Cultivating Solidly While Clarifying the Facts and Editing for a Website

(Minghui.org) I have cultivated Falun Dafa for more than 20 years. Since the outbreak of the pandemic over three years ago, I have been making phone calls to China on the RTC platform and have accumulated some experience in clarifying the truth. At the beginning of 2022, I had the honor of becoming an editor of a website for quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I edited the recordings of telephone calls and made them into documentary stories.

Master said,

“A Dafa disciple must do everything steadily, put his heart into it, not be attached to time, and not think too much. You have to give your very best in whatever you are supposed to do, and it will go well.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XII)

I enlightened that I should be reliable if I wanted to participate in the project. Stories about Dafa disciples clarifying the truth and saving people play a role in proving how many people have quit the Party and its youth organizations. This is very significant, so I edit the documentary stories first and do my best to do it well and fulfill my prehistoric vow.

1. Elevating Myself While Editing Documentary Stories

I phoned people in China every day. Thanks to the cooperation of fellow practitioners, we managed to reach predestined people regularly.

One day, a section-level cadre in China answered. He started swearing and hurling vulgarities when I told him about quitting the CCP to stay safe. I was not moved and started to talk about ordinary people who are oppressed by the CCP. I understood that there was a reason for his anger. My compassion, sincerity, and kindness changed his attitude. He eventually saw clearly how evil the CCP is and was willing to quit. After this story was published, it was viewed over 3,000 times. Clarifying the truth by phone only reaches one person at a time, but when this interaction was written up and published on the website, hundreds of thousands of people saw it, and the click-through rate continued to increase. This greatly strengthened my confidence in clarifying the truth and writing down the stories.

Editing “Stories About Withdrawing from the Party” actually created a precedent, because there was no ready-made template to follow. At first, I listened to and typed out the transcripts based on the recordings, added dialogue between the volunteers and those who answered based on the psychological state of the characters, and edited the story according to the truth-clarification content.

The more stories I wrote, the more I realized that the titles, introductions, and truth-clarification content were all very similar. This is the difficult part of writing; How do I make the dialogue and stories of the different participants exciting and interesting and reflect different styles? I asked the senior editor-in-chief. I was very fortunate that the editor-in-chief, who helps us review the drafts, is a professional who has decades of experience. He talked about writing as though he had experienced everything and explained profound issues in simple terms, allowing me to understand that documentary stories are about clarifying the truth to sentient beings and persuading people to quit the CCP organizations. It is based on giving good advice, and we should focus on persuading and guiding people to distinguish between good and evil and to abandon evil and promote goodness. At the same time, to avoid following the same pattern, I wove in practitioners’ cultivation stories to demonstrate that it was the power of the Fa that allowed them to let go of their personal gains and losses to clarify the truth and save people. Practitioners’ cultivation stories are also validating the Fa.

I originally spoke to the other party’s attachments when I clarified the truth on the phone and often did not stick to the topic. However, when I had to sort out the recorded conversations, I had to arrange them logically and summarize the main points into subheadings. These main points helped me guide my phone conversations more rationally.

One day, I clarified the truth to a gentleman in Anhui Province. At first, he did not want to quit the CCP. Persuading people to do the three withdrawals is a process of giving good advice and patiently explaining the truth from different angles. First, disavow the poisonous oath to the CCP to stay safe; second, renounce atheism to avoid being implicated; third, one has to pay with one’s life for killing people and heaven wants to eliminate the CCP because it has killed so many; fourth, make a solemn declaration to quit the Party and its organizations on the website for quitting the CCP to be saved. He finally agreed to quit the CCP. This story, “The Communist Party has come to an end, Ms. Han urged kind people to stay away from it,” truthfully recorded the entire process of persuading him to quit the Party.

I realized that rational thinking and improving written articles subtly guided me to think logically when clarifying the truth. I used to be very perplexed by the various hurdles in sentient beings’ minds, but editing the articles made me more rational. When I made phone calls again, wisdom and inspiration flowed unimpeded, and I could clarify the truth endlessly. At first, the other party did not express his position and responded with ridicule, retorts, and disdain and shouted threats and insults. He would then calm down and think after he understood a little bit of the truth. He would then understand more of the truth and recognize the nature of the CCP after changing his attitude and then finally quit the CCP after being convinced.

It turns out that clarifying the truth and writing stories go hand in hand. I thank Master Li, Falun Dafa’s founder, for this arrangement and for giving me the opportunity to work on the news team of the website for quitting the CCP. I’ve learned many things as I have continued to make phone calls, edit recordings, transcribe them, and edit the stories. One of the most gratifying things for me to do after the articles are published is to calm down and compare the revisions made by the editor-in-chief and reflect on my own shortcomings. Why was the title changed? Why was a passage deleted? Why add those words? Why? Why?… I realized that the more parts that were revised, the more I learned.

My writing gradually improved. I felt the process was extremely precious and enjoyed it. When I tried to think of the reasons for the revisions in the article, and the joy that I felt after I understood them, it was beyond words. We write truth-clarification stories to save people, and that helps me to constantly rectify my shortcomings; it’s a process of elevating in cultivation. I make the article readable and interesting so that people can understand the truth and be inspired when they read it.

Master said:

“In the process of doing things, what’s looked at is your hearts, not your success itself. In the process of doing things you can save people! Your process of doing things is also a process of you elevating in cultivation, which, at the same time, plays the role of saving sentient beings! It is not that only if you succeed in doing that thing can you play the role of saving sentient beings.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference,” Team Blue Translation)

When I think about how this is a precious opportunity to elevate while saving people, I sincerely thank Master for his arrangements and blessings.

2. Reflecting on Myself and Expanding My Capacity When Encountering Conflicts

When I felt that the editing work was getting easier, a new reporter joined, and my responsibilities increased accordingly. The editor-in-chief arranged for me to edit her first draft. I initially thought that it was not difficult to review the drafts, but when I actually did it, many troubles and conflicts surfaced; I couldn’t improve my editing skills fast enough to keep up with the requirements.

Once, when I was cooperating with the new reporter, she did not agree with the part that I edited and insisted on retaining her own style. I could understand. If my article was revised by the editor, but I thought my writing was better, I would be moved and might not be convinced.

I tried to explain the changes in a phone call, but she refused to communicate with me. The next day, she replied to me, “Your edits are yours. I reserve my opinion.”

I originally thought that it would be very pleasant to edit and think quietly. However, I was troubled that the practitioner became sad because of the edited article. I realized that I did not think from her standpoint when I edited the article, and completely followed my own ideas and thought that I was right. However, others have good ideas, too. There is not only one way to express something, so why did I not consider other people’s feelings?

This incident made me blame myself. Editing stories and reviewing drafts are two different processes, with different ideas and methods. In fact, my level and capacity were not good enough. I was a teacher and corrected students’ compositions. I was used to doing that and thought, “I am right.” Now that I was helping the practitioner edit the article, I should have made appropriate adjustments according to her ideas.

I told her that I felt very guilty and wronged after we had a conflict. However, why was I annoyed when she did not understand and refused to accept it and even responded with, “I can send this article to other media to be published?”

I was depressed for those few days and tried to look within to find my shortcomings. However, I kept thinking, “How could it be like this? Was I wrong?” “Why do I insist that I write well? Am I here to validate myself?”

I could not figure it out—revising the draft was supposed to help the practitioner but it brought about a conflict. In that deadlock, a thought flashed in my mind, “Do I have the attachment to validating myself? Why did I see and hear this? I must have this attachment, thus Master arranged this test for me. I have to remove the attachment to validating myself. Why do I always insist that I am right? Where did I go wrong?”

Master said, “For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2009 Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume IX)

I still looked at others when I encountered conflicts. I only looked within after I could not figure things out. I had cultivated so poorly! Master saw these attachments of mine and arranged this test for me to elevate. I also realized that I looked down on others, have a competitive mentality, am attached to what I think is right and wrong, and cannot always tolerate and understand other practitioners. When this article was published according to my revised script, I felt even more that I was right. No wonder a new reporter said bluntly, “Should everything follow your pattern?” Yes, this sentence woke me up. Isn’t arrogance also validating myself?

When I calmed down to write this experience-sharing article, I could take a closer look at every one of my thoughts. When the article was published, reprinted in other media, and praised by practitioners, these were tests. When I feel happy and pleased, isn’t it zealotry? When I feel that I made phone calls well and persuaded many people to quit the CCP, isn’t this arrogance and the attachment to validating myself?

There was a documentary story about a domineering Party secretary who returned to China from overseas. He changed his attitude and quit the CCP on the phone. I thought the story would be a breakthrough in persuading people to quit. However, other media did not reprint the story and I was disappointed. I wondered if it was because the title wasn’t good enough. How could I improve it? On the surface, I was thinking and reflecting, but there was an undetectable attachment hidden in my heart.

It turns out that this sense of loss is due to the desire for fame and personal gain. I had expected the article to be reprinted and hoped it would be very popular. Isn’t this pursuing fame? Isn’t it an attachment that has to be removed?

If there is an attachment that has yet to be removed in cultivation, that’s an omission and it could become a big problem. No matter how well I have cultivated in other areas or how much I have done, they cannot replace the areas where I did not cultivate well. If there is an area that does not meet the standard, that is what the evil might use to persecute us.

When I realized and found these attachments—fame and personal gain, being arrogant, the competitive mentality, not allowing people to criticize me, validating myself, complaining, jealousy—I told myself that these attachments were not my true self, that the old forces imposed them on me, and that I did not acknowledge them. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate these thoughts that did not conform to the Fa. After a while, my dimensional field became cleaner, I have fewer distracting thoughts, and my mind became clearer.

After I continued to study the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts, let go of human attachments, and calm down, I admitted to the practitioner that my level was insufficient and asked for her forgiveness. I thanked her for her hard work and dedication. The article was reprinted in major media outlets and played a role in saving people. The practitioner expressed her gratitude and also found her shortcomings. I also understood that the practitioner had revised the article many times and put in a lot of time and effort. We do all this to save people.

Thank you, revered Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!