(Clearwisdom.net)
Recently, a fellow practitioner who I will call "A," was infested with scabies. He was in such great pain that he was unable to do the exercises and send forth righteous thoughts as usual.
"A" is a clear-minded and determined practitioner. Due to strong faith in Dafa, "A" once walked out of a police station, thus destroying evil's attempts to send him to the forced labor camp. During the past few years, no matter how difficult the situation became, no matter how high the pressure appeared to be, or how lonely he was, "A" kept continuously clarifying the truth.
I have seriously thought about a problem we have in the local practice group.
First of all, we have relied too much on "A." "A" has done much Fa-rectification work without attracting others' attention. In addition, "A" is able to think on the basis of the Fa. Therefore, everyone likes to talk with "A," and seeks his advice when problems come up. This situation became more obvious after "A" got out of the police station with righteous thoughts. Using myself as an example, I am unwilling to make decision when things come up, and always wait to decide until after learning what "A" thinks. When my ideas differ from those of "A," I am reluctant to take the initiative and think for myself. Deep in my mind I hold the thought that things will be trouble-free if I just follow "A." It is not just me; some practitioners who do not directly interact with "A" are also like that. One practitioner said, "'A' is really important to us. What would we do if 'A' were not around?" In fact, "A" is a very modest person. It is the practitioners around him who cannot handle this situation well.
I noticed this situation about three months ago. I discussed it with some individual practitioners, but not many have paid attention to it. After seeing "A" suffering from scabies, among the many other pressures he is experiencing, I realized it is time to address this issue directly. If many practitioners in a practice group rely too much on certain practitioner(s), and are unwilling to use their own abilities to take initiative in Fa-rectification, evil will focus on persecuting the practitioner(s) that others rely on.
As I look back on the past several years, it seems that some practitioners nearby have always had troubles one after another. After a period of peace, those practitioners would have troubles again. Whenever other practitioners had troubles, "A" always blamed himself. I came to understand that, although the specific practitioner in trouble has omissions, more important was that our practice group has loopholes. When practitioner B had trouble a while ago, "A" did not feel good. Feeling the increased pressure, "A" became a little pessimistic. As a result, the evil took advantage of it and persecuted him.
It was through that incident that I saw the selfishness within myself. Every time I met "A," I always told him about the tribulations I was experiencing, hoping to get his insight and advice. Before that, I did not realize "A" also needed help and understanding from other practitioners. It was our responsibility to take the initiative to care for "A." When "A" first got scabies, he mentioned it to me. However, I experiencing my own tribulations at that time, and did not pay attention to what he said. Now, seeing "A" suffering from scabies, I felt I was too selfish.
I hope every one of us can be responsible for the things we are doing. We need to take initiative and think for our group as a whole, instead of putting pressure on some individual practitioners.
March 14, 2003
