(Minghui.org) Greetings esteemed Master, and fellow practitioners:
I started to practice Falun Dafa with my family in October 1997. I have benefited a lot, both physically and mentally. Our family had to leave China because we didn’t give up cultivation. We came overseas. I participated in Fa-rectification projects to assist Master. Our benevolent Master has dissolved many hardships and adversaries for us while we continued on our cultivation path. Finally we settled down overseas.
Looking back at my cultivation journey, I feel lucky that I became involved in the project of reporting for the Minghui website as soon as I arrived overseas. After going through numerous xinxing tests, I realized that I had been practicing but not cultivating all the past years. I didn’t know how to cultivate myself. I was not able to forbear.
Master said,
“Forbearance is the key to improving one’s xinxing. To endure with anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is the forbearance of a cultivator.” (“What is Forbearance (Ren)?” Essentials for Further Advancement)
But I never forgot that I was a cultivator. Master put this Fa into my mind, let me see that I felt anger and grievance, and endured with anger, just like an everyday person. I felt ashamed. I began to look within, and cultivated my xinxing from then on.
Actually I was not fit for this job because my language skills were limited. When the coordinator asked me to do this job, I didn’t refuse her, but told her in a roundabout way that I was an accountant and how I could do the reporting without speaking English. She said that she would register my name first and ask me to improve my language skills later.
Indeed there aren’t many local practitioners. Those who have good language skills are doing media projects. I understood the importance of the Minghui website, and had no reason to refuse the coordinator. So I joined the team and started to learn as I worked on the project.
I was not confident due to the language barrier. I tried to find another practitioner with good English skills to replace me, so that I could spend more time doing the projects that didn’t require English language skills. But I was not able to find anyone. Actually I didn’t believe in myself and dared not take the responsibility. Through constant Fa study and thanks to Master’s encouragement and strengthening, I broke through many notions and removed many obstacles.
When Shen Yun came to our city for the first time in 2008, I was told that the Minghui website also required reports on audience feedback for Shen Yun performances. There was a shortage of writers, so I volunteered to do the reports on Shen Yun shows in the nearby cities. I had my pen name as required, which increased my sense of responsibility, and knowledge of my mission. My original thought was to interview Chinese people in the audience. I felt uplifted when I finished this journey. Our benevolent Master sent predestined people to me one by one. Thanks to practitioners’ cooperation, I interviewed Chinese as well as Westerners. They were the “three kinds of people” we intended to interview. I was very touched. I made up my mind that I would follow the path Master arranged for me, and hurry up in saving sentient beings.
I was later actively involved in various Dafa projects and activities and wrote reports. I noticed that the practitioners whose language skills were better than mine only did the exercises but didn’t clarify the truth about Dafa to people. I stopped complaining, looked within, and found that when I expected fellow practitioners to step out and clarify the truth to people, my purpose was not simply for them to provide me with more materials for my reports. During that time I experienced jealousy and felt an unfairness. I knew that I needed to eliminate my attachments.
In order to finish a report in time, I had to do homework beforehand. When it was published, I often reviewed it carefully to see where and how the editor had changed it. From those deleted sentences and words, I found my attachments to showing off, as well as what I should pay attention to in my next report.
While writing reports, I had to consider what kind of language I should use. This process increased my awareness of considering other peoples’ needs. My reports were edited less and less, and my cultivation state changed accordingly. When I saw problems with my family members and fellow practitioners, I just spoke out and rarely considered how they would feel. I now try to find a way of speaking to provide a kind reminder. I previously always avoided direct contact with Western practitioners due to my language barrier. This caused a separation with the practitioners. I now contact Western practitioners first and share my experiences with them. I realized that writing reports well was a process of moving from quantitative change to qualitative change, and also a process of putting my heart into a project, letting go of attachments, and improving xinxing.
Our local city was not on lockdown during the pandemic. We had many activities, though mostly at the same place. The editor limited my reports on activities but encouraged me to write the cultivation stories of Western practitioners. This was a challenge for me. I started to write reports based on my interviews. I interviewed the Western practitioners around me and also wrote reports based on the experience sharing conferences in the past years. When I had the heart, Master arranged for practitioners who had good language skills to help me.
The practitioners whom I contacted were very cooperative. We shared together and discussed how to tell people the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa with facts. I found this a very good way to validate the Fa. It helped the people in China to learn numerous examples of practitioners who have benefited from practicing Falun Dafa worldwide. It was also a great encouragement to those involved. Upon hearing other practitioners’ cultivation experiences, I was moved to tears for Master’s immense benevolence. The Western practitioners’ firm belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance dissolved the separation among us. The practitioners who translated for me also benefited a lot and cooperated with me unconditionally.
While working with the practitioners, I found many of their shining merits which reflected my shortcomings. This made me treasure fellow practitioners and Falun Dafa even more.
The process of writing and interviewing was also a great opportunity for my cultivation and improvement. Once I had a plan for an article, I hurried up to arrange the interview, prepare the transcript, structure the report, send my first edition to the interviewee, and then modify the articles numerous times before I uploaded it to the Minghui website.
Sometimes the interviewee would point out things that needed to be improved. At those moments, I often felt that my mind would blow. I just spent a sleepless night looking within. My realization was that at such moments I should stay calm, be tolerant, and cultivate forbearance. I would look with a calm mind to see where I fell short and whether I had sentiment, complacency, or a showing off mentality. When I changed my mentality, those complaints and negative thoughts would weaken and gradually leave me. The problems were then solved.
Thank you Master for allowing me to participate in this important project – validating the Fa, and saving sentient beings. I have witnessed the miracles created by Dafa and the amazing feeling after my xinxing improved. I have stayed in this project since I started. But I am sorry to say that my writing skills are limited because of my human heart, and being far below the standard required by Master and Dafa. I still have many attachments I need to let go, but I will never give up. I will keep developing my writing skills, and reinforce my ability to save sentient beings. I will study the Fa more, cultivate, and save more sentient beings for this remaining period of time – the Fa-rectification period.
Finally I would like to pay my deepest respect to the editor, and those practitioners who give me selfless help and encouragement behind the scenes. Thank you for accompanying me to this point. No matter how far the path ahead of me is, I will follow Master with fellow practitioners and cultivate to consummation.
Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the Minghui Internal Fa Conference for Minghui Overseas Reports Team and Window of Minghui Team)