[Japan Fa Conference] Walking My Cultivation Path While Recording Voice-overs

(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in July, 2010. During the past 12 years my health and character have improved, and I have personally witnessed the power of Falun Dafa. Master has protected me every step of the way. I would like to tell you about my experiences while working on Japanese language voice-overs.

Improving My Cultivation

I’m not good at public speaking. Becoming the focus of attention makes me so nervous that my hands shake. After I started practicing I was asked to be a hostess on stage several times because I’m a native Japanese. I was nervous every time and kept thinking, “I can’t talk to the microphone any more!”

I was approached in 2019 about recording a voice-over for an Internet media program. The experience suddenly accelerated my cultivation.

I always thought my voice was complicated and I didn’t want to speak in public. However, Dafa disciples must tell the truth in face of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) lies. Seeing how the Japanese people have been deceived, I realized that I had no other choice. I had to use my voice to fulfill my mission.

Simply connecting the microphone to my computer made me nervous. I covered my ears every time I heard my own voice while editing with the software. I thought there was no way anyone would broadcast this voice. I recorded it again and again.

Master must have seen my frustration and sent a practitioner to help me. She said, “Even if we don’t think our voice is great, it’s still an important part of what Master has given us.”

She taught me how to practice saying the words, and improve my fluency. She put a lot of heart into helping me. “If doing voice-over takes time away from your Fa-study and exercise time, you may not want to continue,” she said. Indeed, Dafa disciples are usually busy with multiple projects. If you treat the project as your cultivation, you may neglect Fa study and doing the exercises.

I realized that cultivating ourselves well is a prerequisite for clarifying the truth, so I joined the morning exercises for the first time. It was encouraging to see so many practitioners doing the exercises each morning.

On the days I don’t work, I get up early to send forth righteous thoughts and study one lecture in Zhuan Falun. Because we take turns reading in Japanese and Chinese, I learned a little Chinese in traditional fonts, which makes it easier for me to find the right spot in the original Chinese version of my voice-over script.

My health improved greatly after I focused on Fa study and doing the exercises. I usually record my voice-over late at night, when there is little ambient noise. Getting up early shortens the time I have to sleep. However, I feel fine. I don’t feel tired no matter how busy my days are. Doing voice-over and cultivating myself has become my routine.

Improving Myself

I have been helping with a news commentating program run by a practitioner outside of China since it began. We make a twenty-minute video three times a week. It’s a lot of work, but I work hard on preparing every episode.

It’s a process of cultivation. If I haven’t studied the Fa or done the exercises, I have difficulty handling the long recordings. I usually start recording my voice-over at around 11 p.m. It takes about an hour to finish. The next day I usually spend four hours editing. Sometimes I have to finish editing urgent content in the early morning hours of the next day.

Some episodes expose the CCP’s massacre and persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. I can’t help but weep when I read the details of these tragedies. It’s hard for a woman to tell these cruel facts in front of a microphone. I told the coordinator, “I can’t read this.”

However, we have to tell people these facts to expose the CCP’s evil nature. Otherwise the sacrifice, endurance, and courage of the practitioners who told their painful experiences would be in vain. After I understood this my xinxing improved and I was able to continue my voice-overs with a calm mind.

Another test came right after. I had a conflict with another practitioner.

I’m not good at resolving complicated relationships. When any dispute arises, I don’t insist on my own ideas. On the surface it looks like I’m being cooperative, but I realized it only shows I am easy-going but irresponsible.

Since I narrated the program, I felt responsible for the content. I expressed my opinion to another practitioner a few days earlier, and this started a conflict.

It was an episode commenting on the assassination of the former Japanese Prime Minister. Because it was the focus of public attention and a timely event in Japan, it required the details to be accurate. The understanding of the commentator was slightly different from the feelings of the Japanese people.

The script started with, “According to Nostradamus’ prophecies, a Prime Minister of a nation will be assassinated in 2022. It was probably talking about him.” I thought, “Even though the assassinated former Prime Minister was an influential politician, he wasn’t the incumbent Prime Minister.” I contacted a practitioner and suggested that the first sentence be omitted. I was told that it wasn’t possible, because any omission required the approval of the commentator. Neither of us backed down, and our tones became stronger and stronger.

I felt disturbed and frustrated. I finally realized that it was a cultivation process, and I should look within to see what attachments made me upset.

While I quietly listened to the other practitioner explain, I realized that all I wanted was for my opinion to be acknowledged. This practitioner had always encouraged me, but I sometimes felt like she was like a mom urging a child to finish their homework. In the back of my mind I resisted, thinking, “I have tried my best! I simply want your recognition of my hard work.” How far I was from being “unselfish!?”

After I calmed down, I asked her, “Why don’t I understand this paragraph?” She replied, “This is exactly what I tried to explain!” I got it immediately and suggested, “So, how about we change this sentence to...?”

We worked together to finish the episode. Many people watched it and left comments.

Thanks for Master’s arrangement, I found my attachment through this incident.

My Dream Became True

I had some incredible dreams when I started practicing. I still remember one of them vividly. It was a dream I had in February 2011, while reflecting upon how to cultivate myself better.

In my dream, I had joined the team to help with the Shen Yun ticketing hotline. Other practitioners and I stood on a high cliff, overlooking the city I grew up in. The place where we stood was surrounded by clear air. However, the city below us was enveloped in an orange, poisonous cloud. Breathing it was fatal. People shut their doors and windows, but it didn’t stop the air from entering their homes. Many adults and children died.

In this dying city, I spotted a handful of houses encapsulated in clear air. The people in those houses were alive. All of them had bought tickets to see Shen Yun. However, it was a small number. The other practitioners looked sad, but their eyes seemed to be telling me, “We have done our best.”

When I looked at the city, I realized that some of the people I knew were dying. I should have clarified the truth to them. I kept thinking I would tell them, but didn’t get to before they died. Words can’t describe my horror and regret. No apology would be enough to help them. All I could do was weep and exclaim, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” I felt that Master was sadly watching me. Then I woke up.

I was so thankful it was a dream and I still had time! I remember this dream every time I feel frustrated. After I stumble I have to stand up and move forward. I have to stay clear-minded when I’m praised. The only thing I can do is to cultivate solidly.

In March 2021, my dream came true. A bad sandstorm swept Beijing. The air turned orange. I was shocked—the scene was exactly like what I saw in my dream! The only difference was that people didn’t die. I wondered if Master extended the ending time again.

I have since had no hesitation. I must treasure every moment and spread the truth. I must cultivate diligently every day.

Doing voice-overs is the path of cultivation Master has paved for me. I do it better some days than others, but all my work is the result of my cultivation and of my best effort.

I will continue to treasure each day, cultivate diligently, and fulfill my mission.

Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!

(Presented at the 2022 Japan Fa Conference)