(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Master, greetings fellow practitioners.
I am a practitioner in Zhongli. Today I would like to share some experiences I have had in technical support for computers, an important tool for truth-clarification. I hope this can help truth-clarification efforts in other areas. Please point out anything inappropriate.
First, I would like to share how I began to help with computer technical support. I used to work on repairing information technology devices before retiring from the army. After starting to practice Falun Dafa and seeing fellow practitioners having problems with their computers, I decided to help them. Then, I planned to share with others the truth-clarification tools I had learned about. With such a thought, I began to work in this area. Plus, there were already some local practitioners who had been working on truth-clarification tools. I also learned from them some knowledge and problem-solving skills.
Below are some understandings I would like to share. I think that a practitioner should be considerate of others, regardless of the occasion or environment. That is, a practitioner should treat other practitioners' computers as his or her own. In Essentials for Further Advancement, Master said,
"I also want to tell you that your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." ("Non-omission in Buddha Nature")
Practitioners' computers are powerful tools to validate the Fa. Therefore, we need to be considerate when working with them, from programming installation and setup to how to use them.
As more and more computers needed my help, the number of problems also arose. Since my spouse had not begun to practice at that time, there were some misunderstandings between me and my spouse as well as fellow practitioners. My spouse could not understand why there were so many incoming phone calls to "harass" us. Hearing my spouse's impatient tone, fellow practitioners also dared not call me for help. All these were big tests for me. After looking within, I realized that I only focused on Dafa work and did not balance well the relationship with my spouse. So I tried to be more considerate. My spouse gradually understood what I was doing and began to support me. This is the first test I met when entering this field.
Another understanding is that behind each truth-clarification tool there is a lot of effort and sacrifice from fellow practitioners. Therefore, when these tools are handed over to technical support practitioners, we need to try all means to improve them so that they can be useful. This involves equipment expansion and setting up hardware and software. For some problems, I had to go to other practitioners' homes in person to solve them. In these cases my human notions may come up because it not only consumes my time, but also requires me to prepare spare parts in advance. This was testing my patience, as well as my attachment of self-interest. In front of numerous tests, the most important thing is to fix the computer problems so that practitioners can get online to clarify the truth. This reminds me of Master's poem "Tempering the Will" in Hong Yin:
"To consummate yourself, reaping Buddhahood,
Let joy be found in hardship.
Physical pains count little as suffering,
Indeed, cultivating mind is hardest.
Each and every barrier must be broken through,
And everywhere does evil lurk.
Abundant troubles rain down together,
All to see: Can you pull through?
The world's miseries endured,
One departs the earth a Buddha."
There was one practitioner who helps with delivering truth-clarification materials on the internet. One day, his computer was infected with a virus after his child went online and downloaded some materials. I used remote control to restore his C drive. Several days later, he told me that his utility bills had increased dramatically within a few days. I went there and found out why. He applied a promotion plan before, but did not use it after I reset the computer. As a result, he was delivering truth-clarification materials in a high rate time period, which led to a higher bill. This practitioner said it was also a test for him to see whether he could continue clarifying the truth in this way. I also looked within and realized I needed to check if every setting was all right after restoring the computer. I should not have used "busy" as an excuse to shirk responsibilities.
There was another practitioner whose family lived on her husband's income as a security officer. I fixed her computer and gave it back to her. The following day, she said the truth-clarification tools could not run after her son changed some settings. I went there, and cleared her son's settings. After coming back from school, her son was very angry when seeing the settings were gone. He thus removed the computer as well as peripheral devices. I asked the practitioner to first communicate well with her son. I could see the sincere desire of this practitioner to clarify truth, but buying a new computer was really a financial burden for this family. So I tried somewhere else and was able to find a computer for her to use.
Recently several other technical support practitioners and I finished the network system conversion for local practitioners. It took about two months before it could run stably. However, it stopped very soon. From this, I could see that the evil forces' interference is everywhere. Later, we put in a lot of effort and made the network run again. I could see we are one body, and each practitioner is sacrificing to validate the Fa and harmonize everything.
I also received a lot of help from other practitioners involved in technical support. For example, some practitioners donate their spare computers or devices to others who need them. Some practitioners provide software. Most importantly, we were able to share our understandings of the Fa with each other when working on these projects.
I would like to conclude my sharing using Master's words,
"So everything that you do, be it your balancing well your family relationships while you live among ordinary people, balancing well your relationships in society, how you perform at your workplace, how you conduct yourself in society, etc., none of these are things you can just go through the motions on. All of these are part of your cultivation format, and are serious matters." ("Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006").
I hope we strive to hold ourselves to a practitioner's standard at times. Only by making the best use of time to assimilate the Fa, can we not let down the expectations of Master and sentient beings. When doing Dafa projects, we need to cultivate ourselves well first.
Thank you Master, and thank you everyone.
