(Clearwisdom.net) On the very first day that the Minghui website (the English version is Clearwisdom.net--this article refers only to Minghui) came online, I happened to visit it, and it has since accompanied my cultivation for the past ten years, along with the suffering. I'd like to share some of my memories about Minghui. My hope is that it becomes better and better.
1. Visiting Minghui on the First Day Online "By Chance"
On April 25, 1999, the culprit Jiang Zemin transmitted a secret document to top officials in China, and the persecution of Falun Gong began all over the mainland. On May 8, 1999, a big event occurred in our area, where about ten thousand Dafa books that practitioners had ordered, including Hong Yin and "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland" (Teacher's latest lectures) arrived at the local train station. The local police officials found them and illegally confiscated them. From then on, local practitioners came out to validate Dafa in a steady stream. We went to the city administrative appeals office to report on the benefits we derived both in body and mind from cultivating Falun Gong, we asked that our books be returned, and so on.
Several practitioners who were able to access the Internet went to the Dafa websites from local Internet cafes or workplaces to upload the local information. On June 25, 1999, when I revisited the North American Falun Dafa website, I found that it had changed to "Minghui.ca," which made me feel quite relaxed. After confirming that this was correct, we continued to upload our local news.
I've continued visiting the Minghui website since that time. Ten years have passed, and the memory is still fresh in my mind, as if it just happened a short while ago. So far, so many events have transpired, many people have more or less changed, we've experienced so many great changes--all of which make me sigh with so much emotion. In my mind, only my solid faith in Teacher and Dafa has become permanent and indestructible like a diamond. The Minghui website has accompanied me, helping me to get through the most difficult stretches of my cultivation path.
2. The Minghui Website Provides the Correct Direction in Chaos and Dense Fog
When the persecution of Falun Gong officially started on July 20, 1999, all Dafa websites in China were shut down. At that time, we could only get current information on Falun Gong from the Minghui website, although accessing it became difficult. At first, Minghui's influence was small, and some practitioners even doubted its role and direction.
The practitioners who endured that difficult period remember the fear and chaos to which they were subjected by the evil everywhere. It is hard to express our bitterness and confusion, since we couldn't get any words or information from Teacher. We depended on the Fa and the understanding of Dafa rooted in our minds, and we firmly walked through that darkest time.
Meanwhile, the evil forces distributed lectures falsely attributed to Teacher. These fabricated lectures increased the evil and chaos. Some local practitioners received one, two, or even more decades of false lectures, which were said to have been transferred from North America by some secret means, through some coordinator that sounded reasonable and reliable. We discussed this during our sharing meeting. I thought that with the more confused situation, it was even more necessary to distinguish between them, using the Fa. When solidly based on the Fa, we were able to distinguish the real lectures from the false ones. According to my understanding of Dafa, and supplementing this information from Minghui, I evaluated those articles we heard about from other practitioners to determine whether they conformed to the Fa that Teacher gave us. When our base was righteous, Teacher triggered our wisdom and we did well. Later, we realized that the reason we could walk righteously through that difficult time was because we remembered to learn from the Fa. Therefore, I never studied a fabricated lecture.
Minghui provided timely reports on the latest Falun Gong developments from both inside and outside of China, which played a pivotal role for us. It allowed us to help Teacher validate the Fa well, so the effect of Minghui among practitioners grew continually greater.
There was another event in which many of our local practitioners were brought together by several veteran practitioners and told that going to Beijing to validate the Fa was wrong. Instead, they should just "solidly cultivate" and "read the Fa." Since they didn't agree to come forward to defend the Fa, the local police did not bother them. Actually, the practitioners who came forward at the beginning understood a basic principle, that we are Dafa disciples, and when the Dafa, which creates us, is persecuted, if we cannot stand up and defend it, seek justice on its behalf, how can we deserve to be its disciples? When Minghui editors published "Serious Teachings," these practitioners suddenly realized the truth and stepped forward to validate the Dafa.
3. The Evil Regime Fears Minghui's Directional Role
During those several years when there was no software to break through the Internet blockade, it was quite difficult to access the Minghui website. Sometimes it took significant amounts of time to open it through a few sub-sites. Once I got into Minghui, usually I put my hands together (heshi) to say hello to Teacher. What a joyful feeling!
After the most difficult time passed, Minghui released Teacher's new lectures and articles that instructed us to watch and adhere to Minghui on serious issues. Minghui's role for practitioners in China has become stronger and stronger, which made the evils more and more afraid. The evil regime has been doing its best to destroy and slander Minghui. It attempts to create chaos and crumble our practitioners' righteous beliefs.
I remember when I was arrested and taken to a brainwashing center, that the main work of the evil regime was always to attack Minghui. On one occasion, the director of the local 610 Office showed me a thick book that they had put together from the information Minghui published about our local events (including some of my personal accounts) and told me that they were not real, etc. I knew what his purpose was, so his plan didn't work. However, there were some practitioners in the brainwashing center and forced labor camp who did change their thoughts about Minghui. Actually, we should ask ourselves and consider, "Who was it that asked you not to believe in Minghui, and who showed you the Minghui materials?" Then we will be clear about everything.
After being released from those evil places, what I loved to do first was to visit the Minghui website, to see what had happened, what the developments were during the period that I was illegally detained, and especially to see if there were new lectures from Teacher. I then felt much more relieved, having determined where I needed to supplement, to strengthen, and I was much more clear about my future direction.
4. The Most Touching and Memorable Words from Teacher: "It's been a long time! "
Since I visit Minghui regularly, I become quite happy when I read new things. More than one year after the persecution started, Teacher gave a lecture on October 21, 2000, in San Francisco, USA. I remember one day when I opened Minghui and saw the new lecture "Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference." As soon as I read the first sentence, "It's been a long time!" tears sprang from my eyes and coursed down my cheeks. I was like a child returning to his parents' embrace after experiencing a life or death situation, or from being dazed. These were the most touching and memorable tears ever. Definitely, "It's been a long time!" Although it was just over one year in this human dimension, many solid Dafa disciples and their families in China were already ruined, some gone or dead, their wives left and children scattered. Many of them lost everything overnight, as if they had finished one lifetime and instantly begun another. For most of us who walked through that darkest time of persecution, our firm belief in Teacher and Dafa was a feeling of happiness that is hard to express in words. In retrospect, the memory still brings me to tears and makes me sigh with emotion. I wish that those practitioners who have not visited the Minghui website will find ways to visit.
5. It Is Best to Make Truth-clarification Materials from Articles Published on Minghui
For carrying out truth-clarification activities in all areas, Minghui has provided all kinds of materials that play a great role in helping practitioners to validate the Fa and to save sentient beings. There are many articles on this topic, so I don't intend to talk more about it. Instead, I want to share a lesson. During the SARS epidemic in 2003, we purposely compiled some booklets including SARS information to distribute in our city. One booklet contained an article that was not from Minghui. The article reported that one of the most evil officials, Luo Gan, became bad, etc. due to SARS. We chose this article in order to illustrate the law that good deeds are rewarded, while bad deeds meet with retribution. Soon after we distributed the booklet, we received some feedback that questioned its reliability. When we received the feedback, we needed to reconsider, and we decided that it was inappropriate, so the practitioners who distributed the materials recalled them and stopped distributing the rest. As expected, several days later, the evil regime arranged for Luo Gan to appear on TV to refute this charge. This is the worst time I can remember in preparing truth-clarification materials, because this kind of material reflects negatively on ordinary people. After our self-criticism, we decided to carefully choose the materials published from Minghui, not from other websites whenever possible. After all, we think that Minghui examines the articles and follows the criteria more effectively.
6. Reciprocal Sharing and Encouragement Among Practitioners Through Minghui
The cultivation environment and experience of each practitioner is limited. We are cultivating in the period of Fa-clarification and spreading Dafa. Modern scientific and technological information is highly advanced, and if we can make efficient use of it, there may be more opportunities for us to cultivate and save sentient beings. Through the Minghui website, which is beyond the time and space of our earth, we are able to see other practitioners exchange insights and experiences, to identify our shortcomings, and supplement or correct them. During the last ten years, I have almost never stopped reading articles from Minghui, except during the time that I was held in the evil prison. At this moment, although I have many thoughts in my mind, I can just write about a few. I'd like to submit this article to memorialize the 10th year of Minghui's establishment. I sincerely wish that the Minghui website performs better and better, and plays a much more powerful role in the future. I also wish that more and more practitioners will visit the Minghui website and cultivate diligently as an entity, to complete our splendid mission of helping Teacher in Fa-clarification.
