(Minghui.org) An experience sharing conference for practitioners involved in the Minghui website was successfully held on July 3, 2021, two years after such a conference was held in New York in 2019. There was no conference held in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Master Li Hongzhi addressed attendees and pointed out that practitioners went through many difficulties in establishing the website during the persecution and that it is remarkable that they are able to persist to this day. He also said for the first time that the Minghui website is a “pioneering work” and is “unprecedented.” He encouraged practitioners to “do it well no matter what difficulties or obstacles that lie ahead of us.”
Minghui.org was established less than one month before July 20, 1999, the day when the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong. Twenty-two years later, the Minghui website continues to serve as a platform for Falun Gong practitioners to expose the persecution and to share experiences. During the 2021 Minghui conference, sixteen practitioners from around the world who work on the website spoke, including an editor of truth clarification materials, a correspondent, a practitioner who translates the original Chinese articles into other languages, an editor for the Minghui social media page, as well as group coordinators. Many of them said they realized how important the Minghui website is. Their sense of mission and responsibility is an impetus for them to do their jobs well and cultivate solidly.
Some practitioners talked about how they persisted despite loneliness. They strive to improve themselves and solidly cultivate their xinxing. Some shared that their work in Minghui unlocked their wisdom and helped them to experience amazing and miraculous things in cultivation. One editor talked about how he had helped establish a new language Minghui website from scratch. A translator shared how fellow translators and polishers formed a whole body while doing translation and polishing. They all quietly complement and harmonize each others' efforts. With their long term perseverance and quiet contributions, they provide Falun Dafa practitioners worldwide a stable sharing platform and give the world's people a window into Falun Dafa.
Working Steadfastly on the Project Despite Loneliness
Due to the ongoing persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), security is of great importance to the project. Practitioners involved maintain a low profile and abide by the requirements to keep information confidential. A translator said in her sharing, “I've only communicated with three practitioners involved in the project in the 15 years since I joined Minghui. They are coordinators in my group. I cannot confide in anyone about the various difficulties I run into. I can only face and resolve these problems myself.”
A coordinator of a Western language Minghui website said, “Our project has been established for a very long time. However not many people are able to continue working on it. Yet those who stay on are very committed. To be able to persist, one needs to constantly understand the purpose of the project, what goals we hope to achieve and be clear on the requirements from Master and Dafa. Without these understandings, it is nearly impossible to keep going in this arduous endeavor. This is all the more so for me, a coordinator who has been in this role for 17 years and proofreading for 20 years.”
A coordinator of another Western language Minghui website said, “I joined Minghui 9 years ago as an editor and translator. At that time, I thought this was the first step towards starting the Epoch Times. Nine years later, I still did not get to start The Epoch Times media in my country. But we have the Minghui website as a platform for practitioners’ cultivation, to expose the persecution in China and for people to understand Dafa. More importantly, we have a stable cultivation environment.” He added, “It is not our objective to have an amazing media outlet. Saving people is our ultimate goal.”
Improving in Cultivation While Working on Minghui
A Minghui correspondent talked about how she eliminated her attachments while interviewing people and fulfilling her role in the project. She said, “An interview usually takes around two hours. I finish writing and proofreading it before passing the article to the interviewee to make sure that the information is correct. The interview is then published on Minghui. After one article was published, the interviewee requested that it be taken down—such incidents happened a few times.” The correspondent became depressed and felt helpless.
It finally occurred to her, “I did the interview because I wanted to save people. A practitioner should take joy in hardship and treat anything that happens, whether it is good or bad as a good thing. Why was my heart moved? Examining my reaction further, wasn't I upset because I suffered a loss? Isn’t this a dirty, selfish thought? If these interviewees did not change their minds, I wouldn’t have seen my human attachments and had the opportunity to eliminate them. Isn’t this a good thing after all?”
After she changed her perspective, she said, “It's quite embarrassing that I was troubled by such a small thing. I couldn’t even think about others in the first instance and see things from their perspective. I only cared that my efforts were not recognized. When I think of Master’s compassionate salvation and how much practitioners in China have gone through, the resentment and anger I felt truly vanished.”
An editor and translator for a Western language Minghui website said that he joined Minghui after practicing cultivation for 15 years. Soon after they launched the website, his team began to translate the “Minghui 20th Anniversary” publication. He said, “I was deeply moved by the sentence, ‘Every story is a window to understand Falun Gong practitioners and the principles they live by’. How true this is. Every article seems to take me into a magical world: joy, pain, peace and other different realms.”
A Western practitioner who has practiced Falun Dafa for two decades and also began working on the Minghui website two decades ago recalled how she started off not knowing anything about websites. Now, she can help coworkers who don’t know anything about computers. She said, “For several years, I was very busy and did not have any technical support. Many practitioners left the group. I was able to stay on because of my faith in Master and Dafa. I believe no matter how difficult it is, how many obstructions there are, they are arranged for me. My cultivation journey, especially my job in Minghui, is a miracle. It is a manifestation of the power of Dafa. It is the result of the wisdom and capability Master has given me.”
The Minghui Fa Conference concluded at 3 p.m. The attendees said they were inspired and encouraged by their colleagues' honest, and sincere sharing. They seldom see one another. Some have never met despite working on the website for many years. They work on the project quietly and anonymously. This responsibility is an honor and they will not let Master down. In his sharing, one practitioner voiced the feelings of all those who participate in Minghui, “Thank you Master, once again. Your grace is boundless!”
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