Anyone who practices Falun Gong needs to make a priority of working on their mind and character, and recognize that this is the key to spiritual progress. Refining character is what’s essential for higher stages of practice. The energy that determines one’s level of attainment is not, in fact, the product of physical practice, but of developing one’s character. But this is much easier said than done. For example, one has to put in a tremendous amount of effort; improve one’s spiritual discernment; suffer the most painful of ordeals; and keep one’s composure even in terribly trying situations. Just consider why some people never achieve much in their practice, even after many years. One key reason is that they don’t take character seriously; another is that they don’t have genuine teachings of a higher sort to guide them. And there is something I need to spell out here. There are many masters out there who emphasize character development, and who are teaching in the right way. But those who don’t teach character, and only give instruction on energy exercises or techniques, are not going about it the right way. It’s as bad as teaching something malevolent. So anyone engaged in spiritual practice should make a focus of perfecting their character if they want to ever progress to higher stages.

The Deeper Meaning of “Character”

There is more to the concept of “character” in Falun Gong than simply being “virtuous.” Its scope is much broader. It includes all of the virtues traditionally taught. Being virtuous is just one expression of good character, and so it’s insufficient to equate character with virtue alone. “Character” also includes learning to see the costs and rewards of spiritual practice for what they are. The greatest reward of practice is to become one with the essential qualities of the universe—zhen, shan, and ren.When someone is very virtuous, it means that he has aligned his life with the essential qualities of the universe. Meanwhile, the costs entailed in practice include becoming free of greed and selfishness, as well as sexual attraction and lust; not taking life, committing acts of violence, or taking what is not yours; and not being deceitful or envious, among other negative behaviors. To advance to a higher stage of spiritual progress, one must also be able to let go of whatever things human beings tend to desire or strive for. Or in other words, one must come to forsake all attachments. This entails learning to not hold worldly things such as status, wealth, and influence in such high regard.

A complete human being has not only a physical body but also a personality. The universe is similar. Not only is it physical in nature, but it also has the essential qualities of zhen, shan, and ren. These are present everywhere, including even in the particles of air. These qualities play out in the world as good being rewarded and wrongdoing being punished. And at higher planes of existence, they factor into the development of spiritual powers. Those who live in keeping with these special qualities are good people, while those who go against them are bad. If a person can completely align his existence with them he will become enlightened, or holy. But to achieve such exalted spiritual heights, one must develop exceptional character and fully align with them as I’ve described.

Spiritually perfecting one’s character is much harder than simply being a good person. One has to mentally prepare. [As an ancient saying has it,] “If one seeks to make right the heart, with sincere intent one must start.” Just consider how terribly challenging it is to live in this world. When you try to be a good person, there will be those who try to thwart your efforts; or though you might not harm others, there will be others who harm you for some reason or other. But many things like this happen for a reason. In that situation, can you figure out the cause? And know how to handle it? At every moment your character will be tested and evaluated as you face the myriad challenges of this world. The question is whether you can hold yourself to a higher standard when you face those challenges, be it when someone tries to humiliate you without reason; when someone does things that jeopardize what’s dear to you; when there are bribery or beauty traps meant to ensnare you; when people around you are fighting tenaciously for power; when envy and hatred lead to intense disputes; when there’s discord and conflict all around you; when relations are strained in your family; or when you are suffering physically or psychologically on some level. Of course, you aren’t likely to handle everything perfectly from day one, or it would mean that you’re already a saint. Most everyone who practices Falun Gong is part of the secular world when they begin, and character is something that’s perfected step by step. A seat in heaven awaits those who steel their will to practice and to overcome whatever hardships or challenges they face, however great. I hope that everyone who does our practice will guard their moral integrity and quickly make spiritual progress!

The Costs and Rewards of Practice

Among religious communities or those who do energy practices, people take seriously the topic of the “costs” and “rewards” of practice. Some people think of the costs as being small sacrifices like giving to charity or doing good deeds—such as extending a helping hand to those in need—and of the rewards being the gaining of spiritual merit or higher energy. And so, monks in Chinese temples will tell you to give donations. But this is a rather narrow view of it. We have a much broader view of the “costs” involved; ours is a more expansive concept. What one has to part with in our practice are the attachments that people ordinarily can’t let go of—the very things people take to be important and hold dear. These are the true “costs” entailed. So, more is involved than simply helping people, doing good deeds, or showing compassion.

Most regular people hope to enjoy a bit of fame, to make out better, to live a better life, enjoy a bit more comfort, or have a little more money in hand. These are what motivate most people in life. But we who engage in spiritual practice are different. The rewards in store for us are spiritual attainment and higher energy—not worldly things. We seek to become detached from material things and worry little about them. But this doesn’t mean you will be materially deprived. We do our practice inthe secular world, so we have to go about our lives as normal. The key is to view worldly things with detachment, not to physically get rid of them. There is no reason to be deprived of anything that’s rightfully yours. But at the same time, you have no business laboring to get things that aren’t meant to be yours. Should you gain such things, you will have to pay for them eventually; what was seized will come at a cost. Of course, perfectly achieving what I’ve described is not something you will be able to do right away; one doesn’t become a saint overnight. But as you practice bit by bit, incremental spiritual progress will be possible. However much you are able to let go will be mirrored in your spiritual gains. You will learn to think little of material things, and would rather have less in exchange for peace of mind. And so if you get shortchanged, for example, you will gain merit from it and grow spiritually. For that is how it’s supposed to work. But this doesn’t mean you should intentionaly sacrifice your wealth, good standing, or career to make spiritual gains. You will come to a deeper understanding of all this if you look at it from a spiritual angle.

There was once a Daoist who said, “I don’t wish for what others want, nor do I have what they do. But what I have, others do not. I’ll take what they don’t want.” The average person’s desires are seldom satisfied, and there might be no limit to what they want. About the only thing they don’t want are the stones underfoot. And so the same Daoist quipped that he would “settle for stones.” It calls to mind a Chinese proverb: “Value builds with rarity; uniqueness stems from scarcity.” So while pebbles aren’t worth anything here in this world, perhaps in a higher spiritual realm they are—for their rarity. So the Daoist person I mention was expressing a philosophical insight that may elude the common man. Many who are quite spiritually accomplished have almost nothing materially. They are willing to part with anything that is of this world.

Spiritual practice is the best way of life, and those who do it are the wisest. Those who don’t practice may go in for things that are transient and trifling. And even when someone does get what they compete for, or chase after, and they make out a bit better, so what? As a Chinese saying goes, “At birth we bring nothing with us from the previous life; at death we take nothing with us to the next.” Or in other words, “Naked you come, naked you go.” And all that might be left of you one day is ashes. This holds true even for the ultra wealthy and powerful—none of what they have goes on to the afterlife. But with spiritual achievement it’s different: higher energy can go with you. And that is because it is tied to the true you. Let me tell you that this energy is not easily come by. It is exceptionally precious, and truly hard won. It’s priceless. If your energy is developed to a great height and one day you decide to not continue practicing, your energy can be—as long as you don’t turn bad—transformed into any material thing you might dream of, whatever it may be. But you won’t have anything higher than this material world, the way spiritual people do.

People sometimes come to have what is not rightfully theirs by underhanded means, and think that they made out well. But in reality, they are trading in their virtue for what they got, and giving it to the person they took advantage of. They won’t realize this, however. If it’s someone engaged in spiritual practice who does that, it will cost him higher energy. If it’s a regular person, it will cost him years off of his life or entail his paying in some other way. Accounts have to be settled, in other words. There are cosmic laws at work. For example, some people always mistreat others and say hurtful or abusive things. When they do that, they are hurling over to the other party a corresponding amount of virtue. They pay for their abuses with virtue.

Some people think that nice people are losers. As those who are worldly see it, nice people get the short end of the stick. But as it turns out, they are gaining something that worldly people seldom manage to gain much of: virtue. Virtue is a white material that is precious beyond compare. Higher energy simply isn’t possible without it. This is a hard and fast truth. And this explains why many people do energy practices but never develop higher energy—they don’t manage to cultivate virtue. While many spiritual teachers have stressed the importance of virtue, and how critical it is to develop, none have explained the why behind it. Namely, that virtue can be transformed into higher energy (or “gong”). They have left it to people to figure out for themselves. The ten thousand or so sutras that make up the Buddhist canon all center upon—just as the Buddha did over the course of more than forty years teaching—the one topic of virtue; the spiritual texts of ancient Chinese Daoist practices likewise all speak of one and the same virtue; and Laozi, in his five-thousand-word work, the Dao De Jing, likewise singled out the importance of virtue. But the centrality of it has been lost on many.

Back to the “costs” of practice, we believe that sacrifices have to be made for there to be gains. As soon as you become serious about your spiritual development, there will be ordeals to pass. Firstly, you might experience a bit of physical suffering, and feel unwell in some part or other of your body. But it is not due to a disease or some condition. Secondly, ordeals may take the form of unexpected conflicts or emotional tensions with other people in your family, at your workplace, or in other settings. But all of this is to perfect your character. Often trying things like these will happen out of the blue, and seem really intense. You may be tested through situations that are very awkward or embarrassing, and from these it will be seen how well you handle things. If you can manage to handle them calmly, then it means your character has grown, and so your energy will develop in kind. Even if you barely manage to handle the situation, you can still gain a little bit from it. How much you gain from the episode will be proportional to how well you handle it. People don’t typically realize why they go through the challenges that they do. But we should. We need to be clear on what kind of people we are, and maintain our poise when things happen. We do our practice in the secular world, so the tests of character that we face are going to seem quite normal. You are bound to stumble a few times along the way, but you can learn something from it each time. It’s not possible to develop higher energy in total comfort, with no troubles along the way.

Working on Zhen, Shan, and Ren Together

Our discipline works on developing zhen, shan, and ren together. “Zhen” means speaking truthfully, being genuine, recovering your true self, and ultimately becoming a fully realized spiritual being. “Shan” is about developing a compassionate heart, doing kind deeds, and helping others to gain spiritual liberation. Special weight is given to the ability to forbear, or “Ren,” for only with this is spiritual greatness possible. The ability to forbear is powerful—even more so than honesty or compassion. You must practice forbearance throughout the course of your spiritual journey, always keeping your composure and never acting impulsively.

It’s not easy to forbear when things go wrong. Some people may think that not retaliating when someone attacks you or embarrasses you in front of friends or family is foolish; they think it’s something only a glutton for punishment would do. But you shouldn’t have to worry that people will think you’re foolish for acting that way if you are normal in every other regard; it’s just that you are less concerned with your own self-interest. You are no less smart than others. There is nothing weak or self-deluded about being forbearing. It’s a mark of willpower and self-restraint. Just think of the famous general Han Xin,¹⁴ in Chinese history, and how his forbearance was such that he willingly suffered the indignity of crawling on hands and knees beneath a hooligan’s crotch.¹⁵ An ancient saying has it that, “The common man draws his sword when insulted.” And indeed, the average person is quick to retaliate when someone humiliates them, hurling back an insult or even coming to blows. But to have a human life is a rare opportunity. And yet some people waste their lives while dead-set on revenge and only make life harder for themselves. But as the Chinese saying goes, “Take a step back, and you will see a new way forward.” And things really will look different to you if you can, when the going gets tough, step back a little.

As someone engaged in spiritual practice, you have to not only be forbearing towards whoever you don’t get along with or those who may humiliate you, but also be forgiving—and even thankful. If it weren’t for those tensions that you experienced with those people, how could you perfect your character? How could you transform your dark matter into white matter—which entails suffering—and develop higher energy? Ordeals are hard to get through, but they are precisely the time to exercise self-control and work on your self-mastery. As your spiritual strength grows, your ordeals will increase in kind. And from this it will be seen whether your character can keep up. At the beginning, such things might still make you mad—so mad that you can hardly take it. And they might be so insufferable that you feel sick to your stomach. But if you manage not to vent, and can forbear it, then that’s a good start. It means you are learning to forbear. You are actively restraining your anger. And as your character grows, slowly but surely, you will eventually come to take episodes like those less seriously. Which will mean you have made even bigger strides. Many non-practitioners make a big deal out of even the smallest of slights or other little things, and let their sense of pride dictate what they do. They can’t forbear things in the least, and it might lead them to do who knows what. But those of us who engage in spiritual practice shouldn’t take so seriously the things that people normally do. They should seem trivial or even petty to you. Your goals are long-ranging and far-reaching, for you aspire to no less than eternal life. So when you think again about those trying situations, it should be clear how unimportant they are. Keep your sights set on bigger things, and you should be able to get through whatever it is.

Getting Rid of Jealousy

Jealousy is a huge impediment to spiritual practice, and it can have an enormous effect on people. It can directly impact one’s spiritual strength, cause harm to others in the same spiritual fellowship, and severely hinder one’s spiritual progress. It is something that anyone committed to spiritual practice will want to be one hundred percent free of. Some individuals may have reached a fairly advanced stage of practice, but still have not managed to free themselves of jealousy; and moreover, it is something that only grows stronger the longer it goes unaddressed. This can have the negative effect of destabilizing all other aspects of a person’s character that he or she has developed thus far. The reason I single jealousy out in my teachings is that for Chinese people it is the greatest, and most pronounced, character flaw, and has an outsized impact on their thinking. And yet many people are oblivious to it. This is something unique to the East, and has sometimes been referred to as Oriental jealousy or Asian jealousy. Chinese people tend to be introverted and reserved, and don’t readily show their feelings. This makes them prone to jealousy. Being reserved has its good side, of course, but like everything else it has its cons, too. People in the West are rather extroverted. And so if a kid gets a one hundred in school, for example, he might run all the way home, shouting excitedly, “I got a hundred!” Neighbors may yell out congratulations to him from their doorways or windows, saying, “Way to go, Tom!” They’ll be happy for the child. But one can just imagine the disdain people in China would have if a kid did that. “Since when is a one hundred something to brag about?!” they’d think. “That’s nothing special!” Their response would be completely different, since jealously is at work.

Jealous people tend to look down on others, and can’t bear to see others do better than them. They get upset when they see someone who surpasses them in some way, and can’t handle the truth. They have a hard time accepting it. In China, people like that believe that everyone should get the same pay raises and that bonuses should all be the same, since, “We’re all in this together, come pain or peril,” after all. People turn green with envy when they see someone getting better pay, since they can’t stand the thought of someone making out better than them. Some people even shy away from claiming the bonuses they should get for their scientific achievements, for example, due to the jealousy it would cause. Or in other cases people might not even let others know when they receive some kind of title or form of recognition, for fear of the jealousy or snide remarks that would ensue. Some qigong masterbecome contentious when they see another master giving a class, and will even try to disrupt it, which reflects poor character on their part. You also see jealousy playing out when people gather to do energy exercises. For example, if someone in the group develops extrasensory abilities after practicing for just a short while, people begin thinking or saying things like, “What’s so special about him? I’ve practiced for years and have a stack of certificates to show for it. How could he have gotten powers like those when I haven’t yet?!” So jealousy arises. But spiritual practice is about trying to find one’sown shortcomings, and working on oneself—finding what’s not right on one’s own part. One has to make a sincere effort to address whatever shortcomings one has, and the intention should be focused inward, on oneself. But if instead one is always focusing one’s attention outwardly, on other people, one will never improve. And all the while, others who do work on themselves will be elevating spiritually and moving ahead. So isn’t focusing one’s attention outwardly a waste? Spiritual practice is about working on oneself.

Jealousy can even lead people to hurt others in their spiritual community. For example, people might say negative things that disturb others and make it hard for them to quiet their minds when doing the exercises or meditating. And when they gain certain powers, they might even, out of jealousy, use them to hurt a fellow spiritual adherent. I’ll give an example. There was once a spiritually accomplished person who was sitting in meditation. Due to his spiritual strength, his body appeared mighty and huge, like a mountain. Two spirits floated by. One was previously a Buddhist monk who was not able to achieve spiritual perfection due to jealousy, but who possessed some lingering powers. When the two entities came upon this individual, meditating there, one of them said, “Oh, there’s someone meditating here. Let’s not disturb him and take a detour!” But the other replied, “Hey, I’ve knocked the top off of Mt. Tai before with a single karate chop.” And then he raised his hand, intending to strike the person meditating there. But he couldn’t strike the man, or even lower his arm again, after raising it. That’s because the meditator followed a true practice, and had a protective shield around him. And so he couldn’t be struck. To want to strike someone in a true practice like that is asking for big trouble. And so he was punished for it. Jealous people hurt not only others but also themselves.

Getting Rid of Attachments

In spiritual practice, the term “attachment” refers to becoming overly fixated on something. They may be so obsessed that they can’t get over it, and might even turn a blind eye to constructive advice about the problem. For example, there are some who seek to gain supernormal powers for worldly ends, and this inevitably impedes their progressing to higher stages of spiritual practice. And the more intense their fixation, the harder the attachment is to let go. And this only makes them more off-balance and spiritually ungrounded. In the end they might feel that they have accomplished nothing spiritually, and may even have doubts about the practice itself. Attachments arise from people’s desires. One trait of attachments is that the goal or aspiration behind them is too narrowly focused, and usually very concrete or specific. But the person usually isn’t aware of this. And worldly people often have many attachments. Some people will stop at nothing to get what they want or to achieve their ends. Attachments play out a bit differently in the spiritual arena, though. For example, here people might seek to gain extrasensory powers, or become entranced by the things they see in other dimensions, or get overly excited about the otherworldly things that they experience. But it isn’t appropriate for someone doing spiritual practice to be attached to anything; any longings like those should be done away with. Daoism teaches about “nothingness,” while Buddhism emphasizes “emptiness,” and people even call becoming a Buddhist “entering the gate of emptiness.” We want to ultimately achieve a state of emptiness or nothingness, and be rid of all attachments—to let go of everything we hold on to. To see why, just consider this example. When someone seeks to gain extrasensory powers, behind it there is an intent to use them. And that intent runs contrary, in fact, to the nature of the universe; it indicates a problem of character. The reason those powers are wanted is to showcase them around others, to show off. But powers like those are not meant for showing off to others. And even if one’s intent were pure, such as wanting to use them for good deeds, there’s no telling whether those “good” deeds would really be so; that’s not very likely to be the case when one is using higher means to intervene in secular affairs, for example. Or, to give another example, when some people hear me mentioning in my classes that seventy percent of people’s third eyes have opened, they start wondering why they’re not experiencing anything. When they get home and do the exercises on their own, they focus intently on the third eye, hoping to open it—to the point of getting a headache. But they still aren’t able to see anything, and there is attachment involved. People’s innate physical and spiritual qualities differ, so it’s only natural that not everyone experiences visions right at the outset, or at the same level. Some will experience them, while others will not. That’s to be expected.

Attachments can cause one’s spiritual strength to stall or stagnate in its development, or in serious cases, cause one to go to the dark side. A notable example would be how certain powers can be used for bad purposes if there are issues with one’s character. There are cases of people who didn’t have solid character using them for bad ends. For example, there was a male college student who developed a form of mind-control power. It allowed him to influence other people’s thoughts and actions. And he used this to do something bad. Sometimes people experience visions while exercising, and spend time and effort trying to see with greater clarity to know what’s going on. But that too is an attachment. Or in some cases a person has a hobby or pastime that he becomes addicted to, and can’t give up. That too is an attachment. People naturally have different aspirations, owing to their different spiritual makeups. Some practice to attain the highest spiritual achievement they can, while others hope for worldly things. The latter mindset will of course have a limiting effect. And if that kind of attachment isn’t done away with, the person won’t achieve much spiritually, even if he does practice. So people on the spiritual path should place little importance in material things, and seek nothing worldly. They should be content with whatever comes to them naturally. Taking this approach will ensure that attachments don’t form. But everything comes down to character, in the end. One’s spiritual practice will never succeed if one’s thinking doesn’t elevate, thoroughly, and one still harbors attachments of any sort.

Karma

How Karma Comes About

Karma is a form of dark matter that is the opposite of virtue. In Buddhism it is referred to as “karma from evil acts.” In our practice we simply call it “karma.” So doing wrong is referred to as “generating karma.” Karma comes to a person either through doing wrong in this lifetime or in a previous life, be it from taking life, being abusive to others, gaining money or power at others’ expense through coercion, gossiping about people, or being unkind to others. Any such acts will result in karma. Another source of karma is that which is passed down from family members or passed on from close associates. When a person throws a punch at someone, at that instant some of the white matter he has will be tossed over to the other party; and dark matter will then occupy the spot in his body where the white matter was, replacing it. Killing is the most evil and wicked of acts, and it generates a heavy amount of karma. Karma is a major reason why people become ill. But it won’t always manifest as illness; it might also play out as trouble in life or other issues. Yet whatever the case, it is karma at work. Thus those who engage in spiritual practice must do all in their power to avoid doing bad things, for any wrongful act will have negative repercussions and significantly hinder one’s practice.

Some people promote taking energy from plants, and some of them even teach techniques for collecting it as part of their energy classes. They indulge in bragging about details like which kinds of plants have better energy, or what color of energy different ones have. There was one group of people I saw in a park in northeastern China doing who knows what kind of practice. They would roll all around on the ground, and then get up and start to circle around some pine trees, taking in their energy. In just half a year, the grove of pines had withered and died. Doing something like that generates karma, for it is killing! Taking energy from plants like that isn’t a good thing to do, however you look at it—be it in terms of the things advocated for nationally such as reforestation or maintaining ecological balance, or if you look at it from a higher spiritual vantage point. The vast universe is brimming with energy that’s free for the taking. They would have been better off taking that. Why go and abuse a bunch of trees? And where was their compassion, as spiritual people?

All of creation is alive. Recent scientific studies have found that not only are plants alive, but that they also have intelligence, thoughts, and feelings—and even extrasensory powers. When your third eye reaches the level of Dharma eye, you will see the world in a whole new light. As soon as you step outdoors you will find that rocks, walls, trees, and other things are talking to you. All physical things are alive. At the time of each thing’s creation a spirit is infused into it. The delineation between organic and inorganic matter is man-made and is simply an earthly perspective. A Buddhist monk might be very upset, for example, if he breaks an object as trivial as a bowl, for at the time of its breaking its spirit is prematurely released, before the destined end of its life. And so the spirit will have no pre-arranged place to go. It will thus hate the person that put it in this predicament. And the stronger the resentment that follows, the greater the karma it will cause for that person. Some supposed masters of qigong even engage in hunting. But where has their compassion gone? Buddhists and Daoists alike try to avoid violating higher laws. Engaging in hunting is certainly a form of killing.

Some people may have previously made a lot of karma for themselves by fishing or preparing live fish or fowl, or doing other things, and wonder whether they can still do spiritual practice. They still can. They didn’t know better at the time, and so the karma wasn’t as serious as it would be otherwise. As long as they don’t do that from now on, it will be fine. But if they do that again, it will be knowingly killing—which is a real problem. So some people do have the kind of karma I was describing. But as long as it’s part of your destiny to attend our classes, it means spiritual practice is possible for you. Then how about swatting the flies and mosquitoes that get into your home? At this stage it’s not wrong for you to do that. You can just kill them if shooing them out doesn’t work. When it is time for something to die, that’s what will naturally happen. There’s one episode from the Buddha’s life that illustrates this. One day he wanted to bathe, and instructed his disciple to clean the bathtub. His disciple discovered that there were insects crawling in it, and so he went back to ask the Buddha what to do. The Buddha told him again to clean the tub. The disciple then caught on, and cleaned it. So you shouldn’t take things to extremes. We don’t want you to become overly focused on small, trivial matters. With this world being such a complex place, it’s no good if you’re a bundle of nerves all the time and always worrying about making a mistake. That’s another form of being attached. Fear is itself an attachment.

We want to be compassionate. If you can manage to treat everyone and everything with kindness, problems will be very unlikely. If you can come to worry less about how you will make out personally, and can become a bit kinder, you will naturally exercise restraint with whatever you do, and you won’t be apt to do anything wrong. If you’re not convinced, just ask yourself: if you are always grumpy or touchy and picking fights with people, won’t even the well-intended things that you do go wrong? I often see people who, when they feel that they’re in the right, won’t let others off the hook, no matter what they do; they think that they’ve finally gotten the upper hand and have an excuse to discipline or punish others. We don’t want to be like that. Nor should we start rumors or sow discord between people simply because we don’t like certain things about them. What you disapprove of or what rubs you the wrong way might not necessarily be a problem on their part. Another thing is, as you keep progressing spiritually, the words you say will come to have energy behind them. When you speak with those who don’t practice, what you say might change the course of events in their lives. So it’s important that you choose your words carefully. You are prone to making mistakes when you don’t know the true nature of a matter, or the karmic reasons behind it. And you are in danger of generating karma as a result.

Reducing Your Karma

In the secular world as well as in higher realms, there is a rule that what is owed to others must be paid. The rule applies even to those who do not practice. The adversity and ordeals that one faces throughout life are most always the result of karma. One’s karmic debts have to be paid. Yet the lives of those who truly engage in spiritual discipline will be reworked. Your life will be re-designed in ways that foster your spiritual practice. A portion of your karma will be removed for you by your teacher, or master. What is left will be used to facilitate the perfection of your character. You have to pay it off or compensate for it yourself as you do our exercises and go through spiritual development. Going forward, the difficulties you will encounter in everyday life will not be by chance. So you should be mentally prepared. The ordeals you go through are meant to help you let go of the things people are normally attached to. You will meet with all kinds of trying situations, be they domestic or in your community or workplace; or they could take the form of terrible mishaps; or you might be blamed unjustly by someone for the mistakes they made, among other possibilities. And although those who do energy practices shouldn’t fall ill, one might all of a sudden experience what seems to be a serious illness, which could even be severe and cause much suffering. And medical tests might not even be able to determine the cause. Yet one day, for no obvious reason, the illness will be gone without any treatment. The real reason is that one’s karmic debts were paid off through the ordeal. It could take other forms as well, such as your spouse throwing a fit one day for no apparent reason. Even the most trivial of things might set them off. Afterwards even they will be puzzled as to why they acted like that. As someone who does spiritual practice you should be clear on what’s going on: it is karma at work, which you are meant to pay off. So you should keep composed when such things happen, stay collected, and smooth things out. You should cherish the opportunity to reduce your karma, and feel grateful to your spouse for helping you.

One’s legs will ache when meditating for a long time, and it can feel torturous at times. But those with higher vision have observed that when it is painful, a large chunk of dark material spanning from inside to outside of the meditator’s body is being pushed out and dissolved. This type of pain comes in waves, and it can be piercing. Those who understand what’s going on won’t readily put their legs down to terminate this process—for it is a process in which dark material is being eliminated and converted into white matter, and eventually, higher energy. One can’t eliminate all of one’s karma simply by meditating and doing energy exercises, however. One must also develop one’s character and discernment, and undergo ordeals. What is most important is for one to be kind. Kindness develops early on with Falun Gong. Many will start to shed tears as soon as they begin meditating, for no apparent reason. Whomever they behold will seem to be suffering, and they will feel sadness over whatever they think of. This means that one has developed compassion. It means that one’s true, intrinsic nature or self has begun to connect with the qualities of the universe—zhen, shan, and ren. And when kindness has developed in one’s heart, what one does will be good and kind. It will be readily apparent to others that you are kind, through and through. When that is the case, others will not mistreat or abuse you. And supposing someone really were to do so, compassion would arise in you and stop you from retaliating. There is power to it, and it would prevent you from acting like most people would.

When misfortune befalls you or things go really wrong, your compassion will help you get through it, and my spiritual bodies will be looking after you and safeguarding your life. But the ordeal is still something you have to go through. Here’s an example of what this might look like. One time I was giving a teaching in the city of Taiyuan. There was an older couple that was on its way to attend, and they were crossing the street in a hurry. Just as they reached the middle of the road, a sedan came speeding toward them. It snagged the woman’s clothes and dragged her more than ten meters before she was thrown to the pavement. And it was another twenty-some yards before the car came to a halt. The driver hopped out of the car and said some harsh words, as did the passenger who was with him. The woman didn’t argue with them, however, because she remembered my teachings. After getting to her feet she said, “Don’t worry, it’s alright. I’m not hurt in any way.” She grabbed her husband and proceeded to the auditorium where our session was. Suppose at that moment she had chosen to complain, “Ouch, I’m hurting here… there… Take me to the emergency room!” Then things really would have gone badly for her, and she really would have been injured. Fortunately, she didn’t respond like that. She caught my attention afterwards, and told me, “I knew what that was about. It was helping me to reduce my karma!” That was a major ordeal that she went through, and it allowed her to pay off a big chunk of karma. As you can imagine, she had excellent character and faith. To get back up after a nasty fall like that, after getting dragged by a car going that fast, and at her age, really takes the right kind of mindset.

The ordeals you go through might at times seem huge or impossible to get through. But after a few days of searching for a solution, a way forward might appear out of the blue, and with it, a big change might come about. That’s because once you grow spiritually, the ordeal will naturally disappear.

To elevate your plane of thought, it’s necessary that you overcome all sorts of worldly trials and ordeals. And if, as you go through them, your thinking really does elevate, and stays at that new level, then karma will be reduced, the ordeals will pass, and your energy will grow. But what if you don’t seize the opportunity during those times to work on your character, and instead make mistakes? Don’t be discouraged. Rather, proactively analyze and learn from your mistakes, figure out where you fell short, and put effort into working on zhen, shan, ren. The next test might come right on the heels of the last one. As your spiritual strength grows, the trials you face will intensify and be even less predictable than before. With each trial you face, your spiritual strength will grow a bit if you pass it, and will falter if you don’t. Smaller trials will result in less growth; greater trials in more growth. I hope that each and every one of you are mentally prepared to endure great hardship. You should have the determination and willpower to embrace the sizable adversity that’s in store. No true achievement is possible without paying some price. It’s just not possible to make spiritual progress in total comfort, free of suffering, and with no costs entailed. One cannot become a holy being without a fundamental change in one’s thinking and a letting go of all human attachments.

How Practicing Provokes Evil

When we say that practicing “provokes evil,” we are referring to the phenomena or visions that come about as one does one’s exercises, and that stand to affect one’s practice. They are meant to halt one’s progress to higher spiritual realms. You can think of them as the doings of evil entities that have come for payback.

Evil is sure to be provoked as one progresses to higher stages of practice. It is inevitable that one does some wrong in life, and the same would have been true for one’s ancestors. These wrongdoings are what we refer to as karma. How good someone’s spiritual endowment is, is a reflection of how much karma he has. Yet even someone of excellent makeup cannot possibly be karma-free. This isn’t something that the uninitiated can appreciate. Fiends won’t bother you if you are only practicing energy exercises for better health. But as soon as you start to progress to higher spiritual stages, they will meddle with you. And they have a variety of ways to trouble you. Their purpose is to prevent you from advancing spiritually, to see you fail. And there are many approaches they might take. One might be to make trouble that’s just like what you may experience in daily life;or it might play out as interference to you that comes from other dimensions. What might end up happening is that as soon as you sit down to meditate, something comes up that disturbs you and makes it impossible to get into a meditative state and make spiritual progress. Sometimes you might be made to feel sleepy or have a restless mind as soon as you start to meditate, so that you can’t get into a meditative zone. Or at other times they could make your previously quiet environment turn noisy as soon as you start to practice, with footsteps sounding, doors slamming, car horns honking, or phones ringing—you name it. All of which makes it hard for you to center yourself.

Another fiend is the demon of lust. It might take the form of a beautiful woman or man appearing before your eyes as you are meditating or dreaming. They will try to enchant you or arouse you, moving in provocative ways, hoping to seduce you by preying upon the lust that you have. If you fail the test the first time, they will only escalate the tests until you abandon any aspirations of reaching greater spiritual heights. It is a difficult test to pass, and has spelled early ruin for no small number of practitioners. So you should be mentally prepared. If your mental defenses aren’t sufficient, and the first test isn’t passed, you should sincerely reflect upon what happened and draw a lesson from it, as there will be more rounds of tests and meddling until you reach the point where your defenses are sufficient, and you fully do away with the attachment. What I’ve been describing is a major test, and it is one that must be passed. Enlightenment or spiritual perfection is simply not possible otherwise.

Another form of evil-wrought ordeal is where fiends with terrifying faces suddenly appear as you practice or are sleeping, and they are vivid and hideous looking, and may wield a blade, threatening to kill you. Of course, they are only doing that to frighten you. They wouldn’t be able to actually slash you, for your master will have placed a protective shield around your body. The point is to scare you out of practicing. All of these ordeals are limited to a certain stage of practice, in a certain period, however. You might advance past it quickly. This might take you a few days, a week, or several weeks. It all depends on how quickly your character grows and how fast you learn to handle this kind of situation.

One’s Spiritual Endowment and Discernment

One’s spiritual endowment is a matter of the tangible white matter, or virtue, that one brings with one at birth. Having more of the white matter translates into having a better spiritual endowment. Those with a good spiritual endowment find it easier to regain their original purity and come to new spiritual realizations, since they have less mental blocks. Their interest is sparked at the mention of energy practices or spiritual discipline, and they’re motivated to learn these. They are connected to the universe. It’s just like what the Daoist sage Laozi wrote: “When the superior person hears of the Way, he practices it with diligence; when the average person hears of the Way, he practices it on and off, halfheartedly; when the inferior person hears of the Way, he laughs at it. Were it not laughed at, it wouldn’t be worthy of being called the Way.” Those for whom spiritual progress and awakening come easily belong to the “superior” category. Conversely, those who are encumbered with more dark matter have a poorer spiritual endowment and will have a barrier around their body, which inhibits them from being open to good spiritual things. That barrier will make them doubtful about the good things they see or hear about. But it is actually their karma at work, blocking them.

One can’t talk about spiritual endowment without getting into the topic of spiritual discernment (or “wu”). For many people [in China], the latter term nowadays calls to mind something more like “being clever.” But those who are “clever” or shrewd are really not that, when viewed with a spiritual lens. They are typically the least likely to have spiritual discernment. That is because they overvalue worldly, material things, and don’t allow themselves to get shortchanged or let anything that may benefit them slip away. This is especially the case for certain individuals who think of themselves as learned and intellectual, and who think that the religious or spiritual life is for the naive. Some wonder why anyone would want to try to transform mind and body through spiritual discipline. They think only gullible people would go in for that, since it’s all nonsense. But when we speak of “discernment,” we are not talking about being clever. Rather, it’s about seeking to recover our original state of purity, becoming a good person, and abiding by the qualities of the universe. It should be said that one’s discernment is shaped by one’s spiritual endowment; a good endowment leads to good discernment. But even though endowment influences discernment, that is not to say it determines it. A great endowment doesn’t mean much if a person can’t figure anything out spiritually and his understanding of situations is always off. Some people are born with endowments that aren’t so great, yet they do have good spiritual discernment. So they can make spiritual progress to higher realms. We want to benefit as many people as possible, so as long as someone can appreciate what this is, they can do the practice, even if they are not well-endowed spiritually. It will still work out if you are determined to practice through to the end. Being determined like that is the right mindset. Equipped with that key mindset, you will eventually achieve spiritual perfection, so long as you work a bit harder at it than others.

The bodies of those who practice are made pure. Once higher energy is developed, there cannot be illness in one’s body; that is because high-energy matter will not allow dark matter to co-exist with it in the body. But some individuals have a hard time believing. They always mistake their physical discomfort for some kind of medical condition, and wonder, “Oh no, how come I feel so awful?!” But as we have explained, what you have gained is gong—higher energy. Could you get away with having no discomfort when you have been given something so good? This is spiritual practice, so you have to do your part as well. In reality, the discomfort you experience is superficial and it doesn’t reflect any real issues with your body. While it might seem that you are unwell, that is truly not the case. It is up to you to believe. As someone who does spiritual practice, in addition to shouldering sizable adversity you also need to exercise good discernment. Some people fail to catch on when they experience troubling things. I am teaching at a higher level here, and spelling out how to raise the bar for yourself. But the individuals I’m describing confuse themselves with people who don’t practice, and fail to go about things with the mindset of a true practitioner; nor do they manage to believe that they are on a higher plane.

So back to the term wu, it is about, speaking at a higher level, enlightenment. Enlightenment has traditionally been broken down into two types: sudden, and gradual. With sudden enlightenment, one goes about the spiritual journey in a “locked” state. It won’t be until the last moment, when the individual has completed the spiritual development process and his character has been perfected, that his powers will be blasted open. The person’s third eye will be instantly opened to the highest possible realm, and his mind will be able to access higher beings in other dimensions; he will suddenly be able to see the unitary paradises throughout the many dimensions of the greater universe in all their reality, and even communicate with the beings there; and he will be able to freely exercise the exceptional powers he now has. The approach of sudden enlightenment is the more difficult of the two. Throughout the ages only individuals with excellent spiritual endowments have been selected for it, and they were always taught in the manner of a private lineage. Someone of average stock would never be able to endure it! The approach of sudden enlightenment was the path I took.

The approach I am using with students at present counts as gradual enlightenment. The powers that are appropriate for you to develop along the way will come to you as you practice. But there is no guarantee that you will be allowed to utilize them. You are apt to misuse any such powers if your plane of thought isn’t at a certain height yet, and you haven’t developed good self-control. So you won’t be allowed to use them for the time being, though you will be able to eventually. Through spiritual practice you will gradually come to elevate your plane of being, and come to know the true workings of the universe. And similar to sudden enlightenment, you will ultimately achieve spiritual perfection. The approach of gradual enlightenment is a bit easier, and not dangerous. The difficulty with it lies in your being able to see what is transpiring along the way. This means that you have to exercise even greater self-control.

A Pure and Serene Mind

Some find it hard to calm their minds when practicing, and they hope to find a technique to address this. People have asked me, “Teacher, I don’t understand why I can’t calm my mind when I’m doing the exercises. Could you teach me some kind of method or technique to help me still my mind when I meditate?” But it doesn’t work like that! Even if a holy being were to come down and teach you some technique, it still wouldn’t do the job. And why not? It is because your mind is not pure and serene. Living in this human world, you might be caught up in your social life or your job, human desires and emotions, and all sorts of concerns—be they your own, or from family and friends. And these might weigh heavily in your thinking and be a high priority. Yet how could you expect to have a calm mind when meditating or practicing if that is the case? Even if you try hard to suppress those thoughts, they are going to keep surfacing.

Buddhist practice is known for stressing “precepts, concentration, and wisdom,” with precepts being meant to help followers let go of whatever things their minds are attached to. In some practices they recite the Buddha’s name to help achieve this. Reciting requires focused attention, such that only one thought is held in the mind, replacing a myriad of others. But to be able to do that takes a certain level of achievement; it’s not just about technique. And I mean it. Naysayers are welcome to try, if they want. But I guarantee that other things will come to mind while you try to recite the Buddha’s name. In the early days Tibetan lamas would teach their students to recite the Buddha’s name thousands of times a day, and to do so for a week straight. They would recite to the point where they were mentally exhausted, with nothing else on their minds. The thought of the Buddha’s name would replace all other thoughts. It’s a skill to develop, and not easily done. Then there are practices that teach you to focus your mind on the body’s energy center, have you do counting, or visually focus on an object. But the truth is that none of these can bring your mind to a state of complete stillness. To achieve that, your mind must become pure and serene. So you should try to stop thinking about your personal concerns, and ultimately purge your heart of wants and desires.

Whether one can settle down and become still when practicing is in fact a reflection of the spiritual heights one has reached, or one’s level of attainment. Being able to still the mind as soon as one begins to meditate bespeaks of a certain level of attainment. But it shouldn’t be cause for worry if you can’t find peace of mind for the time being. You can gradually achieve it through spiritual refinement. The mind is something that is refined bit by bit, incrementally, and the same is true for the growth of your energy or your level of achievement. But no such progress will ever come about if you can’t learn to take your personal concerns and desires lightly.

Those who do spiritual practice should hold themselves to high standards at all times. There are a range of troubling phenomena in society now that might set you back spiritually at any moment—vulgar, harmful, sensual, and overly stimulating thing abound. The content on television, in movies, and in books promotes being a high achiever, in a worldly sense—and being overly materialistic. If you can’t rise above such things, your character, or state of mind, will be nothing like that of someone spiritual. And the more that is the case, the less you will achieve spiritually. As someone who does spiritual practice, you should minimize coming into contact with vulgar and harmful things like those, or avoid them altogether. You should pay them no heed, and remain emotionally detached. I often say that I’m not stirred by ordinary human feelings. I don’t get happy if someone speaks well of me, nor upset if someone speaks badly of me. Things that would be seriously upsetting to people, or those who don’t practice, have no effect on me. Those who lead spiritual lives should care little about their self-interest, whatever it may be, and not let things weigh on their minds. When you are able to do that, it will mean that you have matured spiritually. If you don’t yearn for fame and gain, and can manage to regard them with indifference, you will be worry-free, without anger, and always have peace of mind. If you can let go of everything, your mind will naturally be pure and serene.

I have now explained Falun Dafa to you and taught you how to do all five of the exercises. I have adjusted your body for you, as well as provided it with a falun and energy mechanisms. And my spiritual bodies are now in place to protect you. I have given you everything that’s appropriate to give you. I’ve done my part while giving you instruction here. Now it’s up to you. Just as an old saying has it, “A master can show you the path, but the journey is for you to walk.” As long as you strive to gain a thorough and deeper grasp of the practice, to refine your understanding of the teachings, to always keep the right mindset, to be diligent about putting the teachings into practice, to withstand the most trying of ordeals, and to stay patient however challenging things may get, then I have every confidence your practice will meet with success.

The way to spiritual attainment
begins with your mindset.
All things are possible through Dafa,
if you embrace the challenges.

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