Tempering Myself Through Editing Articles

(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa with my mother in 1996. In 2013, a local practitioner/coordinator asked me to be in charge of editing cultivation articles that were written by practitioners.

As many elderly practitioners are illiterate or have difficulty starting, they narrate their experiences and I write them down and afterward I tidy up the article. During these eight years, my attitude towards this task changed. 

Initially, I thought that I was helping fellow practitioners. However, with time I realized that every article is a “mini-project” and an opportunity to cooperate and validate the Fa. Everyone cooperates with each other so that all these “mini-projects” can be published. They display the goodness of Dafa and also serve as references for fellow practitioners. Even if the articles are not published, the process is also a form of tempering for us.

I would like to tell you about some of my experiences while editing articles.

My Two “Wake Up Stick” Warnings

When I first started editing these articles, most of them were handwritten and few were legible. I first needed to decipher and read through the content before typing the words into the computer. When I was finally able to start editing, I realized that there were many repetitive or unnecessary segments. Most of the words that I typed out had to be deleted. This wasted a lot of time so I started to have some complaints in my heart: “Why can’t the article be written clearly? The amount of effort that I put in while editing is enough for me to write a whole new article!”

At that time, I did not realize that this happened to help me to eliminate my anxiety. I treated the editing as a task so I did it systematically like a robot. 

I spent an entire afternoon editing two articles and asked my mother to save them into a USB drive for the coordinator. My mother made a mistake and caused some irreversible errors in the files. I was upset because I did not save a copy on my computer so all my work was lost. I was angry and blamed my mother. In the end, not only was my mother not apologetic about it, she even brushed it off and said, “You just have to rewrite it. Why are you angry?”

As soon as she said this, I felt my blood boil and I totally lost it. Filled with anger I said, “Find someone else to do this!” Not only did the coordinator not comfort me, she even stood by my mother and half-jokingly said, “Is this your child? Why is she so stubborn?” I was so fuming mad that I slammed the door and left.

As I walked down the road, I was filled with negative thoughts.

After reaching home, I gradually calmed down and realized that I need to be responsible for the articles that I was given to work on. I found those two articles and began typing them out again. As I typed I reflected on my cultivation.

Before moving the files, I should make a copy of them on the computer. This way even if a mistake was made I still had the article. My casual way of doing things caused the files to be lost. This is a result of me not being responsible for what I was in charge of. How could I shift the blame on my mother? 

I gradually calmed down. As I typed, my anger left and my whole body felt as though it was enveloped in a warm strength.

After I submitted the articles I met the coordinator. She discussed my editing and pointed out two areas that needed improvement: One was that the titles were usually too exaggerated; the other was that the content and words used in the articles were so similar that they seemed to come from a template.

I silently complained: Some practitioners are not literate while others used a lot of local dialects. Just tidying the word sequence and logic flow already takes a lot of effort. Sometimes, I need to add additional paragraphs to join the scattered pieces together. So what if the format was monotonous?

However, after returning home I realized what she said was true! As I looked at the edited documents, I could see that the titles sounded grand and exaggerated. For example: “The Great Display of Miracles that Shook the Heavens and Earth.” The article was about a conversation between a fruit farmer and his fruit trees. The farmer asked his fruit trees to remember that Falun Dafa is good. Afterward, despite not applying any insecticides, the fruit trees also did not have any insect infestations, etc.

Although some articles used old-fashioned dialect, these articles are more lively and moving and people could feel the simple and pure state of the practitioner through the words. However, after I edited them out and replaced them with standard language writings, all this disappeared.

I suddenly understood that editing the articles is not a small matter and also requires wisdom. In the past, I felt that what I knew was definitely correct. Now, I see that the practitioners’ rustic language can touch the readers’ souls. I should keep their pure way of talking instead of seeking a standard form and edit all the articles until the readers feel that they come from the same mold.

Cause for Regret

Minghui.org usually holds an online Fa conference twice a year. One is for World Falun Dafa Day, May 13, and the other is the Minghui Fa Conference. Over the years, the need to create articles kept increasing. In order to reduce my workload, the coordinating practitioner not only helped with the editing herself, she also made arrangements for the practitioners’ articles to be typed into soft copies before sending them to me. However, after my workload eased, I became lazy. Instead of using every minute to edit the articles like I did before, I felt I had everything under control.

After waiting until the last minute, I worked every night until dawn until I finally managed to complete my task.

Having gone through such a painful experience, I should have learned my lesson. However, when the Fa conference started to accept articles the following year, I still delayed until the last minute. My mother asked me to help edit her article many times but I pushed it aside with the excuse that: “I need to prioritize the needs of others before that of my own family.”

I also did not start writing my own article. I was so confident in myself, thinking that since the articles by my mother and I already had an outline, we only needed a few hours to get them ready.

However, two days before the deadline to submit articles, the coordinating practitioner arranged a new task for me: To help Jin write an article. Jin is an elderly practitioner who is very diligent in her cultivation and has gone through countless miraculous incidents. When the article was finally written out, there were 7000 words in all. Just as I finished writing, Hua came and asked for help. 

The last afternoon before the deadline, Lian came with an article from her sister and herself. To make matters worse, her sister’s article was handwritten. A deep sense of helplessness grew in my heart. I felt that the articles were flowing continuously, like a fountain. By continuously typing on the keyboard, I finally completed all the articles and submitted them one hour before Minghui’s deadline.

The problem was that my mother’s article and mine were still not edited. They were only rough outlines and there was no time to fill in the details. 

Seeing the situation, my mother said that she would not participate this year. She asked me to make good use of the time to complete my own article. I hastily completed my article and submitted it. However, I was late. I saw that the submission time of my article was stated as 12:01 a.m. My heart was full of regrets. 

When I sent righteous thoughts at midnight, I saw the following scene: The online Fa conference started. The Buddha world in the other realm opened its heavenly doors and immortal music kept playing in the background. Every practitioner who submitted their articles ascended upwards while holding their articles. As the fairies scattered flowers and auspicious clouds paved the way, these practitioners were led into the grand hall in the heavens. As the deadline for the Fa conference approached, the heavenly doors also gradually closed.

Recalling that my own article was just a minute away from getting into the grand heavenly hall through the gap in the heavenly doors, the unpleasant feeling in my heart grew. As I opened my eyes, I saw that while my mother was sending forth righteous thoughts, but her face was covered in tears. 

She said that she also really wished to participate in this year’s Fa conference, but thinking that there were still so many practitioners’ articles to be completed, she finally decided to give up. I realized her nonchalant attitude was a fake front she put up. She said she hoped that at least one of us had a chance to participate in the sacred Fa conference. 

At that moment, my heart was full of regret. I realized that my habitual delay caused my mother to miss the Fa conference this time. Recalling that she urged me to help her edit her article many times but I just kept putting it off, I felt really bad. However, my mother said that although she cannot participate in the Fa conference this time, she could feel Master’s empowerment. What’s amazing is that she saw the same scene I did. At that moment, we really understood the purpose of the Fa conference.

I decided that even if the deadline passed, I would edit my mother’s article and submit it to Minghui.org. Just as I opened my mailbox, I received an email from the coordinating practitioner. She knew that my mother’s article hadn’t been edited but she encouraged us to submit it anyway.

Through this experience, I realized that all practitioners should try their best to participate and write their articles early. We should not wait until the last minute to start writing as that will cause the local practitioners who are editing them to be overwhelmed by the workload—Minghui.org’s practitioners are even busier. We all should treat every Fa conference as a project that requires everyone’s cooperation seriously.

Learning to Cherish Other Practitioners 

My experience while editing articles for this year’s Fa conference was unique. In the past, my task was mainly editing the articles. This year, I was asked to visit elderly practitioners and help them write down their articles. At first, as I listened to them narrate their experiences, I felt numb instead of being touched. After all these years of article editing, I had been already very familiar with all sorts of magnificent cultivation experiences.

I later realized that the emphasis of the articles should not be on the experiences but on how the practitioner changed during the process. I started to have an in-depth discussion with them, and I asked about their inner thoughts. 

I discovered that every practitioner should be cherished. Some of these elderly practitioners are way past 70 years old but can ride a bicycle swiftly. Some of them are now growing black hair, gradually replacing their gray hair. Others did not understand the Fa principles during the early stages of their cultivation so they were trapped in tribulations for a long time. 

Despite this they diligently wake up early every morning to practice the exercises, study the Fa every day and go out to save sentient beings. They do not slack off in the three things. Their attitude of not fearing setbacks and their determination to work hard in their cultivation is something that young practitioners like me lack.

I realized that if I had helped these practitioners who had trouble writing out their articles years ago, these Fa validation articles would have been seen by the world much earlier. I was filled with regret as I looked at these elderly practitioners. I am also full of respect for practitioner Ting, who not only went back and forth to encourage these elderly practitioners to submit their experiences but also brought me to visit them.

During this process, I shared the workload with another practitioner, Mei. We helped 20 practitioners write down their cultivation experiences. After working busily for a few afternoons, I thought I could take a break when Ting came and informed me that she managed to persuade eight practitioners to submit their articles. Mei and I went to the next place to work on the articles. However, before we could finish these eight articles, Ting informed us that there were seven more practitioners that needed our help.

As Mei and I are staying in the city area, which is relatively far away from these sites, the articles that are being written out in the afternoon all need to be edited the next morning. Mei has her child to pick up and I have to prepare for classes. When Ting kept accepting requests for us to help without our consent, Mei and I became resistant. 

Although I did not say anything, I started to complain in my heart. Furthermore, I did not have respect for Ting when I looked at her. I felt that she was quite diligent but did not think for others. I also felt the elderly practitioners were too long-winded in their narration and did not come to the point.

After we completed all the tasks, Ting said when we were going down the stairs that she also wanted my help in writing her article. I immediately said, “Do not have the attachment of relying on others. I have a load of articles that have yet to be edited. In the past, you always wrote your own articles and they were quite good.” Ting said, “I do not know how to form the phrases and I only know how to type them using pronunciations. Furthermore, my typing is very slow.”

I didn’t respond but quickly went down the stairs and left. A few days later Ting came to my house. As no one was home she left. The second time there was heavy rain and she was worried that she could not return home in time, so Ting gave up. She finally met me and we shared our thoughts.

I realized that Ting thinks about problems on the basis of the Fa. When she first received the notification for the submission of the articles, the first thing she thought about is what Master wants. 

Many of those elderly practitioners who narrated their cultivation experiences do not know how to look within or they are stuck in a bottleneck in their cultivation. Ting felt that young practitioners like us don’t have so many notions and we speak in a more straightforward manner. In this way, we can help the elderly practitioners to look within themselves and clear up their cultivation thoughts during the process.

While helping Ting write, I realized that her article recorded the birth and growth of the local truth-clarifying site and the tempering process of dozens of practitioners who participated in the group truth-clarifying project. She said that she sought my help to write the article three times because she had the thought that I was supposed to help her.

I looked inward. I realized that I focus on “me, myself, and I” but Ting has jumped out of that narrow frame to think for others. Her article was supposed to be written by me! I was also supposed to help those elderly practitioners because Master gave me the wisdom and ability to do this. This is my responsibility and what Master arranged.

At that moment, I really felt that all the labels I applied to people are all fake. If a person is attractive or not, what type of job he does, these are all things that blur me. I want to eliminate them. I want to be immersed in the Fa and flow freely according to the Fa’s needs, forming together to form a shape when needed and spreading out to become just loose particles when not needed.

The above is my cultivation experience of tempering myself in the Fa through participating in the article editing project. Thank you Master for your benevolent empowerment and thank you, fellow practitioners, for reminding and encouraging me all the way. Kindly correct me if there is any room for improvement.