(Clearwisdom.net) I had written this article some time ago, but did not submit to the Minghui website (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net) for one reason or another. One of the reasons was that I suffered quite a bit of interference. Even though some of the events have already passed, I thought it still important to submit my article to Minghui. After I read on the Minghui website that over seventy Dafa practitioners were illegally arrested in Qingdao City, Shandong province, I realized that I was wrong in not submitting this article. This is not to say that the article will make a big difference, but since I did not fulfill my responsibility as a Dafa practitioner, I decided to update and submit this article quickly.
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Some time ago, a "Global Hunger Strike Relay to Protect Chinese Citizen's Rights and Oppose Persecution" event occurred in Qingdao City and the surrounding area. The organizers and participants were all Dafa practitioners.
A female practitioner in her thirties from Qingdao City and a female practitioner in her sixties went to Qingdao, Chengyang and Jimo to collect signatures for the hunger strike. The material that they distributed did not state its source, but it was not from one of Dafa's websites. There were three major sections: (1) Special report on the "Global Hunger Strike Relay to Protect Chinese Citizen's Rights and Oppose Persecution" event; (2) "Progress Records of the Hunger Strike"; (3) How to Participate and How to Contact Us.
Many Dafa practitioners thought this material was taken from Minghui. Further, they thought that Minghui staff recommended these events. A few practitioners in Jimo City and its vicinities were also involved. Some wore "blue ribbons" (as suggested by the promoters of the citizen's right protection event).
My purpose is not to investigate or put blame, but to find Dafa practitioners' shortcomings, those of both individuals and the one body. I wish to share my views with our fellow practitioners via Minghui, the exchange platform for Dafa practitioners, in the hope that we can learn from each other. If I have misinterpreted anything, please kindly tell me.
1. About the Source of the Truth-Clarification Materials
Some individual truth-clarification material production sites in the Qingdao City and Chengyang regions used materials from websites other than Minghui. The situation was getting worse by the day. Especially, some coordinators had developed a habit of getting truth-clarification material from the Epoch Times, or other websites. Although practitioners had discussed this several times with the coordinator, he didn't pay attention.
That coordinator and a senior female coordinator talked about "gossip" and political news at a large Fa Conference. The purpose for that Fa Conference was to help practitioners who hadn't stepped forward yet to come out. However, some practitioners were "stirred up" by the news they talked about. A lot of practitioners did not stop this incorrect behavior at the conference. Instead, they talked about her misbehavior privately later.
Maybe some practitioners held the thought, "Wasn't the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party published first on the Epoch Times website? Also, aren't there many articles on Minghui, using source materials from the Epoch Times or other websites?
My understanding is that even though sometimes the truth-clarification materials on Minghui comes from material published on the Epoch Times website, the final articles were published on Minghui. From a certain level and angle, every truth-clarification material represents Dafa and Dafa practitioners. During this special Fa-rectification period, Minghui has become the conduit for Dafa information. It disseminates information, it's for Dafa practitioners to exchange views, and for ordinary people to understand Dafa. Therefore, every Dafa practitioner has the responsibility to maintain and harmonize Minghui. This is also validating the Fa.
When Minghui truth-clarification material is delivered to ordinary people, it represents the truth of Dafa and thoughts of Dafa practitioners as a whole. This is different from an individual practitioner clarifying the truth directly to people. The latter only represents an individual practitioner's understanding. This does not mean that Dafa practitioners cannot edit truth-clarification materials, but the editing must remain within the Fa, and present the Fa's wisdom, to achieve the goal of validating the Fa and saving sentient being. This is not worshiping Minghui. Using an analogy that may not be exactly accurate -- if Minghui is a temple, when a practitioner has some questions, shouldn't he return to the temple to discuss them with his fellow practitioners? When Master wants to say something, he may not talk to every monk, but he is likely to have some conversations with the monks in charge of the temple. Therefore, hasn't this temple been charged with reinforcing the Fa or disseminating information from Master?
If the source materials are coming from ordinary people's websites or from articles, they must be treated seriously. Sometimes a single improper sentence or thought could damage the entire article, hindering people from understanding the truth, and causing serious damage to the Fa. Especially concerning news reports or gossip, we have to pay special attention. Don't let ordinary people's curiosity force us to make regretful mistakes. Has anybody forgotten the unverified gossip "news" in the past several years that has caused a lot of damage to us?
Nowadays, some media reporters and authors have forgotten their professional standards and ethics. Sometimes Minghui does take excerpts from articles on other websites, but I think those articles have been carefully checked and verified on the basis of the Fa. For those practitioners who avoid Minghui, but only focus on other websites, do they find the thoughts of ordinary people or a few celebrities similar to their attachments? Or is it driven by a hard-to-find attachment to prove themselves? One reason that the "Nine Commentaries was published by Epoch Times was to reduce the hindrances for people to understand it.
Actually, Minghui has a great variety of truth-clarification materials. It is abundant and thorough. However, because the demand is high, the workload is also heavy. I recommend practitioners spend more time on harmonizing Minghui instead of searching other websites. If you find good articles, please share them with Minghui so that other practitioners can read and use them as well.
(To be continued)