Removing Prejudices and Cultivating Tolerance and Compassion

By Li Xinming, a practitioner in Jilin province

(Clearwisdom.net) I used to hate evil like an enemy. In my workplace, there were only a few people with whom I got along. I tended to ignore those I disliked and held myself aloof. After I began practicing Falun Gong, I saw that this human characteristic interfered with what I should do and I had to eliminate it.

This strong human notion made me narrow-minded and extreme. I was unable to display tolerance and was never considerate of others. This brought many troubles to my cultivation. In terms of saving sentient beings, I didn't show enough mercy and should have been more compassionate. In terms of truth-clarification work, I was unable to cooperate with other practitioners and emphasized my ego. Sometimes I had disagreements with other practitioners and that built barriers between us. I was even biased against some practitioners. In fact, I always looked outward instead of looking inside.

A particular incident finally helped me face my deficiencies and enabled me to let go of my prejudices and be kind to all people.

There was a local coordinator named Jia. Because of some xinxing problems, many practitioners were defensive around him and suggested to him that he not participate in Fa-validation tasks but just study the Fa. I was also biased against him. I thought that he was in a poor state and I was reluctant to come in contact with him.

Once I was arrested but subsequently rescued and released from detention. When I came back, Jia came to visit me and asked about my laptop's login password. He told me that he had asked other practitioners several times before he got this laptop. As soon as I heard he had used the laptop, I felt sullen. Therefore, it preyed on my mind. In my heart I started to loathe him. Finally, I was unable to calm down while studying the Fa. I knew I was wrong, yet I had the attachment and looked down on him.

One day, my family members told me that when I was arrested, Jia actively participated in the rescue efforts. He specially visited my home and communicated with my relatives. He also cooperated perfectly with other local practitioners and made every effort to help rescue me. Also, it was my family member who suggested to him that he go to my place. After hearing this, I realized that I had wronged Jia. I was used to looking for shortcomings in others and didn't remove my prejudices. My behavior and thinking didn't assimilate to the cosmic characteristics.

I realized that whenever I had prejudices about other practitioners, whenever I was moved by attachments, I should look inside since it had to be my own problem. If it was another person's problem, I should be genuinely looking to benefit others when I pointed out his/her shortcomings. Instead of holding onto prejudices about people and gossiping, we need to keep the communication channels open and then we can improve together from the Fa's perspective.

While saving us, our merciful and great Master never looks for our shortcomings. Instead, he patiently teaches us, answers our questions, kindly points out common problems, hopes we can do well, continually encourages us, and reinforce our righteous thoughts. We all can feel Master's compassion, which can harmonize everything. Master can tolerate all.

I also recognize that if we have personal prejudices against other people, it shows that we have gotten trapped in a strong sense of self. It is one manifestation of the selfish characteristics of the old cosmos.

The Fa-rectification is in its final stages. We should let go of all our human notions and cultivate our own huge compassion, because this is what the Fa requires.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/2/18/172682.html

 Yearly Archive   Printer Version