(Clearwisdom.net) For a long period of time, our local Fa study group was not stable, nor was my own cultivation. I know our personal cultivation is connected with the bigger environment, but we did not establish a good environment for group Fa study, a form that Teacher has given us. I cared a lot about our group Fa study. Therefore, when I noticed that a practitioner did not come to the group study, even when she had time, I could not control myself and complained in my mind and thought that her heart was not with the Fa. When the practitioner, who provided a location for Fa study, showed an ordinary person's attachment, I thought: how could this person still have such attachments after so many years of cultivation? I continued to notice other practitioners' shortcomings. I used the Fa to judge others but I did not look inward. I thought I was better than others and totally forgot to look inward.
Through studying the Fa, I suddenly realized that I had strong attachments, such as to validating myself, complaining, jealousy, and seeking fame. What would the result be if I was trying to protect the Fa with so many dirty attachments? Teacher told us that when we see someone making mistakes, we should try to understand that person instead of blaming them and complaining. Cultivation is about cultivating oneself. How come I always looked at others? When I calmed down, Teacher's Fa woke me up:
"So what's their state of mind? It's tolerance, an extremely immense tolerance, being able to accept other beings, and being able to truly think from other beings' perspectives." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")
I no longer pointed fingers at other practitioners and I was no longer impatient with them; instead, I communicate with other practitioners with a peaceful heart.
After I changed the state of my own mind, others changed as well. The practitioner who provided the location for Fa study started to cultivate diligently. The practitioner who had not come to Fa study not only came, but also brought her husband, who had interrupted his cultivation for a while. I felt Teacher's great compassion and the importance of looking inward.
When we think about the bad points of a practitioner, we actually add bad elements onto him or her. Our own bad thoughts then create obstacles for that fellow practitioner. When we correct our own hearts, everything in our surroundings will become harmonized as well. Let us all look inward based on the Fa, eliminate anything that separates us, form a harmonized and indestructible one body, and cultivate diligently on the road of helping Teacher to save sentient beings.
