Genuine Unselfishness Is the Basis for Understanding and Forgiveness By Shan Guo
(Clearwisdom.net) Extreme words and thoughts of dissatisfaction are often the direct causes of conflict among
people and are the basis of the problems that commonly occur following a conflict. Similarly, the
manifestation of negative human thoughts that practitioners have not yet eliminated also occurs
during conflicts. Sometimes, although one may recognize that extreme words and thoughts of dissatisfaction are not
right, they seem insufficiently severe to warrant immediate correction, or they may rationalize that
they have a busy schedule and much to do, so they postpone dealing with these issues until after
finishing what they feel are more important things. Actually, once they are postponed, they will remain unresolved. Even if one tries to discover the
causes of the conflict after the fact, they may still remain unresolved, either because of an impure
mind or because of an inability to discover the true root of the conflict, due to insufficient time
spent studying the Fa. All in all, the conflicts caused by extreme words and dissatisfied thoughts are so frequently
experienced that a notion is formed in the minds of parties involved in the conflict and in the
minds of witnesses. While the conflicts are certainly not appreciated, they are not surprising
because they are so frequently seen. Under the influence of this notion, many people live within the
vicious cycle of conflict and are powerless to break out of the cycle. For practitioners who
genuinely want to cultivate, however, this should not be too difficult because exploring the Buddha
Fa requires one to "make a fundamental change in his conventional mentality" (From "Lunyu"
in Zhuan Falun, English Version, 2nd Edition, Third Printing, April 1999) and thus
eradicate the fundamental causes of conflicts. Thoughts of dissatisfaction arise because our notions are being challenged. The stronger the
notion that is affected, the more painful and dissatisfied one's thoughts become. Humans acquire
many notions after birth, such as "this thing should be done this way and that thing should be
done that way," and "I like this way and think that way is not good." Moreover, humans always perceive problems from a fixed perspective. When somebody does something
that one thinks is good, then the person will be judged as being good. "They should do things
consistent with my own notions." Conversely, if somebody does something that is perceived as wrong, then that person will be
judged as being bad. Likewise, one will feel uncomfortable whenever one thinks of that person
because that person has already been categorized into the group that is considered bad. Actually, a genuine practitioner's body and soul are upgrading everyday and thus it is
inappropriate and inaccurate to judge from a fixed perspective. Humans unconsciously use these
notions as the criteria for their judgments. When these notions are affected, one will feel
dissatisfied. Those who have strong attachments to their own self-imposed criteria will display more
extreme reactions, use more extreme words and commit more extreme deeds. Notions produce thought karma. When thought karma accumulates it will act on that person.
Therefore, the active manifestations of emotion and notions are due to thought karma that wants to
reflect itself as controlling that person. In the process of cultivation, Falun Gong practitioners will continuously assimilate to Dafa,
"Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" and will reach the purity standard of the new cosmos.
All the impurities in one's body or mind acquired from the old cosmos must be discarded; otherwise,
one cannot enter the new, pure and sacred cosmos. From this level of reasoning, whenever a thought
of dissatisfaction appears, Falun Dafa practitioners must seize the opportunity to eliminate,
through cultivation, the attachment to an old notion that is acting upon them. It is inappropriate or futile for practitioners who have not yet completed their own cultivation
to impose their notions or standards upon others. Why is it inappropriate? Why is it futile? It is
only Dafa that can truly transform people. Practitioners can only remind each other and help each other progress, but they are unable to
change each other, particularly by making demands. Even if one were to change their outlook or
behavior after being reminded by another practitioner, it is only because they returned to the Fa
and acted according the Fa principles that the changes occurred. Teacher set a good example for us while introducing the Fa and saving people. Teacher explained
the principles, taught us to be good and encouraged us, completely for our own benefit. He shows us
the preciousness of Falun Dafa and lets us willingly remove our own incorrect thoughts, rather than
demanding that we upgrade ourselves or criticizing our mistakes. Without Teacher's unselfishness,
compassion and immense forgiveness, many practitioners would never be able to survive their
tribulations or gradually perform the duty of saving people amidst tribulations. I felt helpless and victimized when personally facing a situation in which the notion of "I
am right; others are wrong" played a role. For example, some practitioners persisted in words
and actions that were inconsistent with the requirements of Falun Dafa. If the party that opposed me
had been clear on the Fa principles, they would not have behaved so poorly. When the conflict
occurred, it could not be recognized immediately or resolved through cultivation. I always focused
on the losses this conflict brought to Falun Dafa and the negative influences that it brought to the
cultivation environment. I was worried that I could not maintain a peaceful mind or play a positive
role in the conflict no matter how I tried to cultivate myself. Later, a realization came to me. I always seemed to encounter the kind of situations that were
mentally troubling. This meant there was something that I should have eliminated through cultivation
or a Fa-principle I should have learned but was still ignoring. I needed to surpass it through
cultivation, so I asked Teacher to help me and then set stricter demands upon myself. A few days later, a glimpse of truth came to mind during Fa-study. Without Teacher's Fa-rectification,
we wouldn't even have our lives today. The lives of all worldly people are saved from the ultimate
annihilation of the old universe by Teacher's immense suffering and forbearance. Our Teacher wants
to save those lives, including those of Falun Dafa practitioners. According to the requirements of
the Fa, how should we treat one another? In "Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference,"
Teacher says, "So for the beings of the old cosmos, and this includes all the elements of beings, when it
comes to the Fa-rectification and what I choose, all beings' harmonizing and completing things
according to my choices and contributing their best ideas and approaches--not to change what I want,
but to harmonize and complete things according to what I've said--is the best thought a being in the
cosmos could have." Our own notions, human feelings, and attachments are no excuse for creating obstacles to
Teacher's saving other lives. As lives in the old cosmos, no matter how good our criteria for
judgment, as long as our cultivation remains incomplete, the criteria cannot be pure. Thus, we
cannot judge and treat others or ourselves from an absolute and fixed perspective. Cultivation of Dafa requires the simultaneous cultivation of "Truthfulness, Compassion and
Tolerance." A cultivator must cultivate compassion, must be unselfish, kind, treat others with
understanding, and be strict with himself while lenient with others. The most compassionate thing we
can do during our cultivation and correction of ourselves is to continually adjust ourselves at
every moment to meet the requirements of Teacher's Fa-rectification. In our cultivation and doing
Dafa work, we should always help each other and treat each other with compassion and understanding.
Thus, we can all walk the right path according to our Teacher's expectations, right up to the last
step of our cultivation. Of course, understanding one another and being lenient with others is not to accommodate mistakes
or to condone bad deeds. Please allow me to elaborate on this issue in a future article. The above discussion is my current understanding. With compassion, please point out anything that
is inappropriate. 9/20/2003 Posting date: 10/4/2003 |