What is Enlightenment? 

Enlightenment is also called the Awakening of Wisdom. In our Dafa it is called the Unlocking of Gong; that is, one has reached Consummation through cultivation, finished the entire course of cultivation, and is about to go to a heavenly paradise. 

What is the state of a person after he has reached Enlightenment? One who has succeeded in cultivating Buddhahood will become a Buddha; one who has succeeded in cultivating Bodhisattvahood will become a Bodhisattva; one who has succeeded in cultivating Arhatship will become an Arhat; one who cultivates the Dao will attain the Dao; and one who has succeeded in cultivating Godhood will already be a God. Because after reaching Consummation some enlightened persons still have something to do in the society of everyday people or some wishes to fulfill, they need to live among everyday people for a period of time. But living like that among everyday people is hard for them. Because they are far too different from everyday people in their realm of thought, they are able to detect clearly all the bad thoughts in the minds of everyday people, including their strong attachments, selfishness, dirtiness, and scheming against others. Also, they can simultaneously detect the slightest mind activities of thousands of people. Furthermore, karma and viruses are everywhere in the society of everyday people; there are also many other bad things floating in the air, unknown to human beings. They can see all of these clearly. The karma in the present human society of Last Havoc is enormous. While breathing, people inhale large amounts of karma, viruses, and poisonous gases. It is indeed very difficult for them to stay in this ordinary human world.

So what are they like? This is what those students who are attached to this matter try to figure out. Don’t try to figure out whether this person seems to be enlightened or that person looks like someone who has reached Consummation. You should put your mind to diligently and truly cultivating and reach Consummation sooner. Why look at others? As a matter of fact, those people who have enlightened are often disciples who don’t show themselves off but who quietly and truly cultivate. They are of different ages and look no different from everyday people. It is very likely that they don’t attract much attention. Although they have all the divine powers, transformation, they find that human beings actually look like tiny, low beings who don’t deserve to be shown these things. Moreover, human beings would develop various petty human understandings and thoughts if they were to see these things, treating them with the human attachment of zealotry; enlightened persons cannot stand this. It is difficult for everyday people to understand wherein lies the true significance of the inner meaning of Buddha Fa divine powers. 

At present, some students who care about too many things other than being diligent in cultivation are searching everywhere for people who have become enlightened and so on. Think about it, everyone: Enlightened persons are already Buddhas and possess everything a Buddha should have. How could they casually allow people to know about them? How could humans know about Buddhas? When you are searching everywhere for them, your attachments, competitiveness, curiosity, desire to show off and your being meddlesome, combined with the attachment of pursuit, are at the same time interfering with students’ peaceful cultivation. So do you know how they feel about this? Every intentional human act or thought makes them feel uncomfortable!

Because some students have come from very high dimensions to obtain the Fa, they will become Enlightened very soon. The two-year time for cultivation practice that I mentioned was for these disciples. But all of our Dafa disciples have indeed made rapid progress in true cultivation. Many of them will soon become Enlightened, which used to be beyond the imagination of cultivators. I hope everyone will maintain a peaceful mind and make continual progress with perseverance. As each person reaches Consummation, I will receive and deliver each.  

Li Hongzhi

September 26, 1996