(Clearwisdom.net) After reading Master's article “On the Issue of Collecting Funds,” I would like to share my thoughts about practitioners from Mainland China participating in overseas media companies. Let's share our understandings and improve together in the Fa.
During recent years, I have frequently heard from fellow practitioners around me that they want to go overseas and work in the media companies run by practitioners outside of China. For example, they want to work full time at The Epoch Times, New Tang Dynasty Television or the other media companies. Those who want to go are all highly skilled professionals. We have learned that the media companies run by overseas practitioners lack professionals. Practitioners work very hard and have very little time to rest each day. Some people perform multiple roles. Through communication with practitioners over the Internet, they invite practitioners from mainland China to go overseas and participate in the media companies. Help is offered in renting an apartment, and a stipend is offered for living expenses. Some overseas practitioners often urge practitioners in China over the Internet: “We are short of hands here. When are you coming here?” Some people mention Master.
These words have made practitioners in China who have professional skills eager to travel overseas to utilize their talents. They are also afraid, however, of bringing trouble to themselves with incorrect understandings. We all know that practitioners in China and outside of China are one body. Media companies run by overseas practitioners have played a strong role in stopping the evil persecution of practitioners in China. When practitioners outside of China are having difficulty running the media companies, practitioners in China have the same thought: to contribute funds or skills. So over the years, whenever there is news of collecting funds, some practitioners want to jump on it. When hearing that the overseas media companies lack professionals, some practitioners who have the necessary skills want to help.
I think that, from the point of view of reducing the persecution of practitioners in China, the media companies run by practitioners outside of China are indeed remarkable. But human emotion has no place in cultivation. Indeed, Master taught us to let go of it. This feeling of gratitude also needs to be removed. The media companies run by overseas practitioners certainly have difficulties in terms of human, material and financial resources. This is a problem that the involved practitioners must face and overcome.
All conditions will be improved when practitioners improve their xinxing. Practitioners' personal cultivation and their establishing mighty virtue are also involved. What do practitioners do in different environments? What role do they play and to what degree? Each one has to rely on his/her enlightenment quality and hard work to move forward. Nobody can play someone else's role. This is because everyone has his or her place and role to play. If practitioners from China participate in the media companies run by overseas practitioners, it will invoke attachments for a large number of practitioners in China who have professional skills. It can also cause chain reactions in many aspects.
In fact, when practitioners in China are invited by overseas practitioners to join Dafa media companies, it is the same phenomenon as when the persecution had just started and overseas practitioners wanted to come to China to validate the Fa. At that time, the persecution against practitioners in China was very severe. Many practitioners wanted to come to China to validate the Fa and reduce the pressure on practitioners in China.
In response to this, Master said:
“...overseas students should try not to go to Mainland China, because you are needed in exposing the evil. Many people used to ask me this, and they also wrote it in their question slips to me: "Teacher, why are we obtaining the Fa in the U.S.? Why are we obtaining the Fa outside of China?" Now it’s clear to you, right? Without you doing these things here, wouldn’t these things be incomplete during the Fa-rectification period? You should just do well over here with what you’re supposed to do. This is why you obtained the Fa outside of China. If all of you were to go back to China, who’d be doing things to rectify the Fa, to expose the evil, and to reduce the persecution of students in Mainland China?” (“Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America” in Guiding the Voyage)
We practitioners in China should cultivate ourselves solidly and save more sentient beings. This is what Master wants, rather than to crowd into projects of overseas practitioners and throw away the regions in China that we are responsible for.
Although there are still a lot of difficulties to overcome in the Dafa projects of overseas practitioners and there are many areas of collaboration that need to be improved, Master has taught a lot of the Fa regarding these issues. We should not be moved by human sentimentality and attachments to doing things.
As for overseas practitioners who are sending invitations, have you thought about the fact that many practitioners in China who have special skills also have their families and jobs? Some of their family members are non-practitioners. When you invite (out of your personal ideas) practitioners in China to join Dafa projects, have you given careful consideration or made detailed arrangements for them and their families in every aspect (for example, food, housing, living expenses, etc.)? Moreover, can you ensure that they will be able to get used to living in another country and overcome the difficulties that they may encounter? And so on and so forth.
I know a practitioner who has very good professional skills in a certain area. Several times, overseas practitioners have urged her to leave China to join Dafa projects. She could not make up her mind because if she left China, her boyfriend would have to resign from a senior executive job and accompany her overseas. It also involves the issue of whether their parents would approve of it. I asked her, “Do you have money to cover your living expenses if you go overseas?” She said, “I will be given a set amount of money for living expenses.” I then asked, “Could it cover food and housing?” She said, “No. It would only cover the rent.” I asked, “How will you be able to contribute to Dafa projects if you can't even cover your meals? Do you know him [the person who had invited her]?” She didn't know the person, but showed me his post on the Internet.
I learned that the practitioner who had invited her to go overseas is a coordinator in a media company run by Dafa practitioners. The reason he was inviting practitioners from China to join was not because his project didn't have enough manpower. It was because practitioners in the company were not working well together due to their attachments. In this case, how could bringing practitioners from China help to solve the problem, even if you get many professionals? Our projects are for cultivation, not just work. Improving xinxing is always first and foremost.
Regarding the shortage of professionals, Master said:
“If you can truly handle this well, they will really begin to achieve the effect they should, and it will change the environment around us; it could even be that the effect of the media will become such that more people in society want to read or watch them, learn the truth, and even seek out Dafa. If you can really achieve that, then you will have sufficient manpower, as there will constantly be new people coming, with some being very capable persons.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference”)
In order to solve the problems of talent shortage and funds, it is essential that participating practitioners improve their xinxing and that the overall coordination meets the requirements of the Fa. This is because, “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by
one’s master” (Zhuan Falun).
Also, in some areas in China there are some practitioners who cannot stay home to cultivate. They like to travel across the country. When they travel to a city, they initiate contact with local practitioners. They ask practitioners to collect money when they run out of money, saying that they are planning large projects with overseas practitioners. Their words make them appear like they are on a mission. I think these people can easily cause interference for fellow practitioners. Because there are some practitioners in China who are concerned about the shortage of talent and funds in the media companies run by overseas practitioners, they are always looking for opportunities to help. Therefore, these words can stir up the attachments of these practitioners.
The difficulties in the operations of the media companies run by overseas practitioners are problems that overseas practitioners must face and overcome in the process of their cultivation and establishing their mighty virtue. We should not look at these issues with human sentimentality and attachments.
Master said in “On the Issue of Collecting Funds”:
“If a media company can’t operate normally on its own for a long period of time and relies on long-term support from students, that in itself is a serious problem. If more funds are then collected from students, that would be another mistake. I have spoken with the main media outlets about such problems multiple times, and they all clearly stated that they will not collect funds from students in China. If that’s the case, then who are these people that are collecting funds throughout China? What are they after?”
I think Master's article is not just referring to the issue of media sponsorship, but is also a stick warning regarding the phenomenon of practitioners from China going overseas for Dafa projects. As practitioners in mainland China, we should know our roles from the Fa principles and cherish our cultivation environment. Overseas practitioners should also look at this issue from the Fa and be responsible for the Fa and practitioners in China, not just for your personal needs in a project.
There are also many security pitfalls for practitioners in China when it comes to participating in media companies outside of China. Years ago, such a thing occurred: Someone organized dozens of practitioners to go to Hong Kong for a Fa conference. The result was that no one returned home.
Recently, a practitioner told me that there were several wealthy practitioners in his area who had been donating money to media companies run by practitioners outside of China. Not long after that, one after another, these practitioners were all illegally arrested by special agents, and they are still missing. If not for Master's timely release of “On the Issue of Collecting Funds,” how many more practitioners would fall into these traps? But why did these large problems occur? Aren't they caused by our heavy attachments and not understanding the Fa principles?
The above is only my limited understanding. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
