Starting Spiritual Practice
Must being shorter always feel like a disadvantage?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
You do not need to keep treating your height as a flaw. Comparing yourself with taller people may make you feel disadvantaged, but in another situation, the very quality that concerns you may offer an advantage.
Once, while visiting a temple with friends, we reached a stairway connection with a low roof. A tall friend did not notice and struck their head while walking through. The sound even startled everyone. Those of us who were shorter passed safely. At that moment, we felt fortunate not to be so tall, since that was why we had avoided the collision.
This is a change in how you look at things. Being short does not have to mean only feeling inferior; you can also notice advantages in the situation before you. Do not write yourself off before anything has happened. Changing your view of yourself means you need not continually use the same characteristic to dismiss yourself.