PureInsight | September 7, 2012
[PureInsight.org] One day, my wife criticized me with just a couple of sentences over a small everyday matter. I immediately felt disgruntled in my mind, “Why would she talk about this all the time?” But then I immediately remembered what Master told us in “Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles:” “Be sure to pay heed! From this point on, whoever can't take criticism is not being diligent, whoever can't take criticism is not displaying the state of a cultivator, or at least on this issue. (Applause) If someone still can't pass this test, I'll tell you, he is in a very dangerous situation, because for a cultivator this is the most fundamental thing, it's at the top of the list of things to eliminate, and it has to be eliminated. If you don't get rid of it, you won't achieve Consummation. Don't let it become that it's ordinary people doing the work of Dafa disciples. You want to achieve Consummation, not good fortune.” I realized Master’s requirements for Dafa disciples, and so I tried hard to calm myself.
I thought about it again while showering. I felt that I was still using an ordinary person’s method to endure criticism. It was not the true forbearance that one gains as the result of Dafa cultivation. Master said that we must look within when encountering a problem, as it is a treasure for cultivators. Then, what is the issue I have after all? Why am I unwilling to hear it when others point out my problems? Is it because I’m afraid to expose my shortcomings and do not want others to talk about it? Is it because I have this attachment of not letting others criticize me and do not like to hear criticisms?
I then remembered what Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference,” (1999): “The dirt in human society is high-level beings’ feces. Living in an environment as filthy as this, as if man had jumped into a manure pit—you’re all in a manure pit now, yet you still fret over the implications of something feeling good or not so good. What point is there in caring about those things? You should hurry to cultivate and think that it’s good no matter what you run into. And it really is good.”
When we came to the human world, it’s like falling into a manure pit. We would definitely be polluted and stained with dirty things. Then when others criticize us, isn’t that pointing out those dirty things that we cannot realize in ourselves? Isn’t it helping us to eliminate those things and helping us to get out of the manure pit? Isn’t that a great thing? If no one criticizes us, then how would be able to see our issues? When others point out our issues and help us to clean ourselves, why would we get angry over such great things?
As soon as I realized this, my mind felt clear immediately, and I felt that things around me were so beautiful and wonderful. Master said: “If you can manage to handle things calmly no matter how wronged you may feel, if you can remain unmoved and not try to come up with some kind of excuse for yourself, then with many things you won’t even need to argue. That’s because on your path of cultivation there is nothing that is by chance. So, when you get into a heated exchange and it stirs things up in you, or you get into a conflict over something that concerns your vital interests, perhaps the factors behind it were put there by Master. Maybe you only get upset when it’s a case of someone saying something that really provokes you or hits a sore spot. And maybe the person really did treat you wrongfully. But, those words weren’t necessarily said by that person. Perhaps they were said by me. (Everyone laughs) I want to see how you handle things at the time. When you butt heads with that person, it actually equates to butting heads with me.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan”)
From this, I realized that all of these are in fact arranged by Master and are for me to improve. I enlightened that all things around me are reflections of the Fa, and I must conform to the characteristic of the universe, cleanse myself, and assimilate to the Fa. Once I realized this, I felt that everything in the universe, including the grass and trees, the air, the sunshine, and the ground all were all smiling joyfully. I felt that my body was immersed in a comfortable energy field throughout the entire day.
Once my human notion was eliminated, I never felt again that the people who criticized me were “not good.” I realized that what I thought to be “bad things” before are not necessarily bad things and I truly felt happy. I understood up to a certain level, what Master meant by telling us that one could not reach Consummation if one didn’t love his enemies. People’s notions are basically that they like certain things and dislike certain things. They even consider what they dislike as enemies, and therefore they have worries, enemies, and hatred. On the other hand, Divine Beings have no enemies, as they only would have a broad love, compassion, and tolerance for all beings.
This is just my personal understanding. I hope it will offer a little bit of help to fellow practitioners.
Translate from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/110819
