(Clearwisdom.net)
Teacher said:
"Human society never had true principles to guide it before, so man has not resolved his problems via shan. Instead, man has always resolved things through fighting and conquest, and that has thus become man's norm. If man wants to become divine and transcend the human state, then he must forsake that frame of mind and use compassion to resolve things." (Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference)
I came to the realization that when dealing with other practitioners' shortcomings, anxiety, petty judgments, criticism, arguments, hatred, resentment, looking down on others, criticizing them behind their backs, spreading rumors, and worse, holding grudges and seeking revenge--all of these are non-compassionate methods, methods of "fighting and conquest". If we use these methods when dealing with problems, we will definitely bring about negative results and create gaps among one another. It is not only ineffective in bringing about the improvement of practitioners, but also can easily lead us to form stubborn human mentalities.
Then what way of handling things counts as being compassionate? I think that when encountering practitioners' shortcomings, we should try to understand them with kind intentions, be forgiving, be trusting, don't follow the path of making higher and more excessive demands, but rather enthusiastically help in specific ways. We can kindly talk about the shortcomings we see in the person while remaining level-headed, and share with them freely. We should give the person opportunities and time, and with righteous thoughts strengthen practitioners' improvement through Fa study and cultivating the heart. Then, perhaps, this would count as compassionately resolving problems.
In the past, although I knew that as practitioners we cultivate kindness, I still wasn't able to fundamentally change my ordinary person's mentality, owing to the problems outlined above. I thought that if I didn't directly point things out, didn't clearly explain things point-by-point, and didn't use a heavy hammer, the person I was talking to wouldn't awaken, or would awaken but improve too slowly. So I always used "fighting and conquest" methods to resolve problems. The result was that I started conflicts and created unnecessary gaps between practitioners.
In fact, it's not only in the area of other people's shortcomings that we need to cast off our human thinking. We also have to act this way in dealing with our own shortcomings. Self-reproach and guilty regret might appear to be good, but these mentalities can bring about another attachment--a mental burden that prevents us from advancing diligently with a free and easy spirit. If we are attached to nothing, then we are doing things according to the Fa. Cultivating ourselves without stopping is maintaining the best state of mind.
