CALGARY, Canada—After her sister introduced her to Shen Yun Performing Arts three years ago, business analyst Rani Tewari has made it her annual tradition to secure the same front-row seat at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium every time.
“I feel like I’m in heaven. It’s a bliss that you can’t explain. It’s joy, it’s peace, it’s calm, it’s happiness—It’s everything.”
The mission of Shen Yun artists is to return to the world’s stage—the glory and beauty of China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture.
“It’s almost like [the show] is not asking for anything, but it’s giving you that hope, that peace, and that salvation. It’s giving you that magical experience of a beautiful place. Out there might be hectic, might be bad, might be toxic, but in here, everybody is allowed to enjoy this bliss,” she explained.
“It’s hypnotic—a magical experience that one has to experience. You can’t just tell someone what it is. They have to feel it,” she said.
“The message is basically that if you follow [the divine principles,] you’re going to be saved. There are too many demons, too many chaotic and toxic people out there in the outside world,” she said.
It conveys the idea that we should “be good, decent human beings. Be truthful, be kind, be caring, and be compassionate.”
In her view, the show is calling for everyone to uphold traditional moral values and return to their best selves.
Moreover, for Ms. Tewari, being a good human means that you are working to improve yourself every day.
“You need to be a good human being every day of your life to everyone. That’s the message I get,” she said.
“If you do that and you’re cultivating that lifestyle—though we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, at least you will get a place in heavenly bliss.”
“I like to believe that [we] came here to wash away [our] sins and go back home again.”
