Hong Kong Young Practitioner: My Understanding about Forbearance and Truly Rectifying Ourselves

(Minghui.org) One day, my sister and I discussed what was found at the Sanxingdui tourist attraction in Sichuan Province. We felt it could be a relic from a prehistoric civilization. While we were chatting enthusiastically, my husband cut us off and started to criticize us. I kept my mouth shut at first and did not say anything.

However, I became angry when he made it personal. I told myself that I should not get mad as I am a practitioner. In the end I could not control myself. I talked back and burst into tears. I knew I had not reached the standard of a cultivator. I felt regretful afterward and kept asking myself why I could not control my anger.

That night I dreamed that I was in a classroom, and Master came. He stood in the doorway and smiled at me. I asked Master why I could not control myself. Master asked me to look inward.

I looked inward and began crying because I felt I did not do well. When I woke up, I found my resentment towards my husband was gone. I felt relaxed and calm. My mind broadened.

When I looked inward further I found a deeply hidden attachment. Whenever I complained or lost my temper my legs would hurt when I meditated. In order to avoid the pain, on the surface I controlled myself during conflicts since I know that practitioners must have forbearance. However, in my heart I blamed others, so I was not genuinely forbearing.

When I realized this, I apologized to my husband sincerely. He said happily, “You can look inwards during conflicts. Good for you!” I also told my sister what happened and said I would study the Fa more and measure myself with the Fa.

Rectifying Every Thought

I helped with our booth at an exhibition. I sent forth righteous thoughts frequently to eliminate all the interference that prevented people from hearing the truth. My friend’s mother came to the exhibition and kept complaining about her children. I chatted with her and asked her to focus on their good sides. We talked about belief and how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) destroyed traditional culture. She said no one else could help her let go of her resentment towards her children. She also told me it was great to have a righteous faith. I told her about quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations. She agreed. I then told her more facts about Dafa. She asked me to introduce Dafa to her children and said she was interested in practicing.

However, I received some negative feedback when I clarified the truth to other people. They said they heard the facts before, but they did not like the approach most practitioners used.

I felt some practitioners’ tone was too harsh, and maybe some treated truth-clarification as a formality. Perhaps they did not clarify the truth with compassion. Some practitioners may have been in a hurry when they talked to people, so people still had misunderstandings about Dafa.

When I calmed down and looked inward, I found that I had the same problem. Sometimes I was so eager to tell people the facts that I did not pay attention to the way I spoke. When people slandered Dafa, I could not stay calm and I had no compassion for them. Sometimes I had no righteous thoughts, and even argued with people. How could I save people that way? Wasn't I pushing them further away?

Master said,

“Realms

A wicked person is born of jealousy.Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself.A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.An enlightened person has no attachments at all.He quietly observes the people of the world deluded by illusions.”
(“Realms,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

Master also said,

“In cultivating Zhen-Shan-Ren, the Tao School emphasizes the cultivation of Zhen. Therefore, the Tao School believes in the cultivation of Zhen to nurture one’s nature; one should tell the truth, do things truthfully, become a truthful person, return to the original, true self, and in the end, become a true person through cultivation. However, it also includes Ren and Shan, but with an emphasis on the cultivation of Zhen. The Buddha School emphasizes cultivating Shan of Zhen-Shan-Ren. Because the cultivation of Shan can generate great, benevolent compassion, when compassion develops one will find all beings suffering and thus develop an aspiration to offer salvation to all beings. It also has Zhen and Ren, but with an emphasis on the cultivation of Shan. Our Falun Dafa is based upon the highest standard of the universe, Zhen, Shan, and Ren, all of which we cultivate simultaneously. The system that we cultivate is enormous.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

I realized that forbearance also contains truthfulness and compassion. We will strengthen our compassion if we cultivate forbearance. Only when every thought meets the standard of the Fa, can we improve and have compassion.

A few days ago, my husband argued with me about science and religion again. I wondered why he was so lost and confused! I felt tired—I had repeatedly told him the truth. When I had this thought, I suddenly felt one second became as long as one year, and this thought had existed in my mind for a long time. I suddenly remembered what Master said about the old cosmos’ principles of “formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction.” I realized that it might only take one second to have one thought, but in other dimensions, the bad thought may have existed for one year, ten years, or tens of thousands of years. If we cultivate ourselves according to the Fa, our dimensions will be rectified.

I suddenly realized the importance of cultivating every thought. I realized that every thought that does not conform to the characteristics of the universe is not from my true self. If we did not eliminate the bad thoughts when they emerge, they will continue to exist in our dimensions.

When I looked inward and examined myself further, I found even if I did not talk back when people criticized me, I still felt unhappy. The feeling is very subtle, but it showed that I did not reach the standard of the requirements of the Fa.

Master said,

“Breaking Free of the Three Realms

"He who regards notordinary sorrows and joysA cultivator is heHe who has not attachmentto worldly loss and gainAn Arhat is he
(“Breaking Free of the Three Realms,” Hong Yin)

When I let go of these attachments, I found my heart broadened and I had a deeper understanding of the Fa's principles.

Editor’s note: Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions, for which the author is solely responsible. Readers should evaluate the article's merits on their own.