Do you adjust your words to please your audience?
One common trait among Buddhists is that they often buckle under pressure, which is one reason so few have truly attained accomplishment. You tend to try to keep your audience happy, perhaps even to align with the very audience you’ve cultivated. Even when you want to say something different, you soften it to make it more acceptable. But in the process of making it acceptable, there’s a high chance that the true meaning becomes compromised.
All in all, what I’m sure of is that I haven’t cleared this level—I won’t be able to pass the test or meet the standard.
This is extremely scary because it means I won’t be able to achieve liberation, become a saint (Arhats, Bodhisattvas, Buddhas).
In the process of debating, I find myself calmer than before but still losing sight of the reason I pointed something out. I should be ashamed of this.
These are some articles I’m reminded of when thinking about this topic:
- 到底有誰認得佛法？（之二）——從修行人的「種」與「品」談起（拉珍）
- regarding a person that went back on his word
- 于立華的證明材料
- regarding Dharma Master Qing Ding
- note: the English translation are in the pictures at the bottom
In comparison, I tend to make more mistakes when speaking than when writing, since writing allows me to go back and forth, eliminate self-attachment, and check my sources.
When you speak it’s easy to get caught up in self-attachment—there will be grains of impurity in your speech.
