Saturday, February 24, 2018

Boy attends vigil outside Chinese Embassy with mom—then finds a powerful voice in the silent art of dance

“Regardless of the outcome, we have all succeeded, because in terms of morality and conscience, we will always be in an invincible position.”

Tumbling, jumping, leaping, and flipping, Yangmuye “Ben” Chen, principal dancer of Shen Yun Performing Art—New York-based world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, has been using this beautiful art form to portray legends and historical figures on stage since 2011.
In one of Shen Yun’s ending piece—Divine Renaissance Begins, he depicted the story of a Falun Gong practitioner, who was being persecuted in China for his belief…
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient mind-body cultivation practice based upon the principles—Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.
With an estimated 70 to 100 million adherents in China, the Chinese Communist Party perceived Falun Gong’s presence as a threat to its authoritarian rule, and launched a brutal persecution to eradicate the practice on Jul. 20, 1999.

According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, millions of Falun Gong adherents have since been arrested and detained.  
“Over the past 18 years, numerous Falun Gong practitioners have lost their homes, jobs, even their lives,” said Erping Zhang, a Falun Gong spokesperson, The Epoch Timesreported. “Worse still, there is the horrific crime of organ harvesting against these prisoners of conscience.”
©Epoch Times | Benjamin Chasteen
So, to inform the public about the persecution and to dispel the lies, Falun Gong practitioners around the world gave their all.
They hold parades, candlelight vigils, hand out flyers on the streets, and set up independent overseas websites and newspapers.
©Epoch Times | Benjamin Chasteen
“The key for us was to get the word out, to tell the Chinese people and the international community alike what was going on—this, at a time when the whole world was fed lies about us by the Chinese Communist Party’s overwhelming propaganda machine,” Ben wrote in a blog post published on Shen Yun website.
©YouTube Screenshot | Legends Unfolding – 傳奇時代
As Ben portrayed the role of a persecuted Falun Gong practitioner, he could feel “the joy of dancing for others.”
He realized their story is also “in a way, my own…”
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Before Ben joined Shen Yun, to get the word out about the truth, he attended a peaceful 24/7 sit-in, held on the sidewalk facing the Chinese Embassy, in Portland Place, London.
The sit-in began on Jun. 5, 2002, when Ben was just an 11-year-old boy. For several months, he sat down on that sidewalk with his mom, Gao Yudong and many others—meditating, and had spent many nights sleeping in a roadside tent.
On weekdays, he woke up at 7 a.m., and brushed his teeth at the nearby McDonald’s. After putting on his school uniform, he took the London underground for about half an hour, then traveled another twenty minutes on the bus to get to school.
In the afternoon, he was back in Portland Place, doing his homework on the pathway.
Once, Ben asked his mom, “Mom, how long do we have to be here for?”
“Until the persecution ends,” Gao replied.
Oftentimes, many people, including Ben’s grandpa wondered, “Would their efforts paid off?”
“One should be rewarded for one’s efforts. But you work so hard without getting paid,” Ben’s grandpa wrote, in an email to his parents.
In reply to his grandpa’s email, Ben wrote: “I always believe that hardship can temper one’s character, enrich his experiences, and improve his morality. This is similar to the principles of cultivation. Of course we are not seeking suffering. But amidst life’s difficulties when other people mistreat me, even while being persecuted, I cannot give up. I have to walk my path with determination.”
“My parents were busy, because the persecution has been going on, and it still continues. Many people don’t know that. Human life is so precious. That’s why mom and dad may work day and night,” he continued.
“You said effort ought to be rewarded. This is certainly true. So many years have passed. No matter it was with our family’s situation, or with the way my parents raised me, we may not see the reward at the time. Instead, they will be shown many years later. Dad and mom’s efforts were not in vain.”
“Confucius taught justice and destiny,” he concluded. “Regardless of the outcome, we have all succeeded, because in terms of morality and conscience, we will always be in an invincible position.”
©Epoch Times | Dai Bing
Years later, Ben disappeared from the sidewalk. In 2008, he flew thousands of miles to New York to study at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, where he mastered the bearing, form, and technical skill of classical Chinese dance.
Since 2011, he has been a dancer in the Shen Yun Performing Arts’ world tours, and has embarked on a journey to share the true essence of Chinese culture on stage; and to tell the world what’s happening to Falun Gong adherents in China.

©Epoch Times | Chen Xiao Xiao

While Ben was overseas, his mother stayed put in the 24/7 sit-in.
Despite being cursed at by passersby who were oblivious to the truth, she sat there peacefully, day after day.
Every year in May, Ben will return to London to visit his parents. Whenever he is back, he will make a trip to the Chinese Embassy.
“When I sit there and sit down to meditate and do the exercises, just by myself, I feel really really peaceful. It just reminds me of everything we’re doing, and why we’re doing it,” said Ben in the documentary “Candlelight Across the Street.”
….........................................................
That day, when Ben was performing the ending piece—Divine Renaissance Begins, he felt like he was back outside the Chinese Embassy once again.
“So can you picture his excitement, as the curtain flies up for the last time, revealing a scene and a story from today’s China? Can you imagine his joys and sorrows, as teenage nostalgia and a decade of perseverance in wind and rain come flooding back to him in a moment on stage?” Ben wrote.

“But then on stage, the sound of the buses disappeared. It turned into the music from the orchestra pit,” he said.
“And it wasn’t just the few pedestrians walking passed. It was a full house, full of audience members there ready to listen to what we have to say through our performance.”
©YouTube Screenshot | Legends Unfolding – 傳奇時代
Suddenly, Ben felt he wasn’t dancing for himself anymore. He was dancing for the millions of practitioners around the world… for his mom sitting outside the Chinese Embassy…for the grandmas and grandpas handing out flyers on the streets…
And all of this was for the millions of Falun Gong practitioners suffering in China for having the same belief as he does… and for the people around the globe who believe “goodness will prevail.”

Watch Candlelight Across The Street

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陈阳暮月—一度静默的抗议者,如今借舞蹈这种无声的艺术,发出了强有力的声音

“我们能做的唯有全心全意去做,对得起自己的良心。这件事不管最后成功不成功,我们都成功了。因为在道义和良心上,我们将永远处于不败之地。”—陈阳暮月,神韵艺术团的领舞演员

「法正人间」,这是我们几年前的演出中收场节目的名字。演出的一开始是法轮功修炼者们在炼功的场景,全球有数亿人都在炼著这一种相同的功法,这相似的场景可以在全世界的各个角落看到。故事由两个主人公展开,讲述他们所经历的迫害,以及最终来自天国的救赎。
在忙乱的排演季,演员们经常在不同的角色间调换。在巡回演出的一个月前,我被分配到一个崭新的角色。在彩排的两天前担任一个全新的角色,那段时间对我来说可真是混乱。
在今年的巡回演出落幕之际,我开始意识到真正重要的不是谁扮演什么角色,而是我们所表演的那个角色。当演出的最后一个节目的大幕被拉开,我真切感受到为别人跳舞的快乐,那种快乐比以往任何时候都强烈地充盈在我心里。真正重要的是我们所表演的那个角色,和发生在他们身上的故事。那其中,也包括我的。
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2002年6月5日,伦敦波特兰大街66号。在英格兰温暖的夏日里,一个小男孩和他的母亲加入了12人的队列。他们在面对中国大使馆的人行道上打坐炼功,开始了一天24小时、每周七天无间断的和平请愿。
在接下来的几个月里,小男孩睡在路边搭建的帐篷里,吃著饭盒,更换著路边展板记录静坐天数的纸牌,自娱自乐。在工作日的早上,小男孩醒来,走出帐篷,换上英国小学的校服,在麦当劳里刷牙,然后搭乘一个小时的地铁来到一所郊区学校上课。下午从学校回来之后,就在人行道上做功课。

这样的在中国使馆外静坐请愿的方式,是法轮功学员在全世界的不同国家针对中国政府镇压中国大陆的法轮功学员所发起的反迫害的活动。这场迫害从1999年7月20日开始直到今天,在劳教所和监狱中遭受酷刑而死亡的法轮功学员的人数每一天都在不断上升著。我们所要做的,是告诉所有中国人以及国际社会这场正在发生的迫害,告诉他们中共利用国家宣传机器对法轮功的抹黑全都是谎言。
©Epoch Times | Benjamin Chasteen
为此我们付出了所有的一切。我们举办大游行,烛光守夜和新闻发布会。一些法轮功修炼者成立海外的独立媒体和新闻报纸,突破中国大陆的网络封锁,向中国的监狱和警察局打电话,向国际法庭提交诉讼。从政府官员到中国大陆的游客,我们对所有人讲述这场迫害的真相。
©Epoch Times | Benjamin Chasteen
所以,你能见到那些老爷爷和老奶奶们向你递出真相资料,无论在特拉法加广场还是剑桥,无论在埃菲尔铁塔还是悉尼歌剧院,你都能看见他们的身影。尽管有些人会咒骂他们,会对他们吐痰,会说他们「让中国蒙羞」,有些人甚至会打他们耳光。可是他们仍然不屈不挠,忍受著恶劣的天气和所有的侮辱,坚守在那里,日复一日,年复一年。十七年来,他们用耐心和善良,驱散了恶毒的谎言,告诉全世界的人们发生在中国大陆法轮功修炼者身上的故事。
在中使馆外,没有任何其它请愿像伦敦的请愿坚持了这么长时间。有时,其它人权组织会在街对面的彩绘大楼那里喊口号。不管他们怎样喊,这边在炼功的人们还是安静地坐著,按照日程安排轮班,没有任何酬劳的一直坚持著,展示法轮大法缓慢宁静的炼功动作,在喧嚣的伦敦要道上保持著内心的平和。
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在中使馆外静坐的日子达到第100天时,展板上的数字也增至了三位数。男孩把另一个塑料格子加进去,放上写著数字的纸张,然后问妈妈:「我们什么时候可以不用在这里抗议了?」妈妈的回答非常简单:「到迫害结束的时候。」
十年之后,男孩和妈妈分开,来到大洋的彼岸。妈妈还留在那里,有时会整晚在中领馆外静坐,然后第二天一早直接去她在市中心的办公室上班。
但是男孩离开了。他的旅程在几千里之外世界的舞台上。英格兰的毛毛雨变成舞台上璀璨的灯光,双层巴士的轰隆声变成优美动听的乐池中的旋律,偶尔路过的行人变成了满场衣著考究的女士和先生。那些一度受谎言蒙蔽的中国游客,如今坐在剧院里,为自己民族传统文化的复兴感到自豪。
©Epoch Times | Dai Bing
曾经的那个小男孩——一度静默的抗议者,如今借舞蹈这种无声的艺术,发出了强有力的声音。


你能够想像此时他的兴奋吗?当大幕再一次拉开,展现出当今中国的场景。你能够想像他的喜悦和悲哀吗?当十几年来风雨无阻的历程在这一刻湧上心间。
©YouTube Screenshot | Legends Unfolding – 傳奇時代
他感到自豪、荣幸,也感到释然。因为他能够在这里跳舞,不只是为了他自己,也为了坐在中使馆外的母亲,为了那些散发真相传单的爷爷奶奶们,为了千千万万遭到镇压迫害、酷刑折磨的中国大陆的法轮大法修炼者,为了世界上所有相信「正义必将胜利」的人们。
©YouTube Screenshot | Legends Unfolding – 傳奇時代
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(按:這是陳陽暮月少年寫給爺爺奶奶的信,他在替他父母解釋,爲何他們會那麼忙。)
艱苦的環境能磨練一個人的品德,充實人的經驗,提高人的心性,這和修煉的道理是相通的。當然我們不是故意找苦吃,而是在生活困境中,別人對你不好時,甚至是被迫害中,都不能放棄,都能依靠堅定的毅力走出自己的路。
現在回想起來,如果我不那麼成長,也許會變成慣壞的懶人,什麼都不會幹,嬌氣又傲慢。也許太安逸了,也許就會慢慢放棄了信仰,去追求物質享受的無底洞了。沒有玩遊戲機的時間,我可能用在了創作音樂上,沒有享受物質生活的時間,我可能用在了讀書和豐富知識上.
我慢慢理解了小時候理解不了的,爲什麼大人都那麼忙,理解了當年爲什麼爸爸媽媽都那麼忙。因爲我們處在非常時期,處在被迫害中,而且至今打壓還在大衆不知道的背地裏進行著。人命關天啊。所以爸爸媽媽有時會沒日沒夜地幹。
爺爺奶奶說付出就應有回報,這的確是真理。這麼多年過去了,不管是爸爸做報紙也好,還是家長小時候對我的教養也好,有些事情不一定看到回報,而是很多年後才看到成果的。爸爸媽媽當年那麼費力不是枉然的。
孔子講過「義」和「天命」,知道一件事情在道義上是對的就應該去做,而不用考慮成功或不成功。我們能做的唯有全心全意去做,對得起自己的良心。這件事不管最後成功不成功,我們都成功了。因爲在道義和良心上,我們將永遠處於不敗之地。

观看: 【傳奇時代】街對面的燭光

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