(Minghui.org) Several notable incidents recently took place in the U.S. First, former U.S. President Donald Trump was convicted. Second, some major Western news media, including the BBC and the New York Times, reported that the CFO of Epoch Times has been accused of “money laundering” by a federal prosecutor and connected the case to Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong). My understanding is that we practitioners need to remain clearheaded and rational when facing these incidents so that we can do better in saving people.
After Trump was convicted, many wealthy Republicans donated money to support him. According to the BBC, the Trump campaign team announced that they had raised nearly $53 million within 24 hours after the conviction. Other Republicans may follow suit. This issue is complicated, and it remains to be seen how it will play out.
The legal outcome of the accusation against Epoch Times’s CFO remains unclear. According to a media professional, the individual may have been involved in some actions in a gray area, and the federal agency has a number of options for how to handle the case.
Anything Falun Dafa disciples do is not simple. In the Dharma-ending era, only cultivating according to Dafa's principles can prevent us from being tainted in the muddy world. Below are a few thoughts.
First, Falun Dafa only involves cultivation practice, and it has no organizations, economic entities, or business operations. News media and other projects are not part of Falun Dafa proper; rather, they are the actions of individual practitioners or groups of practitioners to tell people the facts about Falun Dafa.
Second, practitioners created news media and other organizations to counter the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Had there been no persecution and campaign to “defame [practitioners’] reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically,” had the CCP not fabricated propaganda such as the staged Tiananmen Square self-immolation, practitioners would not have created these news media and other non-profit organizations outside of China. Without the persecution, practitioners would just quietly follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in their work and daily lives. They would not need to spend so much effort learning how to run news media companies from scratch.
Third, the persecution has happened, and it has persisted for 25 years. Even news media in the free world have hardly reported on the facts of Falun Dafa. Instead, they have either carried the CCP’s slanderous propaganda or remained silent. It thus became necessary and inevitable for practitioners to establish websites, television stations, and newspapers.
It requires an enormous amount of funding to run a media company that tells people the facts and saves people. Where can this money come from? Businesses, organizations, and governments who want to do business with the CCP have not dared to provide funding to Falun Gong practitioners over the past 25 years. This means that practitioners have had to find the money themselves. But this also requires us to be careful, rational, and wise while considering social and economic circumstances. Otherwise, things could be taken advantage of like this time and Dafa’s reputation could be damaged. We practitioners know that it is difficult for an everyday person to stay unmoved before money and emotions. Everyday people are used to “fighting evil with evil,” and what the CCP’s mentality of class struggle makes use of is precisely the evil side of human nature. But this would only make things worse. To save people in this world of moral degeneration, one needs to have enormous compassion, in both words and actions.
Fourth, the news media has a big responsibility because owning a news media means one has gained the right to speak and can broadcast messages to the public at will. In media organizations created to clarify the facts and save people, whether practitioners can remain modest and rational and whether they have wisdom from Dafa are directly related to the outcome and social impact of saving people. Since we are not influenced by material interests, money, or power, we should have no earthly desires–only then can we remain strong. We have every reason to be more rational than everyday media because of our principles and integrity.
Western society focuses on independent thinking. People not only listen to what you say, they also observe what you do and how you do it. The public is watching our media; what the media does and how it does things shows what kind of people we are. We practitioners have higher moral values, standards, and spiritual realms, so we need to remain unbiased on issues like political parties and be neither red (Republican) nor blue (Democratic).
Fifth, I think it is important to reiterate that practitioners are not political. This is fundamental, and it will never change.
Because we are not political, even when we discuss politics, we do it from the perspective of morality. In other words, we promote kindness and engage the public so that people can better differentiate good from evil and know that “Falun Dafa is good.” Even when we use the form of news media or businesses, we should follow our principles and be strict with ourselves. Only then can we witness the power of the wisdom from Dafa, promote kindness instead of provoking bad thoughts, and establish friendships rather than create enemies. When we do well, people will learn the truth and choose kindness, because only by doing so will they have a good future.
As Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period, we focus on cultivation, and we have our mission. No matter what projects we work on, no matter what happens, we should remain nonpolitical and unbiased. By following our principles, we can engage more people positively and achieve the best outcome in everything we do.
Above are my thoughts. I hope more practitioners can share their thoughts and understandings
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