A western practitioner in the US

Since starting to practice Falun Gong I was very impressed with the teachings of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance."  I thought I had a bit of a better understanding of what truthfulness and compassion were, but a deeper understanding of forbearance always alluded me. I read Zhuan Falun and the other writings over and over again, but I felt that I just was "reading" but not getting it. I thought that my understanding was very shallow, that I just was repeating thoughts and ideas over and over but not really understanding them at a deeper level. So I started to ask myself "What is Forbearance?" "What is its true meaning?" So I have been asking myself that question for about a year and six months. Well, every time I read Zhuan Falun the meaning changed again; every time I read some articles from Minghui the meaning seem to change again. Sometimes it seemed that I almost got it but then when I tried to verbalize it or write it down it would vanish and I would be left with my old superficial understanding. So, yesterday I was reading the chapter "People with Great Inborn Quality" (Zhuan Falun page 375, 4th ed.) and suddenly something really clicked. It was like a big current and I had to write it down as quickly as possible before my understanding vanished.

Forbearance

• Forbearance has no "living for my dignity" awareness;
• Forbearance has no "self-importance";
• Forbearance is selfless, it takes no credit for anything;
• Forbearance sees itself in all things (because it is selfless) so it touches everything;
• Forbearance gets the job done, it has enormous power;
• Forbearance has no fear, knows no limitation;
• Forbearance doesn't have any "reactivity", its nature is totally unmoved;
• Forbearance doesn't "react" like "I'll get back at..." to anything in any experience, but it acts from the wisdom of an unmoved heart;
• Forbearance holds no grudges, it holds no negative memories of anything;
• Forbearance has no attachments or personal wants but it has the power to affect everything;
• Forbearance knows how to perfectly and effortlessly "let it go";
• Forbearance is not afraid of any experience it has to go through;
• Forbearance embraces all aspects of reality and is capable, willing and not afraid to transform anything that needs to be transformed;
• Forbearance knows when to let it go, it knows when not to react, but it also knows when to transform and it even knows when to eliminate or dissolve;
• Forbearance has infinite power;
• Forbearance has no "dignity" or "self-importance" to protect, so it can do anything that it is required to do;
• Forbearance accepts everything that is to be accepted fully with simultaneous full detachment;
• Forbearance, because it can infinitely accept things, can infinitely detach from them, so it can completely transform them;
• Forbearance is the power behind the universe;
• Forbearance is lighthearted about everything but it knows when to act with full strength;
• Forbearance is the force behind diligence, is what motivates forgiveness, and is the inspiration behind every great action;
• Forbearance is the will aspect of the Fa...

This is just my current understanding. I always appreciate practitioners' input because they really help me to grow and understand more.

Thanks.

Posting date: 6/28/2001
Original article date: 6/27/2001
Category: Views on Cultivation

 Yearly Archive  Printer Version

_____Related Articles_____ Some Views on Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts and Catching Up with the Fa-Rectification Process [6/28/2001] Do Not Forget Benevolence When Eliminating the Evil [6/28/2001] Controlling Ourselves with the Righteous Thoughts Bestowed by Dafa [6/25/2001] Be Like a God at Every Moment [6/22/2001] The Duty of Creating History Rests on Dafa Practitioners [6/20/2001] Opening Remarks to the 2001 Nordic Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference [6/20/2001] Attention All Cultivators: It Is Not Work, but Cultivation [6/19/2001] My Understandings of Using Supernormal Abilities During the Current Fa-Rectification Period [6/18/2001] Do Not Let Complacency or the Attachment of Seeking Results Become Another Barrier for Cultivation in Fa-Rectification [6/16/2001] Fa Conference on the Peak of Mount Tai: Allow One's Cultivated Side to Rectify the Fa [6/11/2001]