(Minghui.org) Pan Zaishu started at The Epoch Times as a full-time employee and later turned into a part-timer. He worked as a photographer for the “Politics” division and also managed a YouTube channel for The Epoch Times (“the company” hereinafter). The company had always paid him a salary, whether he worked full-time or part-time.
According to a manager, the company had a talk with Pan at the end of July when its business account didn't receive its YouTube payment. Pan admitted to having changed the setting to have the payment routed to his personal bank account. The company repeatedly urged him to correct his mistake, but he refused to listen and kept engaging in activities detrimental to the company. He removed the registration name of “The Epoch Times” and renamed the YouTube channel. He turned the channel and the interview resources accumulated over the years into a tool for his personal gain.
The manager said that Pan once asked to borrow money from the company to cover his gambling debts. Not long after the company rejected his request, the YouTube incident happened with him moving the YouTube payment to his personal account without the company's knowledge.
Is Pan's behavior that of a cultivator? No. Does he meet the xinxing requirements that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance has for Falun Gong practitioners? Definitely not. As cultivators, we all know that upright cultivation practices in every historical period all assumed the form of masters looking for disciples, who must meet very strict moral standards. Today Falun Dafa's door is wide open and saves all sentient beings. Whoever can cultivate can enter the door to cultivate. But is a person doing things like Pan cultivating in Dafa? Those who consider themselves to be Falun Gong practitioners would never do such things.
The company has notified Pan that it reserves the right to take legal action and that they hope he can correct his mistake as soon as possible.
Master Li Hongzhi taught us that Falun Dafa cultivation is solely about cultivating xinxing and compassion and that we take a “great way without form.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore). Master also said, “we don’t have any tangible form of organization, nor do we keep money or property.” (Teaching the Fa at the Assistants’ Fa Conference in Changchun)
Master's teachings have opened a most convenient way for cultivators in modern society, with money and property completely separated from Falun Dafa, but without cultivators having to become monks or going into the mountains. The entire society is our cultivation environment. We follow the Fa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to cultivate our mind and body. We encourage each other to “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin) and to elevate our realms.
Since the Chinese Communist Party began its all-out campaign against Falun Gong in 1999, Dafa disciples and practitioners have launched many projects and companies, which involve money and property, as well as job positions and division of responsibilities. These projects and companies have thus become a touchstone for many people. We have people who make selfless contributions, but also people who seek fame and personal interest. Some only want to save more sentient beings, while others look on with indifference. While some people persevere in overcoming obstacles and moving forward, we also have those who ride on others' coattails and are content with feeling good about themselves. There are too many cases to list here.
There have been people who quit their projects to pursue their own fame and fortune once they learned from practitioners the skills they wanted to learn and built connections. Such people and incidents are not unheard of. These people often know very well the inner workings of practitioners' projects, but they never participate in Fa-study or cultivate themselves solidly. According to The Epoch Times, Pan Zaishu never attended group Fa-study or sharing. He was almost never seen studying the Fa. After he was caught embezzling money from the company, he made excuses for himself by citing Dafa phrases. He even tried to drive a wedge between practitioners and the company manager by taking advantage of practitioners' kindness and the manager's emotional response to his actions.
While the conflicts happened in the project of The Epoch Times, it is an opportunity for any practitioner who has witnessed or heard of this incident to look within and cultivate themselves. The title of Dafa disciple is not self-claimed but is earned by solidly cultivating in the Fa and walking a path of selflessness and altruism.
Minghui Editorial BoardAugust 9, 2019
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