(Minghui.org) In the past, there were many sages. They were universally admired when they were alive and remembered throughout the ages after they passed away. During their lifetimes they also came across troubles, and when they sought the Buddha Fa, they also ran into obstacles or were persecuted. At times like that, what did they think, what did they say and do? Let's be calm and look at their words and deeds.
In ancient times, Emperor Yao once went to the countryside and saw two people who had broken the law and were being taken to jail. Emperor Yao went over and asked, “Why did you break the law? What crimes did you commit?” They replied, “The drought lasted so long that we had nothing to eat, so we went to other people's homes and stole food.” When Emperor Yao heard this, he said to the soldier, “Release them and lock me up!” The soldier was stunned. How could he lock up the emperor? Emperor Yao said, “I made two big mistakes and these two are not guilty. First, I failed to teach my subjects well, so they stole other people's food. Second, I have no virtue, so we had no rain. All this is my fault.” His sincerity moved the heavens and it began to rain.
When this emperor noticed that his subjects made mistakes and committed crimes, he looked inward to find where he had made mistakes. Since he was their emperor, it was his responsibility to educate them and administer them well, and he had to bear the responsibility for their mistakes. Confucius said in The Analects: “If you in the myriad regions commit offenses, these offenses must rest on my person. The people are throwing blame upon me, the One man.” Actually, they already were very virtuous, but the standards they set for themselves were boundless, so they looked at themselves again, sincerely repented, improved their virtue, and refined their achievements.
When Lord Milarepa was still cultivating, Geshe Tsakpuhwa, due to jealousy, told his mistress to mix poison with the curds to murder the Lord. However, Lord Milarepa accepted the poisoned curds with a smile and said to the lady, “First of all, I have too much compassion to let you drink it. It would violate the essence of the Bodhisattva precepts and thus bring grave spiritual consequences. My mission is complete and my life is coming to an end. My time has come to go to another realm. By itself the drink could not harm me in the least. It does not matter whether I drink it or not. But if I had drunk it the first time, you would not have received the turquoise as payment for your crime. Now that the turquoise is in your hands, I will drink it, both to satisfy the Geshe's desire and to be sure that you earn the turquoise. As for the Geshe's other promises, they will not be fulfilled. He said many things about my behavior. There is no truth in what he said, so both of you will experience terrible remorse. When this happens, in order to purify yourself, strive toward self-realization in this life. To save yourself, do not commit any similar crimes. Call upon me and my spiritual sons with a sincere heart.”
Lord Milarepa knew there was poison in the curds, but he did not complain and accepted it calmly. He neither accused others of being cunning or vicious, nor did he think that everyday people's poison could harm him. The Lord looked inward, thinking that if he did not accept the curds he could bring grave spiritual consequences. He also discovered how he could best bring benefits to sentient beings and how he could let this poor woman confess and establish a Buddhist connection. Looking inward and being constant in saving sentient beings is the realm of genuine practitioners.
When the Buddhist Monk Xuanzang went to India to search for true Buddhist scriptures, he crossed the border illegally. According to the policy of the Tang Dynasty at that time, no one was allowed to leave the country. When Xuanzang had learned the Buddhist scriptures, he returned to the land under the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was very glad to hear about his return and received him in the Hall of Imperial Regalia.
Emperor Taizong asked Xuanzang, “Master, why didn't you report that you were going to leave the country?” Xuanzang answered, "When I was leaving, I presented memorials to you several times, but since my sincerity and desire were not strong enough, I failed to get your permission. Because I longed to obtain the true Buddhist scriptures, I therefore had to leave the country illegally. It was totally my personal act of violating the law. I am very ashamed and very much afraid.”
Xuanzang harbored no complaints. He did not complain about the Emperor's unreasonable decrees nor about the local officials who did not send his memorials to the Emperor. He was almost killed by an arrow as he crossed the border and survived many hazards before reaching India to obtain the genuine Buddhist scriptures. However, he thought that all these sufferings were caused by his insincerity, not obstacles set up by others. Xuanzang was regarded as an eminent monk because he looked inward, did not complain, and harbored no hatred.
The story above allows us to realize that looking inward, which has to come from the bottom of the heart, with tolerance and generosity, sincerity, and selflessness, is really a high realm. The eminent monks had no complaints and no hatred, their words were warm and their deeds were for the benefit of sentient beings. We should feel embarrassed by comparison. When we come across conflicts, we try to find excuses; when faced with obstacles, we get angry and complain; when we run into disasters, we avoid them without hesitation. All these are human concepts that need to be changed fundamentally. If we do not change these concepts of selfishness and bad taste, reaching Buddhahood will only be empty talk. Teacher said,
“Nowadays, people behave this way and will first of all avoid responsibility upon coming across a problem, regardless of whether they are at fault. ” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 4, “Upgrading Xinxing”)
Avoiding responsibility is the fundamental characteristic of modern day people, while looking inward is the basic criterion of a cultivator.
At different stages, Teacher repeatedly stressed one issue, which is to look inward.
“To look inward when a problem occurs is the fundamental difference between a Dafa practitioner and an everyday person.” (“To Dafa Shandong Assistant Station” from Essentials for Further Advancement) (This article is not included in the English version, so it's my own translation.)
This paragraph of the Fa allows us to understand that only by looking inward when problems arise can we be Dafa practitioners. Otherwise, we are not practitioners. Because if we are not looking inward, then we are no different from everyday people. This is the lowest criterion. If we don't adhere to it, we are not qualified to be practitioners. Though we study the Fa every day and keep ourselves busy doing the three things, we are only everyday people doing human things. This is not cultivation, and our efforts will be fruitless.
We must realize that the fact of looking inward is not only the lowest criterion in our cultivation, but also the fact that we must adhere to it throughout our cultivation. In other words, we must look inward all the time. Why do we need to do this? Because we must elevate ourselves in our cultivation. This requires from us to find the gap between ourselves and the Fa, between ourselves and fellow practitioners, to find out where we are not doing well, so that we can improve and catch up with others. Only by doing this can we gradually meet the requirements of the Fa and assimilate with the Fa in order to reach consummation. In order to look inward, we must understand the standards of the Fa as well as our own status. When we understand this clearly, we are able to mirror the Fa and discover where the problem lies. Of course, when we look inward we must never agree with the persecution or the arrangements of the old forces.
I hope that those who still do not know how to look inward step up their Fa study. After the three things have been done, during the rest of your time, you can read traditional cultural literature to find out how the people with great virtue looked inward. This way you will naturally learn how to look inward. I hope those practitioners, who, like me, have still not looked inward, can establish a way of looking inward. Then, when we come across problems, our first thought should be to look inward. Only by doing this can we really achieve genuine cultivation and strive forward vigorously.
