(Minghui.org) A fellow practitioner who has had leg pain for some time now is not improving. She thought her pain was caused by resentment and hatred, but at the same time she felt her feelings were justified.

I suddenly remembered a word: “abhor”–hate with passion–and I looked it up. “Pain” and “hatred” are the same thing in Ciyuan, the first major Chinese dictionary.

Our thoughts not only affect others but also ourselves. When we resent and hate others, we also cause pain to ourselves.

There are two more explanations for pain: sorrow and pity. I once read a sad story that caused such grief that I felt a throbbing pain from my heart to my upper left abdomen. The pain caused by sorrow was real.

I then thought about “love.” People feel happy and fulfilled when they are in love. But the law of mutual generation and mutual inhibition is absolute in the old cosmos. One’s devotion and loyalty to love can be met with betrayal and letdown. If a couple breaks up, the emotion of love can turn into hatred and thus pain.

Pain can be caused by hatred, sorrow, and love. In other words, pain arises from sentimentality, and only by letting go of sentimentality can one transcend pain.

Many of us use the word “hate” casually, but it contains many profound connotations. As cultivators, our thoughts have energy and power. Let us not generate unwanted substances with negative thoughts. Instead, let’s keep up our righteous thoughts and evaluate everything with the Fa.

Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)