“When someone misunderstands, do not be angry with them. When someone misunderstands, do not be angry. When someone does not yet understand, do not be angry…”
(Section 6: Emotional Intelligence)
Take the principles of the teaching as your foundation, gather the relevant information, and present it to them — so that correct understanding may arise. In doing so, you will gain those who will come to support the work of the Sasana, and those who will increasingly support the training and development of the bhikkhus in the future.
For when a person does not understand and comes to question — or perhaps speaks in terms that are less than agreeable, owing to their misunderstanding — viewed in one light, their manner may appear as that of anger. Yet viewed in another light, it reveals something else entirely: it reveals that those individuals harbor genuine concern and care for Buddhism, and it is out of this very concern — combined with their lack of knowledge and understanding — that they have come forward to question.
Therefore, one must explain. And if they have already sought information on their own yet have arrived at a mistaken understanding, all the more reason to explain patiently until they truly understand — for they hold the same love and the same concern for Buddhism as we ourselves do.
Admonition given at Kaew Sarapat Nuek Hall, Dhammakaya International Meditation Center, Wat Phra Dhammakaya Sunday, 8 February B.E. 2558 (2015)
