(Clearwisdom.net) For first several years after the persecution began in July 1999, since there were no Dafa materials production sites nearby, we always had to hand-copy Master's new articles and pass them around. We were also in need of truth-clarification materials, so I sometimes hand-wrote some of these materials to give to people.
We have Master and the Fa, so no difficulty can stop us
At the end of 2003, my workplace bought everyone a laptop, which had never happened before in my area. Since I knew nothing about computers, I planned to sell it. I even found a buyer. But several relatives asked me not to sell it. They said that a computer can be very useful. Although I didn't enlighten to it, I kept the laptop due to their words. One day, a thought jumped into my mind after I studied the Fa: Why did my workplace give everybody a laptop at this time? Wasn't this Master's arrangement? Why don't I use it to produce truth-clarification materials? So I bought a printer, and, since then, writing materials by hand became a thing of the past.
I only took a 2-day computer course, and I don't know English. In order to maintain security, I didn't want anybody to know that I had a printer. Thus, I had to solve all the problems I ran into by myself. Sometimes it was very time and energy consuming. For a skillful person, it might have only taken a few minutes to solve a certain problem, but it often took me several hours, even days. I had never touched a printer, but I was not afraid of it. I remember that I had a thought when I was little that I would save people. At that time I didn't know whom I would save. But now, Master has told us to clarify the truth. Isn't this saving people? I had encountered a lot of difficulties in my life, and I would not have been able to make it if it were not for Master teaching the Great Law. So there is nothing that I cannot let go of. No matter how hard it is or how dangerous it is, I would not give up. Although I often heard news that fellow practitioners had been arrested, I solidly believe that as long as we really treat the Fa as Master, nothing can stop us.
It was really hard at the beginning. Since I didn't know how to access the Internet, and also to maintain security, I manually typed Master's new articles and truth-clarification material into the computer and printed them out. Later, I learned how to use a USB disk to transfer those materials from fellow practitioners' computers, which saved me a lot of time and eliminated the problem of typos. During this process, I learned how to edit and print. Two veteran practitioners contributed a lot also. One of them commuted between cities and the countryside, and the other one coordinated the local work. To them, danger never existed. They came and went, delivered and distributed the materials, and shared their experiences, as if they were doing something that was not at all dangerous. Their mental state also influenced me. After the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, we had a brief discussion about it, and then we printed and passed the Nine Commentaries out immediately without any fear. Master has already pointed it out very clearly in the article, "We Are Not 'Getting Political.'" Can we still call ourselves "Dafa disciples" if we don't listen to Master? Our discussions were always brief, but very productive.
It often happened that the printer had problems. I didn't have the first one fixed due to my fear of our production site being discovered, so I bought a new one. Because of my fear, I took the first printer apart completely, which I regret now, because it is also a being. The second one had problems a few months later. I sent forth righteous thoughts toward it, and it worked for a while and broke again. I sent it to be fixed this time. The technicians said that it broke because its workload was too heavy. This interfered with our truth-clarification. Later, we enlightened that this was directly related to the fact that we didn't improve as a whole body. For example, I didn't read the Fa calmly; some fellow practitioners had the heart of relying on others and fear; some veteran practitioners didn't pay enough attention to security and they were not very careful when talking on the phone, casually mentioning fellow practitioners' names at times.
Shortly after we bought a new inkjet printer, a senior practitioner gave us a laser printer. I was thinking, "I can barely handle that inkjet one, and now you give me a harder one to deal with?" I stayed up all night to study the function of the laser printer, and figured out how to use it. I use both of them at the same time, instead of throwing the inkjet away, because it was sometimes more convenient to use the laser printer.
Not long after I installed the laser printer, I had problems getting on the Internet. (Actually, the way I access the Minghui/Clearwisdom website is to search for it by a certain search engine. If the search engine has problems, then I am at a loss.) I complained to the veteran practitioner who gave me the laser printer, for I thought that installing the laser printer driver program had messed up my original setup so that I could not get on the Internet (I don't know very much about computers). The other practitioner didn't complain though. He worked harder to solve the problem. Finally, we got a software program from a practitioner in a large city that can break through the Internet blockade. Through this incident, I saw my own shortcoming. After reading the Fa and looking inward, I admitted that it was wrong of me to complain. Meanwhile, I suggested that the senior practitioner pay more attention to security. We encouraged each other to improve and to become more mature while doing the three things.
A practitioner suggested that I should not get on the Internet in my office. Since I didn't have Internet service at home, I usually searched the web in my office, and I was once seen by someone. I have since ordered high-speed Internet at home due to the practitioner's suggestion. The practitioner also said that I should not pass out flyers nearby (since I always passed out truth-clarification materials around my workplace) and suggested that I should instead focus on the work at the materials production site. I took his suggestions and corrected myself. Due to everybody's effort and cooperation, our materials production site can function independently. Especially after we got the laser printer and high speed Internet access, we can produce high quality materials quickly. With two practitioners' copy machines, we are able to provide enough materials for our local use.
Our site consists simply of a computer, a printer, some paper, a stapler and a knife, but it fully functions as a materials production site. Isn't this a manifestation of "the great Tao has no form?" At this site, I can do all the downloading, printing and binding. Other practitioners buy paper, ink and other supplies. They also take care of delivering the materials. Since we own a small store, I pack the materials and send them out from my store, which is safe and convenient.
I learned from the Minghui/Clearwisdom website that some practitioners study the Fa next to their equipment. I tried it also, and found it was helpful. Actually, this is based on a deep understanding of the Fa. I always study the Fa next to the equipment every time I need to print something out. Recently, I realized that I should not just study the Fa near them right before I need to print something. Wouldn't it be better if I do this regularly? Although the laser printer is placed far away from where I usually study the Fa, I always had a thought before I read: "Let's study together, and the laser printer, although you are far away, please listen also when I am reading for you guys. As Master says, 'It moves in another dimension where there is no such wall' (Zhuan Falun), so you can hear me." I treat the machines not as simple tools but as beings who have a special relationship with Dafa.
Doing Dafa work in an everyday environment
Another difficulty I had was the environment at home. My wife was against me cultivating, due to her fear of the persecution. At the beginning, I didn't look inward, and always complained about her, so the environment at home was tense. Later, she saw that I no longer fell ill after I started practicing Falun Gong, and I became a better person, so she changed her attitude.
Gradually, my wife also started reading Dafa books and doing the Falun Gong exercises. Sometimes she even clarifies the truth to friends. I still keep it a secret from her that I am making the Dafa materials because she would try to stop me out fear of persecution. I always do the printing when she sleeps, at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. Before printing, I send forth righteous thoughts: "Master, please let her sleep deeply," and she really sleeps very soundly. Once, my wife was not asleep while I was printing. After sending forth righteous thoughts, I carried the printer and passed by her door, but she did not notice what I was doing. I can do the binding work at home when she is at our store. This is more and more often the case, allowing me to produce materials more easily. Although the environment is much better now, with much less interference, we should not relax in terms of our efforts or our attention to security.
I think that as long as we have righteous thoughts, everything will go smoothly. My sister-in-law stayed in my house for two months. Since she had serious cancer, many people came to visit her. Some practitioners said that this was interference. I also thought it was interference. But Dafa is all encompassing. I realized that since she stayed at my home, it must be a pre-determined relationship. Even if this was arranged by the old forces, since we have Master and the Fa, we can deny those arrangements and clarify the truth to her. I read Zhuan Falun to her, and advised her to withdraw her membership from the CCP (eventually her whole family withdrew). But as to the materials production site, I would not let anybody know about it except certain practitioners. As long as we do things from the Fa, everything will go well. Her staying with my family didn't stop us from making materials. We didn't miss a single Minghui Weekly (we made 24 copies every week at the beginning, then we increased to 28 copies. Now, we make 32 copies every week). We also kept up with the printing of new articles, and truth-clarification booklets.
Of course, our ability to do all of this is due to the fact that we study the Fa calmly and well, and we maintain righteous thoughts. Each time I need to print something, I always send forth righteous thoughts beforehand, asking Master to help me finish my work, and not let the relatives who are visiting my sister-in-law interfere with me. Then I tell the relatives, "I need to do something important, please don't distract me." Then I would lock the door, and do my work with righteous thoughts. Sometimes, the relatives asked, "What are you doing?" I would answer, "I am doing a lot of things. All of them are very important and have to be done." Then they would stop asking. Sometimes they pass by my door, but none of them ever try to come in to distract me.
The issue of security
We still have some technical problems, and I still lack computer knowledge. As to the issue of security, I always save all the work to the USB disk, and after I finish the work, I hide the USB disk, the laser printer and some other relevant things. So, if somebody were to come to search the site, they would not find anything.
It is important to pay attention to security in terms of procedure. But it is most important to maintain security through studying the Fa well. It is dangerous if one just relies on human methods (some fellow practitioners pointed this out to me). We should "Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy." ("Rationality" Essentials for Further Advancement II) Of course, since we need to conform to the Fa at the level of everyday people as well, we will keep improving our methods to do better on the issue of security. We will follow Master's teaching in the article, "The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be," and take all opportunities to study the Fa. I am busy all the time. I don't have very much time to study the Fa at home, since I need to do printing or binding when I am at home. So, I study the Fa when I am in the store. I put the book on the counter, and read it when there are no customers. I try to keep improving myself, purifying myself and correcting myself in every aspect, including my thoughts, in my daily life.
I know that I still have a lot of attachments and I don't do very well in many aspects. All the achievements that our materials production site has accomplished have been obtained through cultivating Dafa, and are due to every practitioner's contribution. We are unable to do anything if we are separated from Dafa, just like a drop of water separated from the ocean or a tree separated from the forest.