Author: Shen Yun ‘Like Heaven on Earth’

“The texts of the songs touched my heart deeply, because they have so much spirituality in them,” said Mr. Roland Roper.
Author: Shen Yun ‘Like Heaven on Earth’
Mr. Clauspeter Koscielny, editor-in-chief and publisher of the opera magazine Orpheus was delighted to see this "magical show" (The Epoch Times)
3/23/2013
Updated:
10/1/2015
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BERLIN—When Shen Yun Performing Arts graced the stage at the esteemed Berlin Internationales Congress Centrum, the audience was presented with a colorful and exhilarating performance of classical Chinese dance and music. 

Roland Ropers, an author, said after seeing the March 22 performance that he was amazed to see the “colorful performance from a distant country where one hopes to visit someday.”

Shen Yun presents traditional Chinese culture as it once was: a study in grace, wisdom, and the virtues distilled from the five millennia of Chinese civilization, according to the company’s website.

Mr. Ropers saw the divinity in the culture through the performance.

“It’s like heaven on earth—the heaven we hope to reach someday,” he said. “I am just amazed that a tradition can be presented so life-like.”

While Shen Yun tours to over 100 cities around the world each year, it cannot currently travel to China. The ruling regime nearly destroyed the ancient culture, the culture Shen Yun has as its mission to revive.

In a couple of dance pieces the persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Gong is shown. The practice, guided by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, “has helped over a hundred million Chinese people understand and return to the essence of traditional Chinese culture—Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist schools of thought,” according to Shen Yun’s website.

Yet the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting the practice in 1999; all the while practitioners have peacefully exposed “countless injustices,” states the website. “Their spirit of compassion and tolerance manifest the very essence of China’s 5,000-year-old divine culture.”

Mr. Ropers had been aware of the regime’s persecution of innocent people, and said after watching the performance, “It is amazing how a horrible regime can be exposed in such a congenial manner.”

“This is something for the regime to think about and it should consider to bring back the old traditions,” he added.

Mr. Ropers background includes the study of religions, making him reflect on spirituality.

“This show helps one to let go of the impression of missionary work. These performers are no missionaries, something that truly impressed me. This show does not lecture on spirituality, but emphasizes the divine and is more oriented towards the law of the cosmos. It is something exceptional.”

He illustrates his thought further, “When compared to Western mysticism, this show is a leader that represents a lightness and an airiness. We have elevated to a higher level, while this show presents an ease of entry.” 

He suggested that persons in the West need to focus more on effortlessness. “It is stunning how this show brings the airiness to the forefront,” he said.

The spirituality was evident in songs sung by tenors and sopranos, which are interspersed throughout the program.

“The texts of the songs touched my heart deeply, because they have so much spirituality in them,” said Mr. Roper. 

“The text spoke of our lives’ origin, and that we have to find our origins again. This statement was of great interest to me. This is truly a spiritual statement.”

With reporting by Florian Godovits

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org