Abandoning Ego and Becoming Humble

(Minghui.org) Master said, “True compassion doesn’t have any selfishness mixed in, and one will, when dealing with anyone, or sentient beings in general, look at things with righteous thoughts and loving kindness.” (What is a Dafa Disciple)

I believe compassion should be our starting point with everything. When talking to or about others, we ought to focus on the good points of others.

A recent conflict prompted me to share my thoughts concerning the cultivation of speech.

There is a certain practitioner who I recently met for the first time. On our first encounter, there seemed to be a negative vibe. After working with him for a short while we broke into a verbal disagreement where he said, “I've heard about you,” and labelled me as incompetent.

I looked inward for the cause of the negative vibe, and as to why I had negative thoughts. I recalled that I had listened to rumors about this practitioner's shortcomings before meeting him. I believed the hearsay I was told and it became a fixed opinion. Upon actually meeting him, I viewed him through the lens of this fixed opinion.

Looking inward and assimilating to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are what Falun Dafa practitioners ought to do. However, I fell far short from this requirement and have wrongly harbored negative thoughts about others' shortcomings.

I need to pay more attention to the way I talk to people, and it has to start from my own mind. I need to be considerate of others' feelings, the circumstances and even surroundings when talking to someone.

I've noticed ego to be the cause of my shortcoming. I wasn't humble, and considered myself above others. I suggest that if any practitioner feels they're looking down on others, to seriously look within, for that isn't a cultivator's state. The above mentioned conflict turned out to be a good opportunity for me to identify where I fall short.

As practitioners, it should be a given that we look at issues from the standpoint of the Fa, it's also however, for the sake of Fa-rectification, and for the goodwill of all beings. In our dealings with each other, I think its important to emphasize humbleness and modesty. We should see fewer conflicts that way.

The above is my personal understanding.

I'll conclude by quoting some of Master's Fa:

“So what's their state of mind? It's tolerance, an extremely immense tolerance, being able to accept other beings, and being able to truly think from other beings' perspectives. This is something a lot of you haven't achieved yet in your cultivation, but you're gradually catching on and achieving it. When another God proposes an idea, they aren't eager to reject it, and they aren't eager to express their own ideas and they don't believe that their own ideas are good. Instead, they look at what the end result of the other God's proposed approach will be. The paths are different--everyone's path is different--and the truths that beings validate and enlighten to in the Fa are different, too, but the results might very well be the same. That's why they look at the results, and if the result of a God's idea can achieve the goal, if it can truly achieve it, then all of them will go along with it. That's how Gods think. Also, if there's something lacking in it they'll unconditionally and quietly supplement it to make things more complete and perfect. That's how they handle things.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.”)

“Clarifying the facts and saving sentient beings are what you need to accomplish. There is nothing else for you to accomplish. There is nothing else in this world that you need to accomplish. Those are the things that you need to work toward, and yet some people no longer pay much attention to even their own cultivation, and have instead made a priority of ordinary things. Haven’t you strayed from the path of Dafa disciples’ cultivation, then?” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)