(Clearwisdom.net) Many people may have, more or less, the mindset of idolizing others. Recently I realized that not letting go of this attachment is a very serious issue.
The mindset of idolizing others does not occur suddenly. It develops gradually. That is, one may admire a specific practitioner who has cultivated very well in certain aspects, and this admiration gradually turns into idolizing others.
There are also some practitioners who, once they have acknowledged a specific practitioner, then adopt this practitioner’s views, regardless of whether this practitioner does things in an upright manner. Fellow practitioners might feel that he is outstanding, has profound and sophisticated views, and makes logical remarks. Consequently, they hold onto the view that this practitioner has come from a higher realm and is shouldering a unique mission. This would gradually lead to them closely following the practitioner.
The practitioner being idolized may then develop various kinds of mentalities, and what he says or does may gradually deviate from the requirements of the Fa. Worse, he may incur demonic interference from his own mind. He may claim that he has been doing things under the name of Master, but those who follow him cannot realize the seriousness of the issue. Their main consciousnesses are bewildered and they cannot see his mentalities of showing off and vanity, which he employs to glorify himself. Fellow practitioners may use all kinds of excuses and means to protect the practitioner they have idolized. They do not use the Fa to measure what they have done; they instead follow the words of the idolized practitioner. In this way, they unknowingly deviate from the Fa; they may even have done something to damage the Fa. This is a very dangerous situation.
Let’s put aside the issues that the idolized practitioner has, and talk about those practitioners who idolize others. These practitioners have deviated from the requirements of the Fa. Furthermore, they have encouraged the idolized practitioner to do something contrary to the Fa requirements. In this way, they have hurt both others and themselves.
Practitioners who idolize others should remember that we all cultivate in the same Fa. We take the Fa as our guide and should not engage ourselves in what a small path of cultivation does, that is, following certain individuals. We have waited countless years for Master to teach us. How could following someone else help us to help Master rectify the Fa?
For a practitioner who has some special talents or has done something very good, we should not take him as a role model and idolize him. Because we are humans with attachments who are cultivating, we should be on guard for our gaps being exploited by the evil, which could result in unnecessary hardships. Following another may cause him to go astray in his cultivation, incur demonic interference from his own mind, deviate from the Fa, or to be picked up by the authorities.
There are many lessons in this regard and every one of us should pay attention to this issue. Fellow practitioners should remind each other of this issue, truly take the Fa as their guide, and assist Master in the Fa rectification.
