PureInsight | February 8, 2009
[PureInsight.org] There is a phenomenon that is often not so easy to realize in cultivation. It is paying too much attention to others’ shortcomings while neglecting to search inward for one’s own faults. For an example, someone might say that a practitioner did not do things according to the Fa or that he was wrong. We hear such complaints over and over again. However, as the understanding of Fa principles becomes clearer and your cultivation status is elevated, you will understand that all of your surroundings exist for your improvement in cultivation–how tolerant and how compassionate your heart is. When you no longer feel another’s rights or wrongs with your own heart, you will find that everything around you is all the path of your journey through cultivation. You would only harbor regrets if you did not do well during the process.
I had an experience with a fellow practitioner whose celestial eye is open. We got along with each other well, but later, I found that many things she talked about were not aligned with the Fa. Although we shared our understandings, it was hard for us to reach a common ground. So, I gradually had less and less contact with her. Later, when she came to see me, I would look hard for her words or actions that were not based on the Fa. I then gossiped about her behavior with other practitioners in my closer group. As I understand it now, this type of argument is the same as the fight between Shenxiu from the “Northern School” and Huineng. Even though I may have been right, it was still just the satisfaction of a human attachment. Master said, “A Tathagata Buddha knows the thoughts of even cattle and horses, but he would never use their ways of thinking to think about things” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference”). When I truly enlightened to this Fa, I felt that the fellow practitioner whose celestial eye was open is actually outstanding. Over the past several years, even though I often criticized her, she remained silent, continuing to do her best for Fa rectification within her local area. However, I was paying more attention to her mistakes. I idealized her too much, and thus, I did not allow her to make any mistakes. When she did something wrong, I would not let it go. Master has mentioned about “the celestial eye” in his lectures, and there must be corresponding Fa for these practitioners. Why did I have to consider such practitioners as different from myself? I was always afraid of her having a negative influence on other practitioners. I worried about her damaging the Fa. In the meantime, I forgot about cultivating myself. As a matter of fact, the progress of ones cultivation does not reflect on who is right or who is wrong. Facing other people’s mistakes, you should deal with each situation in a peaceful manner. You should have no anxiety, but rather develop a clear and deep understanding of the Fa. You should not retain any antagonism within your heart. This is the elevation of xinxing. Sometimes, we will see this phenomenon. In order to do something or work on some project, there are always a few practitioners fighting against one another. Each one insists on his/her “rightness.” These practitioners struggle at the ordinary people’s level and may make little improvement in their cultivation.
During a sharing, a fellow practitioner gave such an example. The whole body of Dafa disciples is like a school that moves up to college from elementary school, middle school and high school. In this school, there are students who are at many different levels. In this whole community, there are all sorts of understandings for everything. When you see those who insist on being right, do you think they are right? Master has told us again and again that it does not matter whether one is right or wrong. One should let go of one’s own idea which is thought to be the most right and the best. If one can silently accept another’s “wrong” (as one views it) from the bottom of the heart, that is closer to the realm of a Buddha’s thought. One can smile peacefully like an Arhat when one encounters all hardships and pain that penetrates to the heart and bones during the process.
Every time I visit the Clearwisdom website, I hope to see articles with depth and power. In fact, it is my bias to see fellow practitioners’ understandings of Fa and their elevated states. Every time, when I saw these kinds of articles, I would raise both of my hands over my head respectfully to show my admiration. One day, a fellow practitioner who had a disagreement with me came to visit. Throughout our conversation, I understood things he spoke of which seemed to be simple, yet quite significant. I gestured heshi with both of my hands in my heart to him. When looking back over an argument and conflict I had with him a few years ago, I felt ashamed. I realized that I was too selfish and egotistical. At that time, I thought many times about writing a letter to Master to demonstrate that I was right and he was wrong. I now laugh at myself when remembering this.
During the process of clarifying the truth and offering salvation to sentient beings, many things focus our attention on insisting that one practitioner is right and another is wrong. Again and again, these tests are only there for us to pass through the lowest cultivation state, to let us realize that the true improvement is to give up, rather than to gain.
In fact, when things happen, if one’s heart is not at ease, conflict is likely to occur. It is this moment that offers us the opportunity to raise our xinxing. When we can put aside our egos, we can then help others quietly with the compassion and wisdom that Dafa cultivation empowers us with. We can do things based on being responsible to the Fa, to the universe and to all sentient beings. Every single thought that we have should consider sentient beings first. That is truly the manifestation of maturity and consummation of the whole body of practitioners. When we are no longer moved by the complexities of the human world and no longer feel the rights or wrongs of our fellow beings with our hearts, I sense that my heart is subsequently lightened and know what elevation means.
This is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything not in line with Fa.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2008/11/9/55854.html
