Don’t Treat People of Today with the Information of Yesterday
When you meet someone today, meet them as they are now, not with the information you had about them yesterday. Why? Because people are always changing. A person might have a realization tonight and transform. Or they might have had a powerful encounter that shocked them into change. Someone who made mistakes or even committed wrongdoing yesterday could be an entirely different person when you meet them today. So, you must observe people without prejudice. Don’t judge them based on their past. The past is not a fixed place, it is part of the journey. It is the process that brings us to today. And life is always in motion toward something better.
Even if someone treated you poorly in the past, when you meet them again months or years later, don’t carry your past experiences into the present. After talking today, evaluate the person based on this moment. Don’t let the past cloud your judgment. If you look at someone only through the lens of their past, you won’t truly see them. You’ll be trapped in your own fixed ideas, unable to interact with them openly. This closes your heart, and in that state, your energy stagnates and cannot improve.
Why do we meet people? We meet people to exchange energy, because we are lacking on our own. The purest, most powerful energy comes through human beings. Only 30% of our energy comes from nature. The remaining 70% is exchanged through people. When we interact with others, our murky or stagnant energy can begin to circulate. Our old fixed views can move and shift. We receive what we are lacking, and our inner power grows. But if we don’t understand the purpose of our encounters, we cannot receive this energy. When someone speaks to you, even harshly, if you receive their words with an open and thankful heart, their heavy, murky energy can transform into something clear and bright within you. Heavy energy is not a bad thing. It simply carries more weight, more potential power. If you can accept it and process it with a pure heart, you can transform it into enormous strength. When your energy becomes purified, it rises, and you can give that good energy back to others.
Continued
If many people are around you, it means you are surrounded by potential wealth. But if you don’t know how to use that energy wisely, it means nothing. So, whenever someone comes to you, meet them sincerely. Treat them as new. Reflect: “Have I been judging this person unfairly with my own bias?” Often, when you deeply think about it, they didn’t do anything wrong. You just perceived them that way. Here’s an example. Between the one who cheats and the one who is cheated, who suffers more? The one who is cheated. But before studying Jungbub, what did we do? We hated the one who cheated us. However, the person who deceived you may have done so to awaken you. If you hadn’t been awakened then, you would have had to face an even harder challenge later. That person came at just the right moment, like a messenger, to shake you awake. So think like this: “I was swindled because I was lacking something. That person came to wake me up. I may be struggling right now, but I’m thankful, and I’ll start again.”
If you approach your environment with this attitude, without hatred but with gratitude, you’ll find your strength again. Your efforts will start to go well, and what you lost will be restored. You’ll realize how valuable that experience was, and because you’ve matured, no one will come to deceive you again. There will be no need because you’re on the right path now. But if you keep resenting the one who deceived you, you’ll miss new opportunities that are right in front of you. Or even worse, another swindler may come and take even more from you.