(Minghui.org) Hello venerable Master! Hello fellow practitioners !
French NTDTV rapidly expanded from March 2020 to September 2021. It went from producing three minutes of truth clarification videos, to one hour of daily broadcasts, and from 10,000 subscribers to 150,000. Looking back at how far we’ve come in this year and a half, I feel like I’m dreaming. At every step I’ve felt Master’s strengthening and the amazing power of Falun Dafa.
Gaining Without Pursuit
Due to the global pandemic, France went into lockdown in March 2020. Practitioners suggested that the NTD France Chinese team collaborate with French language practitioners to make short truth clarification videos. I didn’t analyze or question this—I simply set up a team the very next day. We all knew this should be done, but it was the first time that French and Chinese practitioners had collaborated.
We planned to take a week to prepare the videos. What we never expected was that everything would go so smoothly! We all felt great strength as everyone worked together. It didn’t take a week—we instead released a video the next day! It was as if everything had been arranged in advance.
The truth clarification video team ran for three months. They produced five short videos per week, three to five minutes each, until people’s interest in the epidemic situation in China waned. This created a base for the NTD French language team. We also started planning 15-minute French language programs.
Going from a five minute show to 15 minutes meant tripling the amount of work. Just three months before this I felt that the work was already difficult, because I also had a full time job. I thought that after a busy period I would be able to rest, but instead the workload increased. All of this progress was so natural, however, that we all felt Master was pushing us forward. We just had to put our hearts into it and everything progressed smoothly. In one month, our program “China Outlook” was officially on track. The extraordinary part was that we didn’t feel our workload was greater than before.
After the first program was released and we understood the production process, we went ahead with the second program in French, “New Horizon.” Again, we didn’t worry or analyze. We just felt it was time to do this so we did it without delay. When we needed new talent, people with the skills we needed came. Looking back, the entire process was like a dream.
A month later we released a third French language program, “French Thought Leaders.” In three months, we released three programs in French. Practitioners from around the world that I didn’t know contacted me themselves, asking to join the team. I did not need to recruit them. I would like to thank Master for his benevolent arrangements!
Once our three shows were online they didn’t get many views. Our subscriber growth was slow as we only added about 100 additional viewers each day. I began asking for suggestions to increase our audience. This was during the hectic U. S. presidential election. NTD headquarters advised us to cover news about the election. From the discussion meeting to the official release, it took only two days.
We officially aired a news program about the U.S. election on November 16, 2020, and the number of views and subscribers skyrocketed, growing at a rate of ten to several dozen times more than before. French NTD’s real growth also began that day. The Chinese speak of auspicious timing, favorable earthly conditions, and harmony among people—we surely seized this opportunity. As a practitioner, I know that it is because Fa Rectification had advanced to this stage. Because we acted according to Master’s requirements, everything unfolded naturally.
During those months we continually improved and adjusted our work process, so that the programs would come out faster and more fleshed out. All team members cooperated flawlessly.
Master said,
“...if you don’t have good thoughts, at least you shouldn’t have bad thoughts, and the best is to have no thoughts at all.” (The Fifth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I felt that as practitioners, the less we add personal notions when doing things, the less we think about potential obstacles, the more we do things from the heart and concretely, the easier it is to succeed. Master and the gods will help us.
Master said,
“Dafa disciples, I won’t set a ceiling for you, as you’re now in the midst of establishing mighty virtue.” (Teaching Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)
I understood that we should not arbitrarily set limits for ourselves, thinking that this is all we can do.
NTD started with a daily three minute show, then expanded to 15 minutes, half an hour, and now one hour. Each time I thought we had reached the limit, but looking back, I knew that we could do even more and do it better. In the process, I also deeply felt that every step we took established a basis for the future. Every step involves Master’s careful arrangement. Many things are interconnected, and we should not neglect the smallest details or seemingly casual advice from fellow practitioners—anything can be a hint from Master. Overlooking a small detail can effect the progress of the project.
“Criticism” Helps Me Improve
I interviewed people in one of the programs we developed. All kinds of negative comments from practitioners made my heart go up and down. My French is not that good—so I never thought that one day I would present a program in French. But during the U.S. elections, I changed two interviews I had done before into a French language program. Some practitioners encouraged me to do more of this kind of content, but I knew in my heart that it would be a huge challenge for me. At first, since anything having to do with the U.S. election attracted viewers, even though my French was not very good, the feedback was mostly encouraging and positive.
But when interest in the election subsided, all sorts of criticisms started to come in. For example: “The questions were repetitive…” There were also comments about my French and the slow pace of the interviews. Some practitioners bluntly said that this kind of program should not be presented by a Chinese.
One practitioner forwarded comments from her friends, who wondered why NTD kept a reporter as bad as me. I was speechless! It felt as if every word pierced my heart. I was a journalist at NTD for ten years. I always felt I was dedicated and professional, so how could I get such comments?! Besides, I was not only a reporter for NTD, I was the head of NTD, so wasn’t I damaging the image of the channel? With tears in my eyes, I answered the fellow practitioner, “I felt I wasn’t up to it, maybe I should stop.” The practitioner replied that I should look inside, ask for Master’s help, and that she would send righteous thoughts for me and for the program.
I thought, sending righteous thoughts will not turn me into a French host. I’ll still be Chinese and improving my language skills is not done in the blink of an eye. I really felt lost.
Master said,
“For a cultivator, all the frustrations he comes across among everyday people are trials, and all the compliments he receives are tests.” (“A Cultivator is Naturally Part of It,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
Facing this criticism, I knew that nothing happens by chance, and that these were tests I had to pass. Why was it so hard for me to accept that I was a bad journalist? Why did it hurt my heart so much? It was precisely because it affected my attachment to ego, which is a very strong attachment. I always watched carefully to see if my interviews got a lot of views. I even compared my program to other programs. If I had fewer views, I felt dejected. Wasn’t this a very strong competitive mentality and jealousy? How could I do the shows well with such impure thoughts?
I had to recognize that the most successful interviews I did were those that I had no intention of doing, because I had no human attachments to them. After I gave up the fear of being criticized those negative comments that moved my heart gradually disappeared.
The interview show has been running for ten months now. The process was arduous, and there were many trials. Truth be told, I am the one who gained the most from the process. Every interview I prepare for is an opportunity to elevate myself. I have closely read, How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World, and the Nine Commentaries, in order to help identify and eliminate any interfering thoughts. The areas of expertise of each interviewee has also enriched me. I am progressing little by little. It’s like Master said,
“Actually, I’m thinking that with everything you, the Dafa disciples, are doing today, you aren't doing them for Dafa, and you aren’t doing them for me, your master, either. You are doing them for yourselves.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IV)
Going Through a Life and Death Test
During the ten months I did interviews, I frequently stayed up very late. I sometimes stayed up until 4 or 5 a.m., or later. I felt that the impact on my body was enormous. I also experienced some life and death trials as well as sickness karma.
A few months ago I needed to edit a video so the episode could be aired at noon, so I worked on it all night. As I finished editing, I suddenly felt unwell. My entire body felt cold, but my head was hot and my heart pounded. I was very tired, but I could not sleep.
I sat down and began to meditate. Suddenly, it felt like my soul was leaving and I was afraid. I tried to remember what Master looked like. When I couldn’t remember, I became even more afraid. As I repeatedly called Master’s name, I tried to remember his face.
I started to search inside. I vividly recalled all the scenes of my conflicts with local practitioners, including those in other Dafa media. I felt huge regret. I realized that I had not cultivated well at all, and that I did not meet the standard for a Falun Dafa practitioner. Suddenly, all those conflicts seemed so ridiculous and insignificant! After I meditated for one hour I felt a powerful energy and I gradually recovered. I experienced what Master said,
“...doing the exercises is the most effective way to get rid of fatigue, it’s the best way to quickly make your body recover.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IV)
As I silently repeated Master’s name, I felt fine and I fell asleep. In the days that followed, I cherished each moment. I stopped being attached to many things—whether it was the number of clicks generated by the program or whatever, I was truly no longer moved. My heart felt calm and empty. I no longer let negative things drag me down. I simply did my best each day.
During Fa study, I read what Master said about the importance of righteous thoughts.
Master said,
“Dafa disciples need to do three things well on their way to Consummation, right? And sending forth righteous thoughts is one of those things. If it’s that important, why can’t you do it well?! Why do you think of it as such a simple thing and not take it seriously? You do know how important it is. Besides, if you don’t do one of the three things well, then what?” (Teachings at the Conference in Los Angeles)
It suddenly occurred to me that I often stayed up late, but I almost never sent forth righteous thoughts at 6 a.m. I never felt it was important, but wasn’t that shameful? If I missed a designated time every day, how could I reach completion? I stopped making excuses, and I haven’t missed any of the four times to send righteous thoughts for two months now.
I also had a test of illness karma. I had just finished editing a video. When my hand left the mouse, I felt a sharp pain in the palm of my hand, like when the dentist touches a nerve. At first I thought it was random, but then the pain returned every few minutes. I had no righteous thoughts at all, but instead I began thinking about how I would cope if I had this violent pain for the rest of my life.
I could not understand why this happened—every day I practiced the exercises, read the Fa, recited the Fa, and sent righteous thoughts. What could be wrong? I called the practitioner who worked most closely with me, and asked if there was anything I wasn’t doing correctly. She said that I lacked kindness, as sometimes if things didn’t go the way I wanted, I got angry, and severely blamed the other person. She said this happened many times, but I hadn’t noticed this at all.
Lacking kindness towards other practitioners, not thinking about others’ feelings—all this is related to ego. This was very far from the altruist beings that Master asks us to become. Although I was doing everything right on the surface, I had not cultivated myself well. In my heart I still had the attachment of wanting to get things. I thought that since I had done all these things, everything should be fine. In reality, I still hadn’t eliminated my ego or selfishness.
The pain in my hand gradually disappeared that evening. But a week later it suddenly reappeared. When I studied the Fa, I read what Master said,
“...if you always regard yourself as an ordinary person and mistake such things for health issues, you are going to have a hard time practicing. If you still take yourself to be an ordinary person when you meet with challenges in your practice, then your character has dropped to the human level...” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I suddenly understood that if I thought the symptom was an illness and if I was afraid that I might be sick, then the disease could come in. Practitioners don’t have any illnesses. Everything we encounter is good. Whatever discomfort we feel must not interfere with our ability to validate the Fa. I just need to do what I have to do. After I had this thought the pain disappeared.
Eliminating My Selfishness
From the beginning it seemed there was a conflict between our television and newspaper, especially when the newspaper began to make videos. It was almost as if we were competitors. Since our attachments are exposed as we cultivate, it’s natural for conflicts and tensions to occasionally surface.
Master said,
“If all of you are able to search inward, many problems will be resolved, there won’t be so many tensions, and in turn there won't be such intense things flaring up.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VII)
“If you don’t search inward when certain problems and conflicts surface, they will intensify, and it happens because of your own attachments. Some become more and more intense, and they’re in fact caused by the person’s not having cultivated well.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VII)
I began thinking about my attachments. Why were there still conflicts after all these years?! I felt it was because I didn’t look inside at all. I just looked at things like an ordinary person, thinking that since we have limited resources, we shouldn’t have two video channels in the same media group.
In the end, it was always this selfishness—I didn’t want my team to be recruited by others. I didn’t want other projects to interfere with the progress of my project—I had a lot of personal opinions. I never thought about what Master wanted at all.
Master allowed us to create different media, radio, newspaper, television, etc. Didn’t they exist so that we could save people through different channels? Nowadays, videos are a form that the general public likes, so practitioners in other media naturally thought to save more people with this same medium, but they didn’t have skills in this field. If the NTD team could give them technical support, we could save even more people.
I really needed to give up my selfish attachment to loss and gain. I needed to stop thinking that this kind of collaboration does not benefit NTD so I did not want to help the other media. Because I refused to cooperate, the sacred tasks of validating the Fa and saving beings could not achieve the best effect.
I would like to thank all those fellow practitioners who pointed out my gaps! I now truly understand that all those who reproached me for not wanting to collaborate with the other media were right. I really did not have the will to coordinate with them. I did not examine myself so the conflicts worsened. I’m also happy that I can finally think about this issue with a calm heart, and without attachments. I hope that in the near future, all our amazing media will be able to coordinate our efforts so we can save even more beings and show how great Dafa is!
I will conclude with the words of the song “Sailing Together Against All Odds,” let’s hope that Falun Dafa practitioners in France will continue working together to help Master in Fa rectification!
We vowed to meet each other in this lifetimeLife honors are linked to Fa-rectificationYear after year, we reached todayDafa disciples’ hearts are linked to each other, they opened a new fieldWe sail together against all odds, help MasterWishing to spread the truth in the whole world
(Presented at the 2021 France Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
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