(Clearwisdom.net) “I believe I cultivate well” is an attachment of an everyday person. It goes hand in hand with the attachments of showing-off, doing things, jealousy, and treating some people differently than others. It sometimes manifests as validating oneself.
Such an attachment usually manifests in practitioners who seem to be diligent in cultivation. They may do very well in many aspects, but they need to eliminate this. They probably don't even realize it, as this attachment is hidden by the things they are trying to accomplish.
Some obvious manifestations of this attachment include the following. In their speech or mind, they often have the thought, “I recite the Fa well. I've memorized the Fa such and such many times,” or “I clarify the truth well. I've convinced this many people to withdraw from the CCP every day,” or “I do well in distributing truth-clarifying brochures. I've distributed this many brochures each day,” or “The truth clarifying materials I made are truly nice and beautiful,” or “The articles I wrote to validate Dafa are good. Almost every article I wrote was published,” etc. Every sentence and every thought revolves around “me.” They are all related to “self” and are restrained by the principles of the old universe.
There are some subtle manifestations, such as not taking seriously the opinions of practitioners he thinks don't cultivate well. Although he may not argue at the surface, he refuses to change his heart, and still goes on his own way. However, if the same issue is raised by practitioners he thinks cultivate well, he will probably accept it.
The attachment “I believe I cultivate well” is in fact comparing one's strong points to other practitioners' weak points. It is not worth comparing. In essence it is viewing fellow practitioners with one's naked eyes.
Practitioners who have this attachment may subconsciously have the thought of “the more things I do for validating Dafa, the better I cultivate.” Even if it is true, he can't see it with his human heart, because every practitioner has his unique characteristics. Some practitioners have done many things to validate Dafa but they rarely mention it, whereas some practitioners tell others whenever they convince one person to withdraw from the CCP. Therefore, we can't tell who did more and who did less by using our naked eyes and human hearts. In addition, we are cultivating in Dafa, not doing things in everyday society. Therefore, we need to meet the standard of Dafa. Only when we do the three things well and are undisturbed by external interference can we meet Teacher's expectations.
The attachment of “I believe I cultivate well” can also strengthen the notion of “looking down on fellow practitioners.” Thus the practitioner won't accept others' suggestions and he thinks that he is always right. It will cause separation among practitioners and even prevent practitioners from forming an indestructible whole body. Eventually it will cause harm among practitioners, and could even cause some to stop their journey. Such a situation can easily weaken and destroyed a team of practitioners. Meanwhile those who are leading the team have to slow down to wait for others, weakening the power of the whole body and slowing down progress.
Since we need to let go of the human heart, we can't achieve consummation while harboring this attachment. In addition, cultivating with such an attachment would harm oneself and fellow practitioners. It also weakens the strength of the whole body. It is a true obstacle in our path of assisting Teacher and validating Dafa.