(Clearwisdom.net)
- Treat fellow practitioners with genuine compassion and kindness
- Being tolerant is not the same as everyday people's idea of a "nice guy"
- Practitioners who are mothers
When we see the other practitioners' shortcomings (or something that doesn't conform to our own standards), instead of pointing out their shortcomings with compassion and understanding, if we accuse, blame, and even get mad with them, our Xinxing will have dropped beneath the level for Dafa practitioners. The old forces obstruct Teacher's Fa-rectification because they refuse to make any change in themselves, but are determined to require others to change to conform to their standards. If we look outward instead of inward whenever we encounter problems, isn't that the same as conforming to the arrangement of the old forces?
My understanding is that cultivators' tolerance is the compassionate understanding of others, and it is not the same as what the everyday people say, "You're ok, I'm ok; let's not point finger's at each other." Sometimes, when we find a glaring omission in a fellow practitioner, or an attachment that prevents him from stepping forward, we should point it out to him with benevolence, so that we can advance together. We should not pretend that we did not see it so as to hide our attachment of fear of offending others and our indifference and irresponsibility to our fellow practitioners. It is actually a degenerated notion. When a fellow practitioner shows obvious omissions, the old forces are persecuting him using the attachment he has not yet eliminated. We should also ask ourselves if we have the same problem, and if Teacher has arranged for us to point them out to him. No matter what happens, everything will be solved if we treat it with righteous thoughts.
Many of our fellow practitioners are mothers with small children. It is more troublesome [to participate in Dafa activities] with small children as they will inevitably be noisy. Thus some practitioners hold the view that mothers shouldn't go to send forth righteous thoughts in front of the consulates or participate in Hong Fa [Clarifying the truth to the public] parades because pushing a baby carriage does not look good for the occasion. They shouldn't go to Fa conference because the kids will make noise, nor should they go on the street to distribute flyers and to solicit for signatures because the everyday people may not understand, etc. My view is that these mothers are Dafa disciples too and they should participate in all Dafa activities. Because we need to advance in cultivation together as a whole, it will be a big loss to them if they are kept out of the collective activities. Certainly cultivation depends on oneself, which is very important, but the form of collective Fa-study is left for us by Teacher. This environment for cultivation can truly hasten one's progress.
Overseas, the problem of educating the children appears to be quite common. How to teach the children to be considerate of others, to not disturb the parents when playing is very important in the character education of the children. Every mother should attach due importance to the matter.
There are actually scores of ways to help if we can be considerate of others' needs. For example, some one can volunteer to spend a little time to look after the children away from where the practitioners have group Fa study. If every practitioner is willing to take turns helping, the time spent will not amount to much for each, but will help the young mothers and the group as a whole.
Sometimes the problem cannot be solved this way. But regardless if it is the mothers or the other practitioners, it is possible that they think too much about themselves. For example, "I" came a long way to be here; "I" need to improve in cultivation, etc. Here I shall mention in brief the practitioners who quietly help the others to look after their kids in Minghui School. On the surface, they appear to "lose" some time, but actually what they gain is advancement in cultivation. Many of the children are little practitioners, our own little practitioners. Because of their tender age, they need both the care from adults and the environment for their collective cultivation. Whether it be the mothers or the other practitioners, if they can regard the children from the perspective of a cultivator and accord them due consideration, we find that the children play a unique role in our understanding of the Fa and validating the Fa; in many aspects they demonstrate even higher Xinxing levels than some of the adult practitioners.
