By Tong Bu Huei

In a movie that we watched together with Master, there was a little boy who thought every day about the little sister in his mother's womb. He hoped it could be born as soon as possible. He could hardly wait and made a wish: "After my little sister is born, I'll give her all my toys. I'll protect her and not let anyone mistreat her." But after she was born, he got jealous seeing how his parents loved her, so he forgot the promise he made.

When his sister wanted to play with his toys, the little boy angrily took them away from her. During this scene, the camera paused for a while, showing the innocent little sister with a red nose and tears in her eyes. This deeply touched me.

I see myself acting like that little boy -- when coming into this world I forgot about the promise made before I was born. Before we came here we had all the confidence, but unexpectedly the world changes and nothing is the same! We are no longer conscious that we are all one. We each enter a separate body, making us more and more distant and unfamiliar. So in order to protect 'our own' rights and interests, we guard ourselves from others. We forget that before we came, we made a pact: No matter what the conditions, we shall love and support one another.

In the "Vo Tu Poems," the poem "I Love Thou," the first verse reads: "I love you like I love myself." This is the clearest and simplest interpretation of true love. After all, we love ourselves the most, so all we have to do is extend this love and imagine others as extensions of ourselves! Open up your heart, accept "our" different forms; carefully observe how each and every 'self' works hard at trying to communicate with 'our self'. With this attitude, even an iceberg can be melted. To see 'our self' love 'our self' or be upset with 'our self' is rather humorous!

Once, for reasons I've forgotten, I was suddenly very critical of a brother initiate. I thought that 'he' didn't treat 'me' right. But Master immediately granted me an unforgettable lesson. Right after I thought that way, the image of the brother initiate kept coming into my head, even during meditation. The more I hated it, the more his face appeared. Like a bad joke, I couldn't get rid of it. I was very irritated! Only after I calmed down and when my spirit was brightened with a heightened sense of love, did the image disappear.

No wonder Master said, "Loving others is like loving yourself." At the moment we forgive others, we are actually freeing ourselves!