Falun Buddha Fa
Teaching the Fa at the
(New York, March 27–28, 1999)
Li Hongzhi
This was intended to be a conference organized by U.S.
Falun Dafa disciples on the East Coast for sharing understanding and insights
from studying the Fa,
but now it seems that many people sitting here are actually from other
countries or regions. Many of you may have thought that Master might show up.
Let me tell you here in advance that in the future when an experience-sharing
conference is held in whatever region, I might not attend. I’m telling you this
so you won’t waste a trip [looking for me]. Dafa conferences are held just
about every week around the globe, and I’m not able to attend every single one
of them. I’d like to tell you this ahead of time.
Additionally, this particular conference has been
organized fairly well. Many students have quietly put in a lot of effort and
contributed greatly to this event. On behalf of all of you, I hereby thank
these students for providing us with this environment. At the same time, we
must make this conference a success. A Dafa
conference must not be only a formality. You must make it an event that truly
enables you to improve and find your shortcomings, and that truly helps you
progress toward Consummation. In that case, the efforts of the students who
contributed to this conference will be worthwhile, and our conference will
truly serve its purpose well. The same goes for conferences held in other
regions—you must make conferences like this truly helpful for everyone’s
cultivation and improvement, and not let them become a formality.
Cultivation should not be judged by the number of
people practicing. I’ve said that it doesn’t matter to me how many or how few
people practice. Even if only 1% of the people practiced cultivation, what I’ve
done wouldn’t have been in vain, not to mention the fact that we have many
cultivators. All of you are practicing cultivation, and you’re making
substantial improvements—you’re all in the midst of improving rapidly, and I
see that you’re very diligent as well. Now, more people from all over the world
have come to understand Dafa better and better, and there will be more and more
people learning Dafa. So, correspondingly, this will bring about some issues;
that is, when you first started to study this Fa, you might’ve had a lot of
questions or doubts, and many issues that you hadn’t gained enough
understanding of surfaced. I think among all of the new students who are
sitting here, no matter which nationality or ethnicity you are, in studying the
Fa, you should keep reading the book. Only by doing so can the puzzling questions
on your minds be answered. I talk about this at every conference: you should
read the book repeatedly during cultivation. Why have I kept reiterating these
words? Because every day there are newcomers joining in. Therefore, these words
will have to be repeated again in the future. In other words, the purpose of my
imparting this Fa is to enable people to cultivate and to enable people to
improve—there’s no doubt about this, and reality has shown that this goal can
be achieved.
Nevertheless, we all know that I only have this
one flesh body in the human world. It would be really difficult for me to tell
each individual student how to cultivate, because there are close to 100
million people learning this and there will be many, many more in the future.
This Dafa has been made public and I can’t speak to and teach every one of you
face-to-face in the human world, yet I also want you to improve—to truly have
you improve, even reach Consummation. If I couldn’t achieve this, wouldn’t I be
deceiving you? But, reality has shown that
people have not only ascended through cultivation, they have also cultivated
very well. So this proves that I can be responsible to everyone and that my
words are not unfounded. What I’ve just been talking about is that given the
large number of students, I’m unable to see every one of you or teach you
personally, but as long as you read the book, Zhuan Falun, you’ll get
everything you’re entitled to. (Applause) You all know that this is not
an ordinary book. It is the Fa. Different laws, theories, and ideologies exist
in our human society, but I’ll tell you, all of those are human things—they are
human things at the level of ordinary human society. But what I’m teaching you
today goes far beyond any theory in human society and any Fa at the ordinary
human level. So, being what it is, it certainly has its majestic and
unfathomable inner meanings. In other words, if you want to cultivate, this Fa
can truly guide you to improve. On the surface, the book looks just like any
other ordinary book, with black ink on white paper. But human eyes can only
recognize things in the dimension of this ordinary human society, and anything
that goes beyond this range is invisible to humans. At present, science hasn’t
been able to develop to that level yet, and it can’t understand these things
either. But in other dimensions, in higher and more profound realms that are
still unknown to our humankind, there are different living environments and
dimensions in which living beings exist. In other words, it appears to be a
book in this human dimension, but it is not like this when viewed in a
different dimension. It is the Law of Heaven. I’m not talking here about how
great Li Hongzhi is. I often tell you that I’m just a human being and you don’t
have to regard me as so great. This is because what I teach you is this Fa,
which enables you to come together to practice cultivation, and enables you to
improve and to gain understanding of this Fa.
Since many students aren’t able to see me, I have
frequently said that you should “take the Fa as your teacher.” This Fa can
provide guidance on everything in your cultivation. Behind the black ink that’s
printed on white paper exist countless Buddhas, Daos,
and Gods. When you read the book and want to improve yourself or reach a
certain realm, the gods behind each character will let you understand the true
meaning behind that character at different levels, if that level is where your
realm should be. That is why when you study the book repeatedly, no matter how
many times you’ve read it, every time you will have a different understanding
of the same sentence. Those of you in the audience who have read the book more
than a hundred times are no longer a small number. And among the almost 100
million Dafa students, those who have read the book more than a hundred times
are no longer a small number. And you still keep reading it. You can’t set this
Fa down now, because the more you read, the more things you find in it; the
more you read, the more you understand, and you have gone far beyond what
humankind can understand at present, including what modern science can
understand. You can thus improve and ascend. Of course, the Fa can guide you to
high levels and guide you in your cultivation. The Fa can also help you with
many, many things. But I say to all of you that your own cultivation is most
important. If a person doesn’t have the heart for cultivation, anything else is
out of the question. You must have a heart firmly committed to cultivation.
Through studying the Fa, you’ll gradually understand these principles and
subsequently become more determined. Don’t be afraid of having questions. I’m
pleased that you can recognize the questions you have. A lot of the questions
that you don’t have answers to and that you want to ask can actually be
answered by continuously reading the book while cultivating. As many veteran
students already know, you’ll have many questions when you read the book for
the first time: “Why? Why?” Many of the thoughts will even be at an elementary
level, such as, “Is this for real?” You might have these kinds of thoughts.
But, when you read it for the second time, all those questions or ideas that
you had in mind will be answered. At the same time, new questions will come up
when you read the book for the second time. Yet when you read the book for the
third time, those questions will be answered. So it’s a progressive process
like this. It looks simple, but in fact, I can tell you: this is how
cultivation goes, because every time you read it through you’re improving
yourselves.
As you know, more than 100 million people have
obtained the Fa. Throughout history there were never this many people when
righteous Fa were taught. Of course, I want to save even more people. The
veteran students among you know that I’ve taught a Fa this grand only because
we’re in a special historical period right now. So you have to read the book a
lot during your cultivation. This is crucial to your improvement—you must do
that. Living in human society, everything people are in contact with are
practical things of human society. If you don’t seize the time to read the
book, your thoughts of and heart for cultivation might be weakened. You might
become less diligent in your cultivation, even to the point of giving it up.
That might happen. But I often contemplate: you have obtained the Fa, which
wasn’t easy, so if you don’t cherish it, it will be such a pity because this
has never been done in the thousands of years of history since the beginning of
time. In the past, how could the true Fa of the cosmos have been revealed to
human beings? It was absolutely impossible.
I’ve said that I am only teaching this because we
are at a special time in history. The human society in the future will go
through tremendous changes; many special phenomena will be displayed in the
cosmos. Modern science has already discovered new celestial bodies continually
forming and old ones exploding. Aren’t newspapers reporting that new galaxies are
appearing where none were found before, and that many ancient celestial bodies
are decomposing, with many new ones emerging? This is happening in very far and
remote cosmic bodies. Slowly, it’s getting closer and closer to the dimension
that’s visible to our human flesh eyes. These scenes will appear. Of course,
the reason I mention these things is to tell you that I’m only teaching this Fa
under these special historical circumstances. So you must cherish this Fa. If
you don’t study the Fa, you certainly won’t be able to understand how precious
the Fa is. If you can study the Fa, the more you study the more you’ll know how
precious the Fa is.
The religions in human society
have gone through a time period of about a thousand years plus, and over the
course of time, they have lost what’s most fundamental and essential to a
religion. In other words, they can no longer accomplish the goal of returning
people to heaven by elevating them to meet the standard for Consummation. This
is to say that in modern times they can no longer serve this purpose, and that
people are only living in their own imaginations. That’s why I chose to teach
Dafa now. You should know that when I taught the Fa, if the goal couldn’t have
been reached, it would have resulted in a terrible problem. I’ve never
mentioned this to you. Before I start talking about it, let me first touch on a
social problem. As you know, in human society, particularly in the last one or
two thousand years, all kinds of theories, be they good, evil, or neutral, have
surfaced; so have various religious doctrines. In the beginning, the few major
upright religions had the intention of turning human beings into good people.
They effectively sustained the moral standards of human society, and at the
same time, enabled those who had become better people to ascend, even to the
point of returning back to their paradises. But over the extensive course of
time, those doctrines have been diluted gradually by modern people’s thinking
and notions. People are becoming more and more unable to accept those
doctrines, and they believe less and less in them. They regard going to church
on Sundays as a civil thing to do instead of genuinely trying to conduct
themselves according to the teachings of Jesus, St. Mary, or Yahweh. You can’t
go to heaven if you can’t do this. You can’t go to heaven without following a
Buddha’s teachings. Some claim: “I am following his teachings.” In fact, you
don’t even know how to follow his teachings. This is the fundamental reason why
I say religions can no longer allow people to cultivate and return home.
But today I have imparted a Fa so grand that it
can deeply stir everyone’s hearts. As long as you read the book, you’ll know
that it’s good. As long as you read the book, you’ll understand the magnificence
of the Fa. What I teach are the true principles of the cosmos, and everyone
will be deeply stirred by this Fa. Those people who’ve become very corrupt and
have completely gone against the nature of the cosmos will also be deeply
stirred by this Fa. Why? Because they’ve become completely opposite to this Fa,
they’ll be really scared, and will hate it. In other words, people like that
are completely doomed! So, everyone will be stirred by this Fa—they will either
agree with the Fa or oppose the Fa.
As I was saying, my imparting this Dafa could
bring about a very serious problem. None of the doctrines from ancient times to
this day can return people’s hearts to [the way they were in] the best time
period anymore, yet reality has proven that this fundamental Fa of the cosmos
that I’m teaching can enable people to reach Consummation. But if this Fa were
not able to help you re-ascend, then there would be no other way—from
humankind’s remote antiquity to modern times and even to the future—that would
enable you to re-ascend, and humankind would have no more hope. That would be
extremely dangerous! If this Fa couldn’t truly serve that purpose or if the Fa
were damaged, there would be no other way to save humankind. (Applause)
Because it is the most superior Fa of the cosmos, there’s no other Fa that
could have the same power as the fundamental, Great Fa of the cosmos. But the
truth is that I have guided you past that stage: I have truly enabled students
to improve themselves and disciples to genuinely elevate in their cultivation,
and I have enabled more people to understand this Fa. Although the morality of
human society is quickly declining and it has become bad, I have found that
even though people are committing bad deeds and wrong deeds out of ignorance, once
people come to know this Fa they conduct themselves according to the Fa. This
is to say, people still possess Buddha-nature and good thoughts, and their kind
nature still exists—it’s just that they’ve done many wrong deeds out of
ignorance.
I have brought you past that stage. This is
something that has made me really pleased. (Applause) For our students
and the human society, this is the thing most worth rejoicing over, because you
have truly passed through and stepped out of the most perilous situation. (Applause)
As you know, in our history there have been many prophets, qigong
masters, and people enlightened in religions who have made a lot of comments
about different catastrophes that would take place in human society at the end
of this century. They even mentioned that human beings would be destroyed. Of
course, these aren’t my words—I’m just telling you what those prophets said.
I can give people a clear answer as to whether or
not those things will happen. You know, it’s just like what I said, the
illustration I used in Zhuan Falun. There is a rotten apple—in this
enormous universe, Earth looks just like an apple—an apple which has become
rotten inside and out. Just like every individual human being, every particle
inside of this apple is rotten. Then shouldn’t this apple be destroyed, thrown
away, or disposed of? If the morality of human society has degenerated to this
level, in the eyes of gods, doesn’t it look like a rotten apple that should be
destroyed? But being gods, as we all know—particularly those close to the level
of humankind—they all have mercy on humans, so they want to save humans. But
think about it, everyone: you want to save a rotten apple and don’t want to
throw it away, so you leave it in the room, yet it becomes more and more
rotten, with maggots crawling all over it. Now there’s a rotten apple with
worms all over it in your spotless room—why would you leave it there? If you
insisted on leaving it there, wouldn’t you be doing a bad thing? The same goes
for this universe. The Earth has already become like that. Why not destroy it?
If a god didn’t destroy it, wouldn’t he be doing a bad thing? Yet gods are
different from people. They possess power that enables them to transform the
apple into a fresh one, from its most original particles. They can turn the
apple back into a fresh one; by changing its composition, the apple becomes
good again. Then if anyone were to throw it away, wouldn’t he be committing a wrong
deed? But that’s not something that average gods can do.
Today, there are 100 million people who are
cultivating, changing their thinking, being good people and becoming more
virtuous. They’re truly working toward being individuals who can measure up to
the standards existing at different levels of the universe. So could the Earth
be blown up? Could it be destroyed? Could the prophecies of those prophets be
realized? They can no longer be realized. I’m saying that no prophecy is true
anymore, because Dafa is being spread in human society today, and people’s
hearts are elevating—elevating rapidly. Yesterday, a journalist asked me
questions and mentioned that now 100 million people are learning this
[practice]. Moreover, the trend is growing rapidly. There will be more people
learning this. Right now, there are 100 million people improving their
morality. If every one of these 100 million people tells one more person to
come and learn, the number will become 200 million. The number will multiply
very quickly into a large number. When everyone is returning to kindness, being
a good human being and improving his own moral standards, human society will
become what I just illustrated—an apple that has become fresh. Who could
destroy it?
The development of human society and every
situation in the universe have been arranged by gods. These things all follow
certain patterns. Human society experiences bad situations, including wars,
earthquakes, floods, epidemics, plagues etc., and there are many, many other
natural disasters. In fact, all of these have a purpose. They eliminate karma
for mankind. Human beings’ thoughts are directed by gods. Human beings never
think about where their thoughts come from. When they want to do something in a
particular way, when their thoughts emerge, when a so-called inspiration comes
along, or when they suddenly remember something, they all think those are their
own thoughts, when in fact many are not. Gods are keeping every aspect of human
society under tight control. However, there is one thing. There’s a principle
in this universe that says: when it comes to what a human being wants to do,
what he wants to do as an individual entity, you still have to look at the
person’s thoughts. If he wants to cultivate, great, I’ll help him cultivate; if
he doesn’t want to be good, I’ll let him be, and he’ll become a very bad
individual. But overall, human society is controlled by gods. So, when a person
is good, he’ll have a bright future, and if he isn’t, he won’t, and he’ll have
darkness and evil karma awaiting him.
What I talked about just now was brought about by
the discussion of your cultivation and of my Fa. The purpose was to tell
everyone to cherish it. Today, there are 100 million people studying the Fa.
You have already rewritten history. Isn’t that worth celebrating? Isn’t that
magnificent? (Applause) But, there are still a lot of bad people who are
doing bad things. So even though mankind won’t have big catastrophes as the
prophets had predicted, there will still be many adverse things happening in
some regions, since they don’t have the Fa there.
Since today is the conference for sharing
understandings and insights from studying the Fa, I don’t want to take up too
much of your time. I just wanted to meet with you. The goal of our conference
is that all of you make progress and gain further understanding from hearing
other students’ speeches and sharing. Certainly you have a lot of questions.
Every moment there are new students starting to learn this, and new students
will have questions. Veteran students also have some questions. Let’s do this:
I’ll answer your questions tomorrow afternoon. I just told you all that you
need to cherish the Fa, and study it a lot. You have to read the book again and
again, and by doing this you are improving. I have infused my abilities into
this Dafa. As long as you study it, you will undergo changes. As long as you
study it, you will be improving. As long as you practice it to the end, you
will be able to reach Consummation. (Applause)
I’ll address a few minor things in passing. For one,
from now on, veteran students, as long as you haven’t reached Consummation, you
have to come out and practice. I am mentioning this once again. Why do I say
this? It’s because our cultivation environment, our Fa-study environment, and
what the students discuss and say when they are together are noble and form a
rare and most pure environment. This is very hard to find in human society, and
is the most benevolent and most wonderful piece of pure land, so you mustn’t
lose this environment. That’s because human society is continuing to decline,
and it’s getting worse and worse. You all have jobs in this ordinary human
society, and you have social activities—all of you have contact with everyday
people and ordinary human society. Consequently, what you see and hear, whether
you intend it or not, all has to do with everyday people’s things, which will
interfere with your cultivation. So it’s beneficial for you to often study the
Fa together and use this basin of fresh water to cleanse yourselves.
Also, I recently wrote two articles, which you
call scriptures. The issues raised are critical; they are also the more obvious
issues at present. That is, there are people that have reached
semi-enlightenment at low levels, who, because their levels are not high, don’t
have much understanding of the Fa, and aren’t able to completely grasp a lot of
the things I’ve taught. Since they’re in a state of semi-enlightenment at low
levels, they see some high-level beings who have degenerated and fled to the
Three Realms from high-level dimensions (since Fa-rectification is taking place
up there, the old cosmos is disintegrating, and the new one is being created,
so in order to escape this reality, these beings have fled to this dimension of human beings—they’ve come to
the human dimension to evade the disaster), or some low-level gods that
originally existed in the Three Realms. They can’t see the true picture of what
is going on in this cosmos. Of course, they knew about it before they came here,
but have no idea about what has happened since they arrived. This is to say,
they’ve been sealed in here completely.
Many of them resist the Fa-rectification and
resist Dafa, but many of them don’t know the true situation. Even the gods who
were originally in this dimension haven’t come into contact with that reality,
and as a result, they aren’t aware of the truth. So they too interfere with
Dafa students. Some of them interfere intentionally, not knowing that they’re
interfering with the Great Law of the cosmos and committing a serious
crime—they can’t recognize this. Because the truth of the universe is concealed
from them, they can only see the things within the Three Realms. Now Dafa has
entered the Three Realms—the work in the Three Realms has started.
This creates relatively significant interference
for people whose Third Eye (tianmu) has opened at low levels. Some
students, through their open Third Eye, see a magnificent and remarkable god
who utters some words that slander Dafa. Of course, they’re all things he made
up. His aim is to confuse students and get them weeded out from Dafa. Some of
them disguise themselves as my Law Bodies (fashen), and tell you what to
do. Whoever tells a cultivating disciple explicitly what to do is definitely
someone who has come to damage Dafa and students. Why are you being exploited?
It’s only because you have strong attachments. You choose your own path, and
your future position is where your being is supposed to be. Everyone, think
about it: before my undertaking has arrived at this dimension, it, too, is
under control.
Why are they allowed to do that? Because your
cultivation can’t be smooth sailing all the way. In the future, when you will
appear in the heavenly paradise as a magnificent god who has reached Consummation,
all the gods will ask you: how did you cultivate up to this place? It’s
critical whether you’ve undergone severe tests, whether you’ve experienced
something in your cultivation where you really had to decide if you would
continue to cultivate in this Fa, and whether you were steadfast during
tribulations. Thus, we’ve used this interference to see your heart. Some people
couldn’t pass these tests, and left the Fa. Some started wavering. But these
cases have become more and more severe. As a result, I raised the issue, giving
those people who left the Fa one last chance; otherwise, they would lose this
opportunity. Think about it, everyone: during the Fa’s rectification of the
cosmos, many high-level gods have become not so good and been knocked down. They’ve
even lost the opportunity to be human beings. A lot of them have even been cast
down to places lower than human beings, and some have even been annihilated. So
what about humans? If you lose this opportunity there will never be another
one. Of course, you decide what you want. I wrote the article to tell you not
to miss this opportunity.
The other article was about some people who were
with other religions or people who used to practice other things. They too have
come to learn Dafa because the truth of the cosmos is becoming more and more
evident. After all, high-level beings have certain capabilities. They too have
realized that only this Dafa can truly enable people to return, and that no
other cultivation way in human society is able to achieve that any longer. So
they made their own people, or some who don’t have a complete understanding of
this, come into our Dafa. Their goal is to use our Dafa to get back to the
positions they desire. They in fact can’t let go of their own things, and are
just using Dafa and me instead of truly wanting to cultivate in Dafa. They
can’t detach from those so-called gods in their hearts, the things they’re
attached to, or even things that have already been weeded out and no longer
exist.
They’re here in the human dimension, and they
don’t know about these things at all. They want to use this Dafa, and this
intention by itself is a sin. I could very well ignore them and let them be,
but I think that they have, after all, come to know this Fa. Even though their
hearts and minds aren’t pure, they have read the book. So, I want to give them
a chance by making this clear and pointing it out. If you still can’t turn
around you will lose this chance forever. I can tell you, such an opportunity
should not be missed, and the chance won’t come again. Dafa is solemn, and
cultivation is a serious matter—it’s not child’s play. Do you think you could
just obtain this whenever you want? Do you think you could just obtain it
anytime at your convenience? It’s not up to you. If you lose it you will lose
it forever.
I want to talk about one more thing. There are
many young disciples among our practitioners. You should mind your personal
lives. On the subject of intimacy, you mustn’t go along with the degenerated
behavior of ordinary human society. You can have a wife or husband—that’s fine
and proper. It isn’t a problem for you to cultivate while conforming to
ordinary human society to the maximum extent. For you to live as husband and
wife is fine, but if you aren’t husband and wife and have sexual relations,
then you are doing the filthiest thing. That is something gods absolutely
cannot accept—not a single god would accept it. So be very sure to pay
attention to this. A person’s course of cultivation is that cultivator’s
history. Innumerable, immeasurable, countless gods are watching Dafa disciples’
every thought and every act. As cultivators who are determined to reach
Consummation, why can’t you pass this test? I’ll stop here for today. I hope
this conference will be successful. Tomorrow afternoon I’ll answer questions
for you. Now you can continue with the conference, and have students share
their experiences and understanding.
Good afternoon!
Judging from the last two days, this conference
has indeed been very successful. There can never be too many conferences like
this one—they can benefit our students, enable everyone to improve, help people
learn from each other where they fall short, and push people to continuously
progress diligently. This is very good. This is exactly the goal of Fa
conferences. They can assist you in your cultivation practice, which is the
purpose of Dafa conferences. In addition, you may have already found that there
is a notable characteristic of this conference: Western students’ understanding
of the Fa is getting deeper. I think this time we’ve had the deepest discussion
from them so far. (Applause) That is because they keep studying the Fa,
they are more and more able to rationally understand this Fa, and they’re able
to talk about themselves from the Fa. This is really excellent. This afternoon
is primarily for answering your questions. Ok, I’ll start answering your
questions now.
Question: The Dafa music, “Pudu” can
move people to tears. Where did this touching music come from?
Teacher: This music has been played during the conference
since yesterday. All of you have heard it, and it’s very solemn and moving.
This is our Dafa’s own music. I figured that, since there would be more and
more Dafa students, our exercise music should be made available to the public
via publishing houses. That involved the issue of copyrights. I therefore took
two approaches at the same time: for one, we discussed the issue of copyrights
with the composer; secondly, I asked a musician practitioner to compose a piece
to meet our need for exercise music. I personally spoke to the practitioner and
told him how to do it, and very quickly, he finished composing the music. He
composed two pieces—“Jishi” and
“Pudu.” During the same period of time, the composer of the exercise music we
were originally using was also studying the Fa, and he gave the music to Dafa
unconditionally. (Applause) This is certainly something that brings
boundless virtue. So I thought that was really wonderful. We should thus
continue to use the original exercise music because all of us are already
familiar with it.
We’ll stick with the original music when we do the
exercises, since switching would affect everyone quite a bit. This way nothing
needs to be altered, which is great. However, the new music was composed very
well. Everyone felt the music was excellent after listening to it; the only
thing is that it’s very solemn and moving. Being so solemn and moving, it
easily moves people to tears and gets them stirred up and emotional inside,
making it hard for them to enter into tranquility during the exercises.
Therefore, I think these pieces of music can be played during conferences or
other Dafa activities; in addition, they were composed by our Dafa student, so
they’re music of our Dafa. Please note that we should still use the original
music for doing the exercises, since this music has already had a very powerful
effect on students.
Question: The meditation time varies significantly
among practitioners. Will corresponding differences still exist after
Consummation has been reached?
Teacher: No. No matter how high you cultivate, your body after
Consummation is no longer one that’s constrained by this human dimension or
time, or any elements of this dimension. So your body at that time won’t be
affected at all when you meditate—it will be easy for you whether you’re
sitting or lying down.
Question: The time for cultivation practice is
limited. Many disciples are concerned that there may not be enough time.
Teacher: That thought is incorrect—that’s another kind of
attachment. You can have a sense of urgency, which can serve as a driving force
for your faster improvement and prompt Consummation, but if you’re attached to
these things, it will certainly become an obstacle. It will, instead, delay
your progress and affect your cultivation. So don’t think about anything, and
just go ahead and cultivate yourself. As long as you cultivate yourself, it’s
guaranteed that you are moving towards Consummation. As long as you can come
through those critical moments, Consummation will be ahead of you. In your
cultivation, every one of you may encounter things that strike you at the core,
and sometimes the feeling may even be quite strong. Some of those things may
not directly manifest around you, on your body, or in the things you encounter.
They might manifest in the things that other people go through, or when others
criticize you, or during some other conflicts. All these will make you choose
between studying Dafa or not studying Dafa, or whether you want this Fa. What
you choose will be looked at. Everyone will encounter these situations.
Therefore, when you’ve encountered these things,
it’s testing you to see if you can continue to cultivate, and if you can
steadfastly cultivate in Dafa. This is most critical. You must be clear that
during your cultivation process, at any moment you can be presented with an
opportunity in which you are tested on whether or not you can reach
Consummation. You might not pass it because you can’t be firm in Dafa, or you
might pass it because you have firm belief in Dafa—you’ll come through with
determination. Whether you pass or fail, you might feel it was nothing
afterwards, but when you’re in the middle of it you won’t think it’s nothing.
All the same, that’s a test regarding whether or not you can move towards
Consummation. This is most critical. Actually, certain attachments are very
easy for us to get rid of for humans. Once it has been confirmed that this
individual can reach Consummation, he can take his time to get rid of his
remaining attachments. That’s why I tell all of you that on the path of
cultivation, you might encounter these types of situations. Whether you can
handle them well, whether you can pass them, all depends on you. No matter who
it is that’s in the midst of different calamities, no matter who it is that’s
being struck at the core, making him waver, so that he can’t deal with the
matters at hand as calmly as usual—these are the moments that test people most.
Question: Is it all right to add simultaneous
foreign language translation to the exercise music, while keeping Teacher’s
voice?
Teacher: That’s fine. But it’s even better not to add
simultaneous translation. It’s not wrong to add it, either, as it might be
helpful to new students. However, my lecture tapes should have simultaneous
translation added, and this is being done now. My voice has to be on there. As
you all know, my voice is not simply a voice. That’s why my voice has to be
there along with the interpreter’s. That way, your process of listening to and
obtaining the Fa will be the same as Chinese students’ listening to me in
Chinese.
Question: When someone cultivates to the point of
the Placement of the
Teacher: Some people’s Third Eye will remain open, some won’t.
It depends on the individual and his particular circumstances. You can’t be
attached to this. You just heard what one Western student said in his speech:
“I can see nothing, but I firmly believe in this Dafa.” Leaving aside how well
this person has cultivated, those words of his were truly remarkable. (Applause)
Reaching Consummation by way of enlightening—that’s truly remarkable. Of
course, this isn’t to say that people who can see are not remarkable. Everyone
has his own cultivation situation. You’ll definitely be allowed to see what you
should see. It’s guaranteed that you won’t be allowed to see what you shouldn’t
see. Some people want to see, and this is an attachment in itself. So, since
you have this attachment, you won’t be allowed to see. Some people can only
return to their places through enlightening in the Fa, yet they insist on
seeing. In order for you to reach Consummation, for the sake of your future, we
can’t let you see, and this is for your own benefit.
All the arrangements made for you as cultivators
are for your benefit. They are absolutely not for me, your Master.
They are all arranged for your Consummation. (Applause) So I hope you
get rid of all your attachments—don’t even keep a little bit of them. A person
gains naturally without pursuit. When you have a desire, it’s an attachment.
You can let go of everything that ordinary people pursue. What you want to
attain are more wonderful things that everyday people cannot attain, and as you
are all letting go of the things of everyday people, why do you still want to
pursue those things? Aren’t you pursuing them to use them among everyday
people? Put frankly, aren’t you still attached to these trivial things of
everyday people? Of course, you may think, “How nice it would be if I could see
things during my cultivation.” Behind “how nice it would be,” there may be an
attachment. There are other reasons, and it’s not as simple as what appears on
the surface. To be truly responsible to you I must get rid of the attachments
that are deeply hidden inside of you.
Question: I came from
Teacher: Many Westerners enjoy jogging or going to the gym.
Some people also enjoy walking, thinking that doing so can make them healthy.
Are these things effective? They can, on the surface body, play a role in
defending against minor and not-so-serious ailments. To put it more plainly and
accurately, this kind of defense function serves to keep karma from returning
to the surface. It makes karma stay over there. It can temporarily fend off the
illness-karma from the surface body. This is the type of defense function we’re
talking about. For cultivators, on the other hand, we probably need to make all
your accumulated illness karma surface—push all of it out—and truly make you
fundamentally healthy, make you free of karma, and make you clean and pure. So
this might conflict with [the defense function]. Perhaps it’s for this reason
that we don’t tell you to do that. Cultivation practice is the only way that
allows a being to achieve a truly healthy life. So if you want to achieve
health through walking, frankly speaking, this says that you still don’t firmly
believe in Dafa. You think that Dafa isn’t able to make you attain a healthy body
like walking does. Or, you might think that you haven’t thought about it that
deeply and that you just go for walks out of habit. Then perhaps this habit of
yours has become an attachment without your realizing it, and you need to
eliminate this attachment. You might have treated the elimination of this
attachment of yours as a tribulation or an obstacle. Then why can’t you look at
this from another perspective to see whether it’s to eliminate some of your
attachments? Wouldn’t it be better to spend the time you use for jogging in the
morning or evening doing the exercises instead? I think that when you encounter
problems, if you can think about what’s wrong on your part, then you can
improve the fastest. When you encounter difficulties, examine yourself, and you
might find the problem.
Question: When we read, can the state in doing
tranquil exercises also arise, such as the disappearance of the body, leaving
only the mind reading the book?
Teacher: It might happen. Because it is the Fa, it can bring
forth any state. Any state can appear.
Question: I have mental obstacles to participating
in Fa-spreading activities. What should I do?
Teacher: So you’re saying that you don’t want to do
Fa-spreading (hong-fa) things. Then try to find the root cause of what’s
stopping you. Actually, I can tell you all: it’s not that each of you has to
participate in Fa-spreading activities, or that you have to do this and that.
We don’t have stipulations like that. I don’t have such requirements for you.
However, as students, when you’ve benefited from [Dafa] and find it good and
want to tell your relatives, your friends, and more people about this good
thing, that’s an act of great compassion. It comes from your heart—you want to
do it yourself. If you don’t want to do it, don’t force yourself. So I hope
that when you have the wish to do this you will then go ahead and do it, since
we talk about being compassionate, and we all want to share good things with
others. In this world, nothing you give others will last very long. If you give
them money they’ll spend it in no time, right? No matter how nice the things
you give others are, there’s no way they can keep them forever. When a person
comes to this world, he comes with nothing, and when he leaves, he’s buried
under the ground and everything of his decays. You won’t be able to take
anything with you, so when you leave, you leave with nothing as well. What can
last? Only Fa, which you give to others, lasts forever, and that’s why this is
the most precious thing. So going back to what we were discussing, doing things
to spread the Fa is most sacred. Of course, I’m not saying everyone has to do
this—I’m saying you shouldn’t force yourself. If you want to do it, then do it;
if you don’t want to do it, I won’t say you’re wrong.
Question: Is it better to tell Westerners to read Falun Gong or Zhuan Falun to help them
obtain the Fa?
Teacher: This depends on your local situation. There’s no
uniform arrangement, nor is there any rule. If you think that having them read Falun
Gong first can allow them to understand, go ahead and do that. If you feel
that the students have fairly good inborn quality and have a deeper
understanding, then it’s all right for you to have them read Zhuan Falun
directly. That is, do things according to your own individual situation and
circumstance. It’s very simple, there’s no rule.
Question: Venerable Teacher, how is the “nature”
you mentioned in “Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature” related to the “inborn
compassionate nature” mentioned in “Buddha Nature”?
Teacher: The two are related, but in a way, they’re also
unrelated. That is because your nature is a manifestation of the realm
determined by your level. In other words, it’s a manifestation of the realm at
your level, or, a manifestation or embodiment of Dafa’s standards at the realm
and level you were originally born at. It can display itself during
cultivation; or, as you constantly improve in your cultivation, the states that
continuously display as a result of your increasingly deeper understanding at
different levels—that’s your nature. But the selfish characteristic is what
you’ve been contaminated with gradually over the extremely long history of the
universe. If the entire universe and cosmic bodies have deviated from the Fa,
then similar phenomena will emerge everywhere, without anyone being aware of it
among themselves. It’s just like being amidst the current of ordinary people:
even though human society has degenerated to such a terrifying degree, the
beings here can’t feel it, and they still think that everything here is
wonderful. It’s the same idea. So, in your cultivation, you not only need to
reach levels in different realms and return to your nature, but you should also
get rid of the things you’ve been contaminated with at different times, at
different levels, and in different realms—you have to eliminate all of those
things. What I want to give you is the ability to reach the purest realm since
the creation of Heaven and Earth. (Applause)
Question: When doing the fifth exercise, we spend
twenty minutes on each of the three strengthening gestures, so it differs from
Master’s verbal instruction… [is this all right]?
Teacher: If you can do it for longer than the exercise music,
in other words, if you’re able to continue the exercises after the exercise
music is finished, you can go ahead and continue with the exercise. It’s the
same whether you use the music or not. We listen to the music to have it
replace your chaotic thoughts; otherwise you’d have all kinds of thoughts. You
would be thinking about this, thinking about that… Besides, this music is our
Dafa’s music. There’s inner meaning as well as the magnificent Buddha Fa behind
the music. So, when you listen to the music, it’s as if you’re listening to
Buddha music or a Buddha’s voice—it serves that sort of function. If you say
that you can achieve tranquility and you don’t have stray thoughts, it will
then be the same if you don’t listen to the music. If you can do the exercises
for a longer time, it’s also fine to do so without listening to the music.
Question: What is the relationship between
entering into ding
and reaching tranquility?
Teacher: Tranquility is achieved when you become serene and
think of nothing when you do the exercises. Entering into ding means
that you’re able to become ding—entering the state of “forgetting form
and forgetting self.” But you must be aware that you’re doing the exercise.
“Forgetting form” is when you feel that even your body has disappeared.
“Forgetting self” is when you don’t think about anything except that you’re
doing the exercise. That’s a good state, and it’s called becoming ding,
or entering into ding.
Question: After a long while of conforming to the
state of ordinary human society, it’s very easy to drift with the current,
isn’t it?
Teacher: That’s true. That is why I’ve said all students
should go to practice sites to exercise and attend group study regardless of
whether you’re beginners or veterans. That environment will cleanse you, and
constantly cleanse your language, conduct, and notions that have been
contaminated by everyday people.
Question: When it’s very quiet during the
exercises, if there’s a sudden noise, I always get startled.
Teacher: That’s all right. There are many sayings in other
practices, such as that people might get really startled and their qi won’t
come down from the head, and so forth. We don’t have those problems. But
everyone—it doesn’t matter who practices—will run into situations where noises
disturb you. Horns from distant cars, the hubbub of your neighbors, and even
sounds that suddenly appear in your home will disturb you, and no one can
escape that. It’s because people have karma, and where there is karma there is
tribulation. But it won’t last long. This phenomenon often happens during the
initial stages of practice. Some time into your cultivation these kinds of
phenomena will cease to exist.
Question: Could Master please tell us the origin
of cultivation practice?
Teacher: Wow, what you want to know about is a big topic. Even
the cosmic bodies [that exist] during this epoch are not primordial. You have
no idea how enormous the concept of cosmos I’m talking about is. The concept of
the cosmos that you imagine, or that I tell you—no matter how enormous it is—is
still within a very small range. So if you wanted to trace back to the origin
of cultivation, it would be unthinkable and unimaginable. Therefore, it
wouldn’t be meaningful to you, and it has nothing to do with your cultivation.
Question: What Teacher imparts is the Fa of the
cosmos. Then why is the Falun Paradise not at a high level?
Teacher: Why does the Falun Paradise have to be at a high
level? As I’ve said, and I need to repeat it: I am sitting here as a human
being, so regard me as a human being. Just like you, I need to eat and sleep.
Of course, every being has his origin. I also have my origin. The last stop I
made before I came here to do this was the Falun Paradise. So, beyond the Falun
Paradise, I might have stayed at or created other paradises at even higher
levels. Don’t worry about this—don’t put your mind on this.
Question: Gods at very high levels aren’t in the
image of a human body. Then does the difference between Buddhas and Daos still
exist among gods there?
Teacher: I recall that I’ve written about this in one
scripture: the cosmos is simply so vast. People’s concept of “Buddha” today,
which is how you used to understand “Buddha,” is very limited. The concept of
“Buddha” is in fact really broad. But even as broad as that is, it still
doesn’t exceed a very big range in the cosmos. The concept of “Dao” can’t cover
the vast cosmos either. So this is to say that they cease to exist beyond a
certain level. Yet I chose to have the image of a Buddha; I didn’t have an
image of a body before—this is telling you something at a very high level. I’ve
mentioned to you before that I chose to have the image of a Buddha, and that
I’m teaching the Fa of the cosmos from the standpoint of the
Question: We are your disciples. After we reach
Consummation, will we be able to know that at the very, very highest level,
there is our Master?
Teacher: Some will, but that will be all that they know. Some
won’t, because things above you will not be revealed to you—you won’t know any
of those things. So in your concept there won’t be anything above. When you
look at the levels beneath you you’ll know everything at a glance; everything
will be displayed right in front of your eyes, yet there won’t be anything
above your level. The state manifest at that realm isn’t something that you can
understand now. Even though Fa-principles exist up there and I’ve discussed
things at very high levels, I’m still using human language. At that time, the
Fa-principles that you will know and hear will absolutely not be in the
language I’m teaching you with now. All of your concepts will change, and it
will seem to you that nothing exists above you. You will think there might be
things existing at higher levels and that perhaps at least Master is up there,
but that’s about it. And even those thoughts will be weak. The reason is, those
things will be determined by your Attainment Status, determined by your level.
When you’ve cultivated to that level, you will have complete power over the
levels below you. But as for the levels above you, you’ll have no power over
them at all.
Question: Is it absolutely necessary to display
the large Falun emblem at health expos?
Teacher: Students attend health expos out of their deep love
of Dafa, as they want to allow more people to obtain the Fa. As to whether we
should display the Falun emblem, don’t think about it using human notions.
Nevertheless, I have always suggested that we take the specific circumstances
into consideration when doing these things. We shouldn’t go to extremes with
anything. Because in our cultivation we’re making use of the forms of ordinary
human society, we should conform to everyday people to the maximum extent in
our cultivation. Your understanding of these words should not merely come
across in the way you cultivate, but also in your Fa-spreading activities, your
practice, and all of your conduct. Only then will more people be able to
understand you, and only then will you help more people to obtain the Fa. Don’t
make people think you’re doing religious or superstitious things and make them
unable to understand you. If this becomes a factor that prevents people from
obtaining the Fa, that’s not good. So we should do everything just right—we
need to be rational when it comes to this.
Question: After the disciples reach Consummation,
will they be able to see Master?
Teacher: You haven’t reached Consummation and you’re already
thinking about the things after Consummation. So you need to focus your
attention on cultivation now. I’ve told you about this before: I can manifest
in any realm or level. I have complete body images of all levels, from top to
bottom—this is not something you can understand—including the human level. I’ll
come whenever I want to. I remember that I wrote a poem: “Infinitely distant is
Heaven’s vault, But
with just one thought // ‘tis right before the eye…” Regardless of how vast it
may be, it’s impossible for the beings at different levels to go above their
own levels. To go through levels beneath them, there are partitions formed by
time intervals—that is, there’s time involved, it takes time. But for me, your
Master, no concept of time can block me. Of course, this isn’t something you’re
able to understand right now.
Question: Venerable Teacher, why did you have to
reincarnate a few times on earth in order to save us?
Teacher: Because not all of the people sitting here are human
beings, and not all of them came to the earth in the same time period. If I had
only reincarnated once, then what about those who came after that, who would
have had no way of establishing a predestined relationship with me? Many, many
complicated factors were involved in the preparation of this event. Also, I’ve
reincarnated in different countries and as different ethnicities. Many lives
ago, I could have been your country’s emperor, king, general, a monk, a
scholar, or a warrior. (Applause) Take this in jest. What I’m talking
about are predestined relationships.
Question: Seawater is a teardrop of a Buddha.
Please tell us why a Buddha’s teardrop would manifest in our dimension?
Teacher: It’s just like how gods in the heavens can drop to
the earth and become human beings. You should be able to understand this. The
seawater was one drop of a Buddha’s tears. If you were to take this seawater to
heaven, that Buddha would never accept it, because it’s too dirty.
In other words, it has become a substance of this
realm.
Question: I’m still a child. My parents don’t
allow me to practice cultivation. What should I do?
Teacher: If you’re already grown-up enough to understand
things, you should make the decision for yourself. Whether or not to cultivate
is up to you. If you truly want to cultivate, I don’t think your parents will
create the obstacles for you as if you were an adult. The key is whether you
are determined. Every person will encounter tribulations at the beginning of
his cultivation, and everyone will have obstacles. Yesterday a student
mentioned that he wanted to attend a Fa conference, but the school wouldn’t
open the door for him so he couldn’t get the address left there. That was his
obstacle. Everyone will encounter roadblocks in obtaining the Fa, yet the
manifestation of these obstacles is quite insignificant [compared to what could
have happened]. It would be a problem if you can’t even overcome these small
obstacles. The Fa isn’t something you can just obtain. Even though you’re all
sitting here, you don’t know how much you may have sacrificed for this Fa in
order to establish this predestined relationship, including in different
periods in history—you don’t know how many tribulations you’ve gone through to
obtain it. Some of them you know about, some of them you don’t know about. That
moment when you encountered the Fa seemed quite natural to you, when in fact a
great deal of effort had been expended arranging the time and location of your
obtaining the Fa. You don’t know about those things.
Question: A [Dafa] student in
Teacher: I have to put it this way: he wants to do a good
thing for Dafa, but this book can absolutely not be published, because none of
the terms in Dafa can be defined in ordinary human terms. As you know, all the
books of Dafa are the Fa that I’ve taught—they are all my words. I personally
edited all the books that have been published. Without my editing or consent,
materials can’t be published, they aren’t my things, and they don’t belong to
Dafa. No one can compile materials as they wish. I’ve talked about this before.
Of course, this student’s intention was good. We need to take back those
materials.
Question: The human body of this cycle is the
best, and everyone wants it. Is this related to the arrangements for the
Fa-Rectification?
Teacher: The human body of this cycle is not the best. You
know, the human body of the middle ages of this cosmos was the best. I’m not
referring to the Middle Ages of this human civilization. This isn’t something
that can be held in your concepts, so don’t think too much about these things.
Question: My thoughts are controlled by very bad
things, and reading the books and studying the Fa don’t seem to help. Will
Master still save me?
Teacher: I have to talk about this from two angles. If you are
one of those people I mentioned in my recent scripture, who didn’t regard me as
your Master before, or if you’ve been controlled by those things all along,
like how it’s described in the scripture—that is, you haven’t been practicing
only one cultivation way—then you have to keep your Main Consciousness strong,
and remain unmoved no matter what happens. Don’t worry about it if something is
scurrying about, or if there’s pain somewhere, just go ahead and study and
cultivate and be steadfast, and everything will change. As a cultivator, when
you feel discomfort in your body, isn’t this in itself a good thing? If you
didn’t cultivate, those bad things in your body wouldn’t be stirred. Writing
and publishing the scripture was to give you another chance. If you still don’t
want to change you will lose this chance. Why has your body changed to this extent?
It’s because of you yourself. You’ll have to enlighten yourself out of this
current state. You might think, “As soon as I start to regret it, Master will
change everything for me right away.” That won’t do—it wouldn’t be cultivation.
Cultivation practice is serious. In your process
of continuously strengthening your determination, continuously studying the Fa,
and continuously deepening your understanding, you will gradually turn around.
Before, you didn’t truly cultivate in Dafa. Although you were reading the book,
the purpose of your reading was to have your body adjusted or to get rid of
what you considered tribulations. I have imparted the Fa to save people, to
enable them to reach Consummation through cultivation. It’s not for solving
some crises for people, curing people’s illnesses, or getting rid of things
that people consider bad. So only when you truly want to cultivate and have a
steadfast faith in Dafa will everything of yours change. If you’re studying
Dafa just for those things, you will gain nothing. Why? It’s not that we don’t
have compassion for people. It’s because what I look after are students and
their cultivation, whereas people ultimately have to pay off the karma that
they’ve created. (Applause)
Question: Master, please enlighten us to the
reason behind the different responses to Dafa by beings at different levels in
the cosmos?
Teacher: This has nothing to do with your cultivation at all.
Neither can I reveal these secrets of heaven to you. Let me tell you: the
entire cosmos has deviated from the Great Law of the cosmos over a very long
period of time, and since everything has deviated, no one knows that he himself
has deviated. He can only find out after he has been rectified. This is just
like human beings, like the cultivators who are sitting here today: when you
look back at those everyday people, you’ll see how bad they have become. Before
you started cultivation, though, you didn’t sense that at all. It’s the same
idea. Different kinds of illusions exist in different realms.
Question: From this day on and for the billions of
years to come, must all beings keep in mind to look within all the time?
Teacher: This is the state of a cultivating human being, it’s
not the same with gods. Cultivation is not the purpose of a being’s existence,
it’s only a method by which people elevate themselves. How could human thinking
possibly be used to imagine things of gods? It’s absolutely not the same thing.
Human beings… the reason why I’ve said that I cherish your human side is
because you can cultivate—it’s not the human beings that I cherish. To gods,
humans are filthy. Even to me, the human [realm] is no more than the
lowest—though indispensable—level of the cosmos. That’s why [I say that] your
thoughts are always confined to the human scope, thinking this and that about
humans and using human thinking to think about gods, but you can’t imagine it
at all; it’s the same idea as gods not having any human thoughts.
Question: Why are people who don’t have pure
intentions when they come to learn the Fa still able to have their illnesses
cured and health improved? Why do they still receive good fortune?
Teacher: It’s because this is the manifestation of Dafa at the
lowest level. It’s because the Fa of the cosmos isn’t intended for humans’
cultivation—it creates different living environments for beings at different
levels. You’ve come into contact with the manifestation of the Fa at this
level, in the lowest, human state, and in the human living environment. Of
course, humans don’t cultivate, humans are just humans. The best condition for
humans is to be free of illness, healthy and with good fortune. Since you’ve
come into contact with the Fa, these are all things you can get.
Question: Master, you’ve said, “When Dafa reveals
itself to mankind, these are not the only things that you will lose.”
Teacher: That’s correct. How vast this cosmos is! Even the
gods at different levels and of different realms will be cast down if they
violate the rules of Heaven. Over the long course of time, when they’ve turned
bad and aren’t able to stay in their realms, they fall to lower realms. Some
have turned particularly bad and will be cast down to the human level. Some
have become even worse than humans, so they won’t even have the chance to be
humans, and may even be destroyed. Then it’s even worse for human beings. In
other words, “these are not the only things that you will lose”—that’s what it
means. The Fa has manifested this much in the human world—now you’re just
cultivating—it has not yet arrived at the stage where it will reveal its power
in the human world. When it truly manifests in the human world, that’s when it
rectifies the Fa of the human world. At that time, there will be the issue of
various degenerate people being weeded out. Where they will go will depend on
where they position themselves.
Question: There’s a deadline for cultivation
practice. If we haven’t completed cultivation by the deadline…
Teacher: What does thinking so much accomplish? Time and again
I’ve stressed this point: thinking about that is an attachment. Let it go and
don’t think about it. The time given to you to cultivate will definitely be
enough, but it won’t do if you don’t make the most of your time. If you say,
“Then let me take my time cultivating. Will I have enough time?” No, you won’t,
because the Fa is solemn.
Question: The blood of a cultivator is very
precious. How can it be allowed to be sucked away by mosquitoes?
Teacher: Do you know how dirty your blood is when that karma
of yours is being expelled during your cultivation? Did you know that what
mosquitoes suck out is something filthy? Of course, in our cultivation, when
our bodies get healthier and healthier and become better and better than
everyday people’s, it could still happen. Suppose that mosquito was a life that
you once killed before this lifetime—wouldn’t you have to pay it back? Yet
what’s sucked away will definitely not be something precious. Don’t always look
at how you’ve been harmed. Why don’t you think about how to repay the karmic
debts you owe? Some people have killed many, many people in their previous
lives, and they’ve done a lot of bad things. Now they want to cultivate today
and not even allow mosquitoes to bite them? You want to just leave here as if
nothing happened? How could that work? If you have cultivated really well or
have very little karma, you’ll see that the mosquitoes won’t be able to get
near you—they will bite those around you, but not you. That is because when you
don’t have black karma in your body, mosquitoes don’t dare to enter into this
type of purely positive (yang) environment. Mosquitoes are able to come
when there’s a negative (yin) environment, which suits them, and they
like it. Only when your blood meets their standard do they like to suck it. If
your blood is pure, mosquitoes actually won’t like it. Isn’t that how it works?
(Applause)
Question: Since all matter in other dimensions has
a real existence, why would there be an issue of transformation with
mind-intent?
Teacher: That’s right, but don’t just dig into the details.
I’ve said that even people’s thoughts are substances. What you think can
materialize and your words, what you say, have a form. It’s just that you can’t
see it. Everything is of material existence. Matter in humans’ eyes is
different from that in gods’ eyes. The forms of matter’s existence observed by
humans aren’t real, and they aren’t still. That’s the true manifestation of the
existence of the universe. Human thoughts have become so degenerate—what they
think about are all things that are wicked, evil, unkind, selfish, filled with
pursuit and emotion (qing), and so on. That’s why what they think up are
all false appearances. You all always think very narrowly. Why is it said that
a Buddha’s wisdom is immense? He thinks differently from you, his capacity is
huge, and he doesn’t think about things just from one perspective.
Question: I’m a Western student. I feel that
“love” seems to have lost its place in Zhuan Falun.
Teacher: Let me tell you, the love that Jesus, St. Mary, and
Yahweh talked about is not the “love” understood by human beings—it is cibei.
Because today’s humankind doesn’t have the word for cibei in the Western
language, people of later generations used the word “love” in place of what
gods said. This type of love, to gods, is filthy, while cibei is what’s
sacred. Because of love, humans are immersed in sexual desire. Because of love,
people are immersed in sinful, depraved sexual
behavior. Because of love, humans do a lot of bad things and things that gods
can’t tolerate. Love has a side that humankind considers good, which includes
helping each other. At the same time, it has a bad, negative side. Cibei,
on the other hand, is completely good. So the love Western Gods talked about in
the past, I’ll tell you again explicitly, is called cibei, and not the
love that people talk about in this human world. That’s because there was no
concept of cibei in your culture. Your ancestors used the word “love” to
record the words of gods, that’s all.
Question: For
Westerners, “spirit possession” is very strange and hard to understand. How can
we clearly explain “spirit possession” to Westerners?
Teacher: Reincarnation is something that exists in the West,
too. It’s something that man can’t escape. It’s just that Jesus talked only
about hell and didn’t touch on reincarnation. Jesus pointed out that people had
sins, but he didn’t reveal that the reason people were sinful was because they
had karma. This is due to the differences in human cultures. As for spirit
possession, it’s not that it doesn’t exist in Western culture. Do you recall
that the New Testament includes stories of Jesus casting out the spirits that
were possessing people? They are recorded in the Bible. Those spirits said,
“This has nothing to do with you Jesus, it’s none of your business.” Yet Jesus
insisted on casting them out. Judging from this, you don’t fully understand
your own culture.
Question: “Don’t hit back when hit; don’t curse
back when cursed at.” Can we say this: “What you’re doing isn’t right?”
Teacher: For cultivators, the act of “Don’t hit back when hit;
don’t curse back when cursed at” reflects the most appropriate way of handling
it. The reason is, when a person hits you or curses at you, it’s always the
result of disputes or conflicts. If you tell him, “You shouldn’t hit me,” he
might hit you a few more times. If you reason with him then you’ll get yourself
into a conflict with him. Things will be over only if you don’t pay any
attention to him. Therefore, “Don’t hit back when hit; don’t curse back when
cursed at” states the most appropriate way. (Applause) We have some
people who are able to do this. I’d say they are cultivating really well, not
bad at all. Some people do know: “When you hit me, I won’t hit you back; when
you yell at me, I won’t yell back.” Yet deep down they still feel unsettled and
they still want to add a few words: “You shouldn’t hit me.” That’s because you
still can’t let it go deep down, and you still don’t want to pay him the debts
you owe, or even when you paid it back you are still unwilling to leave it at
that in your heart. So you still want to add one more sentence to comfort
yourself. Of course, what I say sounds somewhat dialectical. I want to ask: my
Caucasian and Black students, when I talk this way can you understand? (Applause)
Good, thank you.
Question: My profession is teaching philosophy and
literature. I think that philosophy and literature are valuable to human
society.
Teacher: I’m telling everyone, in our cultivation we should
conform to the way of human society to the maximum extent. You should continue
doing whatever work you’re supposed to do, and you aren’t wrong, because your
work is separate from your cultivation, and it’s only that your xinxing will be reflected in how you do your job. Everyone
will say that you’re good and that people who cultivate Dafa are so good,
because you’ve acted well. As to how [philosophy and literature] will be
positioned in the future, well, even the entire cosmos has deviated from the
Fa, so where else does a piece of pure land exist besides the Dafa in human
society? Where else is there a clean place? I don’t want to talk about things
of the future. In any case, everything in human society has become degenerate.
Perhaps those who can’t become good in the future will be eliminated, and this
is not just limited to humans. For now you can just go ahead and continue to do your work, because
the Fa-rectification hasn’t yet come to the stage of humankind. Now it’s just
that the Fa is saving you.
Question: Things haven’t gone well in my family,
which caused my parents to be disrespectful to Dafa. Am I creating karma?
Teacher: It shouldn’t be looked at this way. We should look at
this from two angles. One possibility is that your own karma caused this. The
other possibility is that you didn’t eliminate your attachments in your
cultivation. Both reasons exist, but there are also different situations
manifested by different people’s lack of understanding of Dafa.
Question: Some Christians don’t believe in the
Sixfold Path of Reincarnation.
Teacher: Didn’t Jesus say that if people did bad things they
would go to hell? I can only tell you the following. Some of you may have read
the New Testament and the Old Testament. The New Testament, especially, was all
written down by this person or that person, paragraph upon paragraph of
recorded words—words that were recorded from memory. That is, those who
listened to Jesus’ teachings wrote them down based on what they recalled. But
could the words spoken by Jesus over the course of his life—think about it,
everyone—be as few as what are contained in that book? That few? Jesus talked
about many things. Many, many things were forgotten by people and not recorded
as a result. So why didn’t they get recorded? Another reason was that human
beings only deserved to know so much.
Since the Buddha Fa, even at the Tathagata
level, cannot be completely made known to human beings, what Shakyamuni
taught when he was in the human world was Arhat
level Fa, and human beings could only know that much. What Jesus said was
sufficient to allow those who followed his words to reach heaven—that was
enough. So Gods didn’t let too much of it remain here. In the East, even though
there are many scriptures, all of them are fragmented and incomplete recordings
from memory—that’s for sure. From a different perspective, some Caucasians
reincarnated from Asians. So if you don’t have these things while in the West,
could you have experienced them when you reincarnated as Asians? Moreover, many
Asians and Westerners reincarnate in reciprocation, that is, they reincarnate
into each other back and forth. Some people feel close to Asian culture, some
to Western culture. It’s possible that this is caused by the traits left from
their reincarnations in different periods of time. Yet even though you may be
white, or you may be yellow or black, you could belong to any race.
Question: Due to poor eyesight, elderly people
like listening to lectures on tape. Is this as effective as reading Dafa?
Teacher: It’s the same. If you study the Fa wholeheartedly,
it’s possible that your eyes might undergo changes. Listening is the same as
reading. Don’t talk about how old or young you are. That too could be your own
attachment and obstacle. In Dafa age makes no difference, just go ahead and
cultivate. I remember how, back in the years when I taught the Fa in
Question: “Lunyu” encompasses the entire content
of Zhuan Falun. Please kindly
tell us why it is called “Lunyu.”
Teacher: You know, it seems Confucius has a “Lunyu,”
too, but its concepts and content are completely different. I’m discussing (lun)
this Buddha Fa using a human language (yu), so I call it Lunyu. (Applause)
That’s the idea. The human language is to be
used by the Fa, so however I use it is fine. As long as things can be explained
clearly, as long as I can save you, and as long as the Fa can be taught
clearly, I will use it that way. So the modern, standardized languages and
vocabularies don’t restrict me.
Question: A Dafa disciple working at a cancer
hospital plans to spread the Fa there. Is this appropriate?
Teacher: That depends on what the intention is. Suppose that
you want to use Dafa to cure illnesses for people. Dafa can rectify any
abnormal condition. It’s abnormal that people contract illnesses, yet Dafa is
not meant for rectifying people’s abnormal conditions. The purpose of teaching
the Fa to people is to save them. It’s this majestic Law of Heaven that has
created different living environments for different beings in the universe. (Applause)
If you want to use it to cure illnesses for human beings, if that is your
intention, then it’s not correct, right? “Oh, Dafa can cure cancer. Let’s go to
hospitals to treat people’s cancer.” That’s not saving people, but using Dafa
to treat illness—that’s not right.
It’s not that we’re not compassionate. I’ve told
you that, regardless of whether it’s Jesus, St. Mary, Yahweh (whose ability
exceeds that of even the previous two), or the Buddhas in Eastern religions,
with a wave of the hand there wouldn’t be one single sick person on this tiny
Earth. Why aren’t they being compassionate and doing that for people? Because
people themselves are doing bad things. If I did that for you today, you would
still be doing bad things tomorrow. Of course, this isn’t to punish people—it’s
the principle of the universe evaluating all
beings. Since humans have done bad things, they have to pay for them
themselves. Suppose you killed someone, and a Buddha eliminated the karma for
you. Then, would it mean that you’re allowed to kill people as you please? How
could it be acceptable for a Buddha to eliminate your diseases as soon as you
had killed people and generated karma? When people do bad things they have to
pay for it and bear the responsibility. But when people have done bad things,
the most obvious manifestation of it in the human body is sickness, which is
used to punish people. I’m not the only one saying this—Jesus also said that
people have sins. Why do people have sins? It’s exactly because people have
karma in their bodies. Western culture doesn’t have the word “karma”—there’s no
such word in Western culture. So Jesus used the word “sin” to illustrate the
general point. In fact, isn’t having karma the same as having sins? Without
sins, how could there be karma? It’s the same idea.
Question: After Consummation, when we arrive at
our own levels, will our bodies carry the markings from our venerable Teacher?
Teacher: There’s no issue of markings on your body after
you’ve reached Consummation. The markings are for people in the maze; you’re
only marked after you’ve fallen down here. After Consummation you will be an
independent entity, a magnificent God who can make decisions on his own. What
I’m giving you aren’t restrictions, but [the chance to become] a magnificent
God. (Applause)
Question: People who don’t practice Falun Dafa
enjoy listening to the music, “Pudu” and “Jishi.” Master, please tell us, can we let them listen to
it?
Teacher: Yes, it’s just music. Of course, when they hear our
Dafa music, it’s definitely good for them.
Question: In today’s society, the concept of
equality between men and women prevails. As female disciples, how can we be
gentle and tender while progressing diligently in cultivation?
Teacher: People are saying nowadays that women are becoming
more and more liberal and their personalities are getting stronger. In fact,
you aren’t being driven by your kind (Shan) side. I don’t think strength
is necessarily reflected in a person’s outward expression. If in your daily
life you’re like a gentle, true woman, your competence will let you have
everything you deserve all the same. You don’t necessarily have to express
yourself in tough and manly ways to obtain those things. Do you understand what
I’m getting at? (Applause) In other words, if you’re a woman, you must
act like one, and be kind and gentle. Only then can you gain respect and love
from men. If you aren’t kind and gentle, men will be afraid of you when they
see you, (laughter) and you won’t be able to have the love or even the
family affection that you’re supposed to have. Conversely, let’s not just talk
about women—we men, likewise, should behave like men. But
all societies on the earth have become bad nowadays, so I can only ask my
disciples to behave this way—it is not achievable by the society. I remember
that in the West before the fifties, men were very gentlemanly, and they
treated women with respect. And because women acted like women, men loved to help them, respect them, and care for them. At the
same time, in a womanly way, women cherished their husbands. That was human
behavior. Yet today you have corrupted it all.
In Asian society, women have become overly strong,
causing the men to become like women. I can tell you that in your bones you
want your men to be strong, yet in your minds you want to overpower them. Isn’t
this contradictory? If the way of the society becomes like this, will men still
be able to walk around with confidence and self-respect? Will they have their
manhood? Two people can’t be the head of one household, just as there can’t be
two kings of the same mountain. So when two tigers fight, one has to get hurt,
(laughter) and the family is bound to be disharmonious. How is it going
to work if two big kings live under the same roof? There has to be one head
of the household. That’s why there are divorces and discord in families. You
always say something: men say that women aren’t like women at all, and women
say that men aren’t like men at all.
It’s even more blatant in Western society where
when they marry each other, they’ve already divided up their property: “When we
divorce in the future, this belongs to me and that belongs to you.” It’s even
more blatant. The sense of a woman relying on her man when they’re married is
simply nonexistent. And men aren’t thinking that once women marry them, they
have entrusted them with their whole life and so they need to be responsible to
them—they no longer think that way at all. Self-interest and personal liberty
have taken over everything. Where then do you find the warmth of a family?
People vie with and try to overcome each other—no one is willing to concede.
I’m telling you, that is not how human beings should be! (Applause) When
even couples don’t dare to trust each other, and there’s no place that can give
you a sense of security, warmth, and affection, aren’t you living a distressing
life? In your mind you think to yourselves: “It shouldn’t be like this. We
should have a warm and affectionate place.” But your outward behavior is
destroying all this, and your selfish traits are making such a place impossible
to have. When everyone behaves this way the wonderful relationships among
humans are lost. Of course, I can only say these things to my disciples, to
you, and tell you that these aren’t right. There’s no cure for mankind anymore
and it would be impossible to turn everything around. Today the discussions in
society and the tendency of the media are all about personal liberty and are
indulging individuality. I can tell you, this indulged individuality might make
you appear to be free, but actually, you’ll never be able to enjoy warmth and
affection anymore! And you’ll never ever have someone you can trust! (Applause)
Question: Will there be Dafa disciples who
cultivate to the worlds of Buddhas to become ordinary beings? (Laughter)
Teacher: Don’t laugh. This is a conceptual question.
Cultivators have Attainment Status, so they definitely won’t be just ordinary
folks. They all have Attainment Status after reaching Consummation.
Question: Dafa can change the surface me as well
as the me at different levels in different dimensions. Is this understanding
correct?
Teacher: This understanding is not wrong. I’ve said this
before: Without a human body, it’s impossible to practice cultivation, and it’s
impossible to improve oneself. Then how could your bodies in other dimensions
possibly be changed? You can’t cultivate without this human body, so you have
to cultivate here, at this human place, to change yourself. Sometimes, when
you’re studying a Dafa book, you’re not concentrating, and your lips finish
reading a passage yet your mind isn’t there. That’s because your subordinate
consciousness (fu yishi) or other factors were at work. Your attention
is present occasionally, only to disappear shortly after. If you have this
problem often, then it’s the same as your giving up all these things and giving
this Fa away to someone else. You can’t do that, and I don’t allow you to
cultivate that way.
Question: How should we understand the difference
between love and attachment?
Teacher: They’re two different concepts. Love can breed attachments,
it can cause attachments during cultivation, but among everyday people and in
society, it’s still something essential. Without love, human beings would be
even more likely to do bad things, and their demon-nature would be even
stronger. So humans can’t live without love or emotion. That’s because emotion
is a human thing—it’s a necessary element of the living environment provided to
human beings, but it’s not for Gods. As cultivators, you have to rise above it,
and cultivate away the attachments that result from love and emotion. That’s
the relationship among these things. If you want to be able to love without
getting attached, that’s impossible. But in your process of cultivation, you
can’t possibly take everything lightly, let go of everything, and not be so
attached right away. So in your current phase, whatever state you’re in, you
can just be in that state.
Don’t force yourself: “Deep inside I do
love, I do love my family members, but I’ll force myself to stop loving them.”
That would be wrong, because your realm hasn’t risen and you’re only trying to
do it forcibly. If you do that, it will actually cause people to misunderstand
Dafa, and damage the image of Dafa. As love is diminished in your cultivation,
it will be replaced by the compassion (cibei) that emerges. You
know, I’m sitting here and—using your words—loving and caring for every one of
you. Actually, it’s a type of compassion (applause), but it’s
totally different from the kind of personal feelings of yours. I’m sure you can
differentiate the love among yourselves and that which I have. (Applause)
Question: During group practice, when someone
makes a lot of noise in coming late and leaving early, which makes it difficult
for others to enter tranquility, should we bring this to his attention?
Teacher: This question reminds me of another thought of mine.
Let me tell you, prior to the Cultural Revolution, Chinese people were known
around the world to be people of propriety, and they were very particular about
being civilized, about hygiene, and about things displayed on the surface. The
cultures of
You don’t mind the details of etiquette, don’t
groom yourselves, look sloppy, talk loudly without taking into consideration
the circumstances or location, and don’t pay attention to hygiene. Of course,
I’ve said that you need to conform to everyday people to the maximum extent
while you cultivate. As cultivating disciples, you have to achieve that. This
should be a non-issue, and it’s not something I wanted to discuss. But did you
know that because of your behavior, some Western students have been afraid of
joining in when you spread the Fa? You have to pay attention to this now! This
isn’t just a behavioral issue. You really need to pay attention to things in
this regard. I’m not asking you to be particular about dressing fashionably.
You need to be aware of human civility on the very surface. I can tell you, the
inner meaning of Dafa actually encompasses what’s at the lowest level, too.
When you think of others in everything you do, I think you’ll be able to do
everything well. (Applause)
Question: A student said he had asked and gotten
Teacher’s approval on certain things. But others feel that his demeanor, words,
and conduct are not like those of a cultivator.
Teacher: When two people debate and can’t reach an agreement,
many of them quote me and say, “Teacher said this” to defend their own
attachments and cover up the attachments they should get rid of. That’s awful.
But conversely, you can’t say he’s not a student or he hasn’t cultivated well
just because you see that some of his words and his behavior don’t conform to
Dafa. In fact, he has eliminated many of his attachments already, and he’s so
much better than everyday people. Only the attachments he hasn’t removed can
manifest. So when you see them, it’s hard for a cultivator to accept. This
means that we shouldn’t judge a person by how he acts. I discussed it from both
angles just now.
Question: Some veteran students’ faces are dark
and have many liver spots, and some are very thin. Are these phenomena normal?
Teacher: Cultivation is complicated. If you care about
these things a lot, you will be purposefully made to witness them to see if you
will still cultivate. On the other hand, when those individuals do develop such
conditions, we really need to look at whether they are in fact cultivating
diligently. They may be reading the books and
doing the exercises, but in essence, how are they really doing? Some people are
reading the books, but it’s been over a year and they still haven’t finished
reading Zhuan Falun even though they’re always reading, they do the
exercises diligently, and they even encourage others to practice this.
Cultivation practice is serious. Nothing in this world is more serious than
cultivation. We must be able to truly meet the requirements.
Question: If someone doesn’t participate in the
group morning exercises, and hasn’t been tested by blustery winds, baking sun,
the harsh cold of winter or intense heat of summer, will it affect his
Consummation?
Teacher: Those are not really the factors. Haven’t I mentioned
that the purpose of going through hardships is to eliminate your attachments
and improve? It doesn’t mean anything when people simply endure hardship—no
matter how much hardship they go through. The key is that the environment of
group practice can temper and refine people. At a person’s outermost surface,
he deals with non-cultivators in ordinary human society all the time. Who would
you rather be influenced by—by them or by Dafa disciples while in Dafa? That’s
what I’m talking about.
Question: Which created the universe, Fa or Gods?
I’ve heard of Gods creating the universe, but have rarely heard that Buddhas or
Daos created the universe.
Teacher: Then who created the Gods you heard about? You should
study the Fa more. But your words bring something to mind. Perhaps a lot of
people have heard that Western religions claim their Lord created the world,
and Buddhism in the East teaches it was Buddha’s karma that created the
universe. Their concept of karma is that doing anything is karma, or a result
of karma. In Eastern myths and ancient legends, we hear that Pangu
created Heaven and Earth. Let’s talk about the
story of Pangu creating Heaven and Earth. You may have heard in the story that
Pangu, in the end, instantly turned his body into Heaven, Earth, mountains,
rivers, and stars in the sky. Regardless of how it was told, I can tell
everyone that at different levels, no matter which level god you are, it’s
impossible for you to know about things above you. Over the long passage of
history [beings] deviated from the Fa long ago, and many beings don’t even know
about the Fa anymore; they’ve forgotten it. Why have they forgotten it? Of all
the beings of the current cycle of civilization, regardless of how high their
levels are or were, most were created during the ninth cycle. As to what the Fa was like before the ninth cycle,
people don’t know. And when it comes to the ninth cycle, they know even less
about what the Fa is, and only know that at different levels there are
different standards. In other words, primordial beings are almost non-existent
now, and that’s why [beings] don’t know how the universe came about.
When catastrophes occur at different levels of the
universe, it is actually different cosmic bodies dissolving. In your words,
they are exploding. After the explosion, a higher-level god wouldn’t come down
and let the gods of the lowest level see him creating the universe. The
higher-level god would create a lower-level god and have him create a universe
at the next level, so at that level new gods would be born. I’ve said that
beings can be created at all the different levels. A god born at a particular
level must have the ability to create the universe of that layer. As to whether
there are gods in the higher levels of the universe, he has no idea.
What I’ve just explained is actually a principle:
that is, Buddhas, Daos, and Gods at different levels all have the ability to
create everything in the universe at or below their own levels. But since it’s
within his range, he thinks that he himself has
created the universe. This is the case with the relatively primordial ones.
Suppose a god creates a vaster universe, then later a god is born at a certain
level and during a certain period of that universe. If after an extremely long
time, problems arise in the universe that is in the realm where this god was
born, it’s dissolved by gods above him, and explosions will take place. Then,
when he reconstructs everything afterwards he thinks he has re-created the
universe. He doesn’t know that there are larger universes above this universe.
So by the same token, such things can also take place at layers smaller than
his. At layers much smaller than his, the creation of universes at different
levels happens as well. Do you understand what I just talked about? (Applause)
I explained this in lecture five of Zhuan Falun: different gods created
universes with different characteristics. Many of you had questions [about
that], didn’t you? That is exactly the situation I just discussed. The cosmos
is so vast. Changes taking place at different levels are merely tiny particles
in the extremely vast cosmic bodies, and this, even to gods, is inconceivable.
Question: Are the gods mentioned in ancient Greek
and Chinese myths imagined or did they really exist?
Teacher: I can tell you, driven by the current science, people
in today’s society are digging deeper and deeper into “reality.” Yet this
reality is false, and the genuine and magnificent truth of the universe has
been increasingly covered up by this false reality. It is caused by humans
themselves. It’s they themselves who have come to believe in these superficial
things more and more. Many of the ancient myths are true, yet people regard
them as stories made up by others. Today I’m teaching the Great Law of the
cosmos. Everything that it brings about and everything that will happen in the
future will shock all beings. In the future, events that are even more
spectacular will unfold, because the Fa will arrive here in the human world.
Everything that people don’t believe in will occur, and it will be so shocking
that people will be rendered speechless. But regardless of how strong a
reaction that event will cause or how long it will last, after thousands or
tens of thousands of years, people will regard it as a myth, and after more
years go by, people might regard it as something made up by others just the
same. That’s how limited human beings are. Aren’t there people who deny Jesus’
appearance? They say people made it up. Aren’t there also those who say that
Shakyamuni’s appearance in the East was made up?
Question: My parents have cultivated in Buddhism
for many years. They’re among those who, as described in Master’s two recent
scriptures, are lost in illusion. How can I get them to practice the righteous
cultivation way?
Teacher: Show them the scriptures I’ve
written—that’s all you can do. No one can do anything on behalf of anyone else.
We can only advise people to do what’s good, and can’t coerce others into
anything. We cannot force them. What people want to obtain is their own
business. It doesn’t count if they’re coerced into doing something, it only
counts if they do it themselves and if they cultivate themselves.
Question: If someone’s living conditions were
pretty good, but now he intentionally lives a frugal life, is that considered
an attachment?
Teacher: Perhaps it’s because Chinese people went through a
very difficult period of time that they’re so afraid of being poor, and that
might cause people to be overly frugal. When someone goes overboard, it’s not
good. Live normally. Being thrifty isn’t a bad thing, but if anything goes too
far, it becomes a bad thing. A cultivator shouldn’t have any preconceived
notions. There’s nothing wrong with being thrifty.
Question: Is the same Law Body of yours looking
after a student when he practices cultivation in
Teacher: The same Law Body, different Law Bodies… is
there a difference among Law Bodies? I can tell you that they are all looked
after by the same wisdom of mine. There’s no difference at all. In fact, Law
Bodies are me. Law Bodies think whatever I think.
Question: Could you please tell us what a “True
Body” is and what a “Gong Body” is?
Teacher: There is a difference. In the eyes of gods,
everything here at this human place is considered unreal, and only the body of
a Buddha or God is real, so they call a body of that level or higher a “True
Body.” A “gong Body” is something only I have. No other beings in the cosmos
have it. It is my immense gong that can at the same time form into my
image. (Applause)
Question: When I do the exercises, I always hear
Teacher talking.
Teacher: If it’s about the Fa, and is the same as what’s
discussed in the books, it isn’t a concern. That’s a way in which your
supernormal abilities manifest—it’s a manifestation of your supernormal
abilities. If it’s not something that is in the Fa, then it must be
interference.
Question: When teaching children the practice,
besides telling them to be good people, do we need to read scriptures to them?
Teacher: When you tell them to be good people, you are only
telling them to be good persons among everyday people. Only the Fa can make
people ascend. Isn’t that how it is? Children can do the five exercises to the
extent that they’re able. If they can’t do them it’s okay for them to do the
exercises after they’ve grown a little older.
Question: Would it be appropriate to explain
Dafa’s principles to children in words they understand?
Teacher: I don’t think that’s a problem. Since you are a
cultivator you won’t explain it the wrong way. Use reasoning to explain it to
children. I don’t think that will be a problem.
Question: I had a test but I lost my
determination. I want to start over in cultivation.
Teacher: Just now a student asked me whether he could still
cultivate. In other words, there might have been things in which he didn’t do
well or where he felt that he didn’t measure up to the standards for a
disciple. After you’ve made mistakes, can you still do cultivation? Whether or
not you can cultivate all depends on you. You’ve already heard the Fa and
obtained the Fa. Of course, you didn’t do well and didn’t pass that test—that
was a huge loss indeed. You can cultivate all over again, calm your mind, be
determined, and start over. Since you are already determined to cultivate in
Dafa and you’ve already realized that you were wrong, why don’t you steel your
will and start catching up again? As long as you have that thought and want to
do so, you don’t need to tell me or anyone else—just go ahead and cultivate,
and I think you’ll be all right. Actually, didn’t all of you begin your
cultivation just because you wanted to cultivate, and thus you obtained Dafa?
But you can’t keep missing your chances and making mistakes. Cultivation is
serious, so if you continue making mistakes, I’m afraid that in the future you
won’t have any more opportunities like this to enter this Fa. Since you’ve had
the opportunity to enter the Fa, don’t miss it again.
Question: Quite a few disciples residing in
Teacher: Yes. I’ve told you to maximally conform to the way of
ordinary human society in your cultivation. Let’s talk about it another way. In
Question: How can we determine whether a vision is
the result of the Master Soul leaving the body or a result of reaching
Enlightenment?
Teacher: This has been discussed before. You know, I have
clearly explained this in the scripture entitled “Why One Cannot See.” Why
can’t you see? Even when you do see, it won’t be clear. In other words, even
when you are able to see things it won’t be that clear. If it is clear, it will
encompass a limited area. [Your vision] definitely won’t be unlimited, like
that of a god, where you know everything and see everything just as if you were
watching a movie. Of course, there are those who have special circumstances.
I’m illustrating the general situation.
Question: I went to attend a Fa conference in a
big snowstorm and my car broke down on the road. My family didn’t understand my
risky behavior.
Teacher: Nothing can be made to fit into a simple formula,
where everything can be done according to that formula. In cultivation, the
situations that every person encounters are complicated, and the cause of
something can be one thing or another. For example, some people have problems
because they didn’t pass a xinxing test, or it might have been because
other things were more important. It might also have been because the
tribulation was supposed to happen, and therefore you ran into difficulties and
met with obstacles. So cultivation is extremely complicated, and it’s not as
simple as you think. It could also have been that your car’s breaking down
prevented you from getting involved in a car accident several miles ahead. Any
of various reasons could have been at work. In cultivation, everything you
experience is a good thing, and you are establishing your own mighty virtue.
Question: We only have two days to hold a seminar
to introduce Dafa. Is this okay?
Teacher: If you only have two days to hold a seminar to
introduce Falun Dafa, the time is too short. If someone can’t read Zhuan
Falun all the way through without being sidetracked, it will be difficult
for him to pick up the book again. Why is that so? It’s because people have
thought karma. It’s the notions in one’s mind that cause karma. When you read
the book, the karma in your mind is being eliminated. The karma is alive, and
knows that you’re eliminating it, so it starts trying to not let you touch the
book. Even when you have time, it will make you forget to read the book. It
will do its best to not let you have time to read the book. That is why many
people no longer have time to continue reading the book if they can’t finish it
the first time. The same goes with watching the tapes. If you can’t complete
the whole set, it will seem hard to find time to watch more of them. Demons are
interfering. They don’t let you have the time and they use all kinds of methods
to not let you touch it again. That’s why this problem exists. On the other
hand, you don’t have much time to spread the Fa. With regard to this issue, you
can only handle it according to your own situation.
Question: If someone accepts well-intentioned
gifts from a fellow practitioner over a long period of time, will he be losing
his virtue endlessly?
Teacher: I’ll give you an example. A student’s family all of
sudden gets into financial difficulties. For a cultivator, this hardship is
very possibly the result of his owing this kind of debt in the past. During the
karma elimination process, he must bear something like this, but it won’t last
long. I’m saying that might be the case. Then, some students think that since
he’s having such a hard time, “We should help him out.” How to help him?
Everyone contributes some money, gives him money, and provides for his family.
Well, he stops doing anything from then on. Other than studying the Fa, he just
stays at home and lives on their money. A little later, he stops studying the
Fa, too: “Just bring me the money and I’ll just live like this now.” Think
about it, everyone. You do have compassion, but you can’t handle these things
that way. Everyone has his own tribulations. You can assist him out of
compassion by helping him find a job or by temporarily attending to some
emergencies, but you absolutely can’t do that over a long period of time. You
would be disrupting the path I arranged for him, and it would become impossible
for him to cultivate. In the end, he would stop cultivating. He would stop
looking for a job, and he wouldn’t want to solve the problem since he had money
to spend, and he’d say, “Just bring me money every month.” Then, I’d say, what
are the students really doing?
Gift giving? What’s gift giving? Someone gives
someone else something? Why should someone you don’t know give you things?
Okay, so you know each other and you’re all students. But, should a student
casually give another student expensive things? Why would you do that? There
needs to be a reason! Even if those aren’t expensive things, why do they keep
supplying them for such a long time? Why? And why do you accept them? Is it
because you can’t abandon your attachment to greed? Or are there other reasons?
Why don’t you try to find them? That is unacceptable. This Dafa of ours doesn’t
involve money or material possessions, and we don’t accumulate money or
material possessions. You have come to practice cultivation, and with all of
you sitting here, I don’t ask a penny from you. Why is it that when other
people give you things, you can’t let it go? Here I’ll make a point about a
particular issue: All those who work for Dafa, and all those who work for
Master, regardless of the reason, you absolutely cannot accept anything from
students. Things that are to be forwarded to Master must be given to Master to
handle. Don’t take the liberty of handling those things on your own, don’t keep
them for yourselves, hold onto them, or open letters or other things that are
intended for Master.
Question: Is the degeneration of a being a result
of the Master Soul being contaminated with attachments or the nature of the
Master Soul having changed?
Teacher: I don’t look at things that way. A person’s being is
one entity, and you can’t say that your Master Soul, your Subordinate Soul (fu
yuanshen), or your body has become this way or that way. If someone is
wrong, he’s wrong, period, because every single thought of yours involves all
the you’s of various levels. When someone corrects his mistakes, then he’s a
good person. If someone is able to cultivate himself, he can progress higher.
Question: In the small universe of a human body,
are all of the beings at the same level as the Master
Soul that controls that human body?
Teacher: They’re not at the same level. You are higher than
all the beings in your body. At the same time, among all your cells there’s a
governing system with identical thoughts.
Question: I’m thirteen years old and I was born in
Teacher: The adults [around him] should help solve this
problem. Having been born in
Question: What kind of predestined relationships
do Subordinate Souls have among themselves?
Teacher: They might have predestined relationships or they
might not. There isn’t a formula. Everyone had his own, unique situations in
his prior lives, and those are predestined relationships of humans that have
nothing to do with your cultivation. It’s enough that the Master Soul obtains
the Fa here with full awareness. Other Subordinate Souls will naturally follow
as you cultivate.
Question: Can we promote the Fa in a martial arts
school?
Teacher: I don’t think there’s a problem with helping people
obtain the Fa in any environment. But there is one thing: some martial arts are
Daoist martial arts, which belong to the category of qigong. Other
martial arts won’t cause any interference. Many people who practice Dafa are
also practicing martial arts, and none of those affect us.
Question: After Master revealed what science truly
is and the various inadequacies of human society, my mind got very confused
when it came to judging things, and I can’t resolve it.
Teacher: Let me reiterate this: you should conform to the way
of ordinary society to the maximum extent in your cultivation. I’ll tell you:
I’ve revealed the real factors behind science, but I’m not against science. Let
me repeat this again: I’ve revealed what science really is, but I’m not against
science because it is, after all, something that one form of beings, among all
the beings in the cosmos, possesses. I’ve pointed out here that humankind
shouldn’t be in this state, as well as the reason why humankind has
degenerated. I don’t oppose science. Go ahead and do whatever work you do. It’s
just that compared to the Buddha Fa it’s very limited. You’ll gradually
understand this as you cultivate more.
Question: I was extremely excited when I obtained
the Fa initially, but because I was lost too deeply in illusion, I did some
very bad things. Am I finished?
Teacher: Cultivation in Dafa is still going on, and students
are still continually making diligent progress. You managed to pass this note
up here, and I even read it for you, so your predestined relationship is pretty
strong. Seize the day. (Applause)
Question: I’m from
Teacher: You won’t be affected. You study yours and they can
believe in theirs. It won’t affect you. That’s because what they believe in is
not looked after by Gods, and since no Gods are looking after it, it’s even
less the case that it would have any influence.
Question: A few big tests of my xinxing occurred right before I attended
Fa-Conferences. Were they arranged by your Law Bodies?
Teacher: As long as you’re a student, I’ll be responsible to
you. As to whether I was having you go through xinxing tests or it was
due to some other specific reasons, being your Master, I’m absolutely
responsible to you on these things. Anything that happens to a cultivator is
good. Just go ahead and cultivate yourself. You may not have noticed that
yesterday morning when a student spoke about his experience, he mentioned that
[at one point,] no matter how hard he cultivated, he didn’t feel he was making
any further progress. And then one day, all of sudden he realized, “It’s time
for me to change in this area.” Then as he cultivated more, that wall was
broken through immediately, and a different realm was instantly right before
his eyes. I think you should put more thought into that student’s speech.
Question: Falun Dafa saved people in a prehistoric
period. Why have all the beings forgotten the Fa?
Teacher: Are you referring to humans or Gods? Those saved by
Dafa all went to heavens. Then how do you know the beings have forgotten the
Fa? I can tell you, when a person has reached Consummation through cultivation,
everything of his is forged by the Fa, and everything is assimilated to the Fa.
When you’re in Dafa, you are a part of Dafa. In fact, all the beings in the
entire cosmos are part of Dafa. It’s just that they have gradually deviated
from the Fa. When one being has deviated, he falls and goes to whichever level
he belongs. When all beings have deviated, though, then that segment has to be
dissolved, and new beings are re-created afterwards.
Question: To cultivate is to deepen one’s
understanding and memory of Dafa. Can it be put this way?
Teacher: That’s not how it is. What you memorize now is just
the lowest form in which the Fa is expressed—the one that I teach among
everyday people. But the Fa that you’ll come to know when you achieve
Consummation in various realms will be different, except for the inner
meanings, from the Fa I’m teaching you now—not even a single word will be the
same. Can you understand what I’m saying? (Applause) So you still can’t
avoid thinking about things of Gods with human notions.
Question: I’ve found that I’ve come this far by
breaking through attachments, and the attachments aren’t about being right or
wrong on the surface; rather, the inner meaning is different.
Teacher: That’s true, because when Dafa guides you through
cultivation at various levels, you’re only able to understand it in your mind,
but can’t express it with words. It becomes distorted as soon as it gets into
everyday people’s linguistic thinking—before you even utter the words, once it
gets into the editing process of everyday people’s linguistic thoughts, it’s
already different. That’s why once you talk about it, it’s no longer the real
meaning of that realm. You might have realized this as well. So you can only
understand it in your mind but not express it with words. But why are you able
to talk about your experiences and understanding? That’s because what you talk
about are things of the lowest level and on the outermost surface, or things
from your past. Of course, what new students talk about are their current
experiences, because what new students talk about are bound to be things at the
surface.
Question: Master has given me hints quite a few
times, but I don’t want to think too highly of myself. Is there an attachment
behind this thought?
Teacher: Not necessarily, because sometimes a person is afraid
of developing the attachment of complacency, so he tries to control himself and
prevent himself from becoming complacent or thinking too highly of himself. I
think that’s good, but don’t be too attached to doing that, or it may become
another attachment. Just cultivate in a dignified and upright manner.
Question: Some people criticize others, saying
“This is an attachment of yours,” and “That’s an attachment of yours.” But
aren’t those people attached themselves?
Teacher: Both are possible. The question raised is quite
interesting, but it’s possible that the person who raised the question is
attached to something. When some of you say that others are attached, is it
because your own attachments are being hit upon, so you turn around and cover
up your own attachments by saying that others are attached? (Applause)
And those who’ve been told they are attached: are you, instead of abandoning
your attachments, saying that those who said you’re attached are attached
because you can’t abandon your attachments?
Question: If a person in a position of responsibility
gives up his position to someone who is more capable, isn’t he contributing to
the establishment of Dafa?
Teacher: Looking at the surface of your words, everyone would
agree that you’re right. This is a non-issue.
When someone who not only cultivates himself well but is also very capable
doesn’t do the job, it will be a loss for Dafa. If you are able to look at it
from this perspective, from the standpoint of what’s good for the Fa, I’d say
that’s really excellent. Of course, from another perspective, though, if you
have other deeply hidden thoughts and don’t even dare to consider that they
might be attachments, and if every time your thoughts touch upon them you cover
them up and let them slip, then that’s not right.
Question: I often tell myself to use my heart and
everything I have to provide for Master.
Teacher: I understand everyone’s feeling. Let me tell you,
that is a legacy of religions. Shakyamuni indeed said—since his disciples
needed to beg for alms—that giving food to monks was something that would bring
boundless merit. But he never said that providing for him or giving him money
would bring boundless merit. Religions are no longer able to follow the
requirements of Buddha. That’s why some monks are very greedy nowadays. They
want lots and lots of money, so they promote this idea: “Only if you provide
for me will you have boundless merit.” So how are you supposed to provide for
them? Supposedly the more you give them, the better. They even think that it’s
great if you provide for them to the extent of exhausting all your financial
resources. Think about it, that is extremely selfish. Those selfish thoughts,
even to the extent of taking all of others’ possessions and still not feeling
satisfied, are even worse than evil demons. How could they possibly be
cultivators?
Dafa cannot be measured by money. You, too, are
a cultivator, so why should someone else provide for you? Why do you accept
others’ money? (Applause) From another perspective, the person that you
want to provide for you is also cultivating Buddhahood. Otherwise, why would he
provide for you? He might have cultivated better than you! What gives you the
right to be provided for by him? You should provide for him! Of course,
nowadays people are accustomed to seeing religions going after money and power,
and getting involved in politics, so they no longer find it surprising. Lies
may seem to be true after they’re repeated three times, so the more people hear
them, the more acceptable they become, and people stop thinking about whether they
are correct. Of course, some students are concerned with Master’s living
conditions, and often think about helping to resolve some of the issues
concerning Master’s living. You don’t need to
think about that. I know how you feel.
Question: The sole purpose of life is to
assimilate to Zhen-Shan-Ren. If I deviate from that, I will request that both
my body and soul be destroyed.
Teacher: You already have a very deep understanding of the Fa,
and your determination to reach Consummation is rock-solid. I think that’s
really good. And I think that only a person who has a very solid foundation
cultivating in the Fa can write those words.
Question: In the future, will anyone carry on
after Master to continue spreading Dafa?
Teacher: After this is done it will be over. You are at the
juncture of a transition in the cosmos. After the Fa-rectification is over, the
future humankind will develop anew. They won’t know about Dafa, but they will
know that something like this occurred in history. As to the principles of this
Dafa, they won’t see a single word of them. When their new civilization has
been established, there will be new Buddhas, Daos, or Gods coming down to the
human world to save people, so the beings in the future will also hear the
Buddha Fa. Perhaps at that time in the Western society a God like Jesus will
again come to the human world. Those things will happen in the new era, and
have nothing to do with you.
Question: Do Zhuan Falun and the other books Teacher has
published have the same power of the Fa?
Teacher: That’s right. Anything,
as long as it belongs to Dafa, has the same boundless inner meaning. [But] I’ll
tell you that if you want to cultivate in a systematic way, you have to focus
on one book, Zhuan Falun. All other books are only for your reference.
The supplementary books have different supplementary value at different levels,
since different inner meanings exist at different levels. Yet if you want to
cultivate systematically, go by Zhuan Falun. That’s why you should read Zhuan
Falun repeatedly.
Question: Is it true that all disciples that reach
Consummation will be taken to extremely high levels; otherwise, they wouldn’t
need a Fa that immense?
Teacher: In other words, you’re saying: “Teacher has taught us
such a profound, high-level Great Law. If, though you’ve taught us things that
high, we can’t reach a level that high, then have you taught us those things in
vain?” Let me tell you—and some students may have seen it—at every Fa
conference, those who are listening to the Fa are not limited to you human
beings. Of course, the inner meanings of the same sentence that they hear from
me are different from what you hear and what cultivators at this level
understand.
Question: When another student said in his speech,
“I wish to return to my home,” for some reason I couldn’t help crying from the
bottom of my heart.
Teacher: Perhaps it touched your most fundamental part, your
most microscopic part.
Question: The srivatsa is the symbol of a Buddha’s level. So is
there a symbol for a Dao’s level?
Teacher: You can’t apply a formula to things in the
heavens—that’s not how it is. Actually, the manifestations of different Gods
don’t lie in what kind of symbols they have or how many symbols they have. The srivatsa
is only one manifestation of a Buddha—it represents a Buddha. Of course, that’s
how a Buddha manifests; Buddha’s have this symbol that reflects their level. In
fact, you can tell with a glance the levels of Gods in the heavens—with one
look you’ll know their levels.
Question: In the past, in all cultivation ways, it
was the Subordinate Souls that obtained the gong. Then in the cultivation ways of Western
religions, who obtained the gong?
Teacher: Is there any question about that? In the Western
cultivation ways, isn’t it the same—that the Subordinate Soul takes off after
the physical body dies? There can’t be one person missing on the Earth. So the
person’s Master Soul continues to reincarnate.
Question: Westerners think God is the only Creator
of this universe. How can we break this barrier?
Teacher: Some people do think that way. You can reason with
them, or give them the book to read. Besides these there’s no other approach.
You can’t force them to believe this. If they themselves don’t believe it,
there’s no other way right now. I’ve said that for Gods of different levels in
the cosmos, regardless of how high their levels are or which levels they belong
to, they have no idea what exists above them. Today, in the principles of the
Fa I teach, I tell you that those high realms exist, and you’re just listening
to all these principles while amidst human delusion. Yet when you really melt
into the Fa, you will be a part of that level of
the Fa, and at that time, when someone tells you about higher realms you won’t
believe it, either. It’s because right before your eyes you will truly see
everything at and beneath your level without any omission, and in that state,
you absolutely won’t believe in the existence of anything you can’t see. Now
you’re thinking, “Since Teacher has told us this, I will believe it in the
future.” Let me tell you, at that time neither the linguistic style nor the
form of the Fa I’m teaching you now will be what they are now.
Question: Do Gods have Master Souls?
Teacher: You can’t compare Gods with humans because humans are
in delusion. Gods don’t have Master Souls, Subordinate Souls, or other forms of
existence—Gods are just themselves. But Gods have Gods’ bodies, although the
way that body exists is unlike how a human being’s Master Soul relates to his
human body—that’s not how the relationship is, because they are one. And they
know about all these things crystal clear, whereas humans don’t know anything.
Question: I’m a newcomer. I can’t really believe
in the existence of Gods and heavens. If I study the Fa diligently, cultivate
my mind, and practice the exercises, can I be your disciple?
Teacher: Yes, you can. All of you can. Just go ahead and
cultivate. There are plenty of people whose thinking was more rigid than yours,
and yet eventually they have all raised their levels through cultivation. Don’t worry about it and just cultivate. In fact,
from your words [I can tell that] you have begun to have the thought of
learning Dafa, which is just a beginning. Given the current foundation of your
thinking, it’s not realistic to change everything, so through studying the Fa
you will gradually come to know things in the Fa’s principles, and will
eventually elevate to the point of sensing, coming into contact with, and
seeing things.
Question: I see that many people have coexisting
images. Have these people succeeded in cultivating a True Body?
Teacher: Because Dafa changes people at an incredible speed,
you saw the images of their bodies that exist in other dimensions.
Question: I like to listen to the audio recordings
of Master’s lectures before I go to sleep, but I often fall asleep before they
end. Is this being disrespectful to Master?
Teacher: Here’s what I think: if you want to practice
diligently you must treat Fa-study seriously. If you can’t fall asleep and can
only go to sleep while listening to this Fa, then you’re using the Fa to help
you fall asleep. Where are you coming from? All the same, some people indeed
fall asleep when listening to the Fa. Why does that happen? How could you not
treat what makes you fall asleep and not hear the Fa as a demon? And if it is,
why don’t you defeat it?
Question: A fellow practitioner’s shoulders shake
violently when he does the exercises, and the condition remains even when he
keeps his eyes open.
Teacher: Ask him to spend more time studying the Fa and
reading the books, and to truly improve himself based on the Fa. When a person
can’t focus on one cultivation way, this type of thing will happen. Or, if in
cultivation a person has problems with his shoulders, his shoulders might shake
like that when the illnesses are being cured. If this persists for a long time,
it means that he’s still at the initial illness-curing stage and has not made
any progress. Cultivate with a pure mind. When he truly improves in his
understanding of the Fa, this will pass quickly, and he’ll transcend that
level. When you feel physical discomfort during your cultivation and it doesn’t
go away for a long time, why don’t you let go of your attachments and really
cultivate yourself in Dafa? When you only want to become illness-free via the
exercises, or if you want to cultivate but don’t read the books, how could you
transform yourself? And how could you not get stuck there and remain in that
state?
Question: In my daily life I don’t care about many
things. Does that also cause me to be unconcerned with the tests during my
cultivation?
Teacher: If during your cultivation Dafa can’t stir you and it
seems to be no different than all other ordinary things, then I think it really
is a problem. In that case you should spend more time focusing on reading the
Fa, and overcome this hurdle. When it’s like an iron wall and can’t be broken
through, and it seriously impedes your enlightenment quality and your
understanding of the Fa, why don’t you break through it and open it?
Question: I did something terrible. Can I still
cultivate?
Teacher: You really shouldn’t keep making mistakes over and
over again like that after you’ve obtained the Fa! The attachments you haven’t
been able to let go of make you knowingly do wrong. If you don’t learn your
lessons and turn them into inspiration to change yourself fundamentally and
begin anew, you will miss this opportunity.
Question: I often have new understandings from the
Fa-truths. Are these only at the theoretical level?
Teacher: When you have new understandings you’re improving.
You feel a big difference, and when you feel a difference, you’re making
progress. Everyday people don’t see anything wrong with themselves. The
understanding you enlighten to in that state is not just at the theoretical level—it’s
not. Because microscopic transformations can’t manifest in ordinary human
society, you can only understand it or feel it from the perceptions
reflected from the Fa-truths. That’s how it is.
Question: “If jealousy isn’t eliminated, all the
thoughts you’ve cultivated become fragile.” What kind of “thoughts” (xin) does
this refer to?
Teacher: The “xin” mentioned here of course refers to
all the righteous thoughts during your cultivation. Righteous thoughts are
actually also righteous understandings. It means that the part of you that’s
been fully cultivated becomes very fragile.
This reminds me of something. The new book, Lecture
at the Assistants’ Fa Conference in Changchun, published in
Question: The group study and individual study at
home of the book Zhuan
Falun proceed at a different pace. Will this hinder cultivation?
Teacher: If you study attentively it won’t affect you. I’ll
tell you, when you read Zhuan Falun, read from the beginning to the end.
If you can’t finish today, pick up where you left off tomorrow; if again you
don’t finish it, next time continue to read from the point where you stopped
previously. Read in this way, and don’t be selective in your reading. What’s worst is when people read Zhuan Falun
for the first time and evaluate the Fa with their human notions: “Oh, it makes
good sense here. I have doubts about the things mentioned there.” Then he’ll
have read the entire book for nothing—he’ll gain nothing, what a pity! It’s
because this Fa is a solemn Law of Heaven. A human being has no idea how much
karma he has, or where his thoughts come from. Because he evaluates a Fa like
this with a human mind, he won’t be able to see anything. Read the book without
any preconceptions. You can judge the book after you’ve finished reading it.
Don’t evaluate it during the process of your reading.
Question: In winter, we have to wear very heavy
clothes when doing the exercises outdoors, and it’s very easy for our hands to
touch our clothes. Will this interfere with the energy mechanisms?
Teacher: When your hands touch the heavy clothes worn for cold
weather, it won’t affect your practice. When it gets too cold, you should wear
gloves for the exercises, and don’t freeze yourselves. Actually, practitioners
won’t get frostbite, yet some people have while doing the exercises. Why did that happen? Think about it: in Dafa no one
is forced to do cultivation—the person himself has to want to do it. During
Dafa cultivation many new students come to learn the Fa. They don’t have such
good or high enlightenment quality, or such high levels yet, and they haven’t
been tested yet, so we can’t yet say that they have come here to cultivate. In
other words, when we can’t yet treat them as truly cultivating disciples, if
they get frostbite, won’t it have a severe
impact on the Fa? Since they’re just at the beginning level and have just
joined, it hasn’t been determined yet that they are cultivators. If they get
frostbite when they are testing it out, what a huge impact that would have. New
students keep coming to take up cultivation, so you can’t do that. Some
students do get frostbite since they insist on doing that. Actually, in one
regard, it helps them eliminate karma; in another regard, it’s a way of having
them enlighten to this.
Question: Some people’s movements are very inaccurate.
Will that affect the energy mechanisms and the Falun?
Teacher: It’s a problem if the movements are very inaccurate.
If the deviation is insignificant, we can’t expect everyone to be exactly the
same as if they came out of the same mold. As they aren’t exactly the same like
they were produced by machines, there are bound to be differences among them.
Even if there were no differences, wouldn’t there still be variations if you’re
bigger than the next person? This is to say that it’s impossible for everything
to be the same, right? But if your movements deviate too much, that’s a
problem. We should make our movements as accurate as possible.
Question: Is karma eliminated faster when we do
the exercises outdoors in the cold of winter or the heat of summer rather than
doing them indoors?
Teacher: Just like I said a moment ago, it’s certainly good to
do the exercises outdoors, but you can’t intentionally seek hardship. If you
live in the North and the winter gets very cold, you must wear coats and
gloves. To be honest, frostbite doesn’t eliminate much karma. The elevation of
your xinxing is what’s critical to your improvement. (Applause)
Question: We aren’t able to see Master in
Teacher: Thank you all. (Applause) I understand very
well how the students in
Question: Will Master have a chance to visit
Teacher: I’ll have an opportunity to visit
Question: Lately I’ve felt that time is flying by
even faster this year than last year. What does this mean?
Teacher: Of course, I’ve talked about this before. It may be
hard for people to believe what I say, as it has to be discussed at a high
level, and yet you keep asking about these things... I have in fact transcended
all times in doing this. Otherwise—think about it—when a being enters a time
field, he’s restrained by that time; when he enters another time field, he’s
then restrained by that time field. Exhausting my lifetime, or ten, a hundred,
a thousand, or tens of thousands of my lives wouldn’t be enough to finish this
thing. Since I have transcended all times in doing this, I’m not restrained by
any time. In order to expedite this, I’ve had to speed up the time of the
entire cosmos. So the largest Falun is still accelerating its spinning and
propelling from the very top. The entire cosmos is connected together as a
whole, from top to bottom, so time is getting faster and faster. How fast has
it become, roughly? Beings in different space-times don’t feel it’s fast
because no matter how fast it gets, everything in their dimensions speeds up
along with it. Are you able to understand what I mean? There are still
twenty-four hours in a day and people go about their business all the same.
Time in this entire dimension has been pushed forward so much faster, yet the
clock is still ticking according to the scale of twenty-four hours a day, so
people don’t feel that it is fast. And people see the rising and setting of the
sun repeat just the same as usual.
When everything is accelerating, everything here
is also accelerating—your metabolism, your every gesture, every glance, and
your way of thinking are all going faster along with it. Similarly, the
environments that different beings inhabit are accelerating as well. Everything
is accelerating, thus no one feels the acceleration. So how fast has it become?
Today what is approximately one day’s time is one second. Actually, come to
think of it, human beings are quite pitiful, yet they are still really
engrossed in doing human things and still find themselves marvelous. Mankind
still wants to further its development. Human beings are just human beings.
They don’t even realize it when they’re destroying themselves out of ignorance.
The day they have really cloned a person is the day aliens formally start to
replace human beings. Gods won’t arrange for a cloned human being to have a
soul, so the person that’s produced will be just like a corpse. Without a soul
it’s dead at birth. What happens, then? Aliens will take advantage of this by
entering into those bodies, and they will become their souls.
Question: Can we still study Zhuan Falun after we reach Consummation?
Teacher: Gods in the heavens are also learning Dafa, but the
words aren’t like these. Instead, they are manifestations of the Fa at their
levels.
Question: Master arranged our paths of
cultivation. If we willfully change our working and living environments, will
it affect our cultivation?
Teacher: I don’t want you to seek out hardships in a willful
manner. But there is one thing: If conditions permit and are favorable, and you
want to find a better job, I welcome your doing so. If conditions are ripe and
other factors are also favorable, I don’t think finding another place to live
will affect anything, and perhaps that’s also part of your cultivation. But of
course, if you insist on doing things that are impossible to achieve or even
insist on seeking hardships, then you might be ruining things. When you try to
enlighten from the Fa-truths in Dafa, you do need to think things over and not
go against the course of nature.
Question: Master said we shouldn’t comment on or
analyze the Fa. Some people think that we can’t talk about our understandings
and comprehension of the Fa, either.
Teacher: How could that be right? It’s wrong for us to sit
here today and discuss things, then? You can’t understand it that way. If you
can’t even talk about your own understandings and experiences like we’re doing
at today’s conference, then I would say that’s wrong. On the other hand, if you
want to give a speech on things you’re attached to and haven’t been able to let
go, and the attachment causes certain misunderstandings of the Fa or has a
problematic impact on the direction of [things related to] Dafa, then you
should think about why others don’t let you speak. If you don’t have these
problems, then the other party is wrong. If at this sacred conference you want
to use my mouth to criticize someone you won’t succeed, because I can see where
your thoughts are coming from.
Question: One day, I suddenly realized that the
word “Master” has been given entirely new meanings. It is the most sacred
word.
Teacher: Then that’s because the meaning behind the word has
been unveiled to you. Don’t underestimate any word in Dafa. Buddhas exist
behind every single word, and every single word is Fa. That’s why when some
people say, “I read the Fa selectively” and they skip one part or another, or
they say they can understand one part but disagree with another paragraph, they
won’t be able to get anything out of it.
Question: You have created different paradises at
many different levels. What are the names of these paradises?
Teacher: Human beings are only allowed to know about
Tathagatas at the level of Shakyamuni. You aren’t allowed to know anything
about the gods at higher levels. I’ve talked about this many times before—I
discussed this even in the early days. Human beings are not allowed to know.
Humans aren’t allowed to know the names of the gods at the higher levels.
Humans aren’t allowed to say their names, as that would equate to blasphemy.
That’s because to them, human beings are just too inferior. I can tell you,
gods never consider humans to be their kin. Even though they have pity on
humans and have mercy on them, what they have mercy on is the human life form.
They nevertheless consider man an animal (which is, however, not the same
concept as defined in the theory of evolution).
Question: Falun Dafa saved people on a large scale
in a prehistoric period. In this cycle of mankind, this is the first time such
a high-level Fa is being taught. Was the Fa taught in the past the same as the
Dafa being taught now?
Teacher: First of all, who was the first one ever, since the
most primordial times, to teach this Fa of the cosmos? Secondly, if later on in
history I taught a part of this Great Fa of the cosmos, wasn’t I teaching this
Fa? When I teach Fa to human beings, is it necessary for me to talk about Fa at
that high a level? No. If in history I didn’t come to rectify the Fa and only
taught the part of the Fa that could save people, then was that not the Fa of
the cosmos? I only taught at the level human beings were entitled to know, not
higher. Wasn’t that also the same Fa? It was the same Fa.
Question: Why are beings produced in the cosmos?
Teacher: Just as microorganisms cannot use their ways of
thinking to understand human beings, the human mind will never be able to
figure out the way gods exist and think. Human beings don’t even understand the
cosmos, and they have no idea what it’s like, so how could they ask about
things in the cosmos? This question amounts to asking, “Why should the universe
exist?” Let’s not concern ourselves with why there’s a cosmos or why there’s
life, because these aren’t things you can or should know. Even when you’ve
cultivated to a high level, no matter how high it is, these are not things you
will know. Of course, it would be meaningless to create an empty cosmos without
life or anything in it, wouldn’t it? Using human words, it was the Lord (King
of Kings), or, the Venerable Lord of all Buddhas, Daos, and Gods in oneness,
who wanted it this way.
Question: What’s the ultimate meaning of a being’s
existence?
Teacher: You’re using a human way of thinking to think about
the universe and the meaning of life—it’s not what humans understand it to be
at all. Let’s talk about humans: if humans were bored of living, there would be
no need for me to come to teach the Fa. It’s because everyone wants to live.
I’m talking to you about humans in general. In fact, you have no idea about the
inner meaning of what I teach that’s higher than what you’re able to know.
Beings at different levels all have their meanings of existence and all have
their own true understandings of their existence. The true understandings at
their levels are completely different from your understanding. That is because
human beings’ understandings are reversed, they can’t see the truth, they can’t
see their future, they aren’t able to thoroughly understand things, and they
can’t see through things. No matter how advanced science has become, it’s still
crawling in this dimension. That’s why you have so many strange thoughts. If
you could evaluate things without any preconceived notions, you would be an
incredibly extraordinary god. But it’s impossible for human beings to do so.
You might say: “I can do that. You see, what I say
is all for the benefit of others, without any other thoughts, yet others don’t
like it.” Is it really true that your words don’t contain any other thoughts?
Do you realize the effect of the mixture of your notions formed after birth,
your notions formed over different time periods, and your thought karma that
comes into play when you speak? Human thoughts will never be pure. Some such
thoughts can be revealed to you, so you know; some aren’t, so you don’t know. Some
people don’t even realize when these thoughts have manifested. So the factors
in what you say include too many complicated things. The words of gods, to
humans, are absolutely pure. You say you’re merciful (cibei), but in
fact your mercy has many factors of human notions formed during different time
periods mixed in. Your thinking is human thinking, and it contains everything.
The thoughts emitted by your mind contain anything and everything. It is
precisely to eliminate everything that’s impure and deficient that a person
cultivates himself.
Question: Crying should be a state in a given time
period, but why can’t I get over that state after a year has gone by?
Teacher: That could be interference, too. Why can’t you get
through it after a long time? It would be wrong if you cry so much that you
can’t even hear the Fa. Of course, I’m not referring to this student. If when
it comes to certain things—provided that it doesn’t interfere with your
cultivation—you experience this state, then it’s possible there are other
reasons. [For example,] you made mistakes in the past, you see how you’ve been
changed—all the changes that have taken place that are beyond your wildest
imagination—or [you see that] you have been scooped up from hell, cleansed, and
even given all these magnificent things. How could you not cry?
Or, perhaps you were related to me in a certain
lifetime. There are all kinds of possibilities. That’s why.
Question: Say, for example, when beings that are
produced in a world of 18-karat gold are no longer pure, for them to return to
a world of 24-karat gold after the Fa has been rectified, they can only reach Consummation by holding
themselves to high standards. Is that correct?
Teacher: That is correct. But it’s not something that can be
achieved instantly; rather, it’s achieved gradually through the continuous
process of cultivation. At that time everything will be very smooth and
natural, and you won’t be forced to do anything. Speaking of this, I recall
something that happened when I was taking care of some things for you in the
early years. After I finished handling everything at the most microcosmic layer
of your existence, I felt that something was still not right. In the even more
deeply-hidden places where your existence was formed I found that even that
fundamental matter had degenerated, having stubbornly formed all the things
that couldn’t be changed. At that point, in other gods’ eyes even the
fundamental nature of beings was no longer good enough and it was impossible to
keep this universe any longer. But I reversed all of that for you. (Applause)
That was a really difficult thing to do. Any deviation or not doing it well in
the slightest sense would have affected every aspect of your future. It was
extremely difficult to do. In the end I remembered that when I had just begun
to work on the Fa-rectification, it was really difficult. What I’m talking
about is the phenomenon of your existence here, but don’t the same and yet much
more microcosmic situations exist at higher levels? So it was a very difficult
thing to do, but I did it, met the standards, and surpassed the best standards
that ever existed. (Applause)
I also found that mankind’s degeneration was
caused by matter at very high levels having degenerated. And those warped
things are very stubborn. The way it manifests directly here among human beings
can be seen in the outward behavior of today’s youth, who are irresponsible,
undisciplined, and lack self-control. They shout and scream, dance bizarrely to
music, and play video games. In short, their minds are filled with those things
of the so-called modern lifestyle.
Question: I meditate in the half-lotus position.
The sharp pain I experience in my legs is continuous, not intermittent.
Teacher: Of course, the intermittent pain I refer to is when
the person is able to get into the double-lotus position—then intermittent pain
surfaces. When you have just managed to cross your legs the pain will be
constant, and that’s because you have never double-crossed your legs before.
Or, if you have just managed to cross your legs, the pain will be truly
non-stop, as if it’s not bearable for even a second and you have to uncross
your legs right away. That’s the feeling you have inside. You tremble in pain,
which is hard to bear and pierces and disturbs your heart. I understand deeply everything that you go through.
If we are to talk about this situation, then we’ll talk about it from two
angles: perhaps you’ve never double-crossed your legs before and so the bones
of your legs are rigid and the tendons are inflexible; or, it might be the
result of karma. Both are possible.
Question: I always feel that I fall short of the
requirements of Dafa, and I always feel that I don’t have enough time. Is that
an attachment?
Teacher: The latter part is an attachment. The first part was
correctly stated. Don’t worry at all about [whether or not there’s going to be
enough] time. As long as you continue to cultivate you are moving towards
Consummation. But there’s one thing: you have to be diligent! If you say, “I’ll
take my time, ten years, eight years, or twenty years—I’ll do it little by
little,” then I won’t wait for you.
Question: Do the beings who will be saved and
brought into the paradises of those who have succeeded in cultivation also have
predestined relationships with the cultivators?
Teacher: All beings in your paradise may have had predestined
relationships with you in the human world. What I look at is your heart. When
you reach Consummation, what about the debts you owe? While you cultivate, I am
consummating your world. Some of the beings you owe will become ordinary beings
in your paradise, and then of course they’ll be happy about that. That’s a
reflection of your mercy and your mighty-virtue, and at the same time you’ve
saved them, turning it into a good thing. (Applause)
Question: Is it correct to say that enlightening
to the Fa during cultivation is for the purpose of enlightening to the specific
inner meaning of Zhen-Shan-Ren, which is at the highest level?
Teacher: That’s not the case. The enlightenment that I talk
about refers to whether you’re able to handle everything with righteous
thoughts during your cultivation. The sentence I just said precisely describes
the kind of enlightening that’s to take place during cultivation in Dafa. It’s
not about your sitting here thinking with intention, or trying to dig any
meaning out of a certain word. It’s not like that. Some people are slow in
realizing these things. When they feel a little bit of discomfort, they ask me
why they are not feeling well: “Teacher, how come I’m not feeling well?” Or,
they may ask someone else, “What’s happening to me today?” The next day when
they encounter upsetting things, [they’ll say,] “Why are upsetting things
always happening to me?” We’ll then say that these people have poor
enlightenment quality. Actually, when they have physical discomfort, that’s
when their illnesses are being purged, or it’s a manifestation of their gong
being developed. Yet they take it to be a bad thing. When they encounter
tribulations, that’s an opportunity for them to improve their xinxing.
They need to cultivate themselves. Without such conditions, how could they
accomplish that? How could they cultivate if they can’t take this, and can’t
bear that? It would be impossible for them to cultivate. This shows that the
enlightenment quality of these people is just so poor. That’s the kind of
enlightening I’m referring to.
Question: There are many people who don’t practice
cultivation in
Teacher: All the Fa I talk about has meaning and a purpose.
Human beings are just human beings. What are you asking me to tell human
beings? Let me tell you… I’ll tell you, I don’t regard you as human beings,
because you are human beings who are cultivating, and you are in a god’s state.
(Applause)
Question: The assistance center only allows [Dafa]
students to do the exercises in their own neighborhood, and doesn’t allow for
group activities to spread the Fa or do the exercises.
Teacher: The situation you described might be your own
misunderstanding; it also could be impropriety in the work of the coordinator
of that assistance center. Both are possible. I can’t comment specifically on
this for you. But you need to remember one thing I’ve said: when two people
have a conflict and a third person sees it, even that third person should think
about whether there are any problems on his part—“Why did I happen to see it?”
This is all the more so for the two people involved in the conflict. They
should examine themselves even more, since they need to cultivate themselves
internally. So when you find that you don’t agree with something, is it that
it’s not consistent with your notions, or that it’s not consistent with Dafa?
You should examine that, too. If you’re right, then out of being responsible to
Dafa, you can raise your reasonable and correct view with the coordinator. I
think that since he’s a cultivator he’ll take it into consideration. That’s how
it should work.
Question: In the scripture “Determination,”
Teacher says that interference from other dimensions is using various means to
approach students and cause damage.
Teacher: Let me put it this way: You can’t do anything you’re
told to do if it’s inconsistent with Dafa, you can’t learn any movements that
are taught to you if those aren’t the movements of Dafa, and you can’t follow
them to do anything that is not what we should do in Dafa. [As long as you do
that] it’s enough. Some wicked things pretend to be my Law Bodies. Handle
yourself well and evaluate things with Dafa. If someone relies on Law Bodies to
tell him what to do, that is attracting demons.
Question: Master, could you tell us some of the
things you did when you were imparting the Fa?
Teacher: What I can tell you is this Fa, and how to cultivate
upward. Just focus your attention on that. All the other things you want to
know have been deferred until after Consummation. Don’t spend your time
fantasizing now.
Question: There’s deeper meaning to Master’s
bestowing Falun on disciples, which is that after we reach Consummation and
return to our original positions, we’ll never again drop down.
Teacher: That is what I intend to do. (Applause)
Question: Teacher Li, can you bring your radiance
to
Teacher: Certain things aren’t like what you imagine. As a
matter of fact, some Chinese students were black people in their previous
lives; some of our Caucasian students were probably black also. That is to say,
something this huge isn’t as simple as the superficial form you imagine it as.
I won’t leave behind anyone who’s supposed to be saved. (Applause) I
hope you read the books and study the Fa a lot, and continually improve
yourselves.
Question: Please kindly explain how we can prevent
Falun Dafa from becoming a religion when you stop teaching the Fa.
Teacher: You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll be here
along with this Dafa all the way until I finish everything in this human world.
(Applause)
Question: When I’m having fun doing certain
things, I have a sense of guilt. Why is that?
Teacher: I’ll tell you this: many enjoyable things aren’t
necessarily good. Why? It’s because nowadays people have adapted themselves to
the trends of the times, and are unable to recognize the existence of the
negative side of things. If you’re able to judge things with the ancient values
of people in the past, you will find that [today’s things] are wrong. If you
evaluate them with Dafa, you’ll find they are even more wrong, and inconsistent
with the Fa. Moreover, a strong desire to have fun is an attachment that will
affect your cultivating Dafa.
Question: Sometimes, a scene of my xinxing improving flashes across my mind,
making me feel as if it really happened.
Teacher: A delightful scene of your xinxing improving
is certainly a good thing, and it’s real. At present, what you feel can only be
sensed this way from your comprehension and cannot yet manifest in the reality
of everyday people. It’s because you are still cultivating, still cultivating
with a human body. There are still a lot of bad things that exist in human
bodies, so you can’t appear like gods while having them. By the way, I’ll
mention something again. Recently, many people, including both new and veteran
students, have developed strong attachments to the Third Eye. Let me tell you
about something that’s very true, and a major reason behind all this: you have
many bad thoughts and notions in your mind, and when the Wisdom Eye of your
Third Eye sees the scenes that are beyond the human dimension, those things see
those scenes, too. But those bad things can’t be allowed to see gods’ true
appearances. Do you understand? That’s why many people can’t see for the time
being.
Question: I am aware of the state of my xinxing, and at the same time, I sense that I
have demon nature. How should I eliminate my demon nature?
Teacher: That’s actually an excellent state. In other words,
you’re able to sense the bad side of yourself, so you should repel it, resist
it and reject it. You should repel it from your mind, not follow those
thoughts, and stop doing those bad things. Then you are cultivating and
improving—that’s called cultivation.
Question: In group practice, is it better to just
listen to the formula read out loud by you before each exercise, or to read it
out loud together?
Teacher: Reciting it in your mind is enough—we always recite
those formulas in our minds, don’t we? But I don’t oppose your reciting them
out loud. Of course, if you recite them out loud, it’s better to do it simultaneously
during group practice. This is up to you. I’m not concerned with forms. But
when you’re more in unison and orderly during group practice, it will leave
people with a good impression, right? Do it according to your own situation. I
won’t oppose it, and I can’t impose any rules on you. Do it according to your
own circumstances—do whatever you think is good.
Question: Master, please say a few words to all
the disciples in
Teacher: Actually, everything I just talked about was intended
for the disciples in
Question: You mentioned eliminating the attachment
of emotion. Then why would gods shed tears?
Teacher: Those are tears of mercy. And a god’s feelings and
realizations are absolutely different from those of humans. They’re absolutely
not on the same level, nor are they the same concept. Furthermore, gods at even
higher and higher levels won’t shed tears for human beings. They would only
shed tears for the beings below them, since in their eyes, humans are just
humans.
Question: In my mind, I don’t want to do anything.
After reading Teacher’s scriptures, I feel shocked and a sense of urgency, yet
I can’t get my mind up to speed.
Teacher: That’s because laziness has started to wear you down,
so you have to break through it. Everyone will encounter this. Sometimes it
manifests quite strongly; other times it seems relatively mild. That’s what
prevents you from doing the exercises or being diligent in your cultivation.
Break through it! Smash through it. Maybe its hinge, or the crux of this
barrier, is your attachment, and if you unlock that you might overcome and
break through it instantly. (Applause)
Question: The universe of the future needs
original beings, so Teacher came. Is it because there are many such original
beings on Earth?
Teacher: I didn’t come here to save some “original beings.”
That idea is not right. When I teach the Fa at this human place, all other
dimensions can hear the Fa as well, so I came here to teach the Fa. Otherwise,
if I were to teach the Fa at another level, beings below that level wouldn’t be
able to hear it, including human beings. Of course, at all levels there are
original beings.
Question:
Teacher: Let’s not concern ourselves with these things—they’re
all everyday people’s matters. The purpose of their doing Buddhist related
things is to get blessings or to make money off of it. They build temples to
make money or for tourism. Human beings are just doing human things. We don’t
concern ourselves with that. Since Buddhism has become part of human beings,
whatever human beings do, just let them be.
Question: All of the disciples who are attending
this conference from nineteen different provinces, cities, or districts, and
thirty-three regions in
Teacher: I thank all of you. (Applause)
Question: All of the Dafa disciples who’ve
attended this conference from other countries give their best regards to Master
on behalf of the disciples in their respective countries or regions.
Teacher: I thank all of you. (Applause)
Some students have asked me to do the Grand Hand
Signs. So you really want me to? (Applause)
All right, I’ll do a set of Grand Hand Signs for
you. Then our conference will conclude.
This Fa conference will end shortly. It’s been
really successful. I know that through this conference the students have all
improved to a certain extent, found where they fall short, and realized that
they should cultivate more diligently. (Applause) The conference has served
its purpose well. This is excellent. In addition to veteran students, there are
also some people in the audience who came here to listen to the Fa for the
first time. I hope that everyone who has come into this conference hall can get
a copy of Zhuan Falun, take a look at what this Dafa is all about, and
gain some understanding of it, since, I can tell you, there are more than 100
million people practicing it. (Applause) It’s my wish that this Fa
conference will serve as an impetus to make you cultivate more diligently and
ascend more quickly, and that makes those who have lagged behind hurry and
catch up and those who’ve gone down a wrong path hurry up and turn around! (Applause)
You’d better not miss this opportunity, as the moment won’t come again. You
can’t let opportunities slip away again and again. I know this conference will
serve as a driving force for the east coast, the entire US, and other regions.
There will be more people coming to join Dafa cultivation, becoming good people
in the world, becoming even better people, all the way until they become good
people in even higher realms. (Applause) I’ll stop here. That’s all I’ll
say. Thank you, everyone. I hope that everyone will reach Consummation as soon
as possible. (Applause)
Fa
(fah)—“Law,” “Way,” or “Principles.”
Dafa
(dah-fah)—“The Great Way,” or “The Great Law”; short for the name Falun Dafa,
“The Great (Cultivation) Way of the Law Wheel.”
Dao
(dow)—1. Also known as the “Tao,” a Daoist term for “the Way of nature and the
universe”; 2. An enlightened being who has attained this Dao.
qigong (chee-gong)—a general name for certain practices
that cultivate the human body. In recent decades, qigong exercises have
been immensely popular in
Pudu
(poo-doo)—“Universal Salvation.”
Jishi
(jee-shrr)—“Saving the World.”
Master—the
Chinese term used here, shifu, is composed of two characters: one
meaning “teacher,” the other “father.”
This
is an article in the book Zhuan Falun Vol. II.
ding (ding)—a meditative state in which the mind is
completely serene, still, and free of thoughts, yet conscious.
xinxing (shin-shing)—“mind-nature” (lit.), “thought,” or
“character.”
Tathagata—Enlightened
Being with Attainment Status who is above the levels of Bodhisattva and Arhat.
Shakyamuni—Buddha
Shakyamuni, or “the Buddha,” Siddhartha Gautama. Popularly known as the founder
of Buddhism, he lived in ancient
Arhat—Enlightened
Being with Attainment Status who is beyond the Triple World but lower than a
Bodhisattva.
Lunyu
(luhn-yoo)—this is the Chinese word that is used for Confucius’ Analects.
A
god in ancient Chinese legend who is said to have created the universe.
gong (gong)—“cultivation energy.”
Zhen-Shan-Ren
(jhun-shahn-ren)—Zhen (truth, truthfulness); Shan (compassion,
benevolence, kindness, goodness); Ren (forbearance, tolerance, endurance,
self-control).