Forbearance

Nothing in life always goes the way we like. Someone will hate us. Circumstances will turn against us. At times we will be in dire hardship, even deeply humiliated. Of course we believe that all this suffering comes from mistakes or oversights in the distant past. Everything has its reason. By now we do not remember what exactly we did in earlier lives. We only have the courage to take the blame for all our troubles.

The point is that when adversity comes, keeping the mind unshaken is success.

The mind can be shaken by adversity in several ways. Sometimes we are shaken by anger, especially when someone insults us or speaks harshly to us.

Sometimes by sorrow, especially when we have an accident or fall ill.

Sometimes by hatred, especially when someone plots against us or damages our reputation with the public.

Sometimes by a grudge, holding resentment for a long time when we cannot yet pay the person back.

Sometimes by wounded pride, when we are not respected as we should be in front of others.

If we can keep the mind unshaken in adversity, we have a great strength in life. All the great figures reached an unshakable mind in adversity. Only with an unshaken mind can we think clearly and find the most reasonable way to handle things. Someone who flares up and acts recklessly to vent their anger, whatever the consequences, will meet worse consequences. Someone is cursed at, gets so angry that they stab the person dead, and then where will they hide from prison? Calm down and you see that a curse is very light and killing is far too heavy. To answer a light offense with a heavy crime is a waste of a life and of effort. It is not wise at all.

If we instead bear it and let it go, some people will think us weak, some will think us self-controlled, and only we will know that we are cultivating an unshakable mind for the sake of morality.

An unshaken mind is a precious asset. We are not foolish enough to let it slip away. It is at once our happiness, our wisdom and our morality. The other person has only said a few insulting words, which cost them nothing, so why get angry and lose our inner wealth? In an unfavorable situation, why stir up sorrow and lose even more? And if someone schemes to bring us to misery and pain, nursing hatred only further diminishes our merit and moral character.

There are three ways to keep the mind unshaken.

The first is to reflect on the law of cause and effect. We probably insulted someone in the past, so now we are being insulted in turn. By taking the blame ourselves we gain inner strength, which keeps the mind steady and unmoved. Taking the blame is a method that builds great inner strength.

The second is to make a habit of meditation, from Buddhism, qigong, yoga and so on. By following the breath over a long time the mind grows quiet and still. Then whatever adversity comes, the mind stays calm and unmoved.

The third is to show our respect often to saints whose minds are completely unshakable. Following our own religion, each of us can find a saint there with such an unshakable mind and honor them every day. The law of cause and effect will quietly build up our inner strength so that we stay calm in adversity. When we revere a saint, we come to share the saint's qualities. That is the rule.

There is one more method, a mind of love and forgiveness. A person cultivating at a high level, with a wide love that reaches all beings, naturally has great inner strength and can easily get through life's adversities. Those who plot against or insult us are also the ones we have vowed to love, so we forgive them easily. We hold no anger, resentment or hatred toward anyone. We may need to be strict in guiding them, but we do not hate or reject them.

A person who can stay calm and patient like this has great virtue. They clear the karmic obstacles of past wrongdoing, build blessings for the future, and set a moral example for everyone to learn from, so much so that even spirits and gods admire and love them.