(Clearwisdom.net) I was deeply affected by the article, "Idolization Hurts Oneself and Others," written by a practitioner from Shandong Province. I would also like to talk about the heart of idolization, as it relates to our local area.
There are two practitioners in our area who obtained Dafa after July 20, 1999 (when the persecution started). They studied the Fa well, have been very diligent in clarifying the truth, and the results have been quite good. They have long lists of people they helped withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, and they are able to exchange experiences on the basis of Fa. Because of this, many practitioners began to idolize them: Even though they obtained Dafa late, they are very diligent about doing the three things well. Not only are they clear about the Fa, but they are also able to persuade so many people to withdraw from the CCP and its related organizations. We as veteran practitioners are not even doing as well as they are. With our idolization, their heart of zealotry, showing off and ego became enlarged. Because they did not realize it in time, they were arrested while clarifying the truth at the market in the summer of 2007, and sentenced to labor camp.
Another practitioner in the same area also obtained Dafa after July 20, 1999. She, too, was very diligently doing the three things well, and was able to persuade over a dozen people to withdraw from the CCP on a daily basis. The practitioners in the surrounding area began idolizing her. She did not handle the praise well, with fellow practitioners idolizing her and following her example. She was reported while clarifying the truth in front of a large crowd with a bag full of truth-clarification materials, and was arrested and sentenced to labor camp.
Through these years of persecution, the lessons and experiences, paid for with practitioners' blood and lives, are staggering. Articles on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website have made it clear that idolizing someone is harmful. The practitioner does well because she studied the Fa well, and because she cultivated well, but this does not mean she is better than the Fa or that we can learn from her instead of the Fa. Once the persecution began, we used our human hearts to treat the situation, pushing away the chance to elevate on an individual basis by relying on the prime minister at the time to take care the situation, and thus ruined him as well. We felt we were "insured" after we obtained Dafa, and were afraid of nothing, letting some fellow practitioners "go" first. Today we are still using the human heart to treat fellow practitioners in cultivation.
When our fellow practitioners were in the middle of their tribulations, we rejected them because they were "unwise," or "did not have enough righteous thoughts." We did not negate the arrangements by the old forces, but instead, with the energy that our negative thoughts carried, added bad substance to their dimension and worsened their situation. We never thought about whether the problem had anything to do with our group, or if there were anything we could do to be more clear-headed and wise. We should have asked: "Was what happened to our fellow practitioner related to us? Was there anything we did not do well or coordinate well that caused the problem for our fellow practitioner? Were there any human notions still lingering which induced the situation? Master compassionately told us in his "Fa-Teaching Given to the Australian Practitioners" to look inward whenever you see a problem. If we are truly able to do this, we will be diligent in our cultivation and avoid shortcomings and avoid losses.
