In Cultivating Your Speech, Also Cultivate Your Mind

By a practitioner in Taiwan

(Clearwisdom.net) I do not criticize others behind their backs. When someone criticizes others in front of me, I don't listen. Sometimes I even tell the person not to criticize others behind their back, and that if he wants to say something about someone, he should tell that person face to face. I seem to have done pretty well in cultivating my speech. Yet why is it that I keep running into this kind of incident? Anything that happens to a cultivator does not happen by chance!

I searched within myself and discovered that although I do not criticize others out loud, deep down in my heart I do judge people. I might judge that someone's level is low, or studies very little Fa. I judge the person who criticized someone, as well as the person being criticized. Although these judgments were not made known, they did exist. What bad thoughts!

I did not say anything out loud to criticize others, but in my heart I still judged them to be inferior. Though I didn't share my judgments like those who openly criticize others, what fundamental difference is there between us? I felt that I could tolerate and understand others' shortcomings. This mindset made me view others' cultivation as not as good as mine. What a big loophole this is!

I knew that I should look at others' strengths more and weaknesses less. I knew Teacher said that for cultivators "...the part of him that has cultivated well can't be shown." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York") and furthermore that only Teacher knows everyone's cultivation state. Even so, I still judged others to be inferior. Knowing I was wrong is not enough, because without eliminating this shortcoming I was not cultivating.

Teacher asks us to hold ourselves to strict requirements, but to be tolerant toward others, and be immensely tolerant. What should one do to be considered immensely tolerant? I trust judging others to be inferior is not tolerance. Tolerance is giving for others and existing for others, having compassion for others, respecting others, and selflessly thinking of others in everything. How can a person who is selfless think that others are inferior?

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/7/19/106438.html

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