A Dharma sister asked Master Cheng Yen, “How can we truly appreciate the joy of giving and not sink into the abyss of affliction as a result of conflicts and disputes?”
The Master answered:
The disputes and disharmony between people are often caused by gossip, which causes people to be prejudiced against one another. Someone may interpret something he has heard from his point of view and subjectively communicates the message. And the listener will interpret the message another time. As the same message is being heard, communicated and interpreted several times by different people, it may become distorted and lead to unhappiness and division among people.
A computer has a Firewall. Likewise, we should have a "Firewall" in our minds too. We should be vigilant and not get involved in the gossip spread by others. We should also filter whatever we have heard with our wisdom. Then we can protect our wisdom-life and not be harmed by gossip and disputes.
Translated by the Tzu Chi Singapore translation team
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