(Minghui.org) Greetings esteemed Master and fellow practitioners!
For a while, as a staff member of the Minghui radio projects, I was involved in recording programs, but was recently assigned to coordinate programs.
Recording Truth-clarification Voice Messages: Taking Extra Care
When I was first assigned to the project, I read the script without really trying to understand the content. Once, because I didn’t know the name of the evildoer who persecuted Falun Gong, I mispronounced it. After the recording was published, I received feedback from mainland practitioners. But unfortunately, the audio was already sent out. I felt very ashamed.
Another time when I was recording a persecution case, I read it as if the female practitioner was persecuted to death, but she was still alive. This resulted in another feedback from mainland practitioners. Thus, a Minghui editor asked whether we had people reviewing the program before it was broadcasted.
Since then, whenever I’m recording persecution cases, I would read reports on the Minghui website, in order to know clearly the timing, location, people involved and location of the cases. I found that after I had a clear understanding of the case, it’s easier for me to explain when I'm involved in recording. I enlightened that this is a reflection of cultivating Truthfulness.
Then, we received feedback that it would be best if the recordings didn’t sound like a news broadcast. I thought, “How can I read it just like I was talking to someone?”
Master said: “Yet that’s typical of chi-gong books nowadays, as plagiarizing is common.” ( The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I enlightened that I should make truth clarification phone calls. I made phone calls from time to time. I learned from experienced practitioners how they made phone calls, how they prepared the content, and how they expressed themselves. All of those tips were very helpful.
After I began to coordinate the recording of the truth-clarification audios, our team generated about 1,600 files. But, even now, I will still treat every file very cautiously and seriously. We will not record a script without having thoroughly checked out the information upon receiving it.
I found a new way to improve the script during the past two years. I would read the script and record it with my phone. Then, I would listen to it as if I was listening to a phone call. I wanted to understand how it sounded if I received the call, and whether it was interesting enough for me to keep listening. This method allowed me to find things that I needed to improve upon. After I did several rounds of changes, the script was finalized.
Meanwhile, I listened to the recordings of other team members. To avoid the same mistakes in the future, I made notes of all the feedback we received from the editor and passed it on to my team members.
When answering a question about how to avoid human notions while translating Dafa books, I remember Master's teaching. Master said:
“If the surface meanings of the words are translated accurately, when I add the inner meanings behind them it will naturally be the Fa and will work.” (Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference)
I enlightened that for all of our programs to have the power to save people, on the surface, it’s the scripts and recordings, and the effort from each practitioner involved. But, the real power comes from the inner meanings added by Master.
Every time when I record a voice message, it’s part of my cultivation journey. If I’m not responsible for it, or I want to take a short cut, then it’s easiest that I simply read the script the way I received it. I can finish this in a very short time. But I wouldn’t do things this way, because I know it means that I didn’t do my job well.
Sometimes, it took longer to record a voice message, which resulted in emails from mainland practitioners. They told us that they had been looking within, and asked if it was because they did poorly on the script that it wasn’t published. Some would go ahead and make changes to the scripts and send the new version to us.
When that happened, I always blamed myself for not getting things done on time.I remember reading in Minghui sharing articles that mainland practitioners took buses or kept walking outside, despite harsh weather, so that they could make truth-clarification calls with the audio files we recorded. They used their savings to buy SIM cards or cellphones. They listened to every voice message left by sentient beings, who expressed their wishes to quit the CCP. Some traveled a long way to help other practitioners set up their cellphones. All of them spent a lot of effort on this. Whenever I read articles like this, I truly feel that I would be committing a crime if I didn’t do my part well.
Getting the Gist of Broadcasting
I enlightened that maybe the people in my future world would be endowed with voice recognition abilities. So, my cultivation state would be reflected in my voice. When a person with a supernormal ability listens to my voice, he could tell what I look like, as well as know my past and future. He may also be able to see the building I’m living in and what daily activities I partake in. Thus, it is important to do such a sacred thing with a pure heart.
The sharing articles published on the Minghui website is the cultivation process of different divine beings who would live eternally in the universe – I’m telling their stories. This is similar to an artist who is painting a Buddha. In the process, the practitioner who does the recording will be purified. And the cultivation state of the author, the editor, and everyone else involved will be reflected through the program. And it’s also the same as if we were making truth-clarification materials.
For so many years, I have been enlightening to the Fa through broadcasting. One of my team members said she doesn’t want her voice to be contaminated. I fully agree with her.
Master said:
“You should be a good person wherever you are. So in the field of the arts you should be a good person as well, and in your artwork you should display what's beautiful, what's upright, what's pure, what's good, and what's bright and positive.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Creating Fine Art,” Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Writing Music and Creating Fine Art)
I enlightened that on the surface, it’s our technique, but looking further it involves the more microscopic level. It is our gong, and it is a reflection of our gong potency, as well as the reflection of our cultivation levels.
In the lecture of “Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Creating Fine Art,” Master mentioned several times the word “accurate.” For those involved with the Minghui Radio, “accuracy” is as important.
I also enlightened that whether I can be responsible to Minghui Radio is a reflection of whether I am able to constantly identify my attachments, and whether I’m willing to make the effort to improve myself.
For example, I used to receive feedback that my recordings generated a loud echo. Trying to find the problem, I discovered that I shouldn’t record in an empty room. I moved to a small bedroom to do the recordings, because the bedding would absorb the echoing sound.
A practitioner with professional broadcasting knowledge taught me how to set up a recording room. So, I moved to a closet, with sound absorbing foam around me. I bought a pair of monitoring headphones and learned how to use professional sound processing software.
It is Master’s arrangement to have a professional teaching me all the different techniques. It was truly helpful, as it also gave me the skills I needed to know for the coordination work for all radio programs.
Coordinating Radio Programs
I’m not sure whether my understanding is correct, but I feel that my body is part of the Minghui Radio project. This is a very important understanding for me. Because Minghui Radio is a life. I never had the feeling that I’m working for Minghui Radio, but that this is my body. It was like the example of the apple that Master talked about. Every practitioner working in this project is one molecule of the apple. Each of us will be renewed, so the apple will become fresh again.
While doing the coordination work, I realized that I have to assume responsibility concerning all the things I’m doing. One of my responsibilities is to help every practitioner involved to be responsible for their own work.
Master said:
“'Stretching the Ten Directions, tiny to vast' means that one needs to see both the largest and the smallest, and at the same time he has to see the broadest expanse.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in New Zealand)
It is just as Master's teachings told us, the coordination work is just like he said. From the microscopic level, I have to pay particular attention to the details, considering whether every word is the best choice, From the much broader perspective, I have to oversee all the radio programs and make sure they are playing the role they should. And mostly importantly, I should follow Master’s arrangements.
Master said,
“That’s obviously not something you could do. These things are in the hands of one’s teacher; it is he who does them. And this is why it’s said that one only needs to focus on practicing and one’s teacher will handle the rest.” (The Second Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I recited the above Fa as “things were done by one’s teacher” and yet still thought I did it right. I always forgot that things were “in the hands of one’s teacher.” I began to think whether I always felt it was me who was doing things, and I forgot it’s all Master’s arrangement.
While I became busy in coordination work, I also gained new understandings on how to improve working efficiency. Many ordinary people talk about time management, and how to improve one’s efficiency in doing things. As a cultivator, my understanding is that the simplest way is to maintain one’s righteous thoughts.
There were so many times when I became upset or unsettled or I had complaints in my heart. That was when I lacked efficiency. If I can keep my righteous thoughts, my mind will be calm, and I will remain unaffected by any negative thought. I could do things seamlessly, one after another. I didn’t feel tired, I had good memory, and my error rate was low In other words, I was in the high efficiency mode.
Master said: “Your ability to center yourself and still your mind reflects your spiritual progress.” ( The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
When I became very busy, sometimes it was easy for me to lose the tranquility of a cultivator. Then, it was very easy to make mistakes, or being unable to notice my mistakes. I had a few such experiences.
Because I was busy working one day, I asked a fellow practitioner to help me change a few words on the Shen Yun promotional materials we were about to print. After I received the printed materials, I took a brief glance and then sent it to the printing factory. But after it was printed, we found a spelling mistake.
That practitioner accidentally spelled the word the wrong way, but I was the last person who proofread it, and I should be responsible for it. From then on, I required myself that for all the materials I received, whether it was created by me or not, I would proofread it very carefully.
There was another incident when promoting Shen Yun. I was shopping while talking to a Shen Yun coordinator on the phone. We were talking about the materials to be printed. None of us found any problems and it was sent for printing. But, I somehow felt a little uncomfortable. Because my mind wasn’t calm enough while inside the store I waited until I was back home, I opened the computer and looked very carefully at the file. This time, I found that the timing for one performance was wrong. But none of us were able to find the mistake earlier.
Master said:
“Everyone knows that it’s very hard to proofread the book prior to printing; since it is the Fa, there is demonic interference. And there is also the thought-karma of human beings making trouble, so it’s extremely hard to do. The print shop staff are not Dafa students, so chances are they can’t do it well. When the book was at one time published by the official publishing house in China, the proofreading was done by our students.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Canada)
I also enlightened that such mistakes weren’t as simple as they looked. It’s also related to our karma and interference from demons. Thus, I’m also very careful with the quotation of Master’s Fa in our radio programs. If we read it wrong, we have to look for reasons from the perspective of our cultivation, and shouldn’t muddle through with the excuse that I was being careless.
Studying the Fa
After I joined the Minghui Radio, I paid much more attention to Fa study. I read one chapter in Zhuan Falun every morning with other practitioners, and in the evening, we read 45 minutes of Master’s other lectures. It now has been 2-and-a-half years since I began to recite the Fa. Now I’m reciting three pages of Zhuan Falun, one poem from Hong Yin and Lunyu every day.
I joined the group Fa study and exercises on the weekends. When I study the Fa, I sit straight, and remain concentrated most of the time. If I lose focus during Fa study, I would look within for attachments, rather than looking outward to see what specific things I was thinking about.
I felt pain in my hip bone for two days. I didn’t know what went wrong. Sometimes I almost felt like screaming because of the pain. It was already evening that day and I still hadn’t finished my daily Fa reciting. I sat down and began to recite the Fa. There was one paragraph that I recited 15 times before I finally got it right. During the process, I tried to let go of my attachment of impatience, and I wouldn’t move on until I memorized it. After that, I got up and went to the restroom. I was surprised to find that the pain had disappeared. My reciting the Fa is just as Master said, “One should gain things naturally without pursuing them.” (“Learning the Fa,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
No matter how hard it is, I just focus on the sentence or paragraph I’m reciting. No matter what I’m enlightened to, I should just immerse myself in the Fa and continue reciting every day.
In the end, I want to say that as a particle of the Fa, it is my great honor to be selected, used, and saved by Master.
Thank you, Master!
(Presented at the Minghui’s 20th Anniversary Fa Conference-selected and edited)
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