Treating Fellow Practitioners' Shortcomings with a Pure Mind and Compassionate Words

(Clearwisdom.net)

One time during a Fa study session, a practitioner talked about another practitioner's cultivation story. Although her intention was to kindly share the principle that, if attachments are not removed they will bring conflicts and hardships, she did not look inside herself to find problems. Instead, she was only talking about another practitioners' shortcomings. Therefore, the other practitioners all pointed out her mistake.

Some practitioners tend to look for others' attachments and shortcomings with their own human notions unremoved; they always fail to find their own shortcomings and to detect the attachments that they have not yet let go of. When I heard her (the abovementioned practitioner), I really wanted to tell her that the principle of the truth, compassion, and forbearance requires us to look inside and improve our own selves, not to criticize someone else's attachments. But I only turned to her, smiled, and thanked her for sharing the experience. Then, I asked the practitioners to start reading Zhuan Falun.

I used to use teacher's words to sternly point out and correct other practitioners' wrong behavior and thoughts that were not in accordance with Dafa. However, in the section of "Cultivation of Speech (page 340, Zhuan Falun)" Teacher said that, "The Buddha School requires the cultivation of speech, that is, one's speech is dictated by one's thinking. Accordingly, one's thinking has intentions. If one's mind wants itself to think a little bit, express something, do something, or direct one's sensory organs and four limbs, it may be an attachment among everyday people." With regard to this section of the Fa, I had experienced similar Xinxing conflicts and had worked very hard to understand the Fa better and improve my behavior accordingly. When handling the abovementioned event, my attitude was naturally calm and my heart was peaceful.

I used to be puzzled by my bad temper and I could never understand why people twisted my words and turned them into negative messages. But this time I really experienced what teacher told us: "You should always maintain a heart of compassion and kindness. Then, when you run into a problem, you will be able to do well because it gives you room to buffer the confrontation. (Page 162, Zhuan Falun)." I was not born with my bad temper--it was caused by my attachment.

By studying the Fa and cultivating myself, I realized that when we make great improvements in our cultivation, we always hope that others can have the same improvement. Sometimes, we stumble along the way and finally find the right path. Therefore, we will naturally suggest that others do not take the same route we have taken. In "Cultivation of Speech (page 341, Zhuan Falun)" Teacher said, "Let us talk about something that is common, such as 'I want to do this or that,' or 'this matter should now be done this way or that way.' Perhaps it will unintentionally hurt someone. Because interpersonal conflicts are all very complex, one may unintentionally produce karma." Our intention is to consider or do things for others and to hope that others can quickly improve their cultivation level. But if our mind is not righteous and if we do not have a heart of benevolence, others will usually not understand our kindness and some conflicts may thus occur. Therefore, I have realized that a pure mind and compassionate words are very important. When we eliminate all attachments, our words will have righteous compassion and our kind intentions will be accepted.

The above is my experience from studying the Fa. Please point out anything inappropriate.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2002/4/3/27775.html

 Yearly Archive   Printer Version