(Clearwisdom.net) One day, I noticed that my wife (a practitioner) had changed greatly. When I did something wrong, she always forgave me. Even the way she brings up a problem is very polite and benevolent. She has become completely different than before. I asked her why she had changed so much, and she told me that Master has mentioned this issue many times in recent lectures. We can't meet certain requirements if we don't do things well. She also told me when our son left home, he told her that forgiving other people is also a process of letting go of oneself. She enlightened that our benevolent Master was giving her a hint through our son's spoken words and asking her to cultivate in this aspect.
Recently, when we studied Master's lectures from before 1999 in our study group, I noticed that Master has already taught us:
"You should treat everyone compassionately and look for causes in yourself when encountering any problem. Even if others badmouth us or hit us, we should all look within ourselves--"Was it caused by my being wrong in some regard?" This enables you to find the root cause of the conflict, and it is the best way to remove the attachment to selfishness. Have a bigger and bigger heart, to the point where in your personal cultivation you can forgive everyone, including forgiving your enemies." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia," 1999)
It's a shame that after the persecution started, I studied the lectures from before 1999 less, and I didn't pay much attention to cultivating myself well.
Looking back on my cultivation path, I now realize what a poor cultivator I have been! When I was doing coordination work, fellow practitioners many times pointed out my mistakes and what I was lacking. But I did not look within and only at other people. When I noticed that other people had done something wrong, I always criticized, complained and rarely forgave them. When I was doing something wrong, I didn't sincerely accept other people's suggestions, nor look inward to find my attachments, but rather tried to convince others to forgive me. Because I wasn't steadfast in my cultivation, not able to forgive others, and often coordinated practitioners in a demanding manner, my conduct greatly affected local practitioners in their validation of the Fa and saving of sentient beings.
Master taught us to "Have a bigger and bigger heart, to the point where in your personal cultivation you can forgive everyone, including forgiving your enemies." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia") But I wasn't able to forgive those practitioners who were helping me, nor have a compassionate heart. How can I do that? Looking inward, I noticed that the fundamental reason was that I couldn't let go of myself, and was surrounded by this huge attachment to self. I thought I was good at everything, I was better than everyone else. Wasn't this arrogant notion part of the evil communist party culture? I realized that if I didn't get rid of this notion, I wouldn't be able to forgive others. But if we do forgive other people, wouldn't that be the process of letting go of ourselves?
In cultivation practice, I have noticed that many practitioners insist on their own opinions and don't stop arguing because of their strong attachment to self. This attachment has resulted in many things for validating the Fa not being carried out and practiced, which has delayed the process of Fa-rectification.
Now I understand how important it is to forgive other people. It is not only the process of letting go of oneself, but also of achieving compassion that a great enlightened being has! Let's start to look inward and forgive other people.
The above mentioned is some of my enlightenment. I welcome fellow practitioners to point out anything that is improper.
