(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master and fellow practitioners!
Master said, “…only Minghui.org serves as a window into Dafa for the outside world and as a forum for Dafa disciples to share their cultivation experiences.” (“2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.”)
I have been very fortunate to be a member of a team that validates the Fa. More specifically, I joined the material preparation team in 2004 and have been involved for 15 years.
My daily assignment is to process all kinds of truth-clarification materials from China. That also includes page setting, conversion to PDF, and passing them on to other practitioners for publication. In addition, I am also reviewing periodicals of different kinds, as well as articles submitted to China Fahui, and those celebrating World Falun Dafa Day.
It has been a long time. In the beginning, our products were not professional and the workload was enormous. Later on, we developed professional magazines. No matter how busy and difficult it was, I was able to complete any assigned tasks each and every day. This is because preparing Minghui materials is my mission and responsibility.
Letting Go of Jealousy
Preparing materials is also a process of cultivation. One of the major issues on my cultivation path was eliminating jealousy.
Master said,
“There is a rule: anyone who doesn’t free himself of jealousy while practicing cannot attain true divine standing. No exceptions.” (The Seventh Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I felt strong jealousy in my heart and was very worried about letting go of this attachment. When I read the pamphlet titled “Eliminating Jealousy” in January 2008, I did not feel anything in particular and published it. Then, this pamphlet was resubmitted to Minghui again two years later, and the coordinator asked me to take a look. The page setting was poor and it was in traditional Chinese. I had to redo the page setting when I read it. In one article, the author reiterated what is jealousy by citing Master,
“Jealous types look down upon others and don’t allow others to surpass them. When they see someone more capable than they, their minds lose allperspective, they find it unbearable, and they deny the fact.” (Chapter III Cultivation of Xinxing, Falun Gong)
I was shocked when reading this—wasn’t Master talking about me? Why didn't I pay attention to this in the past? At that moment, I saw the root of my jealousy and when it started. Many of its derivatives, such as looking down upon others and worrying that others may not respect me, all collapsed. I felt that a giant mountain was removed by Master within a second.
When encountering similar situations, the jealousy that bothered me had disappeared. Interestingly, it was not until I read through the pamphlet did I notice that it had been published two years ago. I knew Master was using this opportunity to eliminate my jealousy, and I was very grateful for that.
Corrective Measures
In the early days, we produced many kinds of materials, such as pamphlets, local fliers, and special editions. When first publishing Minghui Weekly in February 2005, we had three sections in each issue – one for urban readers, one for people in the countryside, and one for young people. We also added a supplemental magazine in March 2005. Then, by producing the Minghui Weekly, we published more materials every year.
The daily amount of work was overwhelming, especially during holiday seasons. Because the editors could not process so many articles, I had to take over some, some of which were poorly written. This included some articles with improper content, writing on too high of a level, some missing paragraphs, some without a title or ending, pictures with very low resolution, and so on. The page setting could also have many issues such as line spacing being too small, too small margins, and those with various font types and sizes. Back in those days, I still had an everyday job. But, no matter how busy I was, I would always do my best to finish my assignment.
In the beginning, I complained about the poor quality of the submissions. Then, I realized that people and their capabilities vary from person to person. The practitioners did not intentionally make it difficult. I should be more forgiving, that is, focus on improving myself, instead of forcing my standards upon others. So, I decided to complement what I was doing, and spend more time fixing the problems, so that the articles could be forwarded to other practitioners on time. During this process, I found that the capacity of my heart also increased.
I noticed practitioners in China learned quickly. After we improved some articles and published them, practitioners in many areas learned from them. Many of the problems resolved themselves.
The Minghui Weekly was standardized for mainland China by November 2009. However, there were still issues in the materials from different regions in China. A notice was published on Minghui in 2013 that improved the submissions. We no longer needed to work on pamphlets, and what we were doing was not only limited to provinces and province-level cities. Local versions of Minghui Weekly were also streamlined and only the third page needed to be updated to suit individual cities. Our workload decreased dramatically.
When processing regional materials, I normally did not look at the contents. Once we received feedback that the title of the material was incorrect. I checked, and yes, the title did not match the content, as the article was talking about another persecution case.
Then, I noticed some content was not suitable for everyday people. For example, it reported as to how many practitioners had been forced to give up their belief. Sometimes there was detailed information on how practitioners were “transformed” and renounced their belief. There were also articles writing on too high of a level. I tried my best to correct them and provide feedback so that only the inappropriate materials would not be published.
Cooperating as One Body
Because of the harsh persecution in China, security is very important. If there are concerns over certain articles, I would give feedback. In addition, I checked the information provided in each file. I removed information that could identify the author of the article.
I also reviewed all kinds of magazines and periodicals, as well as cell phone pictures, video materials, and calendars. I always provided feedback if something needed to be corrected. Many of our materials are becoming more and more professional and it is a joy reading them. I was also impressed that practitioners in China could produce really nice materials, providing information that lets one see issues from different angles. I am fortunate to be involved in that.
We are the only news media that provides updated information about the persecution. Most other news media writes from a third-party’s angle. Some articles unsuitable for publishing on Minghui should not be included in the materials either. Some of the language was acceptable for discussions between practitioners, but it should be modified so that everyday people could read and understand it.
Each year’s China Fahui and World Falun Dafa Day greetings were the busiest seasons for me. I had to read all the submissions and select articles. Although most of them were not published, I could feel Master’s compassion, practitioners’ gratitude, and everyday people’s joy after being blessed by Dafa. To produce a great article, the practitioner had to cultivate and write well. I was always impressed that practitioners in China could maintain righteous thoughts and righteous actions, and did so well. I was deeply touched and was often in tears when reading them.
The selection process is also part of cultivation. In the beginning, I did not want to give up on those long articles. Later, I selected articles much faster. Most of the articles were further improved by other practitioners or editors. Occasionally, they would find a new title for the article. I feel like we do need close cooperation between practitioners.
Right after selecting some submissions for the 2019 World Falun Dafa Day, the 20th anniversary of World Falun Dafa Day [on May 13, 2019] had arrived. At this special occasion, I am so grateful to Master for giving me these opportunities. I am also very thankful to practitioners for cooperating as one body.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the Minghui’s 20th Anniversary Fa Conference-selected and edited)
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
