Hongzhi Li
May 13, 2012 ~ New York

(Everyone stands and applauds warmly. Master signals several times for everyone to be seated.)

Good morning! (Disciples say, “Good morning, Master!”) You’ve been working hard! (Disciples respond, “Master has been working hard!” Applause) I think I’d better stand so that you can see me better. (All applaud) We haven’t seen one another for quite some time and I know you’d like to have a good look at me, so I’ll just stand. (Disciples laugh and applaud. Master does the gesture of heshi in response.)

Many people come to the annual New York Fa conference. This venue has a limited seating capacity and can’t hold everyone. So, I told [the organizers] that next time we hold a conference we should find a stadium. (Disciples laugh and applaud)

I said that you’ve been working hard, and that really is the case. Never before has there been something as significant as Fa-rectification. In fact, throughout the past, anything culturally prominent or anything displayed by the cultivators or awakened ones of different periods was all meant for Dafa disciples’ reference and to lay a foundation for the vast spreading of Dafa. In other words, everything from ancient times up to this day was for this cause. To put it even more specifically, the five thousand years of Chinese civilization were in fact directly setting things up for this final event. Then with something this significant, think about it, it has bearing on whether the lives of the entire cosmos may be saved and with whether everything can be salvaged at a time when nothing is good enough anymore. Before the Fa-rectification of the cosmos had begun, nobody ventured to say whether this undertaking would succeed. Such was the thinking of many divine beings back when I first embarked on this. They would often say to me, “We wish you success.” Much was implied in what they said. And there were other divine beings who would tell me that never before had there been anything like this. They saw the enormous degree of difficulty.

As it turns out, the persecution that Dafa disciples have faced in their cultivation is a display in human society of the intense reactions that positive and negative beings have had amidst the cosmos’s re-formation; or in other words, the terror that the evil has visited upon Dafa disciples in its persecution, as with Dafa disciples’ persevering in their righteous belief as they counteract the persecution and save sentient beings, are merely a tiny, little reflection in the human world of happenings in the enormous cosmic Fa-rectification. This is in fact an incredibly enormous undertaking, and its magnificence is beyond the ability of words to describe. As the cosmos is being reformed, and each and every dimension worked on, each dimension will have manifestations of its own. The clash of new and old, the clash of good and evil, reflects the different attitudes of sentient beings, with the human world being but a display in one dimension. I have told you previously that whether or not a Dafa disciple cultivates well determines his power to save sentient beings as well as his ability to be successful in fully cooperating, here in the human world, with the Fa-rectification. In fact, amidst the Fa-rectification all dimensions are cooperating with the Fa-rectification, and things are being done there simultaneously—the pace of Fa-rectification is synchronized. People can only see what Dafa disciples display here in the human world. But what manifests in other dimensions is different, as it is the direct display of disintegration, or survival or death, of lives, as well as the process of the cosmos’s and the cosmic body’s renewal. That sight is something utterly soul-stirring. But because, after all, only a human being can do cultivation, and because however great may be the missions that Dafa disciples shoulder, they will still be human beings cultivating, and because it is human beings doing things here, the vast majority of people are not able to see those [magnificent] things and only very few are able to make out even a little portion of it. It can only be that under these circumstances, with this specified human condition and feeling pressure from the evil, undergoing ordeals, that you do what you are supposed to do.

If viewed in historical terms this is indeed such a major thing, then consider what kind of preparation it would have called for. The arrangements that were made were, in fact, quite detailed, to the extent that how each Dafa disciple would walk his path; what situations each would meet with; how each would advance or fall back; and how things would be handled when inappropriate states eventually came about, was all meticulously arranged. But be that as it may, it has to be that whatever you, as a living entity, want, is what ultimately counts. Whether you want to cultivate, wish for something, want to do something, don’t want to do something, don’t wish for something—all of it is decided by the person himself, and therein lies the difficulty. The same holds true for whether a Dafa disciple cultivates well or poorly, and whether you can fulfill your vows from prehistory. And as for ordinary people, faced with this persecution of Dafa disciples, faced with a suppression that utilizes in full-force the entire state apparatus wherein all media are utilized to fabricate lies and slander Dafa and Dafa disciples, under these circumstances, ordinary people naturally think that they should believe the government. Especially when the wicked CCP has always used lies to cover up its hideousness and used deceit to glamorize the state of things and its false heroes as a part of its evil regime, and having long lied to and duped people as such, it really is hard for Chinese people to tell true from false. Then there’s another aspect to it, namely, that the old forces hold that the cosmos is no good anymore and neither are human beings, and that people such as these who have accrued such great sins must make it through the illusions and lies for them to be worthy; people have gone along with the sinister Party and made things worse, and thus they must be held accountable for and bear all of that. The idea being, if you make it through, you make it through; if you don’t, then you’re to be weeded out. But with all of this, however evil or terrifying things may be here in this world, or however significant people may take them to be, it’s all, in reality, merely the happenings of but one small dimension in the cosmos amidst Fa-rectification—just one small, little matter in the reformation of utterly massive cosmic bodies. This is “leaving one side of the net open” amidst the serious, solemn Fa-rectification: in the people-saving process, those who are up to par will pass, while those who aren’t will not be kept.

So, as Dafa disciples you’ve seen that the situation is changing rapidly, and this is a reflection here in the human world of the cosmos’s Fa-rectification. When the persecution of Dafa disciples started on July 20, 1999, evil things were pressed down from the dimensions of realms above, as were the things from different dimensions and from each universe that they wanted to have eliminated, and you were expected to eliminate them. That brought Dafa disciples tremendous pressure. It was really just so wicked and horrifying, but you made it through. Things have passed and you all know about this now. There’s no need for Master to describe it. When you add to that the evil factors of the evil CCP, which teamed up with those things, you had a kind of pressure that was truly unprecedented. But, the standard for cultivation during the Fa-rectification is strict, and so is the standard that post-renewal divine beings are to meet, for these are the standards and requirements of the new cosmos. Beings that have not been rectified by the Fa will, on the other hand, use the principles of the old cosmos to go about things, and use those to evaluate Dafa disciples. They will only feel okay with it when you meet the standards that they acknowledge; only then will they let you progress upwards free of interference; and only then will they think that you are qualified to save them. And actually, the Kings who preside over the universes of different planes are similarly using old standards to block Fa-rectification. They will only let you make it through after they feel satisfied in their minds that you have met the standards that they have set; some are aware that they are being subjected to Fa-rectification themselves; some believe that they are the highest sovereigns in existence; and some do not agree with the requirements of Fa-rectification. But whether they agree or not, none of them have any idea how things will be after Fa-rectification. Such is the state of the layers upon layers of the multitudes of gods, with each plane thinking in these ways. If they think that someone or something is “not good enough, below standard,” then they will proceed to use their power to directly destroy everything within their ability that doesn’t meet the standard, including things connected to Fa-rectification. Although they don’t have the ability to truly disrupt the Fa-rectification, they will be a hindrance. Regardless of whether they can actually do anything, they will attempt to destroy things. Such occurrences have transpired countless times. But they haven’t managed to destroy the Fa-rectification or Dafa disciples, and nor have they destroyed mankind, or blocked the Fa-rectification. But they have brought a great deal of trouble. The trouble manifests here in the human world, taking the form of interference. These things have been happening all along.

If Dafa disciples don’t do well, if they lower their standard for their cultivation and if those old, higher beings—those layers upon layers upon layers of simply countless Gods and those countless Kings—all do as I just described, then think about it, how much difficulty will that bring to Fa-rectification? At the same time that these Gods, or Kings, are dissolved during the cleaning out, all of the simply countless sentient beings in the domains that they have jurisdiction over will be unable to attain salvation as well. If that is the situation for an entire cosmic body, then none of them can attain salvation. That is exactly the difficulty that Fa-rectification and Dafa disciples have encountered, and it manifests itself here in the human world as all sorts of troubles. You may be thinking that your Master has limitless powers, that he should be able to handle things however he’d like in the Fa-rectification. But have you thought about the fact that if we are to rescue all of this, then those who are to be saved need to be willing [to receive salvation], or it doesn’t count. If it is done against their will, their fundamental nature will not change; forcing such change would equate to re-creating a being. Re-creating a being is easy to do. It is saving a being that’s hardest. Re-creating is very easy.

As we know, Shakyamuni said that a Buddha could create a world at just the thought of it, with innumerable sentient beings within it, didn’t he? That is the case because they have power that great within their domain, possessing the energy of all the particles from the most miniscule to the largest within the level that they are at, with a density that great, and things are done with [particles spanning from] small to large acting as one. They have all of the abilities needed to create anything in their worlds, with living beings counted among what they can create at the mere thought of it. If things were to be done that way in Fa-rectification, it would amount to re-creating everything, and what was originally there would not exist anymore, nor would it be a case of Fa-rectification saving sentient beings. Then if you wish to rescue them, then for it to be rescuing, you have to get them to want to change in order for it to work. So if you want to save the cosmos and the world when these are no longer good, to rescue all of it, how hard that will be. Thus, sometimes when you meet with ordeals and wonder, “Why are the tribulations so huge? Why can’t Master just remove them for us?” I’ve had that thought too. When I have witnessed Dafa disciples being severely persecuted and their righteous thoughts aren’t strong enough, I’ve really thought about removing that tribulation for you. But, if I were to remove it, it would mean that you hadn’t passed the trial, hadn’t borne what you were supposed to bear, and hadn’t improved in cultivation. If I removed everything for you, then none of it would count for you and you would end up being nobody: you would not count as a cultivator, or as a Dafa disciple. Moreover, each person has brought with him over the course of his reincarnations, lifetime after lifetime, karma that permeates his body. Although Master has been looking after him through all those lifetimes, that person still has quite a lot of karma. If you made some vow in the course of history, or became somehow indebted, or got into certain trouble, then such things are hard to resolve but must be resolved, and must be dealt with. So, dealing with such things is exceedingly difficult, and a lot of the hardship that you encounter in cultivation owes to these reasons. Saving a being is nowhere near as simple as one might imagine.

But that said, however hard it may be, however much interference or difficulty may be introduced by a being prior to saving him, Dafa disciples do have ways forward. As I have always said, as Dafa disciples your historic missions are simply huge, with you shouldering the responsibility of saving sentient beings. So for sure there is a path that you will be able to walk through to completion. It is a path that has to meet the requirements, and only that way will the sentient beings of the cosmos admire you and not be able to interfere; will your path be free of problems; and will your journey go smoothly. Otherwise, if you are carrying all sorts of attachments and human thoughts, you will meet with a great deal of trouble, and that trouble will serve to block your path. When you fail to walk the correct path, one reason for it is karmic causes. Among them is the trouble that accompanies a being in the background; past favors done for others or scores to settle; old promises; all of the different connections one might have with a being, and so on. Another cause is the attachments that come from one’s human mindset. Especially notable are the notions that one forms, or habits of thought that one forms, which make it very hard for a person to recognize when human thinking is unconsciously at work. And if one can’t recognize it, how is one to get rid of it? This is particularly challenging in the setting of China, where the evil Party has destroyed traditional Chinese culture and rigged up its own evil Party stuff instead—what we refer to as “the culture of the Party.” It’s indeed going to be hard to recognize the Truth of the cosmos when one uses the habits of thought bred by that culture. And one won’t even be able to recognize that certain bad thinking and behavior are at odds with universal values. If one can’t recognize bad thinking for what it is, then what can be done? There is no other way but to act according to Dafa.

I have told you before that today’s Chinese people were once the Kings of the many ethnicities known to history, the Kings of each era; they are Kings of higher planes in the cosmos who have come down to earth, who’ve reincarnated in China. Their salvation will result in the salvation of the countless sentient beings behind them whom they represent. So it’s not so simple. When one such person gains salvation and it results in so many more being saved, who’s to eliminate all the karma involved? How is he to make it past that trial? What must he do for the old forces to have less of a loophole to exploit? What must be done in order to make the sentient beings and many gods at different levels of the cosmos who operate under the old Fa principles and old notions find him acceptable? What will it take for those beings who are being impacted to feel okay about it and to allow you to get through [the trial]? It is really hard. But Master has said that, “When disciples have ample righteous thoughts, Master has the power to turn the tide.” If your righteous thoughts are strong enough, who would dare to do something? So if you are in the right, Master can resolve anything. But if you don’t act righteously, what can Master do? Tell me, if you yourself haven’t done things right and yet Master clears away those [old force] beings, could that be acceptable? If you haven’t done well and whenever you have tribulations we eliminate those beings for you, then who would we be saving? That wouldn’t do.

But whatever the case, as I just indicated, although those are old principles, are thoroughly degenerate and are no good, contained therein are nonetheless common principles that people on earth refer to as “universal values”; in the heavens there are universal standards for evaluating things that hold true throughout the whole cosmos. If [based on these standards] those beings don’t approve of something, and then Master goes and wipes them out, then who are we saving? That’s where the difficulty lies. I could go about things according to my own standards and requirements, disregarding those old things, and carry through all the way in this manner. But it’s possible I wouldn’t be able to save any beings then, as they would all be purged or blown up. So, it is precisely to save them that Dafa disciples endure what they endure, and on this account that Dafa disciples’ paths are so hard. All of the ordeals that we meet with are so that we may save those beings. If Dafa disciples manage to make them feel satisfied, not only will those beings agree to Dafa disciples making it through, but also, Dafa disciples will be able to save them. No matter how you may look at things, that is how the layers upon layers upon layers of the cosmos’s beings look at things. Each and every plane has its King, and each and every layer has its Lord. The lives in this incomparably large cosmos, being just countless many, are numerous beyond your imagination. And each and every layer of them are having that effect, with each and every layer seeing things in that way. Then think about it: if you are to save them, what’s to be done? Master could purge them, sure. After they were purged and nothing was left, you would go past that point without saving a single being and repeat that process at the next stop: whoever opposes you would be cleared out, you’d make it through, and… not a single being would be left. If we were to do that all the way through, wouldn’t we have destroyed everything by the time we were done? Thus, Dafa disciples can only save sentient beings when they manage to walk their paths correctly. And only then, while saving beings, can you make it through. It’s that hard. This is what makes it so hard to save sentient beings. Some people who don’t know what they are talking about may say that they “want to save sentient beings,” but in fact have no idea what saving beings involves.

Be that as it may, Dafa disciples have managed to save sentient beings, and on that account you are extraordinary. Indeed, Dafa disciples have made it through from day one, and in the Fa-rectification have saved over 100 million of the world’s people. It’s outstanding. Master is quite pleased. What many Dafa disciples have shouldered has been simply enormous, and the mighty virtue is, likewise, great. But, why should you shoulder so much? And some people ask me why they are persecuted so severely. Perhaps that person is bearing things on behalf of the many lives behind him. The lives that he needs to protect, and who he needs to save, are simply that enormous and that numerous. Perhaps that is caused by both his own factors as well as the factors of the beings he should save; the amount of karma or the number of factors that he shoulders from the past might also be great; there might also be accumulated old scores that he can’t resolve as well as long-standing grudges that can’t be undone at all—some of which can only be settled by exchanging his own life. So it’s on this account that things are so exceedingly complicated in the persecution. The old forces have done some things, but amidst their interference Master has been turning the tables on them. Whatever the case, Master has his own standards, and the old forces must pay for all that they do.

I have shared with you before that everything in the Three Realms exists for the Fa-rectification. That includes both the sentient beings who recognize that Dafa is good and those who don’t. All know that Fa-rectification is taking place, but nobody knows just how massive this undertaking is. That’s particularly true with the Kings and Lords—they believe that they are enormous, yet they haven’t realized that behind them are still countless many universes that exist. They consider themselves remarkable, and it is thus that they dare to act as they do. That is how such great difficulties come about. But whatever the case, Dafa disciples are saving vast quantities of sentient beings and Fa-rectification has arrived at the end. You’ve all seen that, going forward, the evil doesn’t have enough strength for it to be made use of. Gradually the evil climate that the old forces use to test Dafa disciples, as well as the setting in which you save sentient beings under evil pressure, is disappearing. That’s because the evil is now insufficient to make use of. The old forces believe that its power is no longer sufficient to test Dafa disciples and the world’s people, and what they do wouldn’t count [as testing Dafa disciples] anymore. In that case, Master’s making use of the old forces’ interference while having Dafa disciples save sentient beings is also concluding. Those who haven’t been saved, who have not listened as Dafa disciples clarified the truth to them during this period, or who haven’t understood even after they were told the truth, will run out of predestined chances, and when something is over it’s over. The next phase will soon begin.

Whatever day history is to end on, that day cannot be delayed no matter what. There can only be changes made to specific things or what unfolds in the process. Things that are not done well will impact things later on, but this overall timeframe cannot be extended. This isn’t a matter of Master being compassionate or not. The reality is, in the end, if anything that has been saved or re-formed is not what I want or does not reach my standard, it will have been for naught since it will have to be destroyed. This time cannot be exceeded. So, for the beings that cannot be saved, that’s just how it is.

Of course, having said this much, Dafa disciples might feel that there are many things that they haven’t done well and that they regret. That’s bound to be the case. In fact, I knew from the start of this undertaking that with mankind having reached this point and, on top of that, there being such massive interference from the evil, it would really be hard for Dafa disciples to clarify the truth to people who have been deceived by the lies fabricated when the persecution began. I could see at that time that it was already impossible to save every person, much less could we save all of the cosmos’s sentient beings. But we will still do our utmost to save more, to save them quickly, to rush to save still more lives before the time arrives.

So, while we’re on this topic I’ll say a bit more about cultivation matters. With the things that Dafa disciples are supposed to do, there exists a process that progresses forward. When this time period has passed, it’s over. If then, in hindsight, you find that you didn’t do certain things well, there will be no opportunity to make it up. Of course, cultivation has not ended yet and you can keep doing the things that Dafa disciples should do, and make sure that you do well with whatever lies ahead. So in that sense, there are still many opportunities ahead and time to do things. However, if there are a lot of things you haven’t done well, then you really will be left with a great deal of regret. For example, the speech just delivered talked about Shen Yun. Let me put things a bit more clearly. Shen Yun is meant to save sentient beings. While you all know that, has it occurred to you: Master is giving you an opportunity to work together and for those who haven’t stepped forward to step forward. As Shen Yun’s influence expands, people have all come to realize that it’s a superior show. No show put on by human beings today can compare. Of course there’s no comparison, for as you know there are divine beings on the stage helping the performers and it can bring people salvation. Who could match that? Nobody can. And moreover, it is Dafa disciples who are performing, and the performers’ skills are in and of themselves world-class. That’s something nobody can match. But, as the practitioners in each area go about promoting Shen Yun, whenever you run into something—it’s not that you don’t want to get things done, otherwise, you would have no need to argue over them—although you all want to get things done, one person will insist that it be done one way while another person some other way, or one person will insist that it be done now while the next person that you wait, with nobody giving ground. These intense human mindsets result in people not being able to cooperate. And during the arguments that you have, some people’s human mindsets are really strong, with some people even being driven by those attachments to quarrel with others. Even if those people end up doing it the other way, they will be quite passive about it.

I’ll tell you, for years I have been continually saying that Dafa disciples’ abilities are tremendous, yet many people don’t believe this since those abilities were not allowed to be seen. Under the effect of righteous thoughts, everything around you, as well as you yourself, will undergo changes. Yet you have never thought to give it a try. The old forces as well as the interference from the evil elements are precisely exploiting the gaps in your thinking. That’s what they have been doing all these years. All along the old forces have been directing rotten spirits and the factors of the evil Party to do this, causing you to fail in your efforts to save people. They do this because they don’t have the ability to defeat you in a direct fight. It wouldn’t matter what kind of mighty force they assembled, the instant you started sending righteous thoughts they would all be turned to ashes, completely destroyed and unable to amount to anything. If this kind of fighting continued on, the interference from rotten spirits and factors of the evil Party would be eliminated and disappear. When Dafa disciples are able to send righteous thoughts with good concentration and strong enough righteous thoughts—give it a try—if you could do that today, half of all the evil that now exists would be wiped out. It is exactly because you have all sorts of human attachments, as well as problems cooperating, that it is able to exploit your gaps, prevent you from succeeding at what you’re supposed to do, and weaken your power as you go about saving sentient beings. The evil has no other means at its disposal. When bad people in this world appear to be evil, and might act so ferocious, that’s because there are evil entities behind them propping them up. Eliminate those evil entities and that person wouldn’t be able to muster that ferocity anymore. If Dafa disciples can manage to pool their strength together in one concerted effort, and act with extremely strong righteous thoughts, think about it, that will truly amount to divine beings being present in this world. It would be simply terrifying to the evil!

The evil people act as they do because evil is propping them up from behind. Yet you always look at how bad that person at the surface is, how evil he is, how that evil policeman is so this or that, or how somebody’s behavior is just so irrational. You always fix your gaze on the surface. I’ve always told you that this human body here is just like an article of clothing, and that what really controls a person is his soul—be it his master soul or subordinate soul. And it’s not just the soul that can control a person. There are all sorts of intelligent entities that can also control a human being. It is not the beings at the surface that are doing evil to Dafa disciples. When you have addressed the factors behind the scenes, take another look at the surface and see what happens. With no factors at work behind the scenes, a human being will do whatever you tell him to. You are a cultivator and someone with extraordinary abilities, and you are a being who is walking the path to divinity. Whereas that being is an ordinary human, and he is powerless. So you shouldn’t always fix your gaze on the person at the surface. Only when you deal with the factors behind the scenes will you manage to resolve the problem at the root. Only then will you cause a given situation, or that person, to change.

We all know that it was hard before when you were selling [Shen Yun] tickets. But however hard it was, there was still a way forward for you. It was just a question of whether you sought it out. Some people suggested that it would suffice to just send righteous thoughts. But if you were to just send righteous thoughts, and not do anything, how could that be called cultivation? It’s similar to how some people treat reading the book. They just read, and don’t do the things that Dafa disciples are supposed to do. In that case, do you count as a Dafa disciple? That’s not Dafa cultivation. If everything could be taken care of by sending righteous thoughts, you wouldn’t even need to do it—I could just organize a group of Dafa disciples in New York to send righteous thoughts and we’d be all set, and everything would be taken care of. You have to get personally involved, cultivate, and go and put things into action. Working hard is part of your cultivation. You need to think of ways to find the people that you are meant to save. All of these are things that Dafa disciples should do. Make efforts to cooperate well together. If you discover that someone hasn’t done something well, or if during your discussion at meetings certain things aren’t handled well or your idea isn’t adopted, yet you feel that it really is how things should be approached, then, if you can manage to quietly see to it that that thing goes well even though your idea wasn’t adopted, that is being a Dafa disciple.

As you know, Shen Yun is getting better with time and its impact is growing. This year in the U.S. towards the end of the performances, each performance we rolled out was sold out. Next year the tickets should sell quite easily. If it really were the case that with just one round of advertising everyone would come, then I will tell you, I wouldn’t ask you to go and sell tickets. Some people might be thinking, “Oh, fantastic! One less thing to worry about.” But if you don’t do anything, does that count as cultivation? Master called on you to take that path and provided you with that opportunity, but did you act on it? Of course, if you’re saying that you didn’t get involved in Shen Yun because you were doing other projects, then there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s great. If you’ve been truly diligent and dedicated to those other projects, and done a great job there, then that’s not a problem and I’m still happy even though you didn’t work on Shen Yun. But some people really don’t do much, and what they do, they don’t do well. To sum it up, you’re not willing to trouble yourself and you want to have it easy. Or in other words, you’re not willing to make good on what you are to do. That doesn’t work, and that is dangerous. For Dafa disciples there are the standards for Dafa disciples, and although you may appear to be just a human being who is doing cultivation, sometimes when your righteous thoughts are strong one sentence is all it takes and a person can be saved. But he’s an ordinary person, and he has his standards for gaining salvation; he will go to the place that he is saved to. You, on the other hand, have standards that apply to you.

Another thing is, as we are now at the latter stage, many students are now able to access or see other dimensions—with some even seeing scenes of what they are doing in Fa-rectification. There is nothing inherently abnormal about that. Each person’s circumstances are different and the states each person experiences in Fa-rectification are different, so there are some people who can see things. What I want to remind you of is, there were some students before like this who couldn’t handle themselves well and were ruined. After seeing something, don’t let human thinking breed attachments and all sorts of excited thoughts, and then get yourself ruined. There are already lessons to be learned along these lines. This is something you need to watch out for.

I have always said that the scope of the cosmos a Dafa disciple is responsible for is large. You may be the King of a universe, or even an Awakened One of a much, much higher plane, so think about it: how large is such a universe? Shakyamuni said that within a grain of sand there are three thousand chiliocosms. Then in the sand of that sand aren’t there another three thousand chiliocosms? Then in those worlds is there not again sand? Then in the sand of that sand’s chiliocosms there is also sand, and aren’t there rivers, lakes, and seas? And in that sand aren’t there again three thousand chiliocosms? Aren’t there also seas in the three thousand chiliocosms inside the sand? And still more sand? And in that sand aren’t there again three thousand chiliocosms? In the cosmos, the human body’s structure is considered large, since the human body is made up of coarse particles. Of course, there are many things larger than man. So, if that’s the case, then reaching from what is largest in the cosmos to what is smallest, a grain of sand has so many worlds in it and in fact air too is composed of particles—and its particles are in turn made up of matter that is still more miniscule. That miniscule matter is for sure nothing like the soil and stones that man’s eyes perceive here; it definitely assumes the state of material in its dimension. So, air is also composed of molecular particles, molecules are composed in turn of atoms, and atoms are composed of even more miniscule particles. As it continues on downward into the microcosm like this, even to very high gods it appears to go on infinitely. Then how many particles make up air? There are many different types of gases that make up air. So in fact, contained within things that are imperceptible to man are many, many elements. Wouldn’t you agree that the knowledge possessed by today’s sciences is just extremely shallow?

It is a human notion that wherever a person can plant his foot on the Earth, that’s what the ground is, and an open space that a person can’t stand on is not the ground. But that’s not how gods see it. To them, everything composed of molecules is the ground, or is soil. If the gods above are composed of atoms or atomic nuclei, then that plane of particles too pervades all domains of the cosmos. Gods and human beings look at things differently, and their concepts are different. Human eyes are composed of molecules and can only see these little, few things. It’s completely different for a god. Within his domain he is omnipotent, and he can see anything. This universe is so vast—how many beings are there, going from the macrocosm to the microcosm? And how many particles make up each being? Within each particle there are worlds, and that entire plane is composed of simply countless universes. And how many gods’ worlds are there within? How long is the history of each such god’s world? How many stories of lives are to be found there? When I look at each being, it’s like reading a biography or a historical novel, with every lifetime being contained inside it and all of it still unfolding, alive and vivid. The lives in the greater cosmos are just so countlessly many and come in so many different sizes, with each person, each god, and each being having his own history—much like a story. The course of life is, for each person, just like a volume of history. Then just think about how amazingly rich and complex this cosmos is. It’s hard to say where the things that you see and encounter in cultivation come from, but when they are displayed before your eyes, or when you do manage to encounter one of these things, however miniscule it may be, its appearance will nonetheless be as it would in a massive cosmos. That is because for you to have entered that realm, to personally be there, you must have assumed the same size as the beings there, and then you will find that world to be incomparably vast. Your state of mind, meanwhile, will align with the manner of thinking of that world. That holds true for entering any environment: you will look upon that world in a manner consistent with that dimension. Some people have even seen a microcosmic world so small that it seems like nothing could possibly be smaller, yet that small place, when sized up with the concepts of large and small that humans have, will seem no different from a large dimension or a being of larger form—be it in terms of how the gods or beings [in that miniscule realm] manifest or the miraculous displays there. Sentient beings are equal. It’s not about their physical size. But all the same, [seeing them] will trigger your attachment of being overjoyed. You will think, “Wow, that’s truly amazing!” But the truth is: in the massive cosmic body of the universe, such things are really just too trifling to mention. Have you grasped what I am trying to explain? (Applause)

Which is to say, this cosmos is simply so enormous and sentient beings are simply so numerous, countless many, coming in all sizes. Whichever state of existence you enter into, you will look at matters or look at the beings there in a manner consistent with that state of existence. What’s more, owing to reasons of cultivation, you too would become divine there—perhaps even more divine and powerful than those beings. However, you still have a human body, so if you let your guard down your human attachments will swell: “Wow, I’m so amazing!” Then, when you returned to this so-called “reality” of human beings, you would think, “Whoa, I’m really something!” Indeed, there have been many people whose minds started to get unsteady when they saw some bit, some portion, or something that happened in the universe. Back when I was teaching the Fa, some people perceived certain information predating antiquity, and thought they resembled a Buddha. They then regarded themselves as Buddhas, and were just elated about it. They would stop attending our classes, too. In the early days they would go everywhere declaring that they were Buddhas and didn’t need to cultivate. They weren’t able to cultivate either, as that human attachment really swelled up. If in cultivation you don’t get rid of your human thinking, anything might serve to trigger your attachments or act as an obstacle in your cultivation. Don’t let any attachments develop. As Master has said, there is no way you could possibly see the true, full picture of the cosmos, for even divine beings of lower planes cannot see it, much less you who are saddled with a human body. Despite whatever the beings in those realms might say about how extraordinary you are, prior to Consummation you are nobody. Perhaps long ago you were a being there or were once their King, but that’s all, for you are now a human being and you cannot go back. One cannot go back prior to completing the entire cultivation process or if one’s cultivation fails. So by all means do not be attached in any way. With strong righteous thoughts and a calm heart, do what you are supposed to do. The cosmos is simply so vast.

Although some words are on the tip of my tongue, I am not inclined to say them. That’s because I’m worried it would set your minds racing and then you’d want to ask why this, why that, probing still further. It would trigger certain attachments. But Master will tell you, our cosmos—that is, the one that is relevant to our lives—this incomparably massive cosmos is something I finished handling long ago. [The parts of] Master that were at higher planes have already returned to their rightful places. Our cosmos is already beautiful beyond compare. When I completed all of this, I wanted to move on to the next step, but I found that the human dimension, being the surface of the cosmos, could not yet be freed. And why is that? This cosmos is so utterly massive that it is simply inconceivable. Its lives are so numerous that even those of a small expanse are too many to count, while its vast cosmic bodies are simply beyond description. Thus, in later times when I taught the Fa, I never talked about how large the cosmos is, as the later in time I do it, the larger it is, and it defies the powers of human thought or language to describe. As Fa-rectification reached the end point I discovered that the beings of other cosmic bodies that have no connection with anything in our cosmos realized how well our cosmos had ended up after what was done, such that it was now like a sparkling jewel in the cosmos, like a diamond. All saw it as a good thing and wished for this Fa. All wanted to obtain this Fa. (Applause)

I previously explained to you the concept of the universe, and how multiple Milky Ways make up one expanse of it. That expanse is what we refer to as a small universe. It takes hundreds of millions of universes such as this to make up a universe of the second layer. As for how massive the cosmos ultimately is, suppose we considered a massive universe that consists of a trillion layers to be one domain, and then grouped a trillion of these one-trillion-layer domains together—we could then call this trillion one-trillion-layered domains a particle of air. Such particles permeate the conference hall here. Although that amounts to a massive number of universes, this is still but a small, insignificant particle in just one dimension of the universe. When I arrived at the end while doing Fa-rectification, I saw that the form of beings was not something the beings below would be capable of understanding anymore; as the Fa’s principles ascended, there would be simply no way for gods at lower planes to understand them. When I arrived at that realm and its state, I ultimately discovered that it too was but one particle of dust in the cosmos.

I know full well that beings, in whatever realm they may be, are the same: each appreciates how beautiful life is. The Three Realms are an exception, of course. As Dafa disciples, if you can fulfill your missions; if you can, in whatever realm you are at in your cultivation, save the beings that you should save; if you can set free the beings that you should save out from among humans; and if you can fulfill the responsibilities of a Dafa disciple, then you will, upon returning, experience indescribable honor and sense the tremendous grandeur of your cosmic domain. With all of this, a god will not have anything like the sense of an unsatisfied desire that a human might. Gods don’t have a human state of being. A god, no matter which realm he’s in, actually wouldn’t be happy if you offered to switch him to a higher realm. He would think that that place has nothing to do with him. He wouldn’t be thinking in a human way. The massive cosmic body, huge beyond imagination, that I was describing was just to give you a sense for its enormity. Don’t get carried away thinking about it, as that wouldn’t do any good. It’s simply too enormous.

I sometimes think that while an individual being might seem quite trivial, each has its own life story. Some are solemn and stirring, some are complex and full of twists and turns, some are joyous, some are painful, and some are compassionate or kind, each having the different traits of that being. I really cherish them. But, such lower lives aren’t valued by the Kings or even greater Gods of different planes of the cosmos. This is something determined by their state of being. They only see the overall standard as important. A particular being or groups of beings in larger expanses don’t count for much to them, for [those gods] are just so large. At this point I have finished all of the Fa-rectification, everything has been completed, and other cosmic bodies will follow the same steps. However, the overall time of Fa-rectification cannot be prolonged. It will end when it’s supposed to end.

A while back, some Dafa disciples had not yet stepped forward, so we had to wait and do our best to have them come forth. But the time for this is running out. When I saw students who came out of China, I urged them to tell the students who haven’t stepped forward to quickly do so—to have them quickly find those lost students and spell the facts out for them, for what they otherwise face is a most tragic of ends. Cultivation is no trifling matter. And that’s especially so for Dafa disciples, who shoulder such great historic missions. Bound up in that mission is the survival, the life or death, of simply countless beings. Wouldn’t you call that something major? It’s a huge thing. Here in this world, at the surface, it’s simply clarifying the truth and stopping the evil persecution. And when you aren’t handling things well, you size such things up with human thinking. Things here in this world are illusory, however, and the way in which one cultivates has you cultivate precisely amidst faith and doubt. If you can manage to regard yourself as a cultivator and really, solidly, with strong righteous thoughts handle your things, then that in itself is truly extraordinary. This is something dictated by the way of the world, and so things wouldn’t count if you could do them in exactly the manner a divine being would. If that were allowed, we could just get those earthly immortals to come out from the mountains and get things done. Or we could just have Dafa disciples’ gong unlocked right from the very beginning and in an instant things would be done. But it doesn’t work that way, and nor would it count. We save people amidst the illusion. Human society is just an illusory place, so we have to save people in a manner befitting human society. When it was created, it was made this way on purpose.

With all that Master has said, I’m not sure: have you grasped everything? (Affirmative applause) Some things really aren’t as people have imagined them to be. One bit of slander from the evil has been, “If your Master is so powerful, how come he doesn’t do things in such-and-such a way?” I could. But I don’t. I have come to save sentient beings, and no matter how bad a being may be, I will give him a chance. You may have turned bad and dared to say such things, but that’s because of the world’s declining morals as well as evil factors at work behind the scenes. I pity you as a being, and feel compassion for you. I want to give you a chance. I don’t want to dispense with you. But, if that becomes necessary, that’s definitely what I will do. It will be divine beings, actually, who do so. When they see such evil they won’t be able to hold off, and it won’t be necessary for me to do it.

Master is truly pleased with the path that Dafa disciples have walked these years. Of course, those who haven’t walked it well or who haven’t stepped forward still cannot be called Dafa disciples at this point. Those who have come through, and managed to take action, are really extraordinary. With that, they have negated the old forces’ interference. They haven’t yielded to the evil, nor have they been brought down by this simply unprecedented, severe persecution of Dafa disciples that is supposedly “testing” them, but that has instead served to temper such Dafa disciples. Be it the hardships or the evil’s persecution, whatever it was, you have come through it—truly come through. What’s left [of the evil] is no longer enough to amount to something that could harm Dafa disciples as a whole. It can merely serve to supposedly “test” those who haven’t walked the path well or test certain locales. When the evil sees human thinking [in Dafa disciples], it seizes upon that to do bad things, for the old forces think that that’s how things should be done. While saving sentient beings, we still need to negate all of that interference from the old forces. All along, that is how we have managed to make it through. Dafa disciples are achieving success for themselves while negating the persecution and saving sentient beings, and walking well the final leg of their journey.

I will tell you: cherish the path that you have traveled and what you’ve done, cherish all of the time you’ve spent validating the Fa. What has passed shall never return. If one were to try to create again a climate of terror in which to temper Dafa disciples, it would no longer be possible, for there is not that much evil left. As the Fa-rectification pushes forward, level after level, it is ceaselessly, on a large scale, eliminating the evil elements, and the new cosmos is constantly moving ahead in its formation. The Dafa disciples who have done well have been eliminating evil on a large scale throughout the [cosmic] expanse and region that they are responsible for. So, if one wanted those evil elements to play some major role, it would no longer be possible.

As you know, everyone in Chinese society is cursing the evil Party nowadays. You know why that is. Those of us who are older remember how in the past nobody would dare criticize the evil Party. But now everybody does so, for now there are almost no evil factors of the wicked Party left. When the persecution first began, the density with which they covered everything was great. They were watching people and even taking over them, so who would dare say the evil Party was bad? You could be in the bathroom with the door closed and still not dare whisper a complaint about the evil Party, and even then you’d be afraid. It was those evil elements at work. But with those evil elements now having been eliminated on such a large scale that they’re about gone, people who still have a sense of justice are standing up and speaking out. And even when people see the evil Party in the act of persecuting people, they dare to denounce it, for there aren’t that many evil factors left. In other words, the climate of terror is no more, and increasingly the environment that the old forces created to persecute cultivators, or to temper Dafa disciples, is disappearing. When it’s no longer enough to test Dafa disciples or to serve as pressure as Dafa disciples go about saving sentient beings, that’s the time when things are about to end. You don’t need me to tell you so. You can see it for yourselves. The situation is changing rapidly. But whatever the case, cultivators are cultivators and we don’t get involved in ordinary human politics. Whoever has done good things for Dafa will be affirmed by the divine. And of course, Dafa disciples will witness this. For those people, that amounts to creating a future for themselves.

That’s all for today. Thank you all. (Long, enthusiastic applause)

I’ll add a few words. The form that you see Master in is that of a human being. It’s a complete human image, with all the human components—exactly like a human being. But, at each level of the cosmos Master’s body matches exactly, in form, the beings of that level of cosmos. That’s true here, too. As I have told you, although this is a place for human beings, since the main part of Master is here, this spot has become the heart of the entire cosmos’s Fa-rectification. Be it the old forces or the beings we want to save, all of the massive cosmic bodies in the cosmos that wish to be saved want to get in here. For safety purposes, the true lives of all beings that have yet to be rectified by the Fa are all being stored here with me; their lives are all sealed up with me, from layers upon layers of my particles all the way to my surfacemost cells. But even so, I will tell you, Master is not going to seem any different from a human being. I won’t look like a god to anyone, unless it is right before the Fa-rectification is completed. If I were to now appear just like a god, it would ruin your conditions for cultivating; it would rupture the illusion under which you are to enlighten to things. All of your actions and your cultivation from that point on would be for naught, everything would be ruined, and sentient beings couldn’t be saved. So, don’t look at the Fa with human thinking, and don’t think about Master with a human mindset. The Fa that Master has taught you can enable you to cultivate, and it is on the basis of this Fa that you are to cultivate and measure things. There are no errors with the Fa. The Fa is written with the most superficial, human language, using the structures of human language, but it is by no means limited to this superficial level: in level after level after level after level, there is Fa-meaning contained in it.

Thank you all! (Long, enthusiastic applause throughout the hall)

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