(Minghui.org) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I joined Hong Kong’s media team in 2015 and since then I have been cultivating on a path that I never could have imagined. Along the way I've also gained understandings and enlightenment from the Fa.
I was a surgeon and in order to advance my knowledge, I went back to school for a doctorate degree in medicine. In many Asian countries, students can major in medicine as undergraduates and no graduate degree is necessary to become a medical doctor. In my free time I helped distribute our practitioner-produced newspaper and clarified the facts at tourist attractions. I also delivered newspapers to newspaper stands in the shops.
One day a coordinator said, “The print shop is really shorthanded. Could you please help them?” I'd never thought about working in the print shop. The work there was night shifts and I had to go to school during the day. It would make my schedule extremely challenging. I shared my concerns with other practitioners and some said, “It's enough that you are helping deliver newspapers while going to school. You also need time to study the Fa and do the exercises. If you work in the print shop you may not have enough time.” I realized that if the coordinator asked me to help it meant that the print shop was undermanned. As a practitioner, nothing is coincidental. But, I was troubled by how I could arrange my time.
While I was meditating, I remembered Master’s Fa,
“Our Falun Dafa is based upon the highest standard of the universe, Zhen, Shan, and Ren, all of which we cultivate simultaneously. The system that we cultivate is enormous.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I suddenly realized, “Being a good student at school is the aspect of cultivating Zhen (Truth), going to the print shop to help save sentient beings is the aspect of cultivating Shan (Compassion), and now that these two aspects have a scheduling conflict, how I overcome this difficulty with forbearance is cultivating Ren (Forbearance). Isn't this is exactly walking the path of Zhen-Shan-Ren [Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance]? Looking at other practitioners, everyone has to overcome many difficulties and balance everything in order to do the three things well. Aren’t they all walking the path of Zhen-Shan-Ren?” I talked with the coordinator and began to work at the print shop.
During the day I attended class and did research. At night I went to the print shop and often worked until 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. Afterwards I would sleep a little and then take the bus to school. When I had tests or deadlines for papers, it was normal for me to stay up for 24 hours and only eat one meal a day. Whenever I encountered difficulties, I would repeatedly recite Master’s Fa. During the eighteen months I worked at the print shop part-time, other than going to a Fa conference in the U.S., I did not take a single day off.
I noticed that all the technical staff at the print shop were not Falun Dafa practitioners. Master told us, “The human mind is unstable, so don’t think that ordinary people are going to have righteous thoughts.” (“Cleaning Up”, The Essentials Of Diligent Progress) After one interference by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the print shop had some major changes and it was having a very difficult time staying open. I was very sad about the situation and also realized that not having our own technical team was a major issue. So I decided to learn print technology to fill the gap.
My mind really struggled when I first had this thought. From a young age I was a very good student. For my undergraduate degree I went to a very famous university's medical school. After graduating I became a surgeon. I was getting a doctorate degree at the Hong Kong University. Becoming a full-time worker in a print shop was something that I could have never imagined doing. I was working voluntarily as a part-time worker. I did not plan to stay, because the coordinator had decided that I should be a part-time editor at The Epoch Times. Working full time at the print shop would require working very long hours late at night and dealing with machines and inks. It was something many people wanted to avoid as it was so dirty and tiring.
Master’s Fa helped me make the final decision, “‘No one wants the pieces of stone on the ground that are kicked here and there. So I’ll pick those up.’” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I enlightened that working in the print shop was like those pieces of stone on the ground that were kicked here and there and most people would not want to pick up; however, this work was essential for saving sentient beings and the lack of manpower was a bottleneck for producing the newspaper. So I told myself, “Let me pick up those pieces of stone.” Once I was clear on the Fa principle, none of the concerns and human notions could make my determination waver. I discussed with the coordinator and began to learn about printing techniques.
Now our print shop has its own printing team and can work independently without any external assistance. We also have trained two other leads who can independently operate the machines.
Picking up pieces of stone may seem easy. In reality, it's not easy. The first thing I had to face was my work environment. When I was a surgeon, I wore a sterile surgical gown and gloves and used sterile tools. As a worker in the print shop, I had to get used to the machines’ strong smells and loud noises. All the tools were dirty and oily. My hands and sometimes my entire body was covered in oil and ink.
The huge difference was indeed hard for me to endure. There were times when I really looked forward to the end of my shift. Other times I questioned whether I had made the right choice.
But I knew from the Fa that all these thoughts were due to human notions. If I still cared about my past titles and positions it was the attachment to fame. Not being able to endure the new environment was a reflection of my human notions being touched upon and exposed. I told myself, “All the changes to my position and title are simply losses and gains in the human world. They are just like clouds and they just come and go. The dirty and noisy environment is also just a test for me and I must face all these things with the mind of a cultivator. I must try hard to eliminate my attachments.”
As I gradually eliminated my attachments and no longer cared about these things, my mind became very calm and stable. I could face high officials or common people with a calm mindset. I no longer minded the dirt and oil and I could crawl under the machines to fix them. The environment around me didn’t bother me anymore and I felt like there wasn’t much that I couldn’t endure. If I were offered the same choice when such a Dafa project needed me, I would still do it.
I was also able to eliminate other attachments, such as being afraid of trouble, competitiveness, wanting to accomplish things, laziness, and so on. Looking back, the print shop was really a great cultivation environment for me.
I experienced many miraculous things while working at the print shop and I felt that Master was always right there next to me. I would like to share two stories.
Once, I was working on top of a machine and needed to come down. I didn’t see clearly and I missed the step. I fell and hit the concrete floor. I immediately got up. Fellow practitioners asked me how I was. I said I was fine and continued working. Later, on my break, I thought about it and felt it quite miraculous. Normally when I fell, I felt pain for some time but this time I fell from the stairs and didn’t feel anything. It was as if I fell onto a soft mattress. I knew that Master resolved the tribulation for me.
Another time, a printer had an electrical issue and as a result, two sets of printing machines that normally printed collectively could no longer function. We called professional electricians and they found that a control circuit board was broken and needed to be replaced. The new part would take several days to arrive. We could only print pages from individual printers, and the practitioners who distributed or delivered the newspapers had to manually put the pages together. It cost fellow practitioners a ton of extra time. I wondered if I could fix the circuitry myself. I had no experience with circuit boards so I just tried to compare the broken board with two good ones, hoping I could find where the problem was. I tried for an entire day and night but couldn't find the problem.
The next day was December 9th, International Human Right Day, and Hong Kong Falun Dafa practitioners held a rally and a parade. I thought about how difficult it had been for those practitioners who delivered newspapers, most of whom were elderly. I sincerely asked Master for help so that the machines could function normally to make things a bit easier for them.
After the parade I went back to the print shop and I put the circuit board back into the printer. When I turned it on, everything worked normally. I was so excited. Master again showed me a miracle. Two days later, the new circuit board arrived and the electrician came to install and test it. He asked us how we printed in the past couple of days. When I told him he was shocked.
I was taken by surprise when the coordinator asked me if I would join New Tang Dynasty TV (NTD). He said that NTD was expanding in Hong Kong, including having live shows and building studios. He asked if I could coordinate these tasks.
As a veteran practitioner I was clear about the importance of cooperating. I told the coordinator that even though I had no experience in this field, I would try my best to accomplish it. Afterwards, as I thought about it more closely, the xinxing tests began.
The first one was my attachment to loss and gain. I thought, “This is a completely new field for me. TV technology seems pretty difficult. Can I really do it? If I don’t do it well, then how will I explain it?” My next thought was the print shop. “We just got everything on track, and I'm training new people and forming print teams. How will my leaving affect the progress of the print shop?” The third one was worrying about things, “The NTD work is starting from scratch. I know nothing about television and I'll need to learn it from the very beginning. I'll have no team members to help. How can I make this all happen?”
All these notions made me hesitate. Deep in my heart I had a clear, fundamental understanding: nothing that practitioners encounter is coincidental. I clearly knew that this was Master’s arrangement for me to improve in a new environment, and all these human notions were things that I needed to eliminate. In the print shop I only needed to face the machines but at NTD I would work with human beings. I would have more cultivation opportunities.
So I eliminated all these interfering thoughts and I began studying live show technology, multi-camera shooting technology, and building studios. In this process, I was very thankful for fellow practitioners at the New York headquarters who helped me and answered all my questions. With continued study, exploration, and learning from failed experiences, we have formed our live show team, and we're now able to film using multi-cameras during major activities. We later edit our footage into one program. We can now send footage of the true situation in Hong Kong to the headquarters in New York and the rest of the world in a timely manner. The studios are under construction and will be put to use very soon to help save sentient beings.
Looking back over my years of cultivating while involved in media projects, there were many things that I did not expect. I felt like a small boat in the wide ocean experiencing all kinds of rapids and turns. Now, I no longer feel surprised. I've realized that all these were steps on my cultivation path and part of Master’s arrangement.
I must unconditionally cooperate with the changing needs of Fa rectification. I'll go wherever I’m needed, and no matter where I am, I’ll try to do well the things I’m asked to do.
This is my personal understanding at my current level. If anything is inappropriate please kindly point it out.
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2019 NTD and Epoch Times Fa Conference)