Communication and Boundaries
Should spiritual practitioners remain silent and avoid explaining themselves when falsely accused?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
Not necessarily. Some matters need to be explained clearly so that people have a chance to understand what happened. Spiritual practice does not mean you can never explain yourself. Making the facts clear is different from continuing an emotionally charged argument.
The ideas that 'silence is golden' and 'accepting a loss is actually gaining' once influenced me deeply. Whenever something unpleasant happened, I felt that as a spiritual practitioner I should not argue with others. Later I realized that if I never spoke, only one account would circulate, and people would have no opportunity to understand the other side of what happened.
When an explanation is needed, you can use an article or video to describe your perspective and the events leading up to and following the incident. Giving people more information before they judge is more helpful than simply staying silent. This is a separate matter from insisting on defeating someone in an argument.
You can point out mistakes firmly and clearly, but address the matter itself and explain your reasons. Using fewer emotionally charged or personally attacking words makes it less likely that you will remain angry and trapped in the dispute, unable to move on.