PureInsight | August 27, 2001
In our work with media in these last two years, I feel that the role we’ve played has been too passive. In our relationship we are the submissive ones. By all accounts, the media firmly controls the process of reporting the brutal persecution. Apparently, our media partners have firm control over the entire process. To our chagrin, very few of the countless articles we submit to show Dafa in a positive light are used, and, even still, once in a while, a negative one jumps out. Worse still, the media uses manipulative human craftiness to select those “positive” articles, ones that we doubt help to clarify the truth to the readers. And the negative ones they publish…they are completely venomous. The media’s excuse of “publishing articles of differing opinions to ensure the freedom of expression” is, without a doubt, highly degenerate.
Indeed, their ostentatious professionalism along with wicked impartiality perplexes us as to how to break this shell. The problem is further compounded by our own fearful apprehension about media work. We figure that since they own the media and can do anything they please, we have to mind our every word and action to avoid antagonizing them. We fear that if we do not, we’ll have to pay a high price for the big trouble that would follow. We have tried sending forth righteous thoughts. But they seem to not have any effect. We thus have to ask, where have we gone wrong?
When I sat down today to reflect on these experiences with the media, I saw many human attachments displayed clearly. Nevertheless, I managed to rise above those details of “reality” and assess the overall situation from the standpoint of the Dafa. I realized that the awesome influence that media has over the whole world is an integral part of the old forces’ design to wreak havoc on today’s Fa-Rectification. In recent decades, media has played an insidious and pervasive role in shaping people’s warped notions, dominating their thinking and undermining human morality. During the current period of Fa-rectification, the media has been incomparably successful in slandering, smearing and covering up the truth, deceiving the people of the world. It is not inaccurate to think of the media as a large net that covers the world to obstruct the Fa-rectification. Yet this evil net can be so ultra thin that it become imperceptible. When we interact with it in the same way that everyday people might, our loopholes become exploited beyond belief.
We should have rectified the dimensions of media long ago, but we have been preoccupied and bogged down with ordinary-people-type work and mentalities. For instance, we are joyous over any media reports that are somewhat positive. We indiscriminately use them in our truth-telling efforts rather than aiming directly at people’s benevolent nature so that they can make correct judgments for themselves. Isn’t this the same as unwittingly recognizing, accepting and even endorsing the arrangement by old forces?
From what Master told us about the best historical period in terms of human morality, no media guidance would be needed in those times. When everyone understands the importance of virtues and obeys the heavenly mandate to engage in cultivation of the spirit and worshipping of gods, everything becomes so simple: the overwhelming amount of information garbage consumed by human society today would have no place. Just as the saying goes, “the more complicated, the worse something is; the stronger the attachments to the illusions before the eyes, the more sufferings to endure while writhing in the sea of bitterness.”
How, then, can we break this arrangement by old forces? First and foremost, I believe we should identify and then unequivocally reject the warped existence of media. Once we are clear-minded about this, there will naturally be plenty of room for righteous thoughts to take effect. We should then resolutely clear up by telling the truth about any attack on Dafa, no matter what kind of form it takes. Secondly, since the Fa-rectification has progressed to today’s stage, we should remember that any seemingly powerful arrangements by the old forces can, in reality, be easily crushed. Therefore, we should be determined in exposing any untrue media reports [on Dafa], in breaking the dominance of warped human notions over the media, and in eliminating people’s fearful superstitions about an all-powerful media. This will awaken the true, benevolent nature of common people and help them to make the correct judgements and choices over all matters. While “we should try our best to be calm and kind to these people who are at the surface,” (“Fa-rectification and cultivation”) we should also focus on eliminating the evil in other dimensions that manipulates media for the purpose of damaging Dafa. Meanwhile, we should keep up our righteous thoughts, and tell the truth by using to our advantage the old forces’ arrangements. All of these, I believe, are things we must do in order to pass this test presented to us in Fa-rectification cultivation.
The above is strictly from my personal experiences and opinions. Admittedly, not everything here is the most thoughtful. I sincerely welcome insightful comments from fellow practitioners, so that we’ll all benefit in improving our understanding of Dafa.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2001/8/17/11367.html
