Sharing Some Experiences in Compiling Materials for the Minghui Website
(Clearwisdom.net) I was lax in my Fa study since I began
cultivation in 2002, losing myself in my role of mother and in the
comforts of life. I used my work schedule and the young age of my child as
reasons for not completing the exercises. I practiced at home on and off.
Because I did not participate in group practice, I did not study and practice on
a regular basis. Although I knew Falun Gong to be good for me, I had not felt
the real meaning of being a Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioner. My
husband had been practicing for three years already. In some way, I interfered
with my husband's cultivation. At the end of April in 2003, the volunteer coordinator and some fellow
practitioners came to the area where I lived. They helped my husband and me to
escape isolation. We became involved in Fa-rectification activities. I found out
then that our area had never seen such a small scale of Fa-rectification
activity. I understood that Master had actually arranged this small-scale
activity, because Master does not want to leave even one practitioner behind. I was not accustomed to cultivation because I lagged behind. Many of the
practitioners in my area were older people. They enjoyed sharing information,
such as changes in their bodies, and the supernatural abilities that they had,
as well as their gratitude toward Master. I did not begin cultivation because of
medical issues nor because of life issues. Their stories made me uncomfortable.
Having read Master's lectures, I would use the teachings to "prove" I
was not in pursuit of anything and that my level was higher. Only when I became
aware of the lack of healing effects [on me] did it occur to me I did not firmly
believe in Dafa and Master. I also did not go to the practice site every morning
in all weather, and neither did I clarify the truth to everyone I
met. Compared to the practitioners I had formerly mentioned, my human pride and
arrogance had me measure and judge fellow practitioners, but I failed to see my
own incorrect thought processes, an impure state. Once I abandoned some of my arrogance I could better understand Master's
boundless and mighty mercy for me. Gradually, I was also able to understand the
duties that Fa-rectification Dafa practitioners have. Since then I have attended
many training classes for practitioners to learn how to use certain tools to
help explain the facts about Dafa. Many practitioners were in charge of multiple
tasks, which deeply moved me, and I quickly learned how to use some of the
on-line tools. Other practitioners then began to depend on me to do more and
more tasks, making me feel the pressure of time. I would daily worry about my
unfinished "responsibilities." Once people from an experience-sharing
web space we created asked me to post some of my personal cultivation
experiences, to encourage more practitioners to join our group. Even though I
sat in front of my computer for a long time, I could not find anything to write
about. Several days later I realized that was not normal. I studied the Fa with
a very calm mind. Master said: "No matter how much work a person in charge has done among everyday
people, he is working for Dafa out of his own will. The success of his work is
only a manifestation among ordinary humans. It is the mighty power of Dafa
itself and the specific arrangements made by my Law Bodies that enable people
to obtain the Fa and spread the Fa widely. Without my Law Bodies doing these
things, even protecting the people in charge could hardly be ensured, let
alone spreading the Fa widely. So don't always think of yourselves too highly.
There is no fame, self-interest, or official titles in Dafa, but only
cultivation practice." ("A Heavy Blow" in Essentials for
Further Advancement") It was indeed a heavy blow for me! By then I was acutely aware of my
attitudes. Even though I was doing numerous Dafa tasks, because my mind was not
focused on offering people salvation, I lacked the wisdom to do this job wisely.
I was simply a machine that functioned well. I could send the jobs to people,
but that was it. Looking deeply into the roots of my problems, my notions to
make a good impression and have other practitioners consider me responsible
tripped me up. These attachments had turned Dafa-cultivation upside down. I
realized that practitioners who could genuinely tell people the facts about Dafa
were the ones who had continually studied the Fa and cultivated steadily, even
though they did not have "my skills". In mid-2004, on the recommendation of several practitioners, I joined the
Minghui websites team for compiling materials. They needed practitioners to
commit constant time and effort for periodic tasks. Regretfully, even after
Falun Gong and practitioners had been persecuted for five years, I had seldom
read the articles in the "Facts of the Persecution" section of the
Minghui/Clearwisdom website. Instead, I had always chosen to read articles about
"Practitioners Exchange Insights and Experiences" and "People's
Hearts Determine Their Futures." In retrospect, I simply practiced
self-cultivation and still harbored some inappropriate thoughts. For many reasons, the workload at the Minghui website was huge. We needed
excellent cooperation among the practitioners because of the detailed tasks. I
took over the role as a coordinator and was faced with a series of tests and
difficulties. Each case of breaking through a barrier was like shedding a layer
of skin. Trudging along the path I felt deeply that our merciful Master has
dragged and pushed me to the point I am now. Thank you, Master! The cooperation and collaboration seemed successful to begin with. Overall,
practitioners would cooperate well. Being a relatively new practitioner made me
feel inadequate in my diligence. This clouded my vision as to what my role would
mean, and I lacked a clear focus of how I could play any role in the development
of the material database. Only when the Minghui editor pointed out that our
team's thoughts had gone off track, did I realize that my not studying the Fa
well was the reason for my somewhat irresponsible approach to my tasks. Let me tell you how I walked unnecessary miles and the lessons that I learned
in my cultivation practice. Earlier I mentioned that practitioners cooperated well. Perhaps we were
unaware of how to go about our work. We also limited our perceptions and
mistakenly believed that our major job was to collect information but forgot
that truth-clarification and offering salvation to sentient beings were our
actual goals. We had expected advice and suggestions from the North American coordinator,
when we had actually added additional tribulations and xinxing
tests for him. After a while we came to realize it was all because of our
failure to work as a whole body and had always waited for others to solve our
problems. Due to a lack of common understanding, our editing jobs eventually became
more difficult because our team did not have a common understanding. We regarded
"exposing the torture methods" as our sole editing focus and ignored
the bigger picture. We added more than 400 new "types of persecution."
It seemed that we only exposed the evil persecution. Editing took longer and
longer because we added every detail, making it a lengthy process to scan the
whole document. We were missing the point of truth-clarification. This time all
of us became quickly aware of the problems and immediately corrected them. Had
we not done so, the loss would have been immeasurable. After that we extended group study time. We categorized the projects and
gained a deeper understanding of the nature and the real meaning of the editing
jobs from the perspective of the Fa. We learned that sharing among us was for
the purpose of encouraging each other to improve. Master said: "The cultivation practice form that I have left for Dafa disciples
ensures that disciples can truly improve themselves. For example, I ask you to
do the exercises as a group in parks in order to form an environment. This
environment is the best way to change the surface of a person. The lofty
conduct that Dafa disciples have established in this environment--including
every word and every deed--can make people recognize their own weaknesses and
identify their shortcomings; it can move their hearts, refine their conduct,
and enable them to make progress more rapidly." ("Environment"
from Essentials for Further Advancement) Since that adjustment, each one of us has been capable of carrying out his or
her editing job individually. Yet, right then, a few practitioners asked to quit
their editing jobs because of their involvement in specific other Dafa tasks.
That presented us on the team with a challenge. We had never had enough manpower
to begin with. At first I used a strong human mindset and emotions to try to
convince them not to quit. Although they temporarily agreed not to quit, I felt
as if a thousand-pound load sat on my shoulders. I complained and let them know
they were treating me wrongfully. I believed that those practitioners did not
take the whole body as their priority and that they failed to fulfill their
promises. I tried hard to control my emotions in group-study. Yet,
unintentionally, I sounded accusing. Master said: "Forbearance is the key to improving one's xinxing. To endure with
anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is
attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is
the forbearance of a cultivator." ("What is Forbearance (Ren)?"
in Essentials For Further Advancement) The anger hidden inside me for the previous several days suddenly dissolved.
Right! That was actually a test for me. But instead of searching inside myself,
I had tried to push it away from me. After a certain period of editing, the amount of information we collected
also increased. It was time for us to add additional information to some
incidents. Hence, how to compile the scattered sources into complete cases
became another test for all of us. At first we came up with an easy idea: to use
a code to distinguish a certain type of report, but eventually it proved to be
inappropriate. The coding system messed up the organization of the paragraphs,
and the phrases and terms were not coherent. We came up with a massive
collection of disorderly, scrambled information instead of a brief introduction.
We did not take immediate action to solve the problem. Knowing it took time to
sort out all the information, and considering the volume of cases for us to
expose, we just removed the parts we were working on and left the whole database
in chaos without doing anything to it. What was left was disorderly information,
not very useful in exposing the persecution, much less offering sentient beings
salvation. What we actually did for lack of improving our xinxing
amounted to sidestepping the difficulties when they arose. We were being
selfish. Master said: "The Minghui website's role in clarifying the truth is irreplaceable.
It's the most important window through which we get the truth out about the
persecution and the overall situation of Dafa and Dafa disciples' validating
the Fa. When it comes to the things of Dafa disciples, you should always
cooperate with each other and work well together." ("Teaching the Fa
at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference") Every single word in this part of the lecture hit me like a thunder bolt. The
words woke me up. From then on I could adjust my mentality in my job for the
Minghui website. We were always behind other segments of the website with our jobs. We tried
to get better but did not make much progress. I felt pressured. In February 2007
a coordinator from North America told us that to cooperate with the process of
Fa-rectification, our team's work might be put on hold so that we could do some
other tasks. Hearing that, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I felt sorry for
having failed to meet Master's and our fellow practitioners' expectations. I
deeply regretted this and blamed myself. Master said: "Don't miss this predestined chance. What's so hard about it? Think
about it, [and you will see that] this is about not cherishing enough your
predestined opportunity to cultivate, about not cherishing the Fa enough, and
not cherishing your own life enough. When you truly understand these things,
you will do well." ("Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005 (Lecture
and Q&A)") Suddenly I realized the root of my problems that had hidden inside me for
several years: I did not cherish enough my predestined opportunity to cultivate. Master said: "I don't like it when you blame yourselves, it's completely pointless.
I'll just repeat what I said: If you've fallen, don't just lie there; get up
right away!" ("Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the
U.S. West Fa Conference") This time I finally understood. No matter what projects I'm in, once I
understand their importance, I should do my best. After realizing this, I laid
aside my attachments to "time," and constantly maintained a stable
cultivation status. I used every minute wisely to do my jobs well. After a
while, when I asked the coordinator when we would need to transfer to the new
tasks, he told me we could continue with our current jobs because things had
changed. I knew that merciful Master had helped me again. He offered us another
opportunity to carry out our promises. Thank you, Master! The three years of editing and coordinating work relating to the persecution
helped me gain different kinds of knowledge. I found my many hidden attachments.
Sometimes it looked like that I had gotten rid of them, yet after a while they
would recur. I progressed slowly and stumbled along the way. I have learned that
a coordinator needs to take care of many responsibilities. Although I am still
full of shortcomings and I may not have met all the requirements, I am
determined that I will be more diligent on the path of Fa-rectification. Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners! (2007 Selected Experience Sharing Articles on Minghui)
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/2/1/159618.html
Yearly Archive
Printer Version
feedback@clearwisdom.net