(Minghui.org) In the beginning, I couldn't tell the difference between a TV and a computer. Now, I'm a technical assistant to practitioners. There have been some bitter lessons during this process, accompanied by kind hints from Master, as well as great help from reading instructional articles on the Minghui website.
I started practicing Falun Gong in October 1995. In the days after the persecution started, there was only one Dafa materials site in our city, with one machine that produced over 10,000 copies of truth-clarification materials daily. The machine ran constantly, so we had to buy an air conditioning unit to keep it from overheating. Even so, we couldn't produce enough materials for our distribution requirements.
When materials were in short supply and information from the Minghui website was scarce, local practitioners started to make posters to help clarify the facts about the persecution. The effect was quite good. However, in order to expose the Tiananmen Square self-immolation hoax and clarifying the facts about the April 25 peaceful appeal, simple slogans were inadequate. We were in terribly short supply of truth-clarification materials at that time.
Bitter Lessons
Quite often, big materials sites were destroyed by Communist Party authorities soon after they were set up, and practitioners involved suffered severe persecution. They were illegally sentenced to prison or taken to forced labor camps and brutally tortured.
I was forced to leave home and went to another big city, where I set up a materials site with a few other practitioners from out-of-town. A practitioner from Beijing and I spent half the day studying the Fa and the rest of the time printing materials. We took turns eating and slept little. The printer was slow, and could only make 200 copies of Minghui Weekly, which were shared among practitioners.
As the demand continued to increase, practitioners also thought about more things to do. Consequently, we had less time for Fa-study or doing the exercises and sending righteous thoughts. Eventually, we busied ourselves with work, and developed the attachments of doing things, and for fame and reputation. This situation led to the destruction of many materials sites by the communist regime. More than 100 practitioners were arrested, and many lost their lives within a few days of this persecution. The loss of human and financial resources was enormous, causing an irrecoverable loss for saving sentient beings.
This was a bitter lesson for me. After my release from detention, I realized that although we'd made great efforts to set up the materials sites, we had failed to involve local practitioners. They had no access to Dafa materials during our detention. We needed to teach the local practitioners how to set up their own materials sites - even small ones, so that there would always be someone who could independently go on the Internet and acquire information.
Training would be easier said than done, since I didn't know anything about computers. Where could I get one? How much does it cost? How do you get on the Internet? How do you deal with safety issues? I had no answers to these questions, nor did the practitioners around me. My knowledge of computers was nonexistent - I didn't even know the difference between a TV and a computer.
When local practitioners in my own city found out that I'd returned, they asked me to work on a materials production site again. I bought a printer and started running materials prepared by others, then distributed them to practitioners. This continued for awhile until practitioners working for the materials site were persecuted again, including those who had access to the Internet. The production line was cut off again. This made me determined to learn how to get on the Internet myself.
A Hint from Master
I lost my job due to the persecution, which worried my spouse, who then urged me to find another job. I said, “Nowadays when you go job hunting, the first question they ask is if you know how to use a computer. You won't stand a chance if you don't.” I bought a desktop computer with the help of my spouse, but didn't know how to use it, even less how to browse the Minghui website. Who could I ask for help?
Having no one to turn to, I thought that I shouldn't wait for help, but solve the problems myself. Just as I had this thought, a golden path suddenly opened in my forehead, enveloping me and the whole room in light. It felt so warm and bright! I was stunned and knew that Master was encouraging and helping me.
I started thinking of ways to move forward. I went out and saw a bookshop which had DVDs to teach people how to use computers. I bought a set and after watching one DVD, I was no longer a complete novice. When I had a bit more hands-on practice, I ran into a practitioner who taught me how to use software to break through the regime's firewall and view the Minghui website. I tried it as soon as I got home and it worked - I was absolutely overjoyed!
I downloaded instructional materials from Minghui, learned the basic skills for starting a materials production site and soon began printing materials on my own. To be truly independent, I needed to learn how to set up computer operating systems as well. As soon as I had this thought, Master arranged for me to meet a practitioner who was knowledgable with these skills, and I learned from him.
Just then, I bumped into another practitioner whom I hadn't seen for a few years. He told me that his computer was inoperable and needed a software update, but nobody knew how to fix it, so I offered to take a look. His computer had an outdated operating system, so I installed a new one. I got stuck when a file wouldn't copy, but my finger stayed on the “Return” key for some reason and the file went through! I knew that Master was helping us.
Each time I felt that I needed to learn something, I'd run into practitioners who knew how to do it. I learned from them and recorded the step by step procedures in my notebook. When I first read relevant technical articles on Minghui, I understood very little, but later, I understood all those articles. I believe that by taking the right path, Master gives us wisdom and helps us to improve along the way.
Promoting Small Material Sites
My goal was to handle all the basic issues for a materials production site and master all the necessary skills so that I could encourage other practitioners to set up their own small sites at home. This would fundamentally solve the supply problem.
I made the best use of my time to learn the skills required to solve all the basic technical problems for an individual or home-based materials production site, then started promoting the idea, starting with practitioners in immediate contact. I offered to train them step by step through the entire process. I taught two practitioners everything I knew and they soon started teaching others who were looking for help. This greatly increased our technical support capability, and we never again experienced the situation of practitioners being persecuted due to loopholes in cultivation.
Once during a round of intensified Internet blockade censorship, I “unwittingly” clicked on and opened a technical forum used to break through the firewall, where I learned how to create graphics and simple video tutorials. This allowed me to pass technical knowledge to other practitioners much more effectively.
I can't remember how many fellow practitioners I've helped over the years, including senior practitioners in their 70s and 80s who had no knowledge of English or Pinyin (Chinese phonetic system). Some had only a couple of years of primary school education. However, they all learned how to get on the Internet, burn CDs and print materials. One practitioner commented: “Nowadays, I take a walk with my wife after our meal. We clarify the facts to anyone we see and help them quit the Communist Party and affiliated organizations online when we get back. In the past, we relied on a printer for materials, but not anymore. I can accomplish two days worth of work now in one evening, do it better, and more safely.”
I also learned a lot from fellow practitioners in the teaching process and often gained inspiration from them to make things easier. From these experiences, I've learned some basic skills needed to do the three things well.
People are often resistant to learning new things, and interfered with by notions such as: This is high-tech, I've never touched these things before; I'm afraid of losing face if I can't understand it; I'm worried about taking up too much of other people's time; worried that I can't do it because I don't know English, etc. I encourage them by asking: “Can you tell the difference between a TV and a computer?” They laugh and say: “Of course I can.” I reply: “You'll have no problem. Your starting point is much higher than mine was. When I started to learn, I couldn't even tell the difference between a TV and a computer. If I could make it, you can too.”
Reading many important articles on the Minghui website helped me a lot in cultivation. I read Master's articles and comments, Minghui editorials and good sharing articles. Whenever we encountered locally important issues that we couldn't figure out ourselves, I contacted the Minghui website for advice. For technical issues, I browse a technical support forum for information and inquiries, which helps me handle all basic issues.
The local practitioners cooperate very well as one body, and we generally solve all our problems. We've scaled up our technical expertise, increased materials distribution, and enabled practitioners with skills to manage tasks independently. I hope that every practitioner will browse the Minghui website independently and bloom like a little flower that gives off its pure fragrance.
Thank you Master for your painstaking salvation! Thank you fellow practitioners for your kind help. I will be more diligent and do even better in validating Dafa to save more people.
Heshi
