My Cultivation Experience in the Management of a Newspaper

Greetings, Master. Greetings, fellow practitioners.

The topic I would like to share with everyone today is, "My cultivation experience in the management of a newspaper."

In taking a step back, we will find a whole different world.

I began to participate in The Epoch Times newspaper in 2001. In the beginning, like others, I helped where help was needed. Because I quickly learned how to do things, from typesetting and coordination of printing, to advertisement and design, I gradually took on more and more responsibilities. As I had an in-depth understanding of the different aspects of running The Epoch Times, along with experience in the management level of a big corporation in China, I became one of the main coordinators.

At the time, there were a few people who worked as full time staff, and I gradually became involved with sales and management of the newspaper. My family had no background in running a business, so you could say my ability in company management started from the ground up and grew with the development of The Epoch Times.
However, the increase in experience did not equate with maturity in cultivation. Many of my attachments were also strengthened as my experiences accumulated. As I was in a coordinator's position, when conflicts arose between me and other practitioners, I would most often use such excuses as, "Why don't you cooperate with me?" "You are not working for me, you are working for The Epoch Times," etc. Due to a lack of experience, and shortcomings in cultivation, I made many wrong decisions as a coordinator. (Of course, at the time I thought those decisions were very correct.) If these had taken place in an everyday company, perhaps I would have been fired ten times over. Now, whenever I think of those decisions, I feel very ashamed and feel that I let down all of the practitioners who silently supported The Epoch Times over such a long period of time.
Although my experience increased, my cultivation did not make any breakthroughs. My inability to look within intensified the conflict between me and other coordinators at the newspaper, until one day it was suddenly announced that I was no longer a coordinator at The Epoch Times.

At the time, I was very surprised, because nobody communicated with me about this beforehand. I was very angry and felt that I was treated unjustly. Yet, at the meeting, because most people agreed with the decision, I still respected the decision of the company directors and decided to step back from the coordinator's position. I told myself that, as a manager in a company, one is also under the management of the company itself and cannot disobey the decisions made by the company. Furthermore, as I had experienced a number of restructurings at The Epoch Times, I felt that I should not adversely impact the normal operations of the paper due to my own matters. At the time, I felt that I really guarded my xinxing (heart and mind nature, character) very well: First, I did not make a fuss, and secondly, I did not make a report. But now, looking back, I had only raked the surface layer.

Two months later, I suddenly received a notice that all Australian practitioners were asked to go to New York, as Master wanted to see us. My heart, which seemed to be calm on the surface, was immediately stirred. Different human attachments came forth: I felt I was wronged and felt angry. My human side kept on thinking that I should go and ask Master whether what they did was wrong and whether I should have stepped down, etc. These thoughts continued to turn over and over in my mind. I could not suppress them--until I saw Master. At that time, when I listened to Master's Fa teaching, I felt that many things were said directly to me, and none of those insignificant issues around me mattered. It was like what Master said, that the side of me that was a God became awake. However, upon my return to share with others at the hotel, those human attachments again started to surface. With the words I spoke, I could not let go of my concept of the rights and wrongs of the matter. I continued to seek comfort from other people's expression of agreement with my ideas, even though on the surface it seemed like I did not care.

Since I did not understand the issue from the basis of the Fa, it was a reflection of the laxness of my own cultivation. Therefore, I came across this tribulation again and again, until these ordinary human factors became weaker and weaker. Suddenly, one day when I calmed my heart and looked back, the Fa principles behind all this were presented before my eyes. Wasn't this the cultivation path which Master had arranged for me? When I was in the coordinator's position, many of my attachments were very strong, and human attachments were hidden away very efficiently. Without overcoming these tribulations, how could I eliminate these substances? How could I assist Master in Fa-rectification while carrying these bad things? How could I consummate to my own cosmos? In an instant, the final remnants of the human attachments disappeared without trace, within Masters great benevolence.

Believe in Master, believe in the Fa; Master has arranged for me a path of cultivation, and it is all for the best.

My abilities in the everyday world led to my participation in The Epoch Times. During my six years with The Epoch Times, my management skills became more mature. When I left the coordinator's position, I said to other practitioners, "I obtained my abilities through practicing Dafa, and I will continue to apply them in assisting Master in Fa-rectification." I had this hope, and Master arranged for me the paths to follow. Since I was no longer a coordinator, I had more free time. In order to lessen the financial stress on my family, I began to manage my own company. In the first year, there were ups and downs, and things were very rough; I think, perhaps, it was related to my cultivation state. Whenever I felt there was no path to follow, I would tell myself, "Believe in Master. The path Master has arranged for each disciple is the very best and quickest cultivation path."

Everything has its reasons, and all of this has been for the final consummation. With this thought, I made it through many tribulations and learned many things in everyday society that were related to company management. I truly experienced the feeling of boundlessness in everything.

My company gradually got onto the right course, while I also became involved in sales and marketing with other Fa-rectification projects. Everything seemed to go smoothly, but I knew that on the cultivation path, tribulations come one after another. At the end of last year, I received a call from a coordinator of The Epoch Times in the USA, who hoped that I would be able to apply the skills and knowledge I had and return to management in The Epoch Times. My intuitive thought was, "It was not easy to get out of that centre of conflicts. If I were to return, wouldn't it be like going from the frying pan into the fire?" After that phone call, I continued to push the idea away, and was reluctant to become directly involved with The Epoch Times. I wanted to hide in the background and peer in from the outside, to just help with what I could. If I could hide in the background, I would not be the focus of so many people. Yet that was actually a fear of having my human attachments exposed. So many pairs of eyes were watching to see if the The Epoch Times was managed well! In the position of a coordinator, each word and action would expose your attachment, and any human attachment would be put under the magnifying glass and examined closely by everyone.

The human side of me wanted to protect myself, avoid conflict, and stay away from harm. It was very easy to find an excuse, because my own company was going well, and I needed more time to look after it. Meanwhile, other Dafa projects continued to run one by one.

In fact, I had practiced cultivation in Dafa for 11 years, and my understanding side was very clear: this was another opportunity for cultivation and elevation. It was just as Master had taught us in "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference" that my life of comfort had dampened my diligence in cultivation, and various attachments were concealed by human mindsets. What should I choose?
A cultivator is very sensitive to changes in his or her own physical state. Eleven years ago, I felt two of the biggest such changes in myself. One of these was when I had just been practicing for a couple of months, and that experience allowed me to truly feel the miraculous side of Dafa. Now, being a veteran practitioner, I knew that those experiences that I directly felt or saw was a push Master gave me on the path of cultivation; it was Master encouraging me, a disciple who was not very diligent.

I am clear that all of the experiences that I have accumulated in everyday society have allowed me to assist Master in Fa-rectification. They were not for me to use to operate an everyday businesses. Master arranged all of this, because the disciple has the wish to practice cultivation. As a disciple, I could only feel more deeply the great benevolence of Master's salvation. I decided to return to The Epoch Times, not to help anyone, but to do well those things that I had not done well in the past, and complete my mission. I know that all of this signified the need to make a great stride forward as a cultivator.

To be involved with The Epoch Times is not only to work on a project but, at the same time, it is also a cultivation process. Because I still have human attachments, there will still be conflicts. However, I know that I cannot be so sluggish in my cultivation like in the past, and the current situation of The Epoch Times will not allow me to repeat the same mistakes.

I do not know what opportunities led to my cultivation path in Sydney. As it has been arranged by Master, it is the best. Upon returning to The Epoch Times, I could sense everyone's great efforts, and each person has done so well. This has filled me with confidence in the management of the newspaper and confidence in Sydney practitioners, as well as practitioners around Australia. Fa-rectification is akin to a battle which can never be seen. In this battle, without trust in one another, we could never defeat the enemy and claim a victory. Furthermore, a battle can only be won by working as a team. It is not something that can be achieved by any individual alone, and this is always the case. On the path of cultivation, we do not distinguish between you and me. There would be eternal regret if any one of us is left behind. Let us all walk well on the path of cultivation in the environment we have in Australia.