PureInsight | July 28, 2008
[PureInsight.org]
Greetings Venerable Master! Greetings dear fellow practitioners!
I would like to share with you on how Israeli practitioners have
steadfastly decided to contribute to the daily edition of the English
Epoch Times, and join this huge current, and thereby boost our own
Epoch Times edition and our cultivation.
I want to first start with my personal story. I serve as a reporter and
a web editor for the Epoch Times. For me, writing a story was not a
simple matter. It always took me hours of thinking, planning, writing
and rewriting until I was satisfied with my story. Some stories took me
days to finish. I felt that I didn't meet the standard that this
profession requires. I was not able to see how to break through this.
Some experiences I have had showed me that I have to improve on this
and that as a Dafa disciple, I can do it. One time when I went to New
York to improve my journalistic skills I was sent to cover a major news
event and was required to meet tight deadlines. I was shown that if I
have the will and the diligence, anything is possible. Even though I
did not have the basic tools I needed such as headphones and my
laptop's charger, and I was really stressed at the beginning, after
calming my heart I could find whatever I needed to complete this
mission.
When I was in Flushing before the NY Fa Conference, I saw that the
daily Chinese Epoch Times had a great impact on society. I saw many
Chinese ladies, some of them really not young, distributing the Epoch
Times tirelessly from morning to evening. Many people were learning the
truth through this powerful media. But at that time, there was no
English Epoch Times to distribute there everyday, so the western
society was sometimes still confused on what was going on there, and
they sometimes saw this as just two groups having a conflict. I
remember one of the Chinese practitioners sharing with me that we
westerners still have notions and fears, and while the Chinese Epoch
Times is able to play a major role in clarifying the truth and being so
successful, we still fear too much about how people will see us, if
they are going to understand us or not, as well as other notions. She
understands that only by doing the right thing, always
straightforwardly clarifying the truth in an open and dignified manner,
could the Chinese Epoch Times reach this point. Later, the English
Epoch Times decided to run special editions on the Flushing incident,
which has had a great impact on the western community in Flushing.
Regarding the English Epoch Times, Master says in "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference":
"You are short on human, material, and financial resources, so the
challenges are definitely daunting. However, the Chinese Epoch Times
encountered these in the early days as well, and made it through - it
battled its way through. You might consider doing more to learn from
and draw on those experiences."
I understand that we westerners should really get rid of our notions
faster, and follow Master more closely. We can learn a lot from the
Chinese practitioners' sense of urgency.
Recently, a major news event happened just 5 minutes walk from my home
in Tel Aviv. I still didn't know what had happened, but I knew that as
a journalist, I had to be there. I was one of the first journalists on
the scene, and I took photos and quotes, and got to personally know
important contact persons and get their phone numbers. But because our
edition was bi-weekly, the Israeli website also carried a magazine
nature, and my hard news article wasn't published.
The next day I read an email that the New York English edition of The
Epoch Times was going daily. I was excited, and I had the feeling that
my experience was arranged by Master to encourage me to do better in
this profession and encourage us all to do the Epoch Times work better.
In the middle of the night, I was talking to one of the NY editors
through a messenger program, and she gave me a 30-minute deadline to
finish an English article about the event I covered in Israel. I felt a
strong energy surrounding me, and I had a feeling that Master was
encouraging me, showing me the way, and I could meet the deadline.
When we were later asked whether the Israeli practitioners could
contribute one short news article a day to the NY daily edition, we
answered that we could. With this determination and resolution, we were
easily able to do that. The work is not hard, we only have to send one
100-300 words news article a day, and we also try to submit one longer
article for the weekly national US edition. I started to unofficially
coordinate this work of sending articles to NY. We were trying to focus
on writing stories that would be interesting to the American readers,
as well as for readers from around the globe. We tried to explain local
affairs so that foreigners could understand them to the maximum extent.
At the beginning, we were four reporters working on this mission, and
the work was divided between us, so it was not hard. But now more and
more people are willing to support and contribute. Even as I was now
writing these very words, I have just received a phone call from a
practitioner who was interested in how things are going with this
mission and offered his help. He said that even though he's busy he
could always find one hour to help write an article. Some others offer
indirect support by helping other Epoch Times missions that we do, so
we can have more time for this new mission. People who were less active
in Epoch Times work decided to be more obligated to the paper and take
larger responsibilities upon themselves.
It seems as though now that we have made this resolution, Master is
arranging everything so that we will have the resources to do this
task, and do it better and better. For me, it feels like the New York
staff has entered the huge fast current, rushing forward and moving
towards the state where the Epoch Times should be, a major media for
the mainstream society that has a major impact on society and on saving
sentient beings, like the Chinese edition has already done. Once we had
made this decision, we were actually joining this current, rushing
forward.
The New York staff shared that they understood that enlightenment comes
first and only then comes seeing, before they could reach that state
where they could make this decision of going daily with full belief in
Master and in Fa rectification, and with a full understanding of the
importance of The Epoch Times in this huge historical period of time. I
understand that with the same unquestioning belief, we can for sure
make the great breakthrough and become the major media and news source
for the world's people.
I understand that this is a similar situation, where once we have made
up our minds, Master is arranging everything so that we have the
resources and the ability.
In reporting for the daily edition we try to be out there, on the
scene. The more people participating, the easier it will be for us to
find the time to go out and be there. If we can't, we can get phone
interviews or use press releases. But in some magical way, even without
putting in much effort, every day we find a topic and resources to
write an article. Having two reporters cooperate on writing an article
is extremely powerful. One can stay at home, so the practitioner who is
on the scene can call him and let him type the story. In this way the
practitioner at home can also share with him what he thinks he should
do further and what questions to ask, and he can also use the web and
make phone calls to get more material. Another way to cooperate that we
have done is to have one new reporter go on the scene with a veteran
reporter so he can quickly learn the skills. Sharing together on the
issue can improve our understanding of it based on the Fa and improve
our article a great deal. After the first week we held a meeting of
practitioners who are or will be involved in writing local news, and
our sharing improved our understanding of the issues we cover and our
understanding on how we can do better both technically and spiritually.
When I'm out there, I feel that if I have no pursuit, fear or other
attachments, or if I see an attachment when it comes out and restrain
it, then Master is able to help me. The people who I'm supposed to meet
might just come to me, and I can easily talk to them and let them know
The Epoch Times while getting quotes from them, sometimes even having
chances to directly clarify the truth to them.
I also felt that this whole current is taking us to a new realm, where
conflicts have no room to disturb us and there's no need for long
discussions and planning too much. With this understanding of the
urgency of saving sentient beings, whenever a conflict arises I can
fully understand that this is for my own improvement, and I should
certainly look inward and improve myself, and at the same time not let
it impact the work that we have to do, since the time for saving
sentient beings is limited.
I also want to share with you my hope that if each of the over 30
countries where there is Epoch Times could write at least 5 articles a
week for the daily edition, this could be a great breakthrough for the
Epoch Times worldwide. The English articles are being translated to up
to 17 languages and can serve the Epoch Times in about 30 countries.
How great would it be if we had 30 original articles a day from around
the globe, covering various issues that are interesting to people all
over the world. And this is of course only the first step. We have Dafa
disciples in over 80 countries. Even countries where there is no Epoch
Times currently can contribute quality content to the Epoch Times.
In regarding to how to improve our journalistic skills and be able to
be a professional reporter, I think besides training and acquiring
experience, Master gives us very specific instruction. When a disciple
asks him in the "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference" about
his making breakthroughs slowly and not meeting the demands of this
profession, Master says:
"Breakthroughs will occur if you keep up your Fa-study. Only by
studying the Fa well can you validate the Fa, and only by studying the
Fa well can you do better. Many practitioners have found themselves
able to think about things that they didn't know how to do before in a
more creative, comprehensive way thanks to Fa-study, and they are able
to do anything with great proficiency. That is what comes about when
you study the Fa well."
The above is only my personal understanding limited to my realm. Please
kindly share on anything you find inappropriate or if you have another
understanding on it.
Thank you Venerable Master. Thank you fellow Dafa disciples.
