Reflections

[PureInsight.org] I had done a lot of government work but I felt a strong calling to work on some aspect of the media. Not long after, I was asked if I would like to polish articles for a newspaper. I felt so grateful that I could work on an English newspaper to clarify the truth to westerners. At the beginning the articles that needed to be polished were very lengthy and I could literally spend hours polishing one article. I know it was difficult for the translators who must have spent hours translating, and difficult for me a polisher to trudge through the article and put it into a journalist format. But I was so happy to work on the newspaper that I never thought of questioning the process.

Working for a newspaper is demanding because the material is time sensitive, and in the beginning, I was having a difficult time balancing family and Fa work. After about two months polishing for the newspaper and spending numerous hours at the computer, my kids started to complain. I decided to take a few days off and re-group. I checked out the website a couple of days later and noticed that the amount of translated articles slowed down considerably. It really stuck me how we are one body and that I was not the only one having xinxing problems. The slow down continued for a while. However, soon the website was up and running at a good pace without the long, lengthy articles slowing us down.

Balance is always a struggle, but while my kids are not practitioners there is a side of them that understands that mom's work is important. However, it is important in this lifetime to be a good parent so I started to pay extra attention to them and found that it did not take away from work on the newspaper. On the contrary, my xinxing improved, my sleep requirement lessened and my newspaper output improved.

There have been many wonderful experiences working on the newspaper, but always the most moving is the content of the articles, especially the editorials written about the persecution. These articles are far beyond what the mainstream press writes and I am glad westerners now have the opportunity to read what Chinese speakers have been reading for years. While I gleefully talk about these articles, they can be extremely tedious to translate and polish. One in particular was very hard to polish. I kept strong righteous thoughts and kept focused on the article and what seemed like an hour had already been three. When I was finished I read through it and I could not believe how wonderful the article was and tears just flowed down my face. A few days later at a conference call, the copy editor was surprised I was able to even polish that article as it was so confusing. It really is not me, but the Fa working through me and I am but an instrument with the purpose to clarify the truth and save sentient beings

I have not always been righteous while polishing and as a result I have had interference. One example is when I started to polish an article that was very "Chinglish." I can just remember taking deep sighs trying to get through it in what seemed to take me forever. I was almost done and only had just a couple sentences left but decided to wait till the next day to reread and post it. The next evening, I got a call that I needed to post the article immediately as some VIP's were waiting for the article on the website. I got on the computer and I could not find it. I realized the evil easily wheeled itself into my gap. But Master says, that when you fall get yourself back up. It was already getting late, but I told the evil that I will stay up all night long to polish the article and that it will be much better than the first. I stayed up all night without feeling sleepy and did exactly as I told it I would do. It was a beautiful truth clarifying article and I learned my lesson well.

There have been numerous interferences, but the most wild and blatant act of evil was when the cursor started to erase an article I was polishing. The whole article was lost. Again, I told the evil that it is not a problem for me to stay up all night to re-polish the article. After, I recognized just what an incredibly beautiful truth clarifying article it was.

I also work as a reporter for the newspaper. Since I have so much experience working as a polisher, rewriting an article was not a difficult transition. However, I cannot say the same about reporting on the scene. One of my first on the job reporting was to attend a seminar where a well known Chinese environmental journalist was speaking. I called the college, which is about an hour away, to verify that she was giving a presentation. When I got to the auditorium it was locked. Someone steered me to the security office and I told the security lady my dilemma. We searched the catalogs wondering if she was speaking somewhere else but after about 40 minutes we found out she spoke the night before. I wasn't that disappointed because I was able to clarify the truth to the security lady, Hazel, who was so happy to hear about Falun Gong. Through our conversation, I mentioned that the college had invited the Chinese environmental journalist.

Hazel said she is most likely staying at the guesthouse and called. It was getting late, but she answered the phone and while she was tired, agreed to be interviewed. Before I left to attend the seminar, I read a short bio very quickly. When she was on the phone she asked me what I knew and I said that she was a martyred daughter of …. "Oh you know everything." I could only chuckle to myself. My first exclusive interview would be with a famous Chinese journalist/dissident. The interview went well, but there were a couple of communication difficulties, but for the most part I kept very calm and focused. I probably know more about what is going on in China than the United States because of my polishing experience, and that proved to be an important element while interviewing her. I understood and could ask appropriate questions about the difficulties of being a dissident. However, I was surprised that it took me a few days to actually write the article, and found writing an article from scratch takes a concerted amount of time and effort. But most of us are journalists-in-training and I recognized why I was having problems.

Before I started writing for the newspaper, I had been delivering the Chinese version to about 12 restaurants in the area. This is my favorite Fa-rectification work. At first I think some people thought it was strange that I delivered a free newspaper to them, but after a couple of times they just accepted the newspaper graciously. In fact with many of them I have developed a rapport with. They are always happy to see me and some are especially kind. My daughter went with me one time on my paper route and remarked, "When they saw you coming they got off their chairs to greet you." One time after giving the newspaper to one restaurant, the owner pointed to Master Li, and said that is Mr. Li Hongzhi. My heart was so moved by his acceptance of the Fa. I have become friendly with most on my route and enjoy seeing them each week. One Chinese lady said to me one day, "You have so much energy." It is through casual conversation like this that I can clarify the truth and they can easily accept Falun Gong. I don't know much Chinese but I have sung "Wei Ni Ere Li" to a couple of employees who really appreciated that I knew some Chinese. I think learning a little Chinese can help bridge the gap between west and east. I realize that not only are the people in the restaurant reading the newspaper, but I am sure it is taken home and shared with family members.

Master tells us to treasure this time and I know it is really hard for me to do that. I am very busy but still feel I could do better. So I start pushing myself to do better, but I realize that this thinking is also an attachment and can lead to zealotry. Not only that this human notion can easily be taken advantage of by the evil by causing much conflict with fellow practitioners. It can lead to the mentality that my idea is best which can cause many problems.