(Minghui.org) In the cultivation process of removing one's attachments to fame and profit, some of the xinxing tribulations we encounter test whether we pursue fame and profit, while others are tests of how one conducts oneself when offered opportunities to advance through fame and profit.

My personal understanding is that with a selfish starting point, it's easy for practitioners to develop attachments to their own understandings and to validating themselves. Using one's advantages and strengths is showing off one's personal characteristics. Often, such practitioners don't put top priority on Master and the Fa. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, it's easy for them to play the role of disrupting the Fa.

The Minghui editors recently published the article, “Giving Speeches Amounts to Disrupting the Fa.” I have also made similar observations among practitioners. It's possible that some practitioners who know each other may have developed predestined relationships throughout different lifetimes. There are always practitioners who form small groups. In each of these groups it always seems that one is a leader who is articulate, and usually the leader also has the ability to organize the group.

When a fellow practitioner points out a problem after seeing that this leader is not speaking or behaving according to the Fa, his human attachments are touched upon and he feels embarrassed. Once he encounters problems with his xinxing and cannot look inward at the first wrong thought, his attachments prevail. He may unconsciously use the trust of his fellow practitioners to prompt them to fight against this practitioner.

This type of behavior is similar to the exclusionary behavior people exhibit in ordinary society. They treat fellow practitioners as their own “personal property” and use them as tools of “struggle” to compete for fame and “territory.” They get stuck in superficial work and achievement instead of truly cultivating themselves.

During such conflicts, practitioners share their understandings based on their various cultivation levels. The more arguments there are, and the more complicated the situation becomes, the more difficult it seems to determine who is right and who is wrong. They often forget the most fundamental standard: “Zhen-Shan-Ren is the sole criterion to discern good and bad people.” (Zhuan Falun)

Those who think and act according to the Fa's standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are good people; those who stir up fights but hide under a high-sounding cover are bad people. Nevertheless, many practitioners are bogged down in these types of conflicts. They measure right and wrong using their limited knowledge of the situation and understanding from their own levels, rather than examining themselves and making judgment according to Master's Fa.

Out of an attachment to self protection, some practitioners just keep silent. Even when they speak, they only ask both sides to talk less, as if the problems and conflicts would thus be resolved. In my opinion, those practitioners don't even know why they've encountered conflicts, so their solution is to ask the disagreeing parties to keep silent, instead of using the Fa principles to evaluate and harmonize the situation.

When we encounter this kind of situation, it is similar to the old forces who forcibly try to use their understanding at their levels to rectify the universe. They are attached to what they want to do and attempt to use Master to fulfill their attachments, instead of completely obeying Master's wishes and arrangements.

Master said,

“Those old forces, I can tell you, were the most outstanding beings at each level, ...” (“Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)

“The ones that have taken part in persecuting the Fa-rectification are only that one group, the old forces, and they make up twenty percent of the beings at different levels. All the other, larger numbers of beings aren't taking part, and these ones who aren't taking part are observing and watching all of this.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston”)

I feel that there is a corresponding reflection among practitioners in the human world. Some who have a reputation among practitioners are attached to validating themselves, instead of putting Master and the Fa's standards and requirements in the primary place.

We must truly cultivate ourselves rather than be attached to any realms of fantasy. Without solid cultivation, it's easy for one to be deceived by the so-called advanced theories and go astray in cultivation. Once a cultivator does not walk his path correctly, all his efforts might even lead to doing bad deeds.

For those who have certain reputation and influence among practitioners, you should pay attention to what you say and do, and evaluate every thought with the Fa. Master said, “The desire to show off plus the attachment of zealotry are most easily exploited by the demonic part of your mind.” (“Definitive Conclusion” in Essentials for Further Advancement) The attachment to fame is like seeking out demons. I hope that we can all be rational and clear-headed.