(Minghui.org) It has been nine years since we last held a Minghui Fa conference. The Minghui website is the platform for Dafa disciples all over the world to share experiences. It reflects how well Dafa disciples as a whole validate the Fa and provides firsthand information and materials on how Dafa disciples expose the persecution and clarify the truth to the world. I have been able to stay motivated and work as a Minghui editor for 18 years and counting in a relatively lonely cultivation environment, all thanks to Master's repeated emphasis on the importance of Minghui.
Master Looks After Us at All Times
During my 18 years of editing work, I've deeply felt the presence of Master's tender care and protection. Master has been looking after every aspect of the Minghui website, from its operation to its stability. My takeaway is that we should have no trouble persisting in the Minghui project as long as we ensure a good cultivation state and maintain a heart to stay responsible for the Fa and for our fellow practitioners. This realization is reflected in every part of our job, from writing articles ourselves to reviewing others' submissions.
I remember years ago Master once warned us to stay humble. My understanding is that we must not think highly of ourselves and take credit for everything. One mainland China practitioner once wrote that she thanked Master in her heart every time she was able to get someone to understand the truth of the persecution. I too often feel Master's protection and strengthening.
Once I read several submissions in a row that all touched on the same cultivation issue. I felt someone should write an article to point out the common problem. Several days passed, but no practitioner in China submitted an article on the issue. Those few days I came across several paragraphs in Master's articles that talked about this problem. I knew we must point it out. I checked with a few other editors and hoped one of them would write about it. Then I had a dream in which I was thinking about how to write the article myself. I knew Master had given me a hint to take the initiative. I finished writing the article in just half an hour after I woke up. The article attracted the attention of mainland practitioners, who followed up with new submissions to discuss the issue.
Sometimes I felt pressure while trying to finish certain tasks. I knew that the task at hand would help validate the Fa, but the part of me that hadn't cultivated well was resisting. I could feel that Master was guiding me along the way, and I wished that I had cultivated better so as to reduce the resistance. I came to see that if my cultivation state wasn't good enough, I would fail to initiate important tasks or have trouble finishing the tasks on hand.
Master said:
“Actually, it wouldn't work if you failed to attain that level of abilities. Fa-rectification required your wisdom to reach that point, so you definitely shouldn't think that you're so capable.” (Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference)
As editors, we are meant to work on the Minghui project and Master has long bestowed us with the wisdom and abilities needed to fulfill our mission. Moreover, Master has constantly given us guidance and hints along the way. We must accept responsibility if we still fail to do well. Master has never asked for more than what we can handle. Everything required of us should be achievable. Therefore, if we do well, that's what we're supposed to do. If we fail to finish a task, that means we have fallen behind in cultivation and failed to keep up with Master's pace.
Cultivation in Quietude
Many Dafa disciples outside of China share my experience: we were born in China and went abroad to get advanced degrees before landing a job. I had just started working when the persecution began in July 1999. At first, I juggled my everyday people's job with the Minghui project. It then became too much, so I quit my job to focus on Minghui work.
I was single-minded in the first few years and didn't feel a thing even though I had no contact with practitioners outside of the Minghui project. I was too busy to think about how I should feel. Every day I worked hard to review and edit submissions by mainland practitioners. I admired them for their courage and despised the evil for persecuting them. From time to time I ran into conflicts with other project members, but it was all part of my cultivation and I knew I needed xinxing tests to remove my attachments.
A few years later it suddenly dawned on me that I was no longer part of my surrounding environment. I didn't need to get a job to support my family. I was just focusing on editing articles every day and didn't even have much chance to open my mouth and talk to people. I began to feel envious of people who put on work clothes and went out to their job every day. I tried to join our local Fa-study group but didn't last long. The reason was that my local practitioners couldn't understand why I never actively participated in our local Dafa activities. But I couldn't tell them what I was doing due to security concerns. So I gradually stopped attending our local Fa-study group.
I was in a very poor cultivation state about ten years ago. I felt unusual pressure from doing Minghui work. One day I learned that another Dafa project was recruiting people, so I went to take a look. As soon as I stepped inside, I saw Master sitting in the middle of the lobby. Master looked at me seriously, as if he was angry. After a while, Master said, “Some of you are very busy. Why are you here? You think this is some place for you to have fun?”
I reflected on what happened on my way home. I had long known how Master cared about practitioners in China and the Minghui website, but I never really felt that my working on the Minghui project was that important. I even thought it was pure coincidence that I stumbled upon the Minghui project. But now that I heard what Master said at the recruiting event, it dawned on me that my affiliation with Minghui might not be like what I thought it was. I made up my mind to keep doing the project, regardless of my cultivation state or whether I felt lonely. Master knows the best the purpose, path, and endurance of each life that came to the human world. It is impossible for Master to pick the wrong person for the project. Only by carrying on in the project can we live up to Master's expectations for us.
A few fellow editors were always very humble and low key, but they once mentioned that maybe other people were more suitable for the Minghui project. I dared to disagree. Living in a world of illusion, we were unable to see the origin of a lot of things. Even ordinary people know to be grateful for favors. As for Dafa disciples, we owe Master even more. Master has chosen us to do Minghui, so we must work hard and persist till the end. This is to validate Dafa and validate Master's selecting us.
Master once told us that cultivation done in quietude is also cultivation. As such, I never doubted my cultivation way and path. I admit that it is a very lonely path, but of course every disciple has his or her own challenges in cultivation.
Working Hard
For Minghui editors, the busiest times every year are after calling for submissions for the China Fahui and World Falun Dafa Day with all the greetings and birthday wishes to Master.
One time we received more than 20,000 submissions for one such special occasion. Every submission was precious and reflected the author practitioner's cultivation journey. We needed to screen the submissions and pick good ones for publication. It took us a couple of months to go through the articles and pick the top ones. In the meantime, we still had to keep up with routine daily postings.
Sometimes we felt exhausted, even after we had published all the selected articles. Usually that was because editors might have failed to collaborate well or we didn't have enough manpower or we didn't cultivate well. Of course, our reader practitioners often gave us very positive feedback after each round of the submissions was published. They commented that the published articles were well written and validated the Fa. I often felt that mainland practitioners shouldered the heaviest workload as they needed to organize people to write and type articles. As Minghui editors, our job was just to screen and edit them. Therefore I shouldn't have felt that exhausted each time. But still, every time I thought about the “call for submissions” in the coming years, I felt apprehensive about the heavy workload.
Last March an editor reminded us it was that time of the year again to put out calls for submissions. Mainland practitioners would be busy, and so would we. I sat in my room worrying about how I was going to handle the upcoming overwhelming workload. Then Master gave me a hint through someone I knew that I must work hard and work nonstop.
Of course, this was just what I went through as an editor. We editors certainly wish to see more good quality submissions. That shows that the whole body of practitioners is doing well in cultivation. With good submissions, we are more confident in what to pick for publication.
Cultivating Xinxing
Practitioners in China often encourage us. Some of them have written to say that we editors may not fully appreciate just how important Minghui is to mainland practitioners, even though they know we work hard and understand the importance of Minghui.
They are also very supportive and collaborate well whenever we send out requests for submissions, inquiries, or other things. Some of their letters are short, only a few lines, but we can feel their maturity and rationality in cultivation.
Of course, there are also plenty of xinxing tests in the process, as editors and author practitioners have different viewpoints and do not always share the same opinion. For instance, some submissions focus mainly on local practitioners' efforts to rescue detained practitioners and to rectify unrighteous phenomena in their area. But as editors, we also need to consider the potential impact of such articles on practitioners all over the world. Some submissions contain good talking points, but they may exaggerate things or are extremely biased.
Master mentioned “the principle of positive and negative emerging simultaneously out of every word and action” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference V).
Therefore, we editors must consider many different factors before deciding on whether to publish certain articles. Some articles may have to be trimmed or even dropped. Due to security concerns, it is often hard for editors to directly communicate the thought process to the author practitioners. Misunderstanding and conflicts naturally follow in such circumstances. Some author practitioners were very critical when they wrote us, asking why their articles were edited so much or even dropped.
I am getting better at dealing with such misunderstandings and conflicts, but I admit my heart is still moved from time to time.
Recently I've been thinking about what Master said about our website, “This makes Minghui something outstanding, and the students who are involved are extraordinary.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of Minghui’s Founding” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference X)
Even though we are ordinary cultivators, what we do is extraordinary and we must have a huge heart for tolerance. Our cultivation path is embedded in the Minghui project and can't be that easy with no conflicts. Misunderstandings, doubts, and conflicts are part of the job. We should not avoid conflicts, but we should handle them with a calm mind.
Sometimes when I turn on my computer, I tell myself that I am here to “attend a class and be taught a lesson.” I am ready to face conflicts and criticism. I remind myself to not try to explain everything repeatedly if I can't make others understand. But I know that I must insist on what is right for our website. It's just that I should be compassionate to those who hold opinions different from my own.
My takeaway is that my cultivation is reflected in every little detail that I encounter while doing the Minghui project. Do I have righteous thought every time I run into conflicts? Do I do the project in earnest each and every day? I know that as long as I keep improving myself, I will reach consummation and I will be worthy of Master's expectation of me.
Thank you, Master!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Selected Experience Sharing Paper from 2018 Minghui Fa Conference, Abridged)
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