PureInsight | July 5, 2004
[PureInsight.org] Writing is a basic skill we apply in our daily life. It is also one of the most important skills for truth-clarification work during the Fa-rectification period. When asked to write truth-clarification articles, many fellow practitioners exclaim, "Oh, I can't write! I'd rather stand on the street distributing truth-clarification materials [written by other practitioners.]" I feel that fellow practitioners that share this mentality might have failed to regard the task of writing truth-clarification articles from the perspective of cultivation. Please allow me to share my humble understanding on this subject.
The articles written by Dafa practitioners during the Fa-rectification period may appear to be ordinary in terms of writing skills, but they are immensely inspiring and profound on many different levels.
Teacher said, "While Dafa disciples validate the Fa, if you write articles to validate Dafa, then even that pen you use every day has earned merit and virtue, and perhaps even your pen will become a Fa-implement in the future." (From "Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Creating Fine Art")
Thus we shouldn't leave our pen idle. I believe that each article a Dafa practitioner writes will become a life in another dimension that helps with the Fa-rectification.
Teacher said, "As a person with genuine gong and energy, you do not need to give it off intentionally; you will leave energy on whatever you touch, and it will all be shining brightly." (From "Martial Arts Qigong" in Lecture Six of Zhuan Falun.)
Everything we touch will shine, including articles that we pour our hearts into. It is my personal experience that writing articles does not keep me from doing other Dafa work. On the contrary, participating in other Dafa work and activities have given me new inspiration. After all, our writing should not be limited to the subject of our cultivation experiences. We may write poems, essays, short novels, media reports of Dafa activities, editorials on Dafa and everyday media, commentaries, biographies of individual practitioners or Dafa work teams, etc. Even a brief article can make a difference. A Dafa practitioner cultivating during the Fa-rectification period will naturally include truths about the Fa-rectification in his articles. Please do not sell yourself short, or underutilize the writing skills and talents that Dafa has bestowed upon you for Fa-rectification. If all Dafa practitioners stop writing truth-clarification articles, those Chinese Communist Party leaders that see Falun Dafa as their nemesis would be filled with joy because no one would reveal their crimes against Falun Dafa practitioners.
Moreover, the most touching articles I have read are usually not those written by the most talented or professional writers, but those written by amateurs that share their honest and kind feelings. Those articles that the Chinese Communist government has commissioned are products of propaganda full of slogans and have no meaningful content. They are written by those who sell their souls to please their superiors, or are forced to lie under orders. I find such articles full of drivel. The only reason why these articles are effective in distorting the Chinese public's opinion towards Falun Dafa is that the Chinese Communist government keeps stuffing the Chinese public with its propaganda. We all know that a lie repeated a thousand times on national media could sound like the truth.
In addition, the Chinese Communist government has been brainwashing its people since 1949 when it took over China. As a result, the Mainland Chinese people nowadays quickly doubt and dismiss the idea that any man would want to attain a higher morality. This is another reason why the Mainland Chinese people will not think twice before they accept the contents in these smear campaigns against Falun Dafa. By comparison, the Mainland Chinese people living in democratic countries where the past influences from the Chinese Communist government's brainwashing propaganda have gradually worn out are less likely to fall prey to the Chinese Communist government's deceitful articles. The Chinese Communist government's commissioned propaganda can never compare to Dafa practitioners' truth-clarification articles of integrity. We write these articles voluntarily without pay. Moreover, we write with our hearts and souls.
This is why when people read Dafa practitioners' articles, or when an audience sees or watches the audio or video truth-clarification materials whose scripts were written by Dafa practitioners, they are touched on a number of different levels. Why did even the simplest messages such as "Falun Dafa is good" written on the walls by Dafa practitioners in China make those people who assist in the persecution tremble with fear? The answer is very simple: It's Falun Dafa practitioners that wrote them!
In order to assist Teacher with the Fa-rectification, we need to use print materials and video programs because they are one of the most fundamental and important forms in our truth-clarification work through which the Chinese people purge their misunderstandings about Dafa. After all, it is impossible for us to clarify the truth face-to-face to 1.5 billion Chinese people, especially to the farmers in remote suburbs who account for 70% to 80% of the Chinese population.
Nevertheless, we should make our language acceptable to the Chinese public. For example, such phrases as "save sentient beings," "save people," "offer salvation," and "safeguard the Fa (Law and principles in Buddha school)" have profound meanings and honor because they are Teacher's words. However, they might appear to non-practitioners as bigoted hubris. For non-practitioners, this type of language might give them a wrong impression that we are a zealous group. In that case we would have unknowingly helped the Chinese regime sustain their slanderous lies in which Dafa practitioners were portrayed as "mentally deranged."
We should pay special attention to citing cases of retribution and drawing morality from these cases. I'll give a negative example. Two years ago, a friend of mine who is not a practitioner told me that he did not like some of our truth-clarification materials. He told me that in a case of retribution a five-year-old child died of a disease after he tore a truth-clarification publication. He exclaimed, "What does a five-year-old child know right from wrong? He did not deserve…" I tried very hard to explain to him, "Falun Gong would never 'retaliate' on anybody in any way. This tragic incident itself just illustrates a 'cause and effect' relationship which is beyond any human's control…" As to his opinion of the cause and effect relationship, you cannot tell him directly, "You are wrong," because he has a limited understanding of the "cause and effect relationship." In my humble opinion, it would be better if we did not include such cases in our truth-clarification materials at all because most Chinese people would find it hard to accept and agree to the "cause and effect relationship" or the heavenly law where good will be rewarded with good and bad will be met with retribution.
Writing articles is a low-visibility work, but it is necessary work for Fa-rectification, so we must try our best to do it well. No matter how difficult it is, writing truth-clarification articles cannot be more difficult than the television production work. Some practitioners in the television team did not know how to operate a computer at the beginning but now they have a good command of video editing work.
An article is a Fa tool that helps with the Fa-rectification, and writing truth-clarification articles can be a form of cultivation practice. Therefore, please try to write more truth-clarification articles.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/6/4/27473.html
