(Minghui.org) The attachment to seeking renown for doing things well among practitioners is a familiar subject. I read a Minghui article that showed the negative impact the attachment had on a practitioner. I would like to remind practitioners of the importance to improving in this regard.

The practitioner who wrote the article said he really liked reading sharing articles, but rarely shared with other practitioners. Not being good at expressing himself was one reason, but more importantly, he really disliked the attachment to seeking renown that many practitioners had.

He felt that many practitioners had come to the practice with such an attachment. For example, they were not interested in worldly interests, because they sought to attain a higher level and to gain better things. He thought they still had the selfishness and self-centeredness of beings of the old universe.

When he first became a practitioner, he was very excited, thinking that he had found like-minded people. But he realized quickly that many of them were not of a high level. Although each had their own forte, he felt a huge gap between them.

He eventually left the group. He now reads Dafa books and Minghui sharing articles on his own to continue his practice.

He said, “I'm not against others' aspirations. But if 'pursuing renown' exists in heaven, then I don't want to go there. I, however, believe that the new universe is not like that.” “I don't know what my future will be. But what I have learned has far exceeded my initial expectations. I'm more than satisfied. Perhaps in the future I won't be better off than the practitioners who looked down on me. But pursuing excellence is not what I'm after. Regardless of how the universe or another being defines me, in my mind I'm an ordinary being. I never chased after eminence, not today, and not tomorrow.”

His understanding is somewhat limited, in my opinion.

Master said,

“As parts continue to be fully cultivated, they are continually partitioned off; the part that hasn't been fully cultivated, meanwhile, constantly undergoes cultivation until the point where nothing remains and everything has been successfully cultivated. That is the cultivation path you are to take.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference VII)

We therefore cannot see the part that is cultivated and continue to see the part that is not cultivated. But that does not mean that a practitioner is not cultivating. Perhaps he or she is a little slow in this regard or has not noticed the attachment to seeking renown among practitioners. And if other practitioners see the problem, this would be a good opportunity to cultivate by looking inward and checking for their own attachments.

There is a saying, “birds of a feather flock together.” Fa-rectification period practitioners came together to assist Master in saving sentient beings. We study the Fa and cultivate ourselves in the process. If we leave the group, there would be fewer conflicts and problems to deal with, and we would be missing a cultivation environment that Master provided us.

Veteran practitioners know that conflicts help us improve. For example, a situation that can help us elevate our xinxing level is when we think we are right though others contradict us.

Dafa is open to all, and there are all kinds of people among practitioners. The attachment to pursuing renown is an element of selfishness, and many practitioners have been behaving this way, for a long time.

The author of the article noticed their attachments, could not stand it and left the group. He needs to cultivate himself, but those who pursue and have the attachment (of gaining renown among practitioners) should look inward as well. When one does not cultivate well it then becomes harder to do Dafa work and creates problems for other practitioners.

Master has been reminding us,

“You must first cultivate yourself well, only then can you fulfill your historic mission.” (“Fa Teaching at the New York Fa Conference on the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of Dafa’s Introduction to the Public”)

The new universe has no room for selfishness. If we cannot be selfless we have not reached the standard of the new universe, which means we are not cultivating well.