Forbearance is one of the six paramitas that all practitioners must try to cultivate. That is to face everything, good or bad, with an equanimous mind, and not let emotions such as joy, sorrow, and anger overwhelm us. Therefore, we cultivators take advantage of the situations and the behaviors of others to train ourselves and hone the skills of patience. If there are no challenging circumstances or people, we will not have the opportunity to learn. Bottlenecks in our cultivation path will always exist. In this sense, we should consider those who try our patience as our good teachers to whom we should be grateful.

       So, all things, good and bad, positive or negative, are our good teachers. Furthermore, while bad encounters often drive us to great achievement, good encounters and easy life cause us to be complacent with the status quo, not making any progress, or worse, retreating and sinking to evil realms in the next life.

(Translated and edited by the Pure Land School Translation Team)