Further Understanding of "Not Fighting Back When Punched or Insulted"

Last week my child had an accident when he was playing with his classmates. There was a deep cut on his head, leading to a lot of blood. He cried and told me that one of his classmates had hit him. Because he is still so young and wouldn't be able to understand clearly the whole process of the accident, I told him, "Don't say that. We must look within when encountering problems. We must have done something wrong."

Later he had to have six stitches at the hospital. After we returned home and got everything settled, we talked about the accident. He said, "I'm not going to be friends with him, because he hit me." I said, "When he hit you, didn't you want to grab what he had in his hand and fight back? You were injured because you had a bad thought. Master¹ told us that 'as a practitioner one should not fight back when being punched or insulted.' Had you followed Master's teaching, you would not have been injured." He nodded his head that he understood.

I assumed this was the end of it. Unexpectedly, another test followed. Two days later, following the doctor's instructions, I took my son to the hospital for a checkup. The doctor asked, "Did your child take the medication?" I had not considered giving medicine to my son at all, but I had to be honest and told him, "No." Then the doctor became quite unhappy, murmured to himself, and then said, "The wound is very deep. What if it becomes inflamed and gets worse?" His questions made me quite uncomfortable. After leaving the hospital, I still could not let go of it. I even thought about going to another hospital to have the stitches removed so I would not have to face that doctor again. However, I thought it over and felt that it was my thinking that was not right. I should try to harmonise this situation instead of avoiding the conflict.

When I was willing to let go of self, I immediately understood that letting go of the attachment of not giving medicine to the child did not mean that I must give him medicine! When I changed my thinking, I could feel the compassion of that doctor, who had wanted my child well taken care and free of any scaring. I knew that I had let go of my mindset that was not compassionate, and just at that moment, the bad elements in my dimension were eliminated. I no longer had negative thoughts about the doctor. Because I passed this test, the next time we returned to the hospital for a checkup, the doctor's attitude had improved. He only asked me if the medicine that he had before had been used up. I answered that there were still some left. He said, "Well, then he doesn't need any more medicine. Next time you come we'll just remove the stitches."

This experience reminded me: Aren't the conflicts among fellow practitioners the same? Not long ago when I heard some fellow practitioners' criticise my previous words and behaviour, I was only a little concerned. I thought that I had passed this test quite well, but actually when looking within, weren't those impure thoughts and matters coming back to me? Isn't it the principle of the universe "no loss, no gain?" So now I must undertake to repay it!

I understand that not only is "not fighting back when punched or insulted" the behavioural requirement for practitioners, but we also must understand the principles taught in Falun Gong and improve from our hearts. Only then can we harmonise all the bad elements that we have had in the past.

The above is my understanding to kindly share with fellow practitioners.

Note:

1. Master/Teacher: Respectfully referring to the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi.