(Clearwisdom.net) It was in 2000 that I started to do Dafa work for the Minghui website (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net). I have always considered myself a beginner in this respect, but when I think back over how long I have worked in this capacity, I am surprised. Even though I have helped for so many years in doing the editing work, have I really met the Fa-validation criteria?
Doing editing for Minghui is a project that requires the editors to follow tight schedules, handle many assignments every day, and persist in working this way for a long period of time. I have benefited tremendously during the several years of my involvement in this project.
To be completely honest, what with all the other Fa-validation projects I have been involved in, I have not devoted all of my energy and time to the editing work. However, among all the Dafa work I have been involved in, the editing has always been my most important priority every day. No matter how busy I am doing other Dafa projects every day, I always finish my Minghui editing assignment first, and I make finishing Minghui assignments first my priority.
1. Doing the editing with a pure mind
In the beginning, because of my lack of experience and the short attention that I gave to this work, I often had fear in my mind; I was afraid that I might make mistakes and others would say that I was not up to par. So my mind was always burdened. The more burdened I felt, the more likely it was for me to make mistakes. Sometimes, while I was editing, my mind was still on something else, or I was interrupted by phone calls. So even though I was reading an article I would often forget what I had read. As a result, even though I spent a lot of time reading, I still could not catch the main points of what was in front of me. Thus, the quality of my edited articles was greatly affected, despite the long time I had spent going over them. I also always wanted to drop the articles that did not read smoothly or were not well-organized. However, because I completely understood that it was very hard for the Dafa disciples in Mainland China to even submit articles, I could not casually drop an article. Whenever this situation occurred, I would stop the editing temporarily and put it on hold for a while. If the deadline for the editing was the next day, I would postpone the editing until then.
I have learned that I need to keep focused while editing and should not allow anything to interfere with my work. Even when I am sometimes interrupted for some unavoidable reasons, when I resume my editing, I immediately forget everything else and just keep myself focused on the editing. Over these past few years, for the practitioners in my local region, November and December are the busiest time, as Shen Yun performances are to be held then. Even in the midst of preparations for Shen Yun performances, no matter how many minor things I need to do, if I need to do the editing, I can still put aside all the other tasks and concentrate my focus on the articles. Sometimes, I could feel that I have entered a state of emptiness and my memory was surprisingly good; the whole article structure is in my mind; the article's contexts, words, punctuation and paragraphs can be easily put together in a cohesive way. When my mind is pure and calm, the title of the article also naturally appears in my mind. Therefore, because I have correctly positioned each of the Fa-validation projects, I have not delayed other Dafa projects that I have been involved in.
2. Being enlightened while editing articles, and cultivating away my attachments
Over these last several years, I have been moved and enlightened countless times while I edited the cultivation experience-sharing articles from the practitioners in Mainland China. I can feel Master's compassionate protection.
In my cultivation, at certain times, some of my attachments can become very severe. While in delusion and amidst tribulations, I cannot get enlightened to the Fa principles and I may also have difficulties in communicating with fellow practitioners or expressing myself clearly. Only Master's law body clearly knows what my attachments are. In this situation, Master's law body would point the attachment out to me, through the articles that I am editing, so that I can eliminate the human notion that I, as an ordinary human, have formed deep in my bones over thousands of years.
Many times, when I was particularly attached to a certain matter, the editing coordinator would send me articles by practitioners in Mainland China that contained their understandings on a similar matter. Several times I was deeply moved and I would finish editing the article in tears. Sometimes the articles from the practitioners in China did not directly target my attachments, but through the simple words of their sincere sharing, I was able to find my own human attachments and became enlightened to the Fa's principles. Then my attachments would vanish like a dissipating cloud. It was Master's compassionate salvation that arranged all this.
Hence, I always believe that it is not accidental for me to encounter something or take certain assignments. On the surface, it is the project coordinator who assigns editing tasks, but in reality, it is Master who has paved the road for us to cultivate in Dafa. It is Master who has set up the ladder for us to return to heaven.
3. Expanding the capacity of my heart while doing editing
Right after the local Shen Yun performance was finished in January 2009, I started to get involved in other projects. Although I was very busy, my cultivation was relatively smooth. But before long, the members of the local Falun Dafa Association proposed that we host one or two more Shen Yun performances. Hearing this, I still remembered how busy I had been when we prepared for the Shen Yun performance last year. Besides my daily Minghui editing, I had no time to mind any other things. So with the additional Shen Yun performances, I knew how much work was involved. I could truly feel the pressure that the Minghui editing work had given me. Over those several days, I felt that I was being given too many articles to edit. I wished that I could be given one or two fewer articles.
It was right at that time that the editing coordinator told me that as World Falun Dafa Day was approaching, some editors were needed to participate in compiling and editing the greetings from the practitioners in Mainland China. Because the workload was heavy and the time was short, the coordinator asked me if I could do more. In my mind I thought, "I feel that I already have too much to do, and now you're giving me more." But I knew that it was no accident that this happened to me. In the meantime, the coordinator also mentioned that the editors seemed to lack endurance lately. I then realized that this was the time for me to expand the capacity of my heart and increase my forbearance. Knowing this, I then simply replied, "Sure."
I remembered what Master has said,
"We have said that Dafa is boundless, and it is completely up to your heart to practice cultivation. The master takes you through the entrance, and it is up to you, yourself to practice cultivation. It all depends upon how you, yourself practice cultivation. Whether you can practice cultivation all depends upon whether you can endure, sacrifice, and suffer." ("Lecture Four" in Zhuan Falun)
I looked inward and then felt the mightiness and boundlessness of Dafa; a force of diligence urged me to let go of my attachments and cultivate higher.
After I dug deeply into my attachments, I found that first of all, I was afraid of enduring hardship. I knew however, that whether one can endure hardship or not is a criterion for Xinxing measurement. Secondly, it was because my human mentality was "moved" that I could "feel" how great the editing workload was. Master said,
"Whether a person likes to do something or not, is happy or unhappy, loves or hates something, and everything in the entire human society comes from this sentimentality." ("Lecture Four" in Zhuan Falun)
My human feeling regarding the editing workload was also a manifestation of my attachment to sentimentality. I should neither feel nor think about it. I should just do whatever was in the assignment folder and keep focused on editing. In this way, I could naturally break through the state of humanness and enter the state of divinity.
Indeed, in subsequent editing, I stopped feeling anything about the workload. I did not feel that the coordinator increased my workload; perhaps because she was considerate of me, she did not increase my workload. However, after this experience, my mindset has improved greatly and I also feel that my editing work has become much smoother than before.
Of course, in terms of the quality of my editing, I still need to make great improvements. Each and every one of our group sharings always help me greatly. Sometimes, I realize that I should have put in more effort and come up with even better ways to make the edited articles more attractive to the readers, but I failed to do so because of the time limitation. In order for us to make the Minghui website an outstanding media to Dafa cultivators, enlightened beings, as well as ordinary people, the Fa has high expectations of our work. While we learn and increase our professional knowledge, upgrading our xinxing is also crucial to the improvement of our professional skills - which come from the wisdom that we have cultivated in the Fa.
July 30, 2009
