Master Teaches Me How to Write

(Minghui.org) I have focused on saving people by writing truth-clarification letters in recent years. This idea originally came from a hint from Master.

My husband’s English writing textbook was lying on his desk for a while, and during that time, he’d often ask me for help. Whenever I sat in front of his computer, this book would be right in front of me. I would immediately spot the writing essentials in the book and could absorb them very well. After reading certain sections a few times, I thought to myself: Could it be that Master is reminding me to work on my writing?

I did not major in liberal arts, nor did I study writing. My writing entirely relies on my intuition. I really like to write. Whenever I start to write, I feel the joy of doing something I am good at. After I realized that Master would like me to write, I felt happy and was willing to work on my writing.

I started to seriously look into writing. I downloaded articles about writing from Minghui.org. My mind was focused on how to improve my writing skills and how to submit articles to Minghui.

However, this was easier said than done. Also during that time, I was taking care of my elderly mother-in-law in her hometown. Because household chores were onerous and people came and went every day, it was difficult to calm down and write. I submitted articles a few times, but none of them were published.

During that time, my truth-clarification work was limited. I could mainly do it when I went out grocery shopping. I would also catch opportunities to distribute truth-clarification materials in nearby residential areas. After my mother-in-law went to sleep at night, I would leave quietly to put up self-adhesive stickers. She later needed care 24 hours a day, so I did not have an opportunity to go out at all.

My mother-in-law has a big family, and there are often children and grandchildren visiting her. I wanted to clarify the truth whenever people came, but people came and left in a hurry, and they all surrounded my mother-in-law to talk, so it was not easy to control the situation. I fretted helplessly. I later found out that writing letters was a good idea. The pace of life was slow there, and people were on their phones all day long. If I wrote letters for them to take home, they would have plenty of time to read them calmly.

So I changed my strategy. When they came to visit my mother-in-law, I would provide them with warm hospitality. I would not initiate truth clarification and would only chat about everyday matters. However, I would observe them carefully and sometimes ask certain questions to see their reaction. I would analyze and see what the knot in their heart was for each person I came into contact with. Based on these knots, I would find an appropriate opportunity to write letters to them. I found that this was very effective.

My husband’s cousin is about the same age as me. I had written several truth-clarification letters to her and she had withdrawn from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations a long time ago. She trusts me and likes to discuss things with me. She once had a conflict with her son. Her strong personality had intensified the conflict, and the issue could not be resolved after they had a big argument. Feeling helpless, she came to me for help: “You are good at writing. Please write a letter to my son to advise him.”

I wrote a letter to this nephew. I used the Fa principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance to enlighten him. I also explained things by telling stories from traditional culture. In that way, I would not hurt his self-esteem, but was able to point out his issues and also express the love and expectations of his family members. I gave the letter to her after I finished it. She was pleasantly surprised and said, “Great! I will give it to him now!” Their conflict was soon resolved.

My husband’s eldest brother had quit the CCP, but pressure from the persecution had caused him to disapprove of me practicing Dafa. I had given him some truth-clarification materials, but he had never responded. He came to visit my mother-in-law frequently. Whenever he came, I would serve him hot tea, chat with him, and listen to him talk about his worries and concerns. His blood sugar is high, so I bought some foods that would reduce his blood sugar and gave them to him when he visited. His wife was not in good health, and I often expressed concern and care for her.

I saw the movie Once We Were Divine and thought it was great. I thought that if ordinary people could watch this movie, it would be even more effective than me explaining the truth. I installed the movie onto a tablet for him and his wife to take home to watch. I also wrote a letter to help interpret the movie. I used this opportunity to open my heart, and I explained in the letter why I continue to practice Falun Gong despite the persecution; why I still clarify the truth despite knowing that people do not like to hear it; why knowing and not knowing the truth will lead to different fates in the future, etc.

When he brought the tablet back half a month later, he said to me seriously that both he and his wife had watched the movie carefully. His wife had even adopted my suggestion and watched the movie twice. He said that he could not understand anything too profound, but that he firmly took it to heart that one must be kind. I could feel that they truly understood this time. They were in much better spirits and they looked more refreshed. They also treated me with more respect and even looked at me differently.

After I returned to my local area last year, I further realized the importance of writing truth-clarification letters. The people around me are intellectuals. Many of them worked within the government until retirement. They have long been blinded by the CCP’s lies, but they think they know everything. These people tend to be less willing to listen to truth clarification from strangers and unwilling to accept Falun Gong informational materials. However, they are relatively rational and have ethical bottom lines. If you directly start to clarify the truth when you see them, they would oftentimes change the subject to avoid it. So I still used the same strategy. When I chatted with them, I would not start off directly on the topic. Instead, I would observe them first and then write letters based on what they were stuck on and find an appropriate opportunity to personally deliver the letter to them.

I write on the computer so that all the letters are saved. I can use them as reference for future letters. I can directly reuse certain talking points for similar issues. For some people, I have to write again and again to break down their various barriers in different batches. By archiving the letters, I clearly know what I wrote in the last letter, and this helps me grasp the key points for the next letter.

I write with a calm tone and have consideration for ordinary people’s sentimentality and attachments. I try not to touch on things that are sensitive to them. The first consideration is if they will be willing to read my letter. For example, for people who are heavily influenced by CCP culture, I avoid using words like “evil Party” and “red demon,” and instead use neutral words like “the CCP” and “Party.” When I’m appealing to their emotions or enlightening them with reason, I avoid saying “You” but instead say “We,” as in, “We can’t let the Party ruin our future, right?”

While writing letters, I often enter into a state where I am truly communicating with sentient being. During the process of writing and even after I deliver my letter to them, I can still feel that our hearts are communicating with each other. Once when I was sending forth righteous thoughts, I saw a flash of a scene where the person I was writing to was standing in front of me, looking at me solemnly.

My husband (also a practitioner) is my reviewer and proofreader. He is interested in reading every letter and sometimes gives me suggestions for revision. At the beginning, I was not happy when he wanted to review my letters. It was because I knew that he tended to only read and not write, and he frequently asked me to draft his own documents. But I quickly realized that I was wrong. He may not be great at writing, but the issues he brought up were right to the point. Adopting his suggestions oftentimes brought good results. He also has a pair of “golden eyes” and can catch all typos.

I enlightened to the understanding that Master arranged for him to help me. Writing truth-clarification letters is a project for both of us. I cooperated with my husband and took his suggestions. The results have been great, and I also write more and more smoothly now.

Not long ago, I wrote a letter to a relative who is a college student who was home for winter break. I showed my husband the letter after I finished it. He said that before he read the letter, he wanted to advise me to not write one yet because I had not been in contact with this relative and that directly writing a letter may not be taken well; but after reading the letter, he thought it was well written and vivid and could be sent. This letter successfully convinced the person to withdraw from the CCP on the first try.

I gradually understood that the reason Master gave me the hint to improve my writing skills was for me to later write truth-clarification letters to save people. I did not enlighten correctly at the time.

I also gradually understood that the entire process of writing is completed under the guidance of Master. I only have to move my hands. The inspiration is one way that Master sends me ideas.

A letter will be written smoothly as long as I enlightened correctly. Whenever I needed a reference, it would be right there in front of me almost without me having to look for it. When I wanted to consult certain lines from a certain video, I would be able to reach the part I wanted after I opened the video and clicked once. When I wanted to consult certain lines in an article, I would be able to find the place right away, even in long articles. I was constantly amazed.

But sometimes, my attachments blocked the thought process given by Master and I could not write smoothly. I would then grope around on other thought processes, with the result being that I wrote a lot but felt I did not grasp the main points. At this time, Master would inspire my wisdom and tirelessly demonstrate Fa principles to me, until I turned back from the deviated direction. How was this me writing by myself? It was clearly Master holding my hand while I wrote, just as teachers and parents did when we were little and we were learning to write, but did not know how to hold the pen.

My older sister, who is also a practitioner, once ran into some trouble when she placed materials at a training institution. She was caught by the surveillance cameras and someone spoke to her. When my family learned about this, there was some trouble and my nephew became somewhat emotionally unstable. I could understand this, as my sister had been persecuted and lost her freedom four times. My nephew had endured tremendous pressure and so he would become nervous even with a little bit of trouble. He was also facing a crisis because his work unit was not doing well financially and so he had lost his job. Therefore, his mind was in a fragile state.

I had spoken with my nephew once and felt that he was upset at the time and could not really listen to what I said. So I decided to write a letter to him to have an in-depth conversation.

When I first began to write this letter, I followed the thought process from when I had talked to him a few days before. It was not going well and I could not keep writing. At night, when I was reading Zhuan Falun, I suddenly saw that the lines in two places became red! I hurried to look at the red words. The redness on the words at the bottom disappeared before I got a clear look, but I clearly saw the line in red above it:

“Everyday people find it inconceivable and cannot understand a practitioner.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)

I thought about it but did not understand. I kept on reading. After I flipped a page and kept reading, another place became red:

“ ... the depth of your understanding” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun).

It was again “understand.” What does it mean?

The next day, I was feeling somewhat impatient. I had trouble writing the letter, yet my husband was stopping me from going out to distribute materials. I was feeling anxious at home. After so many years of tempering, I knew that it could not be forced. Ok then, I thought, if you don’t let me go out to clarify the truth, I will clarify the truth to you. I called my husband over. Before I spoke, he started talking. He said that he remembered the materials about using the law to resist the persecution. He was excited and said that he felt clear-headed after reading them. He also said that the letter to my nephew could talk about this.

I realized that the reason I could not continue with the letter was that my thought process had not been right. When I had talked to my nephew in person a few days before, I had spoken from too high a level and did not use the right anecdote. No wonder he had been somewhat argumentative. If I continued with the same thought process, he would still be unable to accept it. I also suddenly understood Master’s hints: ordinary people would not understand it if I wrote from too high a level. I felt enlightened and switched my thought process. I started to rewrite the letter immediately.

After I finished the letter, we made a special trip to my nephew’s home and personally handed the letter to him. On the way back, I received my nephew’s message: “Already read it respectfully. I feel all is clear now.” A family storm was subdued.

I later talked with my nephew and sister again. We came to a consensus: there is no need to be afraid, because what we are doing is righteous and there is nothing illegal about what we are doing. If anyone comes to harass us, we could use the law to resist the persecution. This would be safeguarding the Fa at the ordinary people’s level, maintaining societal stability, and saving people so they could avoid committing crimes against Dafa.

Maybe because our xinxing was up to par, nothing ended up happening. This false alarm had given me an opportunity to write a truth-clarification letter to my nephew so that he could further understand the truth and be more supportive of Dafa. Thinking back, it truly is that good and bad things are all good things. But behind all this was Master’s painstaking arrangements!

I do things at a relatively slow pace. I rarely finish writing something the same day. However, one night after 11 o’clock, I suddenly wanted to write some cultivation sharing. I wrote quickly and pretty much finished it before sending forth righteous thoughts at 12 o’clock. After sending forth righteous thoughts, I finished writing. I quickly read it once or twice and then directly submitted it to Minghui.org. It was submitted smoothly.

The first and second day after submission, I checked on the website and did not see my article published. I thought to myself that it was not important whether it was published or not. The sharing articles about Fa-rectification cultivation published by Minghui are all definitely helpful to practitioners’ improvement. My making a submission was only an expression of my attitude and me participating in practitioners’ sharing. I could not see clearly whether it would be helpful to fellow practitioners or not.

I believe that writing articles and submitting them to Minghui, whether they are published or not, has a positive effect. Just like a magnificent and glorious temple, where every brick is part of the whole. No matter where it is placed, it is definitely playing a role.

I also looked inward and found that I had rushed this submission and almost did not revise it before I submitted it. This made extra work for the editors, which did not demonstrate a meticulous attitude on my end. I decided that I should not be so rash and careless going forward.

But a few days later, I found that my article was published. It was later even published in the Minghui Weekly. I compared it to my original article and found that the editor did not change the places that I thought had issues, but corrected some of my improper writing habits that I had not realized. This was truly a precious opportunity bestowed by Master to improve my writing skills.

As I wrote this article up to this point, I had originally felt the article was complete, but after I read through it I was not very satisfied with it. So I thought to leave it for a few days and see what was wrong.

When I was sending forth righteous thoughts one day, a scene flashed by. It was an article titled “Understand.” I thought about it after sending forth righteous thoughts but could not understand. I thought about it again the following day and finally understood. It turned out that my title was inappropriate. I had used a line written by someone else as my title. That line moved me very much and I liked it so I had used it. But after thinking about it carefully, I realized that the line was not very relevant to the content of my article and using such a title would mislead readers and interfere with conveying the article’s core meaning.

I understood that whether it was the title or content, people first have to be able to understand the article. With the two characters for “understand,” “dong de,” you have to first “dong” (meaning “understand”), before you “de” (meaning “obtain”). Master was again teaching me how to write!