cutting into me from the inside, so I could barely move or walk. But the worst point was - I was not able to play flute at all , which was a disaster, because I had an entrance exams coming up for university in Barcelona…while I wasn't able to practice music, i started to prepare for music theory and solfeggio exams, which had really high requirements, comparing to Germany. With the huge support of Master and other practitioners who were supporting me with FZN, I recovered and was finally able to breathe freely. Even after a 2 month gap in practicing, I prepared for exams and felt pretty confident.
The day of the exam I felt so unsure, I had thoughts like “do I even want to study there?” or “ is this really my destination to be there?”. Well, afterall i didnt pass the exams there. Firstly I thought I ruined my life, I had absolutely no idea what to do next. I planned to be a professional musician since childhood and now I failed again . Unfortunately, I stopped playing the flute
for many months.
Master says: “People tend to believe that the things they want are good, when in fact, from a higher perspective these might be seen as self-serving or shortsighted.”( Zhuan Falun, The fourth talk “Costs and Rewards”)
I let it go and half a year later I started online classes, and after all it was the best way. With online studies and a job I can devote all my time to Dafa projects! And, to be honest, the way art universities teach now, with a huge focus on contemporary art, is far away from traditional culture and classical music. Now I have no regrets about failing those exams.
As culmination of my sharing i’d like to quote a poem from Hong Yin 2 : Rational and Awake
Pause for a moment of self-reflection, and increase your righteous thoughts
Thoroughly analyze your shortcomings, and progress with renewed diligence
理智醒觉
少息自省添正念
明析不足再精進
二零零三年九月四日
I hope our divine band will save even more people !
Thank you Honorable Master !
Thank you fellow practitioners!
More experience reports
Cultivation as a Member of the Tian Guo Marching Band
Dear Master, dear fellow practitioners,
Read more »
Cherish Every Opportunity for Band Activities
—Reflections on the Vienna Tianguo Marching Band Tour
Read more »
Steadfast on the path of cultivation alongside the Tian Guo Marching Band
Greetings respected Master, greetings fellow practitioners.
Read more »
My experience while participating in Tian Guo Yue Tuan
Greetings respected Master, greetings respected fellow disciples. I would like to take this opportunity to share with everyone my cultivation experience while participating in the Tian Guo Marching Ba...
Read more »