(Clearwisdom.net)
Practitioner A: There was an article on Clearwisdom.net which pointed out that we look very closely when we view other people's attachments, but maybe we should consider if this is due to the limited capacity of our own tolerance.
In addition, I understood recently that we should pay more attention to and directly point out the shortcomings of Dafa practitioners as a whole in doing Fa-rectification work, but at the same time, we should be more tolerant and not be overemphasize minor attachments that practitioners have in their personal cultivation.
Practitioner B: Recently, I also had some understandings about searching within during conflicts:
When I am calm and in a good state, I do not feel that searching inside myself is difficult to do. However, I find it difficult to deal with others' criticism of me when they have different mentalities.
When I read Teacher's Lecture at the Australia Fa Conference (May 2 to 3, 1999) I came to a better understanding. Teacher said, "When others say things about you that are not pleasant to hear, why do you become unhappy?... At that moment you should think, "Why am I unhappy?" When others criticize me, I become unhappy inside my heart - aren't I pursuing something? With the pursuit of everyone being nice to me and living comfortably among everyday people, how can you improve? Without letting go of anything of everyday people, how can you improve and elevate? Therefore, you simply cannot improve and elevate. You must truly let go of these things, attachments that humans cannot let go of." (Lecture at the Australia Fa Conference, unofficial translation)
Practitioner C: We all know that we should search inside ourselves when a conflict arises, regardless of whether the conflict that we see happens to us or to others. However, why do we still often fail to do things this way? Recently, through Fa study, I have found some causes.
First, we are used to measuring other people or matters from our own points of view, because that is all we know. Moreover, many of us are selfish, and tend to think of ourselves first. So we will protect ourselves, and "naturally" see the shortcomings of others or argue in our own favor when our shortcomings are exposed. We think that we are right and others are wrong. If everyone thought this way, it would be strange if no arguments or conflicts appeared!
Second, from the perspective of Fa-rectification, many of our actions, ideas, and thoughts are arranged by the old cosmic forces. Although the ancient people said, "I do not get angry even though others do not know I have great virtue and learning," "Be tolerant toward others and be strict with oneself," and "Learn from a person of virtue, and search one's inner self when seeing a person with no virtue to find out whether you have the same problem" etc.We are no longer used to restraining ourselves with these traditional moral standards, and these moral standards for being a good person have now been abandoned. Even though I theoretically understood the meaning of these standards after I started to study Dafa, I failed, during my actual cultivation, to completely get rid of the many degenerate mentalities of everyday people brought about by the old forces. This has piled extra difficulties onto our work of validating Dafa in the Fa-rectification period. Therefore, in the present time, how well we can break through the arrangements and persecution of the old forces and walk out of the realm of everyday people is related to how we Dafa disciples can better fulfill our missions in the Fa-rectification period.
Teacher said in the section "Why Doesn't Your Gong Increase with Your Practice?" "Without knowing the Fa at higher levels, one cannot practice cultivation. Without cultivating one's inner self and one's xinxing, one cannot increase cultivation energy." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun) We should search inside ourselves and always be guided by high-level Fa. Only in this way can we upgrade ourselves. I have been able to cultivate myself this way in the recent period and I have benefited tremendously. I felt a little difficulty at the beginning, since I was used to searching for external help, measuring others with my own standards, and seeing nothing but others' problems, mistakes, and attachments. At that time, it was really difficult for me to search internally, since I "truly" believed that others were wrong. However, if I were right all the time, how could I upgrade myself? In fact, all the issues appeared because of my limited understanding of the Fa at that time.
In addition, the shortcomings that I saw in others were usually reflections of my own attachments. A benevolent great enlightened being can see the Buddha nature of everyday people who are lost in delusion, so he can overcome many hardships to save them, even though they are no longer that good. When we find ourselves focusing too much on others' attachments and not considering why Teacher let us see those problems, or when we do not want to change ourselves but eagerly try to "educate" others, we, as cultivators, should clearly consider if this is a reminder that we should increase our capacity for tolerance, further cultivate our benevolence and search within.
