(Minghui.org) Greetings revered Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I have had the fortune to be a Minghui reporter on my path of accompanying Master to rectify the Fa. I feel deeply honored and feel that it is a rare and extraordinary opportunity. I would like to report some of my understandings from this cultivation process to Master and fellow practitioners. Fellow practitioners please point it if anything is inappropriate. Thank you!
Predestined Opportunity to Write and Attend a Training
Many years ago, I took my then-teenager daughter to participate in a bike tour for young disciples. En-route, I was really touched by the children clarifying the facts to city governments and the little insights into the children's lifestyles. I wanted to write a diary to collect the stories, and then fax them to local fellow practitioners. I just wanted to let local practitioners know about the children's progress. Perhaps because fellow practitioners felt that what I wrote was quite lively, I typed it up and then sent it to Minghui for publishing. That was the first time I wrote a report for Minghui. At that time I was basically writing every day, and I felt like I could never write enough stories.
Local practitioners later drove down to Manhattan every weekend for the torture exhibits to raise awareness of the Chinese communist regime's persecution of Falun Dafa. There were so many stories every day, and I couldn't wait to write them down. After returning home I organized them and sent them to our group email list. A practitioner later suggested that I send them to the Minghui website, which I did. Seeing them published was particularly encouraging. Perhaps they saw my potential, and I was later recommended to become a Minghui reporter.
Elevating After Removing the Attachment of Blaming Others
After the local Tian Guo Marching Band was established in 2006, it joined 20 or 30 parades every year, and I basically covered every parade. I saw many practitioners with cameras following the band, and I had hopes that they would also write some reports. I said to them, “You took some photos, so could you also write an article? That way I wouldn't have to follow the band every time.” Not one of them agreed to write, so I complained to a band member, “I don't get it, they chased the band and took so many photos. After they go back they could just work a little more and write a report. Why aren't they willing to do it? It's so tiring being the only one doing it.” I thought that the practitioner would sympathize with me. Who would have guessed that the practitioner would say, “You! Just do it! Other practitioners did not sign a vow to do it, but you signed a vow to do it.” I thought the practitioner was joking, so I just looked at her, but seeing her serious expression, my mind went blank. I thought that perhaps she was right. I didn't dare to say anything. From then on, I have just done it myself. It's like it's what I should do. And after I rid myself of the attachment of complaining, the reporting went very smoothly.
Of course, while following the parades all over for so many years, I have sometimes had thoughts of taking a break. Sometimes I thought, “They are all Tian Guo Marching Band parades, what's there still to write?” But one parade I joined in a neighboring city really gave me a lot of encouragement. It rained heavily for the entire parade, from start to finish. Some groups only walked halfway before dropping out, but the Tian Guo Marching Band persisted to the very end. I also persisted to the end, then wrote a report rich with interviews, “A Journey of Wind and Rain, An Astonishing Journey.”
I was going through a sickness karma test during that parade, and my menstrual period was flowing like running water. I persisted to the end, and my whole body was soaked but I didn't mind. Even if I was covered in blood, no one would be able to see it. At the finish point, fellow practitioners were dripping wet, but I saw that they were all in high spirits and laughing. Two characters were in my mind “Rare” and “Extraordinary.” My whole body suddenly shook. I promptly took out my phone and took the last photo of the parade. After I got home, I saw that this last photo was filled with Faluns. I was moved to tears and did heshi to Master, “Thank you for your encouragement Master.” The sickness karma test I had been going through for six months ended after that parade, and my period returned to normal. From then on, no matter whether there was wind, rain, or a blizzard, I fulfilled my duty and reported on all of the parades.
Wisdom Comes from the Fa
There was a large-scale parade on the day after the 2014 New York Fa Conference of May 13. Because it was on a work day, the parade passed through the middle of the city, where there were many large companies. I was assigned to do the main report. I thought, “It's hard enough during Shen Yun when so many reporters are looking for mainstream people to interview. How will finding mainstream figures on the street go? What should I do?” I just had one thought, “Ask Master to help me.”
I followed the parade around the first corner and saw an impeccably dressed man standing there facing the parade, smiling. I had the gall to ask him a couple of things. He responded to me very warmly, and accepted my interview. The first thing he said to me was, “This parade [Falun Gong] is so beautiful and spectacular. I feel like it breathes fresh air into New York.” In the end he told me he was a vice representative from the Permanent Mission of a country to the United Nations. I found this very heartening. I felt that Master sent this man right to me to increase my faith. I no longer felt apprehensive after that, and all the subsequent interviews went very smoothly. One after another, mainstream figures kept appearing in front of me.
I saw a man who was exquisitely dressed and surrounded by security staff standing on the side of the road like he was preparing to go into an office building. Some New York reporters told me who he was, and that they had no way to get close enough to interview him. Perhaps because I didn't know who he was, I took a lotus flower over to him. He pulled another lotus flower from his pocket and said, “I already have one.” I asked him what he thought of the parade. He said he didn't know the background of the parade, but his secretary had accepted some materials about the parade. He said he would read some of the materials when he got back to his office and that he and his secretary would talk about the topic in the afternoon. Later a New York practitioner told me that the man was a famous billionaire, and many of their reporters had wanted to interview him without success. I understand that it wasn't because I was particularly capable [that I was able to approach him], it was because I didn't recognize the man, so didn't have any notions when I went to interview him. Master gave me the opportunity.
Having a Thankful Heart While Participating in Reporting
Master once said to media practitioners (not original words) that the Communist Party is most afraid of the events that Dafa disciples hold, and that every report about these events shake the Party like an atomic bomb. This reminded me of just what a huge effect our reports have, and no matter how hard or tiring it is, I don't feel it is hard or tiring at all. I feel that it is really sacred, and an honor to participate as a reporter.
Not long after I became a Minghui reporter, I was assigned every year to report at international Fa conferences in various regions. I remember one year when my son was still very small, that I took him to a parade and then back to our hotel. My husband was doing a report about the rally and I was doing one about the parade. After we finished writing our reports, we discovered that our son had collapsed into sleep on the bed, and beside him was a packet of instant noodles that he had gnawed at. It was only then that we realized we hadn't given him dinner. I later started to complain a little. I still accepted assignments, but I had some resentment inside, “Why can't they find a reporter in the U.S. to cover this? Instead they make me carry a laptop from another country and run all over the place.” I later remembered the words that practitioner had said to me… that I had made a vow to cover these events. I enlightened that I was honored to participate by reporting during such a sacred Fa conference period. It was an honor that Master had given to his disciple. I should be thankful, so how could I be resentful? After I enlightened to this, regardless of what I was assigned to do at every Fa conference, I did it with a thankful frame of mind, and the more I did the wider the path became.
Training New Reporters
I covered parades for more than a decade, and sometimes I didn’t feel as enthusiastic or energetic as before. I started wondering, “Have I aged and can't keep up?” During interviews it was the same. I had no new ideas. Sometimes I thought about retiring and letting someone younger do it. This thinking caused me to lack the initiative to find news or do interviews, and I passively completed event reports, like I was just completing a task. I later studied, “Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference” and a question and answer gave me a new understanding.
“Disciple: Master has asked our media company to learn from Shen Yun, but our management said that Shen Yun performers are young and have good qualifications, whereas we are old and inexperienced, so the situations are different.
Master: (Everyone laughs) Learning from Shen Yun is about learning from its way of management and the things that have made it successful. Isn’t that what you are supposed to learn? The Shen Yun performers are young people out of necessity. Who has ever said that Dafa disciples can only cultivate well by being young? It’s not like you are performers, so these things shouldn’t be an issue. Don’t make up excuses for not doing the things that a Dafa disciple should do.”
I enlightened that we veteran practitioners still need to continue, and new reporters also need us to train them. Because there were so many events… During one weekend we would have several events at the same time, there were stories from each tourist site, and every practitioner's cultivation story was all a part of that history. I was unable to cover it all, so many of these things passed by without being recorded. So it was necessary to train a new reporter. Because there are special requirements for Minghui reporters, I encouraged and trained two local contributors. When there were many events, I asked one of them to cover one.
Training a reporter is not easy, and enabling him or her to persist in doing reporting is even more difficult. One new reporter once agreed to cover a Tian Guo Marching Band parade, and I was going to cover another event. When I saw that she had submitted her article at 4 a.m., I just said, “Thank you for your hard work.” She said, “I had work the next day, so if I didn't hurry and get it out it wouldn't be news. Even though toward the end I felt nauseous, I still persisted and got it done.” I was very moved when I heard this. I had done this work for many years and never before had I seen a practitioner truly regard these reports as news reports. I often stretched submitting the report off to the following day. This also showed the disparity between my cultivation and that of this fellow practitioner.
So I praised her a lot. In the end she said, “Actually, because this time was so difficult, I had originally wanted to tell you that this would be the last time I would help you do this. But now you are praising me so much, I don't dare to say I won't do it.”
This incident made me think of the coordinator of our overseas reporting team. The coordinator never criticizes us and always praises us. This method [of management] helped us persist in doing the work.
The above are some of my understandings gained through the process of being a reporter for Minghui. If there was anything inappropriate, please point it out.
Thank you Master! Thank you everyone!
(Selected Experience Sharing Paper from the 2018 Minghui Fa Conference, Abridged)
