I Treat All Practitioners as My Disciples

Does everyone know what I’m doing? I treat all practitioners, including those who are able to truly practice cultivation through self-study, as my disciples. In teaching cultivation at high levels, it will not work if I do not treat you this way. Otherwise, it is the same as being irresponsible and causing trouble. We have given you so many things and let you know so many principles that should not be known by everyday people. Besides providing you with many other things, I have taught you this Dafa. Among some other issues involved, your body has been purified. Accordingly, it is simply unacceptable for me to not treat you as disciples. Casually disclosing so many heavenly secrets to everyday people is not allowed. But there is one point to be made. Now, times have changed. We do not practice the ritual of kowtowing or bowing. That kind of formality serves little use, and it performs like a religion. We do not practice it. What’s the use of your kowtowing and worshipping Teacher if once you step out the door, you still continue to conduct yourself as usual and do whatever you want, competing and fighting for your fame and self-interest among everyday people? You may also damage the reputation of Falun Dafa under my banner!

True cultivation practice depends fully upon your heart. As long as you practice cultivation and are sure-footed and determined in practicing cultivation, we will treat you as disciples. It is unfeasible for me not to treat you this way. Yet there are some people who might not truly regard themselves as practitioners and not continue cultivation practice. For some people it is impossible. But many people will truly go on practicing cultivation. As long as you keep it up, we will treat you as disciples.

Can you be considered a Falun Dafa disciple if you just practice these few sets of exercises everyday? Not necessarily. This is because true cultivation practice must follow the requirements of the xinxing standard that we have established, and you have to truly upgrade your xinxing—then, it is true cultivation practice. If you only practice the exercises without improving xinxing and without the powerful energy that strengthens everything, it cannot be called cultivation practice; neither can we treat you as Falun Dafa disciples. If you go on like that without following the requirements of our Falun Dafa and behave yourself as usual among everyday people without upgrading your xinxing, you may still run into some other troubles though you practice the exercises. You may even claim that it is the practice of Falun Dafa that makes you go astray. This is all possible. Therefore, you must truly follow our xinxing requirements—only then are you a genuine practitioner. I have made it clear to everyone. Accordingly, please do not come to me for the formality of worshipping the master. As long as you truly practice cultivation, I will treat you this way. My fashen are so numerous that they are uncountable. Besides these practitioners, no matter how many more people there are, I am still able to take care of them.

The Buddha School Qigong and Buddhism

The Buddha School qigong is not the Buddhist religion. I must make this point clear to everyone. In fact, the Tao School qigong is not the Taoist religion, either. Some of you are always confused by these things. Some people are monks from temples, and some are lay Buddhists. They think that they know a little more about Buddhist religion, so they enthusiastically promote Buddhism among our practitioners. Let me tell you that you should not do such a thing because it is something from a different cultivation school. Religion has religious forms. Here we are teaching the cultivation part of our school. Except for those monks and nuns who are Falun Dafa disciples, everyone else should not observe religious forms. Therefore, our school is not Buddhism in the Dharma-ending Period.

The Dharma in Buddhism is only a tiny part of the Buddha Fa. There are still many kinds of great high-level Fa. Different levels also have different Fa. Sakyamuni said that there were eighty-four thousand cultivation ways. The Buddhist religion includes only a few cultivation ways. It only has Tiantai, Huayan, Zen Buddhism, Pure Land, Tantrism, etc. They do not even account for a small number! Therefore, Buddhism cannot represent the entire Buddha Fa, and it is only a tiny part of the Buddha Fa. Our Falun Dafa is also one of the eighty-four thousand cultivation ways in the Buddha School, and it has nothing to do with the original Buddhism or Buddhism in the Dharma-ending Period; neither is it related to modern religions.

Buddhism was founded by Sakyamuni in ancient India twenty-five hundred years ago. When Sakyamuni reached the state of Unlocking Gong and became enlightened, he recalled what he had cultivated previously and made it public to save people. No matter how many thousands of volumes of scriptures have come out of that school, it actually consists of only three words. The characteristics of this school are: "precept, samadhi,¹  wisdom." Precepts are for giving up all everyday people’s desires and forcing you to abandon the pursuit of self-interest, cutting off everything that is secular, and so on. In this way, one’s mind will be empty without thought of anything, and it can become tranquil. They complement each other. Upon being able to achieve tranquility, one can sit in meditation for actual cultivation and rely on trance to make progress in cultivation. This is the part of genuine cultivation practice in that school. It does not care for exercises, and neither does it change one’s benti.²  A person only cultivates that gong which determines the height of his level. Therefore, he only cultivates his xinxing. He does not cultivate his body, so he does not care for the transformation of gong. Meanwhile, through meditation he strengthens his ability for staying in trance, and sits in meditation to suffer and eliminate karma. "Wisdom" refers to that one becomes enlightened with great wisdom, and one can see the truth of the universe as well as the truth of different dimensions in the universe. All the divine powers emerge. The awakening to wisdom and enlightenment is also called the Unlocking of Gong.

When Sakyamuni founded this cultivation way, there were eight religions prevailing in India at the same time. There was a deeply-rooted religion called Brahmanism. Throughout his lifetime, Sakyamuni battled ideologically with other religions. Because what Sakyamuni taught was a righteous way, the Buddhist Dharma that he taught became more and more popular in the course of teaching while other religions increasingly weakened. Even the deeply-rooted Brahmanism was on the brink of extinction. After Sakyamuni’s nirvana,³  however, other religions, especially Brahmanism, regained popularity. Yet what situation emerged in Buddhism? Some monks reached the state of Unlocking Gong and became enlightened at different levels, but their levels of enlightenment were quite low. Sakyamuni reached the level of Tathagata, but a lot of monks did not reach this level.

The Buddha Fa has different manifestations at different levels. However, the higher the level, the closer it is to the truth. The lower the level, the further away from the truth. Those monks reached the state of Unlocking Gong and became enlightened at low levels. To interpret what Sakyamuni said, they used the manifestation of the universe that they saw at their levels and the situations and principles that they understood. That is, some monks interpreted Sakyamuni’s Dharma one way or another. Instead of using Sakyamuni’s original words, some monks also preached what they understood as Sakyamuni’s words; this made the Buddhist Dharma distorted beyond recognition, and it was no longer the Dharma taught by Sakyamuni. In the end, this caused the Buddhist Dharma to disappear in India. This is a serious lesson in history. So later on, India no longer had Buddhism. Prior to its disappearance, Buddhism went through many reforms. It eventually incorporated something from Brahmanism and became the present-day Indian religion called Hinduism. It no longer worships any Buddha. It worships something else, and does not believe in Sakyamuni. This is the situation.

During its development, Buddhism underwent several relatively major reforms. One took place shortly after Sakyamuni passed away. Some people founded Mahayana⁴  based on the high-level principles Sakyamuni taught. They believed that the Dharma Sakyamuni taught publicly was intended for everyday people’s self-salvation and the attainment of Arhatship. That Dharma did not offer salvation to all beings and was therefore called Hinayana.⁵  Monks in Southeast Asia continue to follow the original cultivation way of Sakyamuni’s time. In China, we call it the "Small Vehicle" Buddhism. Of course, they do not think so themselves. They believe that they have inherited Sakyamuni’s original tradition. It is indeed so, as they have basically inherited the cultivation way of Sakyamuni’s time.

After this reformed Mahayana was introduced to China, it took root in our country and became the present-day Buddhism taught in China. Actually, it has assumed a completely different look from Buddhism in Sakyamuni’s time. Everything has changed, from the attire to the entire enlightening state and the entire course of cultivation practice. In original Buddhism, only Sakyamuni was worshipped as its founder. Now, however, Buddhism has many Buddhas and great Bodhisattvas. In addition, faith is now dedicated to many Buddhas. Many Tathagatas are worshipped, and Buddhism has become a religion that worships many Buddhas, including Buddha Amitabha, Medicine Buddha, the Great Sun Tathagata, etc. There are many great Bodhisattvas as well. In this way, all of Buddhism has become totally different from what Sakyamuni founded in his time.

During this time period, another reform took place when Bodhisattva Nagarjuna taught a secret cultivation practice. It came from India and was introduced to China through Afghanistan and, later, Xinjiang.⁶  It happened in the Tang Dynasty,⁷  so it was called Tang Tantrism. Due to the influence of Confucianism, China’s moral values were different from those of other nationalities in general. This secret practice contained double cultivation of a man and a woman, and society could not accept it at that time. It was therefore wiped out when Buddhism was suppressed during Huichang’s time in the Tang Dynasty, and so Tang Tantrism disappeared from China. Now, there is an Eastern Tantrism in Japan that came from China at that time; however, it did not undergo guanding.⁸  According to Tantrism, if one studies Tantrism without guanding, one is considered to be doing the same as stealing the Dharma, and one cannot be recognized as having been taught in person. Another cultivation way, introduced to Tibet from India and Nepal, was called "Tibetan Tantrism," and it has been passed down to this day. Basically, this is the situation in Buddhism. I have just summarized very briefly the course of its development and evolution. Over the course of Buddhism’s entire development, some practices surfaced such as Zen Buddhism founded by Boddhidarma, Pure Land Buddhism, and Huayan Buddhism. They were all founded upon some understanding of what Sakyamuni said at that time. All of these belong to the reformed Buddhism. There are over ten such cultivation ways in Buddhism, and all have assumed the form of religion. Therefore, they all belong to Buddhism.

As for the religions founded in this century, or not just this century but also the many new religions founded in different parts of the world in last several centuries, most of these are sham. The great enlightened people all have their own paradises to which they save human beings. These Tathagata Buddhas such as Sakyamuni, Buddha Amitabha, and the Great Sun Tathagata each have their own paradises for saving people. In our Milky Way, there are over one hundred such paradises. Our Falun Dafa also has a Falun Paradise.

In terms of salvation, where can those sham practices take their followers? They cannot save people, as what they preach is not Fa. Of course, some people, when they first founded religions, did not intend to become the demons who undermine orthodox religions. They reached the state of Unlocking Gong and became enlightened at different levels. They saw some principles, but they were far from the enlightened beings who can save people. They were at very low levels, and they discovered some principles. They realized that some things among everyday people were wrong, and they would also tell people how to do good deeds. At the beginning, they were not against other religions. But people would eventually believe in them, thinking what they said was sensible; in turn, people trusted them more and more. As a result, people would be devoted to them instead of to religions. Upon developing an attachment to fame and self-interest, they would ask the public to honor them with some titles. After that, they would found new religions. I am telling you that all of these are evil religions. Even if they do not harm people, they are still evil practices because they have interfered with people’s faith in orthodox religions. Orthodox religions can save people, but they cannot. As time passes, they do bad deeds on the sly. Recently, many of these things have also been introduced to China. The so-called Guanyin sect⁹  is one of them. Therefore, be on your guard. It is said that there are over two thousand practices in a certain East Asian country. All kinds of beliefs exist in Southeast Asian countries and in other Western countries. One country openly has a devil-worshipping practice. All of these things are demons that have come forth in the Dharma-ending Period. The Dharma-ending Period does not only pertain to Buddhism, but also the corruption of many dimensions beneath a very high-level dimension. "Dharma-ending" does not only refer to Buddhism; it also means that in human society there is no sense of spiritual obligation that maintains morality.

Practicing Only One Cultivation Way

We teach that a person must practice only one cultivation way. No matter how you practice cultivation, you should not mess up your cultivation by adding other things. Some lay Buddhists practice both Buddhism and our Falun Dafa. I am telling you that in the end you will not obtain anything because no one will give you anything. Because we are all of the Buddha School, there is a xinxing issue and, at the same time, an issue of specializing in only one practice. You only have one body. Which school’s gong will your body develop? How can it be transformed? Where do you want to go? You will go wherever your cultivation way takes you. If you follow Pure Land Buddhism in cultivation, you are going to Buddha Amitabha’s Paradise of Ultimate Bliss. If you follow Medicine Buddha in cultivation, you are going to the Glazed Paradise. This is what is said in religion, and it is called "no second cultivation way."

The practice that we address here truly refers to the entire process of energy transformation, and this follows one’s own school of cultivation practice. Where, then, would you say you want to go? If you step on two boats at the same time, you cannot attain anything. Not only qigong practice cannot be mixed with Buddhist practices in temples, but even things from among cultivation practices, qigong practices, or religions cannot be mixed. In cultivation, even within the same religion, several denominations cannot be intermingled. One must choose only one cultivation way. If you cultivate Pure Land Buddhism, you should cultivate only Pure Land Buddhism. If you cultivate Tantrism, you should only cultivate Tantrism. If you cultivate Zen Buddhism, you should only cultivate Zen Buddhism. If you step on two boats at the same time and cultivate both this and that, you cannot attain anything. That is to say, even in Buddhism you are required to not practice another system, and you are not permitted to mix cultivation practices. Buddhism, too, is both practicing gong and cultivation. His or her process of transforming gong follows the process of cultivation practice and transformation in that cultivation way. There is also in other dimensions a process of evolving gong, and this is an extremely complex and intricate process that cannot be mixed casually with other things in cultivation.

Upon learning that we practice qigong from the Buddha School, some lay Buddhists take our practitioners to temples for conversion. Let me tell each of you sitting here that no one should do such a thing. You are undermining both our Dafa and the ordinances in Buddhism. At the same time, you are interfering with practitioners, rendering them unable to attain anything. This is not allowed. Cultivation practice is a serious matter. One must be single-minded in one practice. Though this portion that we teach among everyday people is not religion, its goal in cultivation practice is the same. Both try to achieve the state of Unlocking Gong, enlightenment, and completion in cultivation.

Sakyamuni stated that by the Dharma-ending time monks in temples would have a difficult time saving themselves, not to mention those lay Buddhists who are being looked after by no one. Though you have a "master," that so-called master is also a practitioner. If the master does not truly practice cultivation, it is useless. Without cultivating the heart, no one can make it. Conversion is a formality of everyday people. Are you a member of the Buddha School after conversion? Will Buddha then take care of you? There is no such thing. Even if you kowtow everyday until your head bleeds, or even if you burn bundles of incense, it is still useless. You must truly cultivate your heart to make it work. By the Dharma-ending time, the universe has gone through very big changes. Even religious places of worship are no longer good. Those with supernormal abilities (including monks) have also discovered this situation. At present, I am the only person in the world teaching a righteous way in public. I have done something unprecedented. I have furthermore opened this door so widely in the Dharma-ending time. In fact, this opportunity does not come along in one thousand years or ten thousand years. But whether one can be saved—in other words, whether one can practice cultivation—still depends upon oneself. What I am telling you is a principle of the enormous universe.

I am not saying that you have to study my Falun Dafa. What I said is a principle. If you want to practice cultivation, you must practice only one cultivation way. Otherwise, you cannot practice cultivation at all. Of course, if you do not want to practice cultivation, we will leave you alone. This Fa is taught only to those genuine practitioners. Therefore, one must be single-minded in only one practice, and even ideas from other practices should not be intermingled. I do not teach mind activities here; there is no mind activity in our Falun Dafa. Thus, no one should add to it any thought. Be sure to keep this in mind: There is virtually no mind activity. The Buddha School requires emptiness, and the Tao School teaches nothingness.

On one occasion I had my mind connected with four or five great enlightened people and great Taos from extremely high levels. Speaking of high levels, their levels were so high that everyday people would find it simply inconceivable. They wanted to know what was on my mind. I have practiced cultivation for so many years. It is absolutely impossible for other people to read my mind, and other people’s supernormal abilities cannot reach me at all. Nobody is able to understand me or know what is on my mind. They wished to know what I was thinking. With my consent, therefore, they linked my mind with theirs for a period of time. After the connection, it was a little unbearable for me because no matter how high or how low my level is, I am among everyday people and still doing something purposeful—that is, saving people—and my heart is devoted to saving people. But how peaceful were their minds? Their minds were tranquil to the point of being scary. It is possible for one person to reach this tranquility. But with four or five people sitting over there with tranquility like that, it resembles a pond of still water with nothing in it. I tried in vain to experience them. For those several days, I really felt mentally very uncomfortable and experienced a unique feeling. Everyday people could in no way image or feel it; it was completely free of attachment and empty.

There is no mind activity whatsoever for cultivation at very high levels. This is because while you were at everyday people’s foundation-building level, that foundational system was already laid. After reaching high-level cultivation, our cultivation system especially works automatically, and cultivation practice is completely automatic. As long as you upgrade your xinxing, your gong grows. You do not even have to do any exercises. Our exercises are for reinforcing the automatic mechanism. Why does one sit still in meditation? One is completely in a state of wuwei.  You may find that the Tao School teaches this exercise or that exercise, the so-called mind activities, or the guidance by the mind. Let me tell you that as soon as the Tao School reaches beyond the level of qi, it will have nothing and use neither this nor that mind activity. Therefore, some people who have practiced other qigong can never give up breathing methods, mind activities, and so on. I am teaching them something from college, and they always ask me about an elementary school pupil’s things, such as how to guide and use mind activities. They are already accustomed to that approach. They think that qigong is like that when, in fact, it is not.

Supernormal Abilities and Gong Potency

Many of you are not clear about the terminology in qigong, and some people are also routinely confused by it. They take supernormal abilities as gong potency, or vice versa. The gong that we attain through cultivating xinxing and assimilating to the characteristic of the universe evolves from our de. It determines the height of one’s level, the strength of one’s gong potency, and the Fruit Status of one’s cultivation. This is the most crucial gong. During the course of cultivation, what situations will emerge for a person? One can develop some unusual and supernatural capabilities that, in short, we call supernormal abilities. The gong that improves one’s level is, as I just mentioned, called gong potency. The higher one’s level, the greater one’s gong potency and the more powerful one’s supernormal abilities.

Supernormal abilities are only by-products of one’s cultivation process; they represent neither the level and the height of one’s level, nor the power of one’s gong potency. Some people develop more of them while others develop fewer. Furthermore, supernormal abilities are not something that can be pursued as the main objective of cultivation. Only when one is determined to truly practice cultivation can one develop them; however, they cannot be treated as the main objective of cultivation. What do you cultivate them for? Do you want to use them among everyday people? You are absolutely prohibited from using them at will among everyday people. Thus, the more you pursue them, the less you get. It is because you are pursuing something. Pursuit itself is an attachment. In cultivation practice, attachments are what need to be eliminated.

Many people have, without supernormal abilities, reached a very high realm of cultivation. The master has locked those up in case they cannot handle themselves well and will commit wrongdoing. Therefore, they are not allowed to use their supernatural capabilities. There are quite a lot of people like that. Supernormal abilities are directed by one’s mind. One might not be able to control oneself during sleep. With a single dream one might turn the heaven and the earth upside down by the next morning, and that is not allowed. Because cultivation practice takes place among everyday people, those with great supernormal abilities are usually not allowed to use them. Most of them are locked up, but it is not absolute. There are many people who practice cultivation very well and can conduct themselves well. They are allowed to have some supernormal abilities. Regarding these people, even if you ask them to casually show off their supernormal abilities, they absolutely will not do it; they are able to control themselves.

Reverse Cultivation and Gong Borrowing

Some people have never practiced qigong, or they may have learned a few things in a qigong class. But those are for healing illnesses and keeping fit, and they are not cultivation practice. In other words, these people have never received genuine teaching, yet they suddenly get gong overnight. We will talk about where this kind of gong comes from. There are several types.

One belongs to reverse cultivation. What is reverse cultivation? Some people are relatively old and want to practice cultivation. It is too late for them to practice cultivation from scratch. When qigong was at its peak of popularity, they also wanted to practice cultivation. They knew that qigong practice could do good things for other people, and that they could also upgrade themselves at the same time. They had this wish and wanted to improve and practice cultivation. However, when qigong was popular a few years ago, those qigong masters were all promoting qigong, and nobody actually taught things at high levels. Even to this day, when it comes to truly teaching qigong publicly at high levels, I am the only person doing so. There is no second person doing this. All of the people in reverse cultivation were over fifty, at a relatively old age. They had very good inborn quality and carried in their bodies very good things. Almost all of them were good enough to be disciples or successors of those masters. Yet these people were quite elderly. If they wanted to practice cultivation, it would be easier said than done. Where could they find a master? But as soon as they wanted to practice cultivation and with this thought in their hearts, it would shine like gold and shake the world of ten directions. People often speak of the Buddha-nature, and this would be Buddha-nature that had emerged.

From the high-level perspective, one’s life is not meant for being human. Because one’s life is created in the space of the universe, it is assimilated to Zhen-Shan-Ren, the characteristic of the universe. Its nature is kind and benevolent. Nonetheless, after the number of lives increases, a social relationship forms. As a result, some people become selfish or bad and cannot stay at very high levels. They must drop to a lower level where they again become bad, and they have to drop further down to the next level. This goes on until in the end they drop to this ordinary human level. Upon dropping to this level, they should be completely destroyed. Out of benevolence and compassion, however, those great enlightened people decided to give humankind another opportunity in the most painful environment; they thus created such a dimension.

In other dimensions, people do not have bodies like this. They can levitate and become large or small. But in this dimension people are provided with this kind of body, our physical bodies. With this body, one cannot put up with it if the body is cold, hot, tired, or hungry. In any case, it is suffering. When you are ill, you suffer. One has to go through birth, old age, illness, and death so that one can repay karmic debts through suffering. You are given another opportunity to see whether you can return to the origin. Therefore, human beings have dropped into a maze. After you come down here, this pair of eyes are created for you so that you cannot see other dimensions and the truth of matter. If you can return to the origin, the bitterest suffering is also most precious. In order to return to one’s origin by practicing cultivation in the maze and through awakening to things, there are numerous tribulations; one can thus make it quickly. If you become worse your life will be eliminated. Therefore, in the eyes of other lives, one’s life is not for being human. It is meant to return to one’s original, true self. An everyday person cannot realize this. An everyday person is just an ordinary person in ordinary human society, a person who thinks about how to advance himself and live well. The better he lives, the more selfish he becomes; the more he wants to possess, the further away he moves from the characteristic of the universe. He then heads for destruction.

Seen from a high level, while you may think you are advancing forward, you are actually moving backward. Humankind thinks that it is developing science and making progress; it is, in fact, only following the law of the universe. Zhang Guolao, one of the Eight Deities,¹⁰  rode backward on his donkey. Few people know why he rode backward on his donkey. He discovered that going forward is moving backward, so he rode the donkey the other way around. Therefore, once people want to practice cultivation, the great enlightened people will value this heart very much and will extend help unconditionally. It is just like the practitioners sitting here today. If you want to practice cultivation, I can help you unconditionally. Yet it cannot be done if you want to cure illnesses and go after either this or that as an ordinary person, and I will be unable to help you. Why is that? It is because you want to be an everyday person, and everyday people should go through birth, old age, illness, and death—it should be like that. Everything has its karmic relationship that cannot be interfered with. Your life initially did not include cultivation practice, but now you want to practice cultivation. Accordingly, your future life must be rearranged, and so it is permitted to adjust your body for you.

Once a person wants to practice cultivation and this wish is developed, the great enlightened people will see it and consider it very precious. But how can they help him? Where in the world can he find a master? In addition, he is over fifty years old. The great enlightened people cannot teach this person. It is because if they were to manifest themselves and teach him Fa as well as exercises, it would be disclosing heavenly secrets; they would have to drop down themselves. People drop into the maze because they have committed wrongdoing, and so they must practice cultivation and constantly enlighten in the maze. Therefore, the great enlightened people cannot teach him. If a Buddha shows up in real life before people’s eyes and teaches them both Fa and the exercises, even those with unforgivable sins will come to learn. Everyone will believe it. Then, what’s there for people to be enlightened to? There will not be an issue of enlightenment. Because people have dropped into the maze on their own, they should be eliminated. You are given another opportunity to return from the maze to your origin. If you are able to return to the origin, you will make it. If you cannot make it, you will continue the cycle of samsara or be eliminated.

One makes one’s own path. What happens if a person wants to practice cultivation? They have figured out a way. Qigong was very popular at that time, and that was also a change in the cosmic climate. In order to cooperate with this cosmic climate, the enlightened people would supply gong to this person via a soft tube on the merit of her xinxing level. Like a water faucet, the energy would come if it was turned on. If the person wanted to release gong, the gong would come. She herself could not emit gong, as she did not possess gong of her own. It was just like that. This is called "reverse cultivation" and one completes one’s cultivation from what is higher backward to what is lower.

We normally practice cultivation from what is lower to what is higher right up until the unlocking of gong or completion of cultivation. This reverse cultivation was for those elderly people who did not have enough time to practice cultivation from what is lower to what is higher. Therefore, it would be quicker if they practiced from what is higher to what is lower. This was a phenomenon created at that time. Such a person has to have very high-level xinxing, and she was given the energy on the merit of her xinxing level. What were the purposes? One was to cooperate with the cosmic climate at that time. When this person was doing a good deed, she could suffer tribulations at the same time. This is because amidst everyday people, different ordinary human attachments could interfere with her. When she cured a patient’s illness, the patient might not appreciate it. When she treated the patient, she might have removed a lot of bad things from this patient’s body. Although she healed this patient to such an extent, there might not have been any obvious changes at that time. The patient, however, would not be happy in his mind. Instead of expressing gratitude, he might accuse her of cheating. With these problems, she was undergoing psychological tribulations in this environment. The purpose of giving her energy was to enable her to practice cultivation and upgrade herself. While doing good deeds, she could develop her own supernormal abilities and build up her own gong; however, some people did not know this principle. Didn’t I mention that no one could teach this person the Fa? If the person could understand it, she would get it. It is an issue of enlightening. If the person could not understand it, nothing could be done.

When some people received the energy, they would one night suddenly feel very warm during sleep and could hardly use their bedcovers. After they got up the next morning, they would get an electric shock wherever they put their hands. They knew that they had obtained energy. If someone had pain somewhere in the body, they could take care of the problem with their hands, and it worked quite well. From then on they knew that they had energy. They became qigong masters and hung up signs. They labeled themselves qigong masters and established their practices. At the beginning, this person was very good. When she cured illnesses for other people, they would give her money or some gifts—all of which she might turn down or refuse to accept. Yet this person could not resist contamination from the big dye vat of everyday people. Because these reverse cultivation people had never gone through genuine xinxing cultivation, it was very difficult for them to conduct their xinxing well. Gradually, this person would accept small gifts. Later, she would also accept big gifts. In the end, she would even be offended when the gifts were few. Finally, she would say, "Why do you give me so many things? Give me money!" She would not be pleased if given too little money. Getting an earful of other people’s flattery about how capable she was, she would also not respect qigong masters from righteous schools. If someone said something bad about her, she would be upset. This person’s attachments to fame and self-interest were all developed. She considered herself better than others and extraordinary. She mistakenly thought that she was given the energy to become a qigong master and make a big fortune, while in fact it was for her to practice cultivation. Once the attachments to fame and profit were developed, this person’s xinxing level had actually dropped.

I have stated that one’s gong level is as high as one’s xinxing level. When one’s xinxing level drops, then one will not be supplied with so much gong because it must be given according to the xinxing level. The gong level is as high as the xinxing level. The more one is attached to fame and self-interest, the lower the level one will drop to among everyday people. One’s gong will also consequently decrease. In the end, when one has completely dropped to the bottom, one will no longer be given any gong. This person will have no gong. A few years ago there were quite a few such people, and comparatively more were women over fifty years old. Though you might have seen an elderly woman practicing qigong, she had never received any real teaching. She might have learned in a qigong class a few movements for healing and fitness. One day, she suddenly had gong. Once her xinxing became poor or if her attachments to fame and self-interest were developed, her level would drop. She would then end up being nobody, and her gong would disappear as well. Nowadays there are a lot of these reverse cultivation people whose levels have dropped. Only a few of them are still around. Why? That woman did not know that it was provided for her to practice cultivation, and she mistakenly thought that it was for her to make a fortune, earn fame, and become a qigong master. Actually, it was for her to practice cultivation.

What is "gong borrowing?" It has no age limit, but there is one requirement: One must have very good xinxing. This person knows that qigong can enable one to practice cultivation, and he also wants to practice cultivation. He has the heart for cultivation practice, but where can he find a master? A few years ago, there were indeed true qigong masters teaching qigong. What they taught, however, was something completely for healing and fitness. Nobody taught high-level qigong, and neither would they do this.

Speaking of gong borrowing, I will bring up another issue. In addition to the Main Spirit¹¹ (zhu yuanshen)  (Main Consciousness),  one also has Assistant Spirit¹² (fu yuanshen)  (Assistant Consciousness).  Some people have one, two, three, four, or five Assistant Spirits. The gender of one’s Assistant Spirit might not be the same as that of the person. Some are male and some are female. They are all different. In fact, the gender of the Main Spirit also is not necessarily the same as that of the physical body, because we have found that at present many men have female Primordial Spirit, while many women have male Primordial Spirit. This agrees exactly with the cosmic climate as the Tao School describes it, for the yin  and the yang¹³  are reversed, with yin in prosperity and yang in decline.

One’s Assistant Spirit normally comes from a higher level than one’s Main Spirit. Especially for some people, their Assistant Spirit comes from a very high level. Assistant Spirit is not the possessing spirit, as it was born with you simultaneously from your mother’s womb. It shares the same name as you, for it is part of your body. Normally, when people think about something or do something, it is up to the Main Spirit to make the decision. The Assistant Spirit mainly tries its best to prevent one’s Main Spirit from committing wrongdoing. When the Main Spirit is very stubborn, however, the Assistant Spirit is unable to give help. The Assistant Spirit is not fooled by ordinary human society while the Main Spirit is easily deceived.

Some Assistant Spirits come from very high levels and are probably on the brink of achieving the Right Fruit in cultivation. The Assistant Spirit wants to practice cultivation, but it cannot do anything about it if the Main Spirit does not want to do it. When qigong was very popular, one day the Main Spirit also wanted to practice qigong. The thought of cultivation toward high levels was of course very pure and simple; one did not have the desire for things such as fame and personal gain. The Assistant Spirit, however, was delighted, "I want to practice cultivation, but I don’t make the decisions. Now you want to practice cultivation, and that’s just what I want." Yet where could the person find a master? The Assistant Spirit was quite able, and it would leave the body to find the great enlightened person that it knew in its previous life. Because some Assistant Spirits came from very high levels, they could leave the body. After arriving up there, it expressed its wishes for cultivation and for borrowing gong. The great enlightened people found it very good, and would certainly extend help in its cultivation. Accordingly, the Assistant Spirit borrowed some gong. Normally, this gong is radiating energy delivered through a pipeline. Some borrowed energy also comes in forms, and it normally carries supernormal abilities.

In this way, this person might at the same time have supernormal abilities. The person was also as I just described, feeling very warm one night during sleep. When he woke up the next morning he had energy. He got an electric shock wherever he put his hand. He was able to heal illnesses for others, and he also realized that he had obtained energy. Where did the energy come from? He was unclear about this. He had only a rough idea that it came from the space of the universe. But he did not know specifically how it came. The Assistant Spirit would not tell him, because it was the Assistant Spirit who practiced cultivation. He only knew that he had obtained the energy.

There was usually no age limit for people who borrowed energy, and there were relatively more young people involved. Therefore, a few years ago there were also some people in their twenties, thirties, and forties who came to the public. There were some elderly people as well. It was more difficult for a young person to conduct himself or herself well. Maybe you would have found this person usually very good, caring little for fame and self-interest, when he did not have many abilities in ordinary human society. Once he became well-known, fame and profit would easily interfere. He would think that he still had a long way to go in life, and he still wanted to make every effort to achieve some goals of ordinary people. So, once he developed supernormal abilities and some abilities, they would be used as a means to pursue his personal goals in ordinary human society. They would then not work and were prohibited from being used this way. The more he used them, the less his energy. Finally, he would end up with nothing. There are even more people whose levels have dropped this way. I have found that now there is no one left.

The two cases I just addressed both involved energy that was obtained by people with relatively good xinxing. This energy was not developed through their own cultivation practice. It came from the great enlightened people, and thus the energy itself was good.

Spirit or Animal Possession

Many of you may have heard in the community of cultivators something about animal possessions by things such as foxes, weasels, ghosts, and snakes. What’s it all about? Some people talk about developing supernormal abilities through practicing qigong. In fact, supernormal abilities are not developed; instead, they are human inborn capabilities. It is only that with the progress of human society, people focus more on the tangible things of our physical world, thus becoming more dependent upon our modern tools. Consequently, our human inborn capabilities are becoming more degenerated. In the end, they are made to disappear completely.

In order to have supernormal abilities, one must develop them through cultivation practice and return to one’s original, true self. But an animal does not have this sophisticated mind, so it connects with the characteristic of the universe via its primordial instinct. Some people claim that animals can practice cultivation, that foxes know how to cultivate dan, or that snakes know how to practice cultivation, and so on. It is not that those animals know how to practice cultivation. At the beginning, they also do not know at all what cultivation is. They just have that primordial instinct. Then, under special conditions and circumstances, it may have some effect over a period of time. They will be able to obtain energy and develop supernormal abilities.

In this way, an animal will have some abilities. In the past, we would say that this animal had become very sagacious with some abilities. In the eyes of everyday people, animals are so formidable that they can easily manipulate people. Actually, I say that they are not formidable and are nothing before a true practitioner. Though you may find one that has practiced cultivation for nearly one thousand years, a tiny finger will be more than enough to crush it. We have said that animals have this primordial instinct, and they can have some abilities. However, there is a principle in our universe: Animals are not allowed to succeed in cultivation. Therefore, all of you can read in ancient books that once every several hundred years, animals are killed in a big calamity or a small disaster. After a period of time, animals will develop energy and must be killed or struck by lightening, etc. They are forbidden from practicing cultivation because they do not have the human inborn nature; they cannot practice cultivation like human beings as they do not possess human qualities. If they succeed in cultivation, they are bound to be demons. They are thus not allowed to succeed in cultivation. Otherwise, they will be killed by heaven. They know it as well. But as I have said, human society is now in great decline and some people commit all kinds of sins. At this stage, isn’t human society in danger?

Things are bound to turn around after reaching the limit! We have found that whenever human societies in prehistoric times experienced periodical destruction, it always took place when humankind was morally corrupt to the extreme. Now, the dimension inhabited by human beings as well as many other dimensions are all in a very dangerous situation. The same is true with other dimensions at this level; the possessing spirits or animals also hurry to escape and want to move up to higher levels. They think that by climbing to higher levels they can escape. Yet how can it be that easy? In order to practice cultivation, one must have a human body. Accordingly, that is one reason why some qigong practitioners have acquired spirit or animal possession.

Some people wonder, "Since there are so many great enlightened people or high-level masters, why don’t they take care of this?" There is another principle in our universe: If you pursue or want something, others are not willing to interfere. Here, we teach everyone to follow the righteous way, and at the same time explain the Fa to you thoroughly to let you become enlightened on your own. It is your own business whether you want to learn it. The master takes you through the entrance, and it is up to you to practice cultivation. Nobody will force you or make you practice cultivation. It is your own business whether you practice cultivation. In other words, no one will interfere with it in terms of which path you take, what you want, or what you try to get. We can only advise people to be good.

Though you find that some people practice qigong, their energy is actually obtained by the possessing spirits or animals. How does one get spirit or animal possession? How many qigong practitioners throughout the country have possessing spirits or animals behind their bodies? If I reveal the number, many people will be too scared to practice qigong. The number is frighteningly large! So, why is there this situation? These things are causing trouble for ordinary human society. Why is it becoming such a serious phenomenon? It is also induced by people themselves since humankind is degenerating and demons are everywhere. In particular, all those sham qigong masters carry possessing spirits or animals on their bodies, and this is what they transmit in their teaching. Throughout human history, animals have been forbidden to possess people. When they did, they were killed; whoever saw it would not allow it. In our society today, however, some people pray to them for help, want them, and worship them. Some people may think, "I wasn’t asking for it specifically!" You did not ask for it, but you sought supernormal abilities. Will a great enlightened person from a righteous cultivation practice give them to you? Pursuit is an attachment of everyday people, and this attachment must be given up. So who gives them to you? Only demons from other dimensions and different animals can give them to you. Isn’t it the same as your asking for spirit or animal possession? They will come, then.

How many people practice qigong with a right mind? Qigong practice requires one to value virtues, do good deeds, and be kind. One should conduct oneself this way in everything and under all circumstances. Whether practicing qigong in a park or at home, how many people think this way? No one knows what kind of qigong some people practice. While practicing and swaying the body, one mutters, "Oh, my daughter-in-law doesn’t respect me. My mother-in-law is so terrible!" Some people even comment on everything—from their workplace to state affairs. There is nothing that they will not talk about, and they will be quite upset if something does not agree with their way of thinking. Would you call that qigong practice? Further yet, such a person practices a standing exercise there with legs shaking from fatigue. Yet his mind is not at rest: "Nowadays things are so expensive and prices are rising. The workplace can’t pay my salary. Why can’t I develop some supernormal abilities from practicing qigong? If I develop supernormal abilities, I, too, will become a qigong master and make a fortune. I could see patients and make money." Once he sees that other people have developed supernormal abilities, he becomes even more anxious. He will go after supernormal abilities, pursuing the Celestial Eye and the ability to heal illness. Think about it, everyone: How far this is from Zhen-Shan-Ren, the characteristic of our universe! It goes entirely the opposite way. To put it seriously, this person is practicing evil cultivation! However, he does it unknowingly. The more he thinks this way, the worse his mind becomes. This person has not obtained the Fa and does not know to value virtue. Then he thinks that he can develop energy simply by doing the exercises and that he can get whatever he wants through pursuit. That is what this person thinks.

It is precisely because of one’s ill intentions that one brings to oneself bad things. An animal, however, can see it: "This person wants to make a fortune through qigong practice. The other person wants to be famous and get supernormal abilities. My goodness, his body isn’t bad and also carries very good things. But his mind is really bad, and he’s pursuing supernormal abilities! He may have a master, but even if he does have a master, I’m not afraid." The animal knows that a master from a righteous cultivation practice will not give him supernormal abilities upon seeing him pursuing them in such a way. The more he wants them, the less his master will give him, as it is exactly the attachment that is to be discarded. The more he thinks this way, the fewer supernormal abilities he receives, and the less likely he will be enlightened to it. The more he pursues them, the worse his mind becomes. In the end, after seeing that this person is hopeless, his master will leave him with a sigh and no longer take care of him. Some people do not have a master and are probably looked after by a passingby master, since there are a lot of great enlightened people in different dimensions. One great enlightened person may take a look at the person and follow him for a day. Then the enlightened person will leave him after finding out that he is not good enough. The next day another great enlightened person may come by, and will also leave him after discovering that he is no good.

The animal knows that whether or not he has a master or a passing-by master, his master will not give him what he is pursuing. Because animals are unable to see the dimensions where the great enlightened people stay, they are not afraid, and they take advantage of the loophole. There is a principle in our universe that normally other people cannot interfere with whatever one pursues and wants for oneself. The animal takes advantage of this loophole, "If he wants something, I’ll supply him. It isn’t wrong for me to help him, is it?" The animal will give it to him. Initially, the animal does not dare to possess him, and it will first give him some energy to try out. One day, the person will suddenly find himself with the energy that he has been seeking, and he can also heal illnesses. Upon seeing that it works, the animal will use it like a musical prelude, "Since he wants it, I’ll attach to his body. That way I can give him more things and do it easily. Doesn’t he want the Celestial Eye? Now I’ll give him everything." It will then possess him.

While this person’s pursuing mind thinks of these things, his Celestial Eye opens and he can also give off energy with some petty supernormal abilities. He gets very excited and thinks that he has finally got what he sought through practicing. Actually, he has achieved nothing through his practice. He thinks that he can see through the human body and detect where illness resides in one’s body. In fact, his Celestial Eye is not opened at all; it is that animal that controls his mind. That animal reflects what it sees with its eyes into his brain, so he thus thinks that his Celestial Eye has opened. "Release the gong? Go ahead." When he holds out his hand to release energy, that animal also stretches out its paw from his back. As soon as he gives off the energy, the forked tongue from that snake’s head will come out to lick the ill part or the swollen part of the patient. There are quite a few such cases, and these people all got spirit or animal possession through their own pursuits.

Because this person pursues something—going after fortune and fame—he has thus acquired supernormal abilities. He can treat illnesses, and his Celestial Eye can also see things. This makes him very happy. The animal sees it, "Don’t you want to make a fortune? Great, I’ll let you make money." It is very easy to manipulate an ordinary person’s mind. The animal can make many people, quite a lot, come to him for treatment. My goodness, while he is treating an illness here, the animal makes newspaper reporters advertise him in newspapers over there. It manipulates everyday people to do these things. If a patient does not pay him enough money, it will not be allowed; the animal will cause the patient to have a headache. Anyway, one must pay him a lot of money. He has achieved both fame and fortune, as money is made and fame is achieved. He has also become a qigong master. Normally, such a person does not value xinxing and dares to say anything. He will consider himself second only to heaven, daring to claim that he himself is the reincarnated Lady Queen Mother¹⁴  or the Great Jade Emperor.¹⁵  He will even dare to call himself a Buddha. Because he has not truly undergone xinxing cultivation, he pursues supernormal abilities in his practice. Consequently, he brings spirit or animal possession to himself.

Some people may think, "What’s wrong with that? It’s good as long as there is money or a fortune to be made, and one can also achieve fame." Many people think this way. Let me tell everyone that the animal actually has its own intention, and it would not give you anything without a reason. This universe has a principle: "no loss, no gain." What does it obtain? Didn’t I just address this issue? It wants to acquire the essence in your body so as to cultivate a human form, and it collects the human essence from a person’s body. A human body only has this one piece of essence. If one wants to practice cultivation, there is only this one piece. If you let the animal get it, you must forget about practicing cultivation. How will you practice cultivation? You will have nothing left and cannot practice cultivation at all. Some people may claim: "I don’t want to practice cultivation, either, and I just want to make money. As long as I have money, it’s fine. Who cares!" Let me tell you that you may want to make a fortune, but you will not think this way after I tell you the reason. Why? If it leaves your body early, your four limbs will feel very weak. Afterwards, you will be this way for the rest of your life because it has taken too much of your essence. If it leaves your body late, you will be a vegetable and lie in bed for the rest of your life with only one breath of air. Though you have money, are you able to spend it? Though you have fame, are you able to enjoy it? Isn’t this frightening?

These cases are particularly notable among practitioners today, and they are quite numerous. An animal can not only possess a person, but also kill one’s Primordial Spirit and get into one’s niwan palace¹⁶  and stay there. Though the person looks like a human being, he is not. Even these things can take place nowadays. This is because human moral values have changed. When someone does something wrong, this person will not believe it if you tell him that he is committing a wrongdoing. He thinks that it is right and proper to make money, seek money, or make a fortune, and that it is correct. Therefore, he will harm and do damage to others. To make money, he will commit any sin and dare to do anything. Without losing something, the animal will not gain anything. How can it give you something for nothing? It wants to get things in your body. Of course, we have said that one gets into trouble because one’s own values and mind are not correct or righteous.

We are teaching Falun Dafa. In practicing cultivation of our school, you will not have any problems as long as you can conduct your xinxing well, since one righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils. If you cannot maintain your xinxing well and go after this or that, you are bound to get yourself into trouble. Some people just cannot give up what they once practiced. We require people to practice only one cultivation way since one should be single-minded in true cultivation practice. Though some qigong masters have written books, I am telling you that those books contain all kinds of things and are the same as what they practice: they are snakes, foxes, and weasels. When you read those books, these things will come out from the words. I have said that the sham qigong masters outnumber the real ones by many times, and you are unable to distinguish them. Therefore, you must conduct yourselves well. I am not saying here that you must practice Falun Dafa; you may practice in any school you want. Yet there was a saying in the past: "One would rather not obtain a righteous way in one thousand years than cultivate a wild fox practice for one day." Thus, one must conduct oneself well and truly practice cultivation in a righteous way. Do not mix it with anything else in cultivation, not even with any mind intention. Some people’s Falun are deformed. Why are they deformed? They claim that they have not practiced other qigong. Whenever they are practicing, however, in their minds they add things from their previous practices. Aren’t those things being brought into the practice? On the issue of spirit or animal possession, this is all we will address.

The Cosmic Language

What is "the cosmic language?" It refers to when a person can suddenly speak an unknown language. He mumbles something that he cannot understand, either. One with telepathic ability can catch its general idea but remains unable to tell specifically what this person is talking about. Also, some people can speak many different languages. Some even consider it quite remarkable and regard it as an ability or a supernormal ability. It is neither a supernormal ability nor a practitioner’s ability; it also cannot represent one’s level. Then, what’s it all about? It is that your mind is being controlled by a foreign spirit. Yet you may still find it quite good and you want it, as you are happy about it. The more you are pleased, the better it controls you. As a true practitioner, how can you let it control you? Furthermore, it comes from a very low level. As genuine practitioners, we thus should not invite these troubles.

Being the soul of all matter, human beings are most precious. How can you be controlled by these things? How sad that you would disown your own body! Some of these things are attached to human bodies. Some are not, but stay at a distance from people. But they are manipulating and controlling you. When you want to talk, they will let you talk and mumble. The language can also be passed to another person if that person also wants to learn it. When that person is bold enough to try it, he or she can also speak it. In fact, those things also come in groups. If you want to speak it, one will come to you and let you utter it.

Why can this situation take place? As I have said, they want to upgrade their own levels. But there are no hardships over there, so they cannot practice cultivation and improve themselves. They have come up with an idea. They want to help people by doing good deeds, but they do not know how. Yet they know that the energy they give off can repress a patient’s illness and relieve a patient’s suffering for the moment, though it cannot cure the illness. Accordingly, they know that this can be achieved by using a person’s mouth to give off the energy. This is what happens. Some people call it a heavenly language, and there are others who call it the Buddha’s language. That is slandering Buddha. I call it sheer nonsense!

It is known that a Buddha does not casually open his mouth to talk. Should he open his mouth and talk in our dimension, he could cause an earthquake for humankind. With such loud sound, how can it be allowed? Some people say, "My Celestial Eye has seen a Buddha talking to me." He was not talking to you. Some people also saw my fashen doing the same thing. He was not talking to you, either. The message he gave was in stereo sound. When you heard it, it sounded as though he was talking. He usually talks in his dimension. After it is transmitted here, however, you cannot hear clearly what he says because the concepts of time and space are different between the two dimensions. One shichen¹⁷  in our dimension is two hours. In that big dimension over there, one shichen of ours is one year, and ours is slower than the time over there.

There was a saying in the past: "It’s only one day in heaven, but one thousand years have passed on earth." This refers to unitary paradises which do not have the concepts of time and space. Namely, those are paradises where the great enlightened people stay, such as the Paradise of Ultimate Bliss, the Glazed Paradise, the Falun Paradise, and the Lotus Paradise. It refers to those places. In that big dimension, however, time is instead faster than ours. If you are able to receive it, you can hear someone talking. Some people have the ability of clairaudience and have their ears open. They are able to hear someone talking, but not clearly. Whatever you hear will resemble the chirping of a bird or the high-speed playing of a record player; one cannot tell what it is. Of course, some people can hear music and talking. But the time difference must be eliminated through a supernormal ability which serves as a carrier. Sound can then reach your ears, and so you can hear it clearly. It is just like that. Some people call it the Buddha’s language, but it is not at all.

When two great enlightened people meet each other, they can understand everything with a smile. This is due to soundless telepathy, and what is received is in stereo sound. When they smile, their ideas are already communicated. This is not the only method they use, as they sometimes use another way. You know that in Tantrism, Tibetan lamas are very particular about using hand signs. But if you ask a lama what hand signs are, he will tell you that they are the supreme yoga. What, specifically, are they for? He does not know, either. Actually, they are the language of the great enlightened people. When there are many people, one uses big hand signs; they are very beautiful and made of various big hand signs. When there are only a few people, one uses small hand signs; they are also very beautiful and made of various small hand signs. They are very sophisticated and rich, because they are a language. In the past, this was a heavenly secret, and now we have disclosed it. What is used in Tibet are only a few movements solely for the practice, and people have classified and systematized them. They only serve as a language in the practice and are just a few forms for the practice. The genuine hand signs are quite sophisticated.

What Has Teacher Given to Practitioners?

After seeing me, some people will hold my hand and not let it go. When others see these people shaking my hand, they will also shake my hand. I know what is on their mind. Some people are very happy to shake hands with Teacher. Some people want to get some messages and will not release my hand. We have told you that true cultivation practice is your own business. We are not here for healing and fitness, or to give you some messages and heal your illnesses; neither are we concerned with those things. Your illnesses will be cured directly by me. Those who practice at exercise sites will have my fashen to cure their illnesses. Those who study Dafa by reading the book on their own will also have my fashen to cure their illnesses. Do you think that you will increase gong by touching my hand? Isn’t that a joke?

Gong depends upon cultivating one’s own xinxing. If you are not truly practicing cultivation, gong does not grow; this is because there is a xinxing standard. While your gong grows, one at high levels can see that when your attachment, a substance, is removed, a yardstick grows above your head. In addition, this yardstick exists in the form of gong column. The yardstick is as high as your gong column. It represents the gong that you have cultivated. It also represents the height of your xinxing level. It will not work no matter how much of it other people add to you. Not even a tiny bit can be added, for it will not stay there and all of it will come off. I can make you immediately reach the state of "three flowers gathering above the head (sanhua juding)." Once you step out this door, however, the gong will come off because it is not yours, and it is not from your cultivation. Because your xinxing standard is not there yet, it cannot stay there. Whoever wishes to add it to you will be unable to do it, because it comes completely from one’s own cultivation and from cultivating one’s own mind. You can move up only by developing gong solidly, improving yourself constantly, and assimilating to the characteristic of the universe. Some people ask for my autograph, but I am not willing to give it. Some people brag that they have Teacher’s autograph. They want to show it off or want Teacher’s message to protect them. Isn’t this another attachment? You must practice cultivation on your own. What messages are you talking about? Should you ask for this in high-level cultivation? What does that account for? That is only something for healing and fitness.

At a very microscopic level, the gong you develop, or every microscopic particle from that gong, looks exactly the same as you. After reaching Beyond-Triple-World-Fa, you will practice cultivation of a Buddha-body. That gong will assume the appearance of a Buddha. It is very beautiful, sitting on a lotus flower. Every microscopic particle is like that. An animal’s gong, however, is something like small foxes or snakes. At a very microscopic level, their fine particles are all these things. There is also something called messages. Some people stir up tea and ask you to drink it since it is supposed to be gong. An everyday person only wants to temporarily relieve pains by postponing and repressing his illness. After all, an everyday person is an everyday person. We are not concerned with how he messes up his body. You are practitioners. That is why I tell you these things. From now on, you should not do these things. Never ask for those things such as the so-called "messages," this or that. One qigong master claims, "I give you messages, and you can receive them in all parts of the country." What do you receive? I tell you that these things are not of much use. Supposing that they are good, they are still only for healing and fitness. As practitioners, however, our gong comes from our own cultivation. Messages from other people cannot upgrade one’s level, but only treat illnesses for everyday people. One must maintain a righteous mind; no one can practice cultivation for another. Only when you truly practice cultivation on your own can you upgrade your level.

What have I given you, then? Everyone knows that many of our practitioners have never practiced qigong and their bodies carry illnesses. Although a lot of people have practiced qigong for many years, they still linger at the level of qi without having obtained any gong. Of course, some people have treated patients without knowing how they did it. When I spoke about the issue of spirit or animal possession, I already removed the possessing spirits or animals—no matter what they were—from the bodies of genuine Dafa practitioners, and I have removed all those things inside and outside their bodies. When those who truly practice cultivation on their own read this Dafa, I will clean out their bodies as well. In addition, your home environment must also be cleaned. As soon as possible, you should throw away the spirit tablet¹⁸  for the fox or the weasel that you previously enshrined. They have all been disposed of and no longer exist. Because you want to practice cultivation, we can open for you the most convenient door, and these things can therefore be done for you. Yet they are only done for true practitioners. Of course, some people do not want to practice cultivation and to this moment do not understand it. Accordingly, we cannot take care of them, either. We only take care of true practitioners.

There is another type of person. Someone was told in the past that he had spirit or animal possession. He felt that way as well. However, upon having it removed for him, his mind still worries about it. He always thinks that the condition still exists. He still thinks that it is there, and this is already an attachment called suspicion. As time passes, this person may bring it to himself again. One should give up this attachment, as this spirit or animal possession no longer exists. Some people were already cleared of these things in our previous classes. I have already done those things for them and removed all spirit or animal possession.

The Tao School requires laying a foundation in low-level practice. The heavenly circuit, dantian,¹⁹  and some other things must also be developed. Here we will provide you with Falun, qiji,²⁰  and all the mechanisms for cultivation practice and so on—more than ten thousand of them. They will all be given to you like seeds being planted in your body. After removing your illnesses, I will do everything that needs to be done and give you everything that should be given. Then, you will be able to truly continue your cultivation practice in our school until the end. Otherwise, without giving you anything, it is only for healing and fitness. Frankly, some people do not value xinxing, and they would be better off doing physical exercises.

If you are truly practicing cultivation, we must be responsible to you. Those self-taught practitioners will also obtain the same things, but they must be genuine practitioners. We give all these things to true practitioners. I have said that I must truly treat you as my disciples. In addition, you must study the high-level Fa thoroughly and know how to practice cultivation. The five sets of exercises will be taught to you all at once, and you will learn them all. In the time to come, you will be able to reach a very high level—one which is so high that it is beyond your imagination. As long as you practice cultivation, it will not be a problem for you to achieve the Right Fruit in cultivation. In teaching this Fa, I have incorporated different levels. In your future cultivation practice at different levels, you will always find it assuming a guiding role for you.

As a practitioner, your path of life will be changed from now on. My fashen will rearrange it for you. How is it rearranged? How many years does a person still have in life? One will not know it oneself. Some people may get a serious illness after a year or half a year, or they may be ill for several years. Some people may suffer cerebral thrombosis or other illnesses, and cannot move at all. How can you practice cultivation for the rest of your life? We must fix all of them for you and prevent these things from occurring. We, however, must make it clear ahead of time that we can only do these things for true practitioners. They are not allowed to be done casually for an everyday person. Otherwise, it is the same as doing a bad deed. For everyday people, things such as birth, old age, illness, and death all have karmic relationships, and they cannot be undermined at will.

We regard practitioners as the most precious people. Thus, we can only do things for practitioners. How do we do these? If a master has great virtues—that is, if a master possesses great gong potency—this master can eliminate your karma. If a master’s energy level is high, he can eliminate a lot of your karma. If a master’s energy level is low, he can only eliminate a little of your karma. Let us use an example. We will put together your different karma in your future life, and eliminate part of it or half of it. The remaining half is still higher than a mountain, and you cannot overcome it. What should be done? When you achieve the Tao, many people in the future will benefit. This way, many people will bear a share for you. Of course, it is nothing to them. Through practice you will also develop many beings in your body. In addition to your Main Spirit and your Assistant Spirit, many others of you will all take a share for you. There will be almost nothing left for you by the time you go through tribulations. Though there is almost nothing left, it is still quite a lot, and you are still unable to overcome it. Then, what happens? It will be divided into numerous portions for different phases of your cultivation practice. They will be used to upgrade your xinxing, transform your karma, and increase your gong.

Moreover, it is not an easy thing if one wants to practice cultivation. I have said that this is a very serious matter. It is something beyond ordinary people and more difficult than anything of ordinary people. Isn’t it supernatural? Therefore, the requirement for you is higher than any matter of everyday people. As human beings, we have Primordial Spirits, and the Primordial Spirit does not become extinct. If the Primordial Spirit does not become extinct, think about it, everyone: Didn’t your Primordial Spirit commit wrongdoing in the social interactions of your previous life? It is very likely. You might have done things such as killing lives, owing something to someone, bullying someone, or harming someone. If it is true, when you practice cultivation here, they can see you clearly over there. They do not care if you are healing illness and keeping fit, as they know that you are then only postponing the debt. If you do not repay it now, you will repay it later, and you will pay more for it in the future. So they do not care if you do not repay it at the moment.

When you say that you are going to practice cultivation, they will not let you do it, "You want to practice cultivation and leave. When you’ve developed gong, we won’t be able to reach you or touch you." They will not let it happen, and they will try everything to stop you from practicing cultivation. Accordingly, all kinds of methods will be used to interfere with you. They will even come to really kill you. Of course, your head will not be chopped off here while doing the sitting meditation. That is impossible since it must comply with the state of ordinary human society. Perhaps you will be hit by a car upon stepping out the door, or you might fall from a building or run into other dangers. These things might take place and will be quite perilous. Genuine cultivation practice is not as easy as you imagine. Do you think that if you want to practice cultivation you’ll be able to make it? Once you want to truly practice cultivation, your life will be in danger right away and this issue will concern you immediately. Many qigong masters dare not teach students toward high levels. Why? They just cannot take care of this matter, and they cannot protect you.

In the past there were many people teaching the Tao. They could only teach one disciple, and about all they could do was to look after one disciple. However, as to doing it on such a large scale, an average person would not dare. But we have told you here that I can do it, because I have numerous fashen who possess my mighty divine powers. They can demonstrate great supernatural powers—very mighty powers of the Fa. In addition, what we do today is not as simple as what we see on the surface. I was not hot-headed when I came to public. I can tell you that there are many great enlightened people watching this event. This is the last time we will teach a righteous way in the Dharma-ending Period. In doing so, we also do not allow it to go astray. If you truly follow the righteous way in cultivation practice, nobody will dare to do something to you at will. Besides, you have the protection of my fashen, and you will not be in any danger.

What is owed must be paid for. Therefore, some dangerous things may occur in the course of cultivation practice. When these things take place, however, you will not be scared, and neither will real danger be allowed to happen to you. I can give you some examples. When I taught a class in Beijing, a practitioner crossed the street on her bike. At a turn of the street, a luxury car came and knocked down this practitioner, a woman over fifty years old. It collided with her at once and hit her very hard. With the sound of "bang," it hit her head, and her head hit the car roof squarely. At that point, this practitioner’s feet were still on the bike pedals. Though her head was hit, she did not feel any pain. Not only did she not feel any pain, but her head did not bleed, either; neither did it swell. The driver was scared to death and jumped out of the car. He hastily asked her if she was injured and suggested that they go to the hospital. She replied that she was all right. Of course, this practitioner had a very high xinxing level and would not get the driver into trouble. She said that everything was fine, but the collision left a big dent on the car.

All things like that come to take away one’s life. But one will not be endangered. The last time we held a class at Jilin University, a practitioner pushed his bike as he was going through the main entrance of Jilin University. As soon as he walked into the middle of the road, all of a sudden two cars sandwiched him. The cars almost hit him, but he was not scared at all. Normally, we are not frightened at all upon running into these things. At that very second, the cars stopped and nothing happened.

There was such an instance in Beijing. It gets dark quite early in winter, and people go to bed early. The streets were very quiet without a soul. A practitioner was hurrying home on a bike with only a jeep running ahead of him. Suddenly, that jeep put on its brakes. He was not aware of it and continued to ride his bike forward with his head down. But that jeep suddenly backed up, and it moved back at a very high speed. If the two forces had met, it would have taken away his life. Just before they were to collide, a force suddenly pulled his bike back more than half a meter, and the jeep stopped at the wheel of his bike all at once. Perhaps the jeep driver discovered that someone was behind him. This practitioner was not scared at that moment. All of those who have encountered these situations were not scared, although they might have been afterwards. The first thing on his mind was, "Wow! Who pulled me back? I have to thank him." When he turned around and was about to express his gratitude, he found the street very quiet with no one around. He understood at once, "It was Teacher who protected me!"

Another case took place in Changchun.²¹ A building was under construction near a practitioner’s home. Nowadays, buildings are built very high, and the scaffolding is made of iron poles that are two inches in diameter and four meters long. After this practitioner walked a short distance from home, an iron pole fell vertically from the high-rise building all the way to his head. The people on the street were all astonished. He said, "Who patted me?" He thought that someone had patted his head. At that very moment, he turned his head and saw a big Falun rotating above his head. That iron pole had slid down along his head and stuck into the ground without falling down. If it indeed stuck into a person’s body—think about it, everyone—it would penetrate the body as if skewering candied hawthorn fruits, as it was so heavy. It was very dangerous!

There are so many of these cases that they cannot be numbered. Yet no danger has occurred. Not everyone will encounter these kinds of things, but some individuals will run into them. Whether you come across them or not, I can assure you that you will not be in any danger—I can guarantee this. Some practitioners do not follow the xinxing requirements, as they only practice the exercises without cultivating their xinxing. They cannot be regarded as practitioners.

As for what Teacher has given, these are what I have given you. My fashen will protect you until you are able to protect yourself. At that time, you will practice cultivation in Beyond-Triple-World-Fa, and you will have already achieved the Tao. But you must treat yourself as a true practitioner, and then you can make it. There was a person who was walking on the street with my book in his hand, yelling, "I have Teacher Li’s protection, so I’m not afraid of being hit by a car." That was undermining Dafa. This type of person will not be protected. Actually, a true practitioner will not do such a thing.

Energy Field

While we practice, there is a field around us. What field is it? Some people call it a qi field, a magnetic field, or an electric field. In fact, it is incorrect no matter what field you call it since the matter contained in this field is extremely rich. Almost all the matter that constitutes every space of our universe can be found in this gong. It is more appropriate for us to call it an energy field, and so we normally call it an energy field.

So what can this field do? As you all know, our practitioners of this righteous way have this feeling: Because it comes from cultivation of a righteous way, it is benevolent and assimilated to Zhen-Shan-Ren, the characteristic of the universe. Therefore, all of our practitioners can feel it while sitting here in this field, and their minds are free of bad thoughts. In addition, while sitting here many practitioners do not even think of smoking. They feel an atmosphere of serenity and peace, which is very comfortable. This is the energy carried by a practitioner of a righteous way, and that is what it does within the scope of this field. Later, after this class, most of our practitioners will have gong—the truly developed energy. Because what I am teaching you is something from cultivation of a righteous way, you should also apply this xinxing standard to yourself. As you continually practice and follow our xinxing requirements in cultivation practice, your energy will gradually become more powerful.

We teach salvation of both ourselves and others, as well as of all beings. Thus, Falun can save oneself by turning inward and save others by turning outward. While turning outward, it gives off energy and can benefit others. This way, within your energy-covering field others will benefit, and they may feel very comfortable. Whether you are on the street walking, in the workplace, or at home, you can have this effect on others. People within your field may unintentionally have their illnesses healed since this field can rectify all abnormal conditions. A human body should not become ill, and being ill is an abnormal state. It can rectify this abnormal state. When an evil-minded person is thinking of something bad, this person might change his mind due to the powerful effect of your field; he might then no longer want to commit the wrongdoing. Perhaps a person wants to swear at someone. Suddenly, he may change his mind and will not want to swear. Only the energy field from cultivation practice in a righteous way can produce this effect. Therefore, in the past there was this saying in Buddhism: "The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities." This is what it means.

How Should Falun Dafa Practitioners Spread the Practice?

After the class, many of our practitioners think that this practice is very good, and they want to pass it on to their relatives or friends. Yes, all of you can spread it and pass it on to anyone. But there is one thing that we must declare to everyone. We have given everyone so many things that cannot be measured or valued with money. Why do I give them to everyone? They are for your cultivation practice. Only if you practice cultivation, can you be given these things. In other words, when you spread the practice in the future, you cannot use these things to seek fame and self-interest. Thus, you cannot hold a class and collect fees as I do. Because we need to print books and materials and travel around to teach the practice, we need to cover the costs. Our fees are already the lowest in the country, yet the things imparted are the greatest in number. We are truly bringing people toward high levels; everyone knows this point themselves. As a Falun Dafa practitioner, when you spread the practice in the future, we have two requirements for you.

The first one is that you cannot collect a fee. We have given you so many things, but they are not for you to make a fortune or seek fame. Rather, they are for saving you and enabling you to practice cultivation. If you collect a fee, my fashen will take back everything given to you, and you will no longer be a practitioner of our Falun Dafa. What you have spread would not be our Falun Dafa. When you spread it, you should not pursue fame and personal gain, but should serve others voluntarily. All practitioners are doing it this way nationwide, and assistants from different regions have also set this example themselves. If you want to learn our practice, you may come as long as you want to learn it. We can be responsible to you and will not charge you a penny.

The second requirement is that you should not add personal things to Dafa. In other words, during the course of teaching the exercise, regardless of whether your Celestial Eye is opened, you have seen something, or you have developed some supernormal abilities, you cannot use what you have seen to explain our Falun Dafa. That little bit that you have seen at your level is nothing and far from the actual meaning of the Fa that we teach. So when you spread the practice in the future, you ought to be very careful with this issue. Only by doing so can we ensure that the original things in our Falun Dafa remain unchanged.

In addition, nobody is permitted to teach the practice in the manner that I do, and neither is anyone allowed to teach the Fa in this large-scale lecture format that I use. You are unable to teach the Fa. This is because what I am teaching has very profound implications, and it incorporates something of high levels. You are practicing cultivation at various levels. In the future after you make progress, you will continue to improve when you again listen to this recording. As you constantly listen to it, you will always gain new understanding and new results. It is more so with reading this book. This teaching of mine is taught by incorporating something very profound at high levels. Therefore, you are unable to teach this Fa. You are not allowed to say it, using my original words as yours, or else it is an act of plagiarizing the Fa. You can only use my original words to say it, adding that this is how Teacher says it or how it is written in the book. You can only say it this way. Why? Because when you say it this way, it will carry the power of Dafa. You cannot spread the things that you know as Falun Dafa. Otherwise, what you pass on is not Falun Dafa, and what you do is the same as undermining our Falun Dafa. If you say something according to your ideas and your mind, it is not the Fa and cannot save people; neither will it have any effect. Therefore, nobody else can teach this Fa.

The way you transmit this practice is by playing the audiotapes or the videotapes for practitioners at the exercise sites or instructional sites, and assistants may then teach them the exercises. You can use the seminar form to have everyone communicate with one another, and you may discuss and share things with one another. We require that you do it this way. At the same time, you cannot call a practitioner (a disciple) who passes on Falun Dafa "Teacher" or "Master," for there is only one master in Dafa. All practitioners are disciples, no matter when they began the practice.

When you spread the practice, some people may think, "Teacher can install Falun and adjust one’s body, but we can’t do that." It does not matter. I have already told you that behind every practitioner there is my fashen, and not just one. Accordingly, my fashen will take care of these things. When you teach a person the practice, he will obtain Falun right then if he has a predestined relationship. If he does not have a good predestined relationship, he can obtain it gradually after a period of practice and after his body is adjusted. My fashen will help him adjust his body. Besides these things, I am telling you that if a person learns the Fa and the practice by reading my book, watching my videotapes, or listening to my recordings, and if he truly treats himself as a practitioner, he can also get the things that he deserves.

We do not allow practitioners to see patients, as Falun Dafa practitioners are absolutely prohibited from treating illnesses for other people. We are teaching you to ascend in cultivation, rather than letting you develop any attachments or ruin your own body. Our exercise sites are better than any other qigong exercise sites. As long as you go to our exercise sites for practice, it is much better than your treating your own illness. My fashen sit in a circle, and above the exercise site is a shield on which there is a big Falun. A large fashen guards the site above the shield. This site is not an ordinary site, and neither is it a site for an ordinary qigong practice: It is a site for cultivation practice. Many of our practitioners with supernormal abilities have seen that this Falun Dafa site is shielded with red light, and it is red all over.

My fashen can also directly install Falun for a practitioner, but we do not encourage one’s attachment. When you teach a person the exercises, he may say, "Oh, I have Falun now." You wrongly think that it is installed by you, when it is not. I am telling you this so that you will not develop this attachment. It is all done by my fashen. This is how our Falun Dafa practitioners should spread the practice.

Anyone who tries to change the Falun Dafa exercises is undermining Dafa and this school of practice. Some people have turned the exercise instructions into rhymes, and that is absolutely not permitted. A genuine cultivation way is always passed down from a prehistoric time. It has been preserved from quite a remote age and has successfully cultivated numerous great enlightened people. No one dares to change a bit of it. Such a thing can only take place in this Dharma-ending Period of ours. These things have never occurred throughout history. Everyone must be very careful with this issue.

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1 Samadhi—in Buddhism, “meditation in trance.”
2 benti (bun-tee)—one’s physical body and the bodies in other dimensions.
3 nirvana—(from Sanskrit) departing the human world without this physical body, the method of completing cultivation in Buddha Sakyamuni’s School.
4 Mahayana—“the Great Vehicle Buddhism.”
5 Hinayana—“the Small Vehicle Buddhism.”
6 Xinjiang (sheen-jyang)—a province in Northwestern China.
7 Tang (tahng) Dynasty—one of the most prosperous periods in Chinese history (618 A.D.-907 A.D.).
8 guanding - (gwan-ding)—pouring energy into the top of one’s head; initiation ritual.
9 Guanyin (gwan-yeen) sect—a cult named after Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the “Goddess of Mercy.”
10 the Eight Deities—well-known Taos in Chinese history.
11 Main Spirit—one’s main soul; Main Consciousness.
12 Assistant Spirit—one’s secondary soul (s); Assistant Consciousness.
13 yin (yeen) and yang (yahng)—The Tao School believes that everything contains opposite forces of yin and yang which are mutually exclusive, yet interdependent, e.g. female (yin) vs. male (yang).
14 Lady Queen Mother—in Chinese mythology, the highest-level female deity within the Three Realms.
15 Great Jade Emperor—in Chinese mythology, the deity that supervises the Three Realms.
16 niwan (nee-wahn) palace—Taoist term for pineal body.
17 shichen (shr-chuhn)—a Chinese unit of time for two hours.
18 spirit tablet—enshrined wooden tablet in the home for worshipping ancestors or other spirits at home.
19 dantian (dahn-tyen)—“field of dan”; the lower abdominal area.
20 qiji (chee-jee)—“energy mechanisms.”
21 Changchun (chahng-choon)—capital city of Jilin Province.

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