Never Give Up: Cultivation Experience in Doing Media Projects

Greetings Dear Master!
Greeting Fellow Practitioners!

I was pressed hard to writing experience share articles every time when annul European Fa Conference was approaching, but I was always declined to write, because I didn't do well in many ways, and thus had nothing to share. With the 2012 European Fa Conference being held in Belgium, I realised that however many aspects I still need to improve in, I still should reflect upon my cultivation for the process of more than a decade. Today I am sharing my cultivation experience here with you, gained from doing media projects in the past ten more years. My speech is divided into 3 parts.

1. Set up a media project team from the scratch

It was roughly the time when FGM TV Group was just set up. Then a fellow practitioner from DC in the U.S. was on a business trip to Belgium. He shared his thoughts and experience gained from their FGM TV project, and also hoped that we could provide certain type of truth clarification programs.

I was extremely bad at using technology. Apart from using emails and browsing Minghui web, I could do nothing more, let alone to think about making film and TV programmes. But I thought Fa rectification needed us to do TV project -- even though I was not familiar with technologies, I could offer other help. Later I discussed it with a western practitioner and we decided to work together. It was the time when CCP's persecution toward Falun was very severe, and most of the general public in Belgium did not know the truth. A mayor of a city offered us a place in front of the city hall entrance to start a Photo Exhibition of the Journey of Falun Dafa. We recorded part of the Hongfa activities, and made our first film -- Falun Dafa in Belgium.

Soon later, NTDTV was set up. After a DC Fa Conference, a local practitioner took me to NTDTV meeting, where I heard a few HK practitioners talking about their media project experience from the scratch. They even didn't know how to ask questions when conducting an interview. Seeing how innocent and lacking in experience they were, I felt bit confident. Although I was not a literary scholar, writing a news bulletin was not a problem for me.

Coming back from DC, a video camera good enough for TV program-making was purchased under a practitioner's help. This time I still worked with western practitioners. Because we were not familiar with TV programme making, a 1-minute movie took us few days time. After a certain period of time, I was worried about my language and technical skills, and talked with a few other practitioners and invited them to join in. One year later, two more practitioners joined in, and we could make a piece of news within a few hours.

I remember the first time we produced a few news programs for EU Summits, when practitioners from several countries worked together for 3 days and 2 nights. Our news programmes were well received in terms of filming, interviewing, and editing. It seems quite relaxed when I talk about it now. But at the time when I first held a video camera standing among loads of world mainstream media staff, perhaps due to my oriental look, or lady photographer identity, my legs were shaking during the whole filming process, but my mind was very peaceful. It was Dafa that endowed me wisdom and courage. Alhough I still felt nervous when turning up with many mainstream media together, my shyness was changing when I tried to focus on the news and figures I filmed. I found that my mind became increasingly clearer and calmer through many interviews with dignitaries and more news reporting events.

2. Clearly understand our mission to save sentient beings

Because we were often involved in major event reporting, some major media gradually got to know us. Two years ago I realised the responsibility and mission that I should assume.

It was an EU-Sino Summit. As usual, reporters from the Epoch Time and NTDTV went to report. But we were stopped at the security check point, where there were a few Chinese talking with security staff nervously with pieces of paper in their hands (possibly name lists). We asked for the security staff a few times for the reasons they stopped us, and they just asked us to wait. We then left and went to Falun Gong protesting site nearby, and came across reporters from AP and Reuters. We told them what had happened to us, and they could not believe that could happen in this western country. They offered to company us to the Summit site and to see how it could happen.

Together with the reporters from AP and Reuters, we stood at security check-point and waited for their boss to give us the reason. During our waiting, I was suddenly reminded of what Master said in his “Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting”，“The Dafa disciples of the world together encompass the whole earth, with each person having a certain reach. All of what you encounter and meet with owes to factors that are present within your expanse. If you can have sufficient righteous thoughts, you can then be towering and massive within your expanse and suppress any bad things that might exist there. Were every Dafa disciple able to achieve this, the entire world would change, since each of you assumes responsibility for a large expanse in this world and represents a certain segment of sentient beings. ”

Previously I didn't understand the term 'assumes responsibility' very well. But this time I just had a fresh understanding. This large expanse in the world, and this segment of sentient beings are what we should save. I didn't have any fear, and we waited there calmly with these righteous thoughts. After a while we were allowed to enter, but the press conference after the summit was canceled. What was even more unthinkable was that this year's Summit cancelled the press conference even before the meeting. From both events, we can tell how evil is afraid of the truth. Our presence and what we do in terms of clarifying the truth frighten the evil. Let us do our media projects well to accomplish our mission. Because this segment of sentient beings is waiting for us to tell them truth, are waiting for us to save them.

3. Always remember: follow our Master to return

Two years ago, a director of the Epoch Times forwarded an email from the Epoch Time's CEO, who called for each weekly newspapers to achieve monthly sales of 100K. I then realised that the Epoch Time would never be run as truth clarification leaflets we normally sent out. We must run the Epoch Time properly. Considering the job I had at the time, I thought it could be run normally even though I was not in the Epoch Time team. But no one was put in charge of the local Epoch Time at the time.

One day I read Master's “Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting”，“Actually, I’ve been thinking about this since the day you first began. If you can really achieve that, it would make me the happiest. I don’t have any misgivings about Dafa disciples making big money. I’ll be happy when your businesses grow even bigger and you have ever greater wealth. My only concern is that you won’t achieve this. If you all had great financial means, wouldn’t you have greater strength to draw upon for these things that Dafa disciples do to validate the Fa? Wouldn’t that be outstanding?”

As a disciple, I must try hard to do what makes Master happy. Considering that I had been in business and doing well since I was aboard, I believed that if we had enough people, it would not be hard to run the local Epoch Time well. Perhaps the time was right. I soon attended a global Epoch Time directors meeting in San Francisco, and was put in charge of local Epoch Time chief soon after I came back.

Then I started to set up our local team. At the moment all the team members were full of confidence and really wanted to have a go. We even said that if we were doing well, we would have a holiday in Hawaii by the end of the year. Soon, however, one full time sales staff was experiencing illness karma, and the Shen Yun promotion started, so I decided to stop the sales work. All the team members worked for Shen Yun promotion first for a period of time.

Half a year later, the sales performance was pitiful, and the morale in the team went to the lowest point. Facing the situation, I had a lot human thoughts and could not understand why we could not achieve what everyone promised to do. I was depressed. Soon my own business had a shortage of staff, I had to make it up and didn't put enough efforts into the local Epoch Time. As a result I was always blamed and complained, and the whole team simply didn't work. I became more and more anxious.

One day a fellow practitioner sent me a film link, named 'Never Give Up'. First image in the film was a few lines of words: One is not successful because he doesn't have a goal, a dream, confidence, coaching, and doesn't know how big his potential will be.

I was just like what it described. My tears burst out and I finished the film with swollen eyes. The three words 'doesn't know' were so big on the screen, and 'how big his potential will be' were so small. At the moment I suddenly realised that I was blinded by my human thoughts, forgot that I was a Dafa disciple who's ability was endowed by Dafa. If we use human thoughts to do projects, Dafa would not reveal any power to us, and would not allow us to see our really potential.

I gathered all the Epoch Time local staff together with whom I shared my thoughts and future goals sincerely. After more than a month efforts of teamwork, we signed many contracts, more than enough to cover the whole year printing cost, and our circulation also increased.

After a year of working as a director for the local Epoch Time, I found part-time work was too limiting, leading to not having sufficient time for Fa-Study and Exercises. It was imperative to have more full-time sales staff. There were 2 full-time sales who persisted to work all through and to study hard. They work in pairs and always encouraged each other. I believe that they will certainly be able to have their own way in assisting Master Fa-rectification.

During the period of 2012 NY and DC conferences, I attended the Epoch Times meetings, and saw great changes in North America Epoch Times, while we in Belgium were far behind. Many things that were not done well before hindered us, but cultivation is such a serious matter. Human attachments that we didn't want to give up would definitely prevent us doing what we should do well; affect the sentient beings we should save. So I stopped complaining and blaming, instead, I used every minute to study and study. Every day on my way to office I passed by the EU Headquarters, and saw tall buildings by the road and many people while I drove. I thought: for Dafa disciple's responsibility and mission, I would try whatever I could, and find our own way with my team members together. Now it is nearly towards the end of year 2012, we already have had a few more full-time sales staff. Our goal is to run local Chinese Epoch Time well, while developing other languages sections. I believe that however hard the task will be, we have been on our path of Fa-rectification for more than a decade. At the final moment, if we persist in what we should do, follow our Master with our righteous thoughts, our path will become wider and wider.

Finally I would like to share Master's words in his '20th Anniversary Fa Teaching' with my European fellow practitioners: 'If viewed in historical terms this is indeed such a major thing, then consider what kind of preparation it would have called for. The arrangements that were made were, in fact, quite detailed, to the extent that how each Dafa disciple would walk his path; what situations each would meet with; how each would advance or fall back; and how things would be handled when inappropriate states eventually came about, was all meticulously arranged. But be that as it may, it has to be that whatever you, as a living entity, want, is what ultimately counts. Whether you want to cultivate, wish for something, want to do something, don’t want to do something, don’t wish for something—all of it is decided by the person himself....'

Please don't hesitate to point out anything improper.
Thank you Master! Thank you everyone!