Cultivating Forbearance

(Minghui.org) I was deeply inspired by an article published on the Minghui website on February 4, 2014. The title of the article was “My Personal Experience in the Karma Transformation Process Amidst Conflicts.”

I always considered anything that happened as a result of karma transformation was a good thing. I believe that good will be rewarded with blessings and bad will receive retribution. For instance, I complained to my supervisor in an anxious tone when I was discussing my work. It was obvious that I had resentment against the person I was complaining about.

I still could not calm down after work, and remembered that article. Didn't I create karma for myself? I felt awful and regretted that I had not cultivated my speech. I not only suffered but also gave away virtue, how silly I had been!

I had experienced that I always felt sad and could not even sleep when I had argued with other people, regardless of whether I won or lost. Many conflicts do exist in our environment. When we have human notions, we cannot have righteous thoughts and therefore have constant xinxing conflicts with people. I finally understood the reason, and I relaxed and calmed down. I realized the meaning of the statement that Master taught us in Zhuan Falun .

Master said:

“In most cases, one transforms karma through xinxing conflicts among one another, and this is where it manifests itself.” (Zhuan Falun , Lecture 4)

I recently encountered a xinxing conflict again. We were working on a project which needed coordination among various departments. The leader asked our department to coordinate the project and take charge of the final report. In the process, I had to handle conflicts of cooperating with colleagues. Usually we greeted each other graciously, but then they would pick on our departmental problems in order to cover theirs. I had human notions about this conflict and thought about fighting their slickness with retaliation, or resolve the conflict with slick means just like an ordinary person.

When I calmed down, I thought of Master's Fa teachings. I discovered my shortcomings and abandoned my human notions. Many nights, I recalled my cultivation process and followed the Fa principles to find those attachments. I then eliminated them, corrected myself, and kept righteous thoughts.

As a practitioner, I have to treat people with honesty, awareness, understanding, and tolerance. I firmly want them to treat me with honesty also. I take my job seriously and do it responsibly. I will not refuse anything that I am supposed to do, regardless of any hardship involved. When my human notions arise, I will think of what Master has taught us – that “Forbearance is the key to improving one’s xinxing” (“What is Forbearance (Ren)” in Essentials for Further Advancement) .

Forbearance is something that has to be put into practice. With it, one can control human notions, think calmly, look within for interference, and remove them once identified. With it, my xinxing has been uplifted and my body purified. My mind grew calmer and my work environment became much smoother.

I enlightened from cultivation that when I practice forbearance while encountering hardships, everything will turn out well. All hardships were quickly resolved and the surrounding environment also became comfortable.

Conversely, when I was not in the state of a practitioner but in a state of an ordinary person, I contradicted other people. I would reply with a few words when someone said some uncomfortable words to me. I blindly denied people's opinions and ignored their feelings. As a result, I not only failed to improve my xinxing, but created karma for myself.

Master's Fa teachings are very clear. He has given his disciples the best. I feel ashamed because I improved my xinxing so carelessly and intermittently. The reason for failure to achieve forbearance was due to my mental state of jealousy and resentment, and then my attachment of fighting followed.

Today, I reveal and remove my attachments of jealousy and resentment, because I want to achieve the realms that Master has mentioned.

Master said:

“A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion. With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy”. (“Realms” from Essentials For Further Advancement)

With my limited understanding at my level, please compassionately point out any misunderstandings I might have.