NORFOLK, Va.—Many audience members say that Shen Yun Performing Arts spreads a powerful message. Optometrist Fadee Bittar and financial analyst Jasmine Bittar watched
Shen Yun at the Chrysler Hall on Jan. 7 and were among those who saw a message of great importance in what Shen Yun presented.
“I thought it was incredible,” Dr. Bittar said. “The message was incredible [and] really amazing.”
Dr. Bittar saw an advocation for the freedom of belief in Shen Yun. “They’re trying to be free and believe in whatever they want to believe,” Dr. Bittar said, referring to
Shen Yun’s depiction of followers of the spiritual practice Falun Dafa not giving up their faith despite being persecuted by China’s atheist communist regime.
Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese
artists who fled China’s oppressive communist government and made it their mission to show the world the beauty of China before communism. Traditional Chinese culture was intricately tied to spiritual teachings from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, yet these beliefs were abolished by the communist regime.
Dr. Bittar expressed his own belief in a higher power. “I’m a firm believer that no matter what you believe in—it doesn’t matter where it’s from—but if you believe in a higher power, I think it’s glorifying someone else. It makes us humble, and it makes us know that there is a kingdom after this world. I think it’s very important that we all try to try to achieve that, try to reach that. No matter what we do, we want to be good and humble in this world and try to get there. I think it’s a wonderful message.”
Mrs. Bittar was also touched by the message. “I think it was very inspiring,” she said. “I think it’s important for us to know that there’s something we all have to do on this earth. We have to be kind, we have to be loving, and we need a love for something that’s larger than us. If we don’t, then life really doesn’t make any sense. That was clearly the message that I saw there.”
Mrs. Bittar resonated with
Falun Dafa’s principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. “People putting their lives at risk for something I believe in … that’s something extremely brave. I think this world is lacking that, and we need to teach that to our children, and the generations to come.”
Reporting by Terri Wu and Wandi Zhu
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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