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LECTURE FIVE
 

The Falun Emblem

The symbol of our Falun Dafa is Falun. Those with supernormal abilities can see that this Falun is rotating. The same is true for our small Falun badges, which are also rotating. Our cultivation practice is guided by Zhen-Shan-Ren, the characteristic of the universe, and by the principles of the cosmos’ evolution. Therefore, what we cultivate is quite immense. In a sense, this Falun emblem is a miniature of the universe. The Buddha School conceptualizes the universe as a world of ten directions with four faces and eight sides. Perhaps some people can see a vertical energy column above and below Falun. With its top and bottom, Falun exactly makes up the ten-directional world and constitutes this universe. It represents the Buddha School’s summary of the universe.

This universe, of course, consists of numerous galaxies including our Milky Way. The whole universe is in motion, and so are all galaxies within it. Therefore, the Taiji symbols and the small symbols in the emblem are also rotating. The entire Falun is rotating, and the large symbol in the center is rotating as well. In a sense, it symbolizes our Milky Way. Because we are of the Buddha School, the center retains the symbol of the Buddha School; this is how its surface looks. All different substances have their forms of existence in those other dimensions where they have very substantial and very complex processes of evolution and forms of existence. This Falun emblem is the miniature of the universe. It also has its own form of existence and process of evolution in all other dimensions, so I call it a world.

When Falun rotates clockwise, it can automatically absorb energy from the universe. Rotating counter-clockwise, it can give off energy. Inward (clockwise) rotation offers self-salvation while outward (counter-clockwise) rotation offers salvation to others—this is a feature of our practice. Some people have asked: "Since we’re of the Buddha School, why is there also Taiji? Doesn’t Taiji belong to the Tao School?" It is because what we cultivate is very immense, which is the same as cultivating the entire universe. Then think about it, everyone: This universe consists of two major schools, the Buddha School and the Tao School. With either of them excluded, it will not constitute a complete universe, and neither can it be called a complete universe. Consequently, we have included things from the Tao School. Also, some people have said that in addition to the Tao School, there are also Christianity, Confucianism, other religions, etc. Let me tell you that after its cultivation reaches a very high level, Confucianism belongs to the Tao School; when many Western religious cultivation practices reach high levels, they are classified as belonging to the same system as ours, the Buddha School. There are only two such major schools.

Then why do two of the Taiji patterns have red at the top and blue at the bottom, and the other two Taiji patterns have red at the top and black at the bottom? What we generally understand is that Taiji is made of the two substances of black and white, the qi of yin and yang. That notion comes from a very low level, as Taiji has different manifestations in different dimensions. At the highest level, its colors manifest in this way. The Tao that we commonly understand has this red at the top and this black at the bottom. For instance, some of our practitioners’ Celestial Eye are open, and they have discovered that the red they see with their naked eyes is green in the adjacent dimension. The golden color is seen as purple in another dimension, as it has this inversion. In other words, colors change from dimension to dimension. The Taiji with the red at the top and the blue at the bottom belongs to the Great Primordial-Tao School, which includes the cultivation practices from the Qimen School. The four smaller symbols are from the Buddha School. They are the same as the one in the middle, which is also from the Buddha School. The Falun in these colors is relatively bright, and we use it as the symbol of Falun Dafa.

The Falun that we see through the Celestial Eye is not necessarily in these colors, because its background color can change, although its pattern does not change. When the Falun that I have installed in your lower abdominal area rotates, your Celestial Eye may see it as red, purple, green, or perhaps colorless. Its background color keeps changing in the order of red, orange, yellow, green, sky-blue, blue, and purple. As a result, what you see may be different colors, but the srivatsa1 symbols or the Taiji’s colors and pattern within it will remain the same. We find that this background color looks relatively good, so we have adopted it. Those with supernormal abilities can see a lot of things beyond this dimension.

Some people say: "This symbol looks like Hitler’s stuff." Let me tell you that this symbol itself does not connote any concepts of class. Some people say: "If its corner tilts to this side, it’ll be Hitler’s thing." It is not so, because it rotates both ways. Our human society began to know this symbol widely twenty-five hundred years ago in Sakyamuni’s time. It has only been several decades since Hitler’s time during World War II. He appropriated it, but the color he used was different from ours. It was black and pointing upwards, and was used in the upright position. I will only address so much regarding this Falun, though I have only mentioned its superficial form.

Then what does this srivatsa symbolize in our Buddha School? Some people say that it stands for good fortune, which is an interpretation of everyday people. Let me tell you that signifies a Buddha’s level. It only exists at the Buddha level. A Bodhisattva or an Arhat does not have it. But senior Bodhisattvas, the Four Senior Bodhisattvas, have it. We have found that these Senior Bodhisattvas have far surpassed the level of ordinary Buddhas, and they are even higher than a Tathagata. Beyond the level of Tathagata, there are numerous Buddhas. A Tathagata has only one symbol. Those who have reached beyond the level of Tathagata will have more symbols. A Buddha whose level is twice as high as a Tathagata has two symbols. For those who are still higher, they have three, four, five srivatsas, and so on. Some have so many srivatsas that they are all over their bodies, including on their heads, shoulders, and knees. When there are too many of them, they will even appear on their palms, fingers, foot arches, toes, etc. As one’s level continually increases, one will have more and more symbols. Therefore, the symbol represents a Buddha’s status. The higher a Buddha’s status, the more symbols a Buddha has.

The Qimen School2 

In addition to the Buddha School and the Tao School, there is the Qimen School, which calls itself the Qimen cultivation practice. With regard to cultivation practices, everyday people have this perception: From ancient China to this day, people have regarded the Buddha School and the Tao School as orthodox cultivation ways, and they also call them the righteous schools of cultivation practice. This Qimen School has never been made public, and very few people have heard about its existence, except from literary works.

Is there a Qimen School? Yes. During the course of my cultivation practice, in the later years, specifically, I came across three highly-accomplished masters from the Qimen School. They imparted to me the essence of their practices, things very unique and very good. Simply because it is very unique, what it cultivates is quite unusual and cannot be understood by most people. In addition, they state that they are neither of the Buddha School nor of the Tao School. They do not cultivate Buddhahood or the Tao. Upon learning that they do not cultivate Buddhahood or the Tao, people call them the "Side Door and Clumsy Way" (pangmen zuodao). They call themselves the Qimen School. Side Door and Clumsy Way has a deprecating connotation, but here it is not in a negative sense, as it does not accuse the school of being an evil practice—that is for sure. The term’s literary definition also does not imply an evil practice. In history, the Buddha School and the Tao School have been called the "orthodox schools" of cultivation practice. When this practice cannot be understood by the public, people call it "Side Door" or a side way and an unorthodox school. What is "Clumsy Way" about? "Clumsy" implies awkwardness or a bumbling way. A term in ancient China, "clumsy" often referred to being awkward. Side Door and Clumsy Way carries this implication.

Why isn’t it an evil practice? This is because it also has strict xinxing requirements. Its cultivation practice also follows the characteristic of the universe. It does not violate the characteristic or the law of the universe, and neither does it engage in committing wrong deeds. Therefore, it cannot be called an evil practice. The Buddha School and the Tao School are orthodox schools, not because the characteristic of the universe conforms to their practices, but because the practices of both the Buddha School and the Tao School observe the characteristic of the universe. If the Qimen School’s cultivation practice also complies with the characteristic of the universe, it is not an evil practice, but a righteous school as well. This is because the criterion for discerning good or bad and benevolence or evil is the characteristic of the universe. Its cultivation abides by the characteristic of the universe, so it is also a righteous way, despite that its requirements differ from those in the Buddha School and the Tao School. It does not widely teach disciples, and it is taught to a very small population. The Tao School teaches a lot of disciples, but only one disciple receives the genuine teachings. The Buddha School believes in salvation of all beings, so whoever can practice cultivation may do it.

A Qimen School practice cannot be inherited by two persons, for it is passed down to only one chosen person over a long period of time in history. Therefore, throughout history it could not be seen by everyday people. Of course, when qigong was popular, I found that a few people from this school also came out to teach. After some public teaching, however, they realized that it was not feasible because the master forbade some of it from being imparted to the public. If you want to teach it to the public, you cannot select students. Those who come to learn it will bring different xinxing levels and different mentalities, as they are people of all different kinds. You will be unable to select disciples for teaching. Therefore, the Qimen School cannot be widely taught in public. Doing so can easily cause danger because its practice is very unique.

Some people wonder that while the Buddha School cultivates Buddhahood and the Tao School cultivates the Tao, what will a Qimen School practitioner become after completing cultivation? This person will be a wandering god without a definite boundary in the universe. It is known to everyone that Tathagata Sakyamuni has the Saha Paradise, Buddha Amitabha has the Paradise of Ultimate Bliss, and Medicine Buddha has the Glazed Paradise. Every Tathagata or great Buddha has his or her own paradise. Every great enlightened person constructs a paradise of his or her own, and many of his or her disciples live there. Yet one from the Qimen School does not have a designated boundary in the universe, and this person will be like a wandering god or lonesome immortal.

Practicing Evil Cultivation

What is "practicing evil cultivation?" It has several forms. There are people who specialize in practicing evil cultivation, since throughout history there have been people who pass down these things. Why are they being passed down? It is because they seek fame, personal gain, and money among everyday people; those are what they want. Of course, such a person does not have a high xinxing level and cannot get gong. What can he get then? Karma. If one has a lot of karma, it can also become a form of energy. But this person does not have any status and he cannot be compared with a practitioner. In comparison with everyday people, however, he can restrain them because karma is also a form of energy. When its density becomes very high, it can also strengthen the supernormal abilities in one’s body and produce such an effect. Therefore, throughout history some people have taught this. Such a person claims: "By doing bad deeds and by swearing, I can increase my gong." He is not increasing gong. Actually, he is increasing the density of this black substance, since doing bad deeds can bring about the black substance, karma. Therefore, this person’s petty inborn supernormal abilities can be reinforced by this karma. He can develop some minor supernormal abilities, though they are incapable of doing anything significant. These people hold that by doing bad deeds, they can also increase gong—that is what they say.

Some people say: "While a Tao is one foot tall, a demon would be one yard  high." That is a false statement made by everyday people. A demon will never be higher than a Tao. There is this fact that the universe we know as human beings is a tiny one among numerous universes, and we call it the universe for short. Every time our universe goes through a period of a great many years, it always experiences a great catastrophe which destroys everything in the universe, including planets and all lives. The motion of the universe follows a law. In our universe of this time, the human race is not the only species that has become corrupt. Many lives have already observed the situation that, as far as the present time is concerned, a big explosion occurred long ago in the space of this universe. Today, astronomers cannot observe it because what we can now see through the most powerful telescopes are things 150 thousand light years back. In order to see the changes of the present cosmic body, we must wait for 150 thousand years to pass. That is quite a distant age.

At present, the entire universe has already undergone a great change. Whenever such a change takes place, all lives in the whole universe will be completely destroyed and lie in ruins. Every time this situation occurs, the characteristic and all the matter inside the previous universe must be blown up. Usually, all lives will be killed from the explosion. Yet not everyone has been wiped out from the blast each time. After the new universe is reconstructed by the great enlightened beings at an extremely high level, there are still some that survive the explosion. The great enlightened beings build the universe according to their own characteristics and standards. Therefore, it has a different characteristic from that of the previous universe.

Those who have survived the explosion will continue to hold onto the previous characteristic and principles to do things in this universe. The newly constructed universe will observe the characteristics and principles of that new universe in its operation. Thus, those who escaped the explosion have become the demons that interfere with the principles of the universe. Nonetheless, they are not that bad since they are only abiding by the characteristic of the previous period’s universe. They are what people refer to as the heavenly demons. However, they are no threat to everyday people, and neither do they harm people. They only stick to their principles to do things. In the past, this was not supposed to be known by everyday people. I have said that there are many Buddhas beyond the level of Tathagata. What do those demons account for? They are very minute in comparison. Old age, illness, and death are also forms of demons, but they are created to maintain the characteristic of the universe.

Buddhism believes in samsara, which mentions the issue of asura.3 In fact, it refers to living beings in different dimensions, but they do not bear the human, inborn nature. To a great enlightened person, they are at a very low level and are quite incompetent. Nevertheless, they are scary in the eyes of everyday people since they have a certain amount of energy. They regard everyday people as animals, so they enjoy feeding on people. In recent years, they also came out to teach qigong. What sorts of things are they? How can they look like human beings? They look very scary. Once you learn their things, you will have to go with them and become their species. In qigong practice, if some people have bad thoughts that agree with their mentality, they will come to teach these people. One righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils. If you do not pursue anything, no one will dare to bother you. If you develop an evil thought or go after something bad, they will come to give you a hand, and you will be following a demonic cultivation way. This problem can take place.

Another situation is called "unknowingly practicing an evil cultivation way." What is "unknowingly practicing an evil cultivation way?" It is when someone practices an evil way without realizing it. This problem is very common and simply too widespread. As I said the other day, many people practice qigong with wrong thoughts on their minds. Though they are practicing a standing exercise there with their hands and legs shaking from fatigue, their minds are not at rest. One is thinking: "Prices are going up. I have to go shopping after finishing the exercise. If I don’t hurry up, things will be more expensive." Another person thinks: "The workplace is now assigning apartment units. Will I get one? The person in charge of assigning apartment units is always at odds with me." The more this person thinks about it, the angrier he becomes: "He won’t assign me a unit for sure. How should I fight him... " All thoughts crop up. As I said earlier, they make comments from family issues to state affairs. When they speak of unpleasant topics, they become even angrier.

Qigong practice requires one to value de. In doing the exercises, if you do not think about good things, at least you should not think about bad things. It is best if you do not think about anything. This is because during low-level qigong practice, a foundation must be laid. This foundation will play a critical role, for human mind activities have quite a part to play. Think about it, everyone: What are you adding to your gong? How can what you are practicing be good? How can it not be black? How many people who practice qigong are without these kinds of ideas? Though you practice qigong all the time, why haven’t your illnesses gone away? Though some people do not have those bad thoughts at the exercise sites, they always practice qigong with an attachment to supernormal abilities, the pursuit for this or that, different mentalities, and a variety of strong desires. Actually, they have already practiced evil cultivation unknowingly. If you say that this person is practicing an evil way, he or she will be unhappy: "I was taught by a well-known qigong master." But that well-known qigong master asks you to value de. Have you done it? During qigong practice, you always pitch in some bad thoughts. How can you say that you will emerge from the practice with good things? This is the problem, and it is unknowingly practicing evil cultivation—something very common.

Double Cultivation of a Man and Woman

In the community of cultivators, there is a cultivation practice called double cultivation of a man and a woman. Perhaps you have seen the cultivation practices of Tibetan Tantrism where, in a Buddha sculpture or portrait, a male figure holds a female body, practicing cultivation. The male figure sometimes looks like a Buddha, and he holds a naked woman. Some may be transformations of Buddha in the appearance of a Vajra with the cow-head and horse-face, carrying an undressed female body as well. Why is it like this? We will first explain this matter to everyone. On our planet, it is not only China that has been influenced by Confucianism. A few centuries back our entire human race had similar moral values. Therefore, this cultivation practice actually did not come from this planet of ours. It came from another planet, but this method can indeed enable one to practice cultivation. When this cultivation practice was introduced to China at that time, it was unacceptable to the Chinese people precisely due to its having double cultivation of a man and woman and secret practices. Therefore, during the Huichang period of the Tang Dynasty it was banned in the Han regions by the emperor. It was prohibited from being taught in the Han regions and was at that time called Tang Tantrism. Yet it was passed down in the unique environment of Tibet, a special region. Why do they practice cultivation this way? Double cultivation of a man and a woman is for collecting yin to supplement yang and vice versa with mutual complement for mutual cultivation, enabling the goal of balancing yin and yang to be achieved.

It is known that according to either the Buddha School or the Tao School, particularly according to the Taoist theory of yin and yang, a human body inherently has yin and yang. Because a human body has yin and yang, it can develop through cultivation practice a variety of supernormal abilities and living beings like the Immortal Infant, Cultivated Infants, fashen, etc. Because of the existence of yin and yang, one can develop through cultivation many living beings, which can grow in dantian regardless of whether one’s body is male or female—it is the same. This theory really makes sense. The Tao School usually regards the upper body as yang and the lower body as yin. Some people also regard the back of the body as yang and the front of the body as yin. Others regard the body’s left side as yang and its right side as yin. In China, we have a saying that the left side of the body is male and the right side female, and this is also derived from that with very sensible reasons. Because a human body inherently has yin and yang, with the interactions of yin and yang, it can itself achieve a balance of yin and yang; it can thus give birth to many living beings.

This then clarifies an issue: Without applying the method of the double cultivation of a male and a female, we can still reach a very high level in cultivation. In employing the method of male and female double cultivation, if it is used improperly, one will incur demonic interference, and it will become an evil practice. In Tantrism, if double cultivation of a male and a female is to be used at a very high level, the monk or lama must have reached a very high cultivation level. At that time, the master can guide a person in this type of cultivation practice. Because this person’s xinxing level is quite high, he can conduct himself well without turning wicked. But one with a low-level xinxing absolutely should not resort to this method. Otherwise, the person is bound to follow an evil practice. Because of a limited xinxing level and because he has not relinquished everyday people’s desires and lust, that is where his xinxing yardstick is, and it is bound to be evil if used. Therefore, we have said that when casually promoted at the low level, this is teaching an evil practice.

In recent years, quite a few qigong masters have been teaching double cultivation of a male and a female. What’s so odd about it? Double cultivation of a man and a woman has also appeared in practices of the Tao School. In addition, it did not begin today, but started in the Tang Dynasty. How can the Tao School have double cultivation of a male and a female? According to the Taiji theory in the Tao School, a human body is a small universe that inherently has yin and yang. All genuine, great upright teachings have been passed down from a remote age. Any casual alteration or casual addition will mess up that particular school of practice and make it unable to achieve the goal of completing cultivation practice. So if your practice does not have double cultivation of a male and a female, you should never do that in cultivation. Otherwise, you will go wrong and run into problems. Particularly in our school of Falun Dafa, there is no double cultivation of a man and a woman, and neither do we need it. That is how we look at this issue.

Cultivation of Mind and Body

The issue of cultivating mind and body has already been explained to all of you. Cultivating mind and body refers to cultivating one’s xinxing at the same time that one’s body is cultivated. In other words, benti is being transformed. In the process of transformation, human cells will be gradually replaced by the high-energy matter, and aging will slow down. One’s body will appear to gradually return to youth and experience gradual transformation until, in the end, it is completely replaced by the high-energy matter. By then, this person’s body will have already been converted to a body of another type of matter. That body, as I said earlier, will transcend the Five Elements. Since it is no longer confined to the Five Elements, this person’s body will no longer degenerate.

The cultivation practice in temples only deals with mind cultivation, so it does not teach exercises or cultivate the body. It requires nirvana, as the method that Sakyamuni taught requires nirvana. In fact, Sakyamuni himself had great, high-level Dharma, and he was able to completely transform his benti into the high-energy matter and take it away with him. In order to leave this cultivation method, he, himself took the path of nirvana. Why did he teach it this way? He did so to have people give up, to the greatest extent, attachments and everything, even including finally their physical bodies; all attachments were to be abandoned. In order to have people achieve this as much as possible, he took the path of nirvana. Therefore, Buddhist monks throughout history have all taken the path of nirvana. Nirvana means that when a monk dies he abandons his physical body, and his own Primordial Spirit will ascend with his gong.

The Tao School emphasizes cultivating the body. Because it selects disciples and does not offer salvation to all beings, it has very outstanding pupils. Therefore, it teaches techniques and matters of how to cultivate life. Yet in this special cultivation practice of the Buddha School, and with Buddhism in particular, these are not taught. Not all practices in the Buddha School do not teach it. Many high-level practices in the Buddha School also teach it. Our school of practice teaches it. Our Falun Dafa requires both benti and the Immortal Infant; these two are different. The Immortal Infant is also a body made of the high-energy matter, but it cannot be casually shown in this dimension of ours. In order to keep the appearance of an everyday person in this dimension over a long period of time, we must have our benti. Therefore, upon the transformation of this benti, its molecular combinations do not change even though its cells are replaced by the high-energy matter. Thus, this body will not look much different from that of an everyday person. Yet there is still a difference: Namely, this body can enter other dimensions.

Those practices that cultivate both mind and body make one look very young in appearance, and one looks quite different from one’s actual age. One day a person asked me: "Teacher, how old do you think I am?" As a matter of fact, she was approaching seventy years old, but she looked only over forty. Her face was without wrinkles, glowing with a fair and rosy complexion. She did not look like a person approaching seventy. This will happen to our Falun Dafa practitioners. To tell a joke, young ladies always like to apply facial makeup and want to make their complexion fairer and better. I would say that if you truly follow a cultivation practice of mind and body, you will naturally achieve that goal. It is guaranteed that you will not need to use cosmetics. We will not give more of these sorts of examples. In the past, because there were relatively more elderly comrades in different professions, I was treated as a young man. Things are getting better nowadays, and there are relatively more young people in every profession. Actually, I am not young anymore. I am heading toward fifty, as I am already forty-three years old now.

Fashen

Why is there a field around a Buddha statue? Many people cannot explain it. Some people say: "A Buddha statue has a field because monks chant scriptures to it." In other words, the field comes from monks’ cultivation practice in front of it. Whether it is from the cultivation practice of monks or others, this energy should be scattered and not directional. The floor, the ceilings, and the walls of the entire temple should have the same field. Then why should the field on the Buddha statue be so powerful? Particularly for a Buddha statue in a remote mountain, in a cave, or on a rock, there is usually a field. Why is there this field? Some people have explained it this way or that way and still cannot explain it clearly. Actually, a Buddha statue has a field because it has a great enlightened person’s fashen. Because the great enlightened person’s fashen is there, it has energy.

Whether it is Sakyamuni or Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara,4 if they really existed in history—think about it, everyone—weren’t they also practitioners during their cultivation practice? When a person practices cultivation at the very high level of Beyond-Triple-World-Fa, he or she will develop fashen. Fashen is born in one’s dantian area and is made of Fa and gong. It manifests in other dimensions. Fashen has much of a person’s power, but its mind and thoughts are controlled by that person. Yet fashen itself is also a complete, independent, and realistic individual life. Therefore, it can do anything independently on its own. What fashen does is exactly the same as what the person’s Main Consciousness wants it to do. If a person does something in a certain way, his or her fashen will do it likewise; this is the fashen to which we refer. What I want to do can all be done by my fashen, such as adjusting the bodies of true practitioners. Because fashen does not carry an everyday person’s body, it manifests itself in other dimensions. Its body is not a fixed one that cannot change; instead, it can become large or small. Sometimes, it becomes very large, so large that one cannot see its entire head. Sometimes, it becomes very tiny, even tinier than a cell.

Consecration

A Buddha statue manufactured in a factory is only a piece of art. "Consecration" is for the purpose of inviting a Buddha’s fashen to a Buddha statue that will then be worshipped as a tangible body among everyday people. In cultivation practice, when a practitioner has this heart of respect, the fashen on the Buddha statue will safeguard the Fa for this person, looking after and protecting him or her. That is the actual purpose of consecration. This can be done only with righteous thoughts expressed at the formal consecration ceremony, with the help of a great enlightened person at a very high level, or with the help of a practitioner at a very high level of cultivation who has this power.

A temple requires its Buddha statue to go through consecration, and people say that without consecration, a Buddha statue will serve no use. Today, the monks in temples—those genuine great masters—have all departed. Since the Great Cultural Revolution, some of those junior monks who did not receive any real teachings have now become abbots. A lot of things have not been passed down. If you ask one of them: "What’s the purpose of consecration?" He will say: "The Buddha statue will work after consecration." He cannot explain clearly why it is useful specifically, so he only holds the ceremony. He will put a Buddhist scripture inside a Buddha statue. Then he will seal the statue with paper and chant the scripture to it. He calls this consecration, but can the goal of consecration be achieved? That depends on how he chants the scripture. Sakyamuni said that one should chant the scripture with a righteous mind and undivided attention in order to shake the paradise of his cultivation practice. Only then can a great enlightened person be invited. And only when one of the great enlightened person’s fashen arrives on the Buddha statue can the goal of consecration be achieved.

While chanting the scripture over there, some monks are thinking in their minds: "After consecration, how much money will I be paid?" Or while chanting the scripture, one thinks: "So-and-so treats me so badly." They also have personal conflicts. Now is the Dharma-ending Period. It cannot be denied that this phenomenon exists. We are not criticizing Buddhism here. Some of the temples are just not peaceful in the Dharma-ending Period. If one’s mind is full of these things and expresses such ill thoughts, how can that great enlightened person come? The goal of consecration then cannot be achieved whatsoever. But it is not absolute, as there are a few good temples and Taoist monasteries.

In one city, I saw a monk who had very dark hands. He put the scripture inside a Buddha statue and sealed it carelessly. After he mumbled a few words, the consecration procedure was over. Then he fetched another Buddha statue and mumbled a few words again. He charged forty yuan each time for consecration. Nowadays, monks have commercialized consecration and made money off it. Upon taking a look at it, I found that consecration was not achieved as he could not do it at all. Nowadays monks even do such a thing. What else have I seen? A person who seemed to be a lay Buddhist was supposedly conducting consecration for a Buddha statue in a temple. He held a mirror in the sun to reflect sunlight on the Buddha statue. Then he claimed that consecration was done. It has become so ridiculous! Today, Buddhism has developed to this point, and it is a very common phenomenon.

A big bronze Buddha statue was made in Nanjing,5 and it was put on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. It is a huge Buddha statue. Many monks from all over the world came to conduct consecration for it. One of the monks held a mirror in the sun to reflect the sunlight on the face of the Buddha statue and called it consecration. In a grand ceremony as solemn as this, such an act could even take place. I find it really lamentable! No wonder Sakyamuni said: "By the Dharma-ending Period, monks will have trouble saving themselves, let alone offering salvation to others." In addition, many monks interpret the Buddhist scriptures from their own perspectives. Even the scripture of the Lady Queen Mother has found its way into temples. Many things that are not Buddhist classical materials have also entered temples, making these places quite chaotic and messy now. Of course, there are monks who still genuinely practice cultivation and are quite good. Consecration is actually to invite the fashen of a great enlightened person to stay on the Buddha statue. This is consecration.

So if this Buddha statue has not gone through consecration successfully, it should not be worshipped. If it is worshipped, serious consequences will occur. What are the serious consequences? Today, those who study the human body have discovered that our human mind activities or human thoughts can generate a substance. At a very high level, we have found that it is indeed a substance, but this substance is not in the form of the brain waves as we have discovered in research today. Instead, it is in the form of a complete human brain. Typically, when an everyday person thinks about something, what he or she generates is something in the form of the brain. Because it does not have energy, it will disperse shortly afterwards. A practitioner’s energy, on the other hand, can be preserved much longer. This is not to say that this Buddha statue has a mind after being manufactured in the factory. No, it does not. Some Buddha statues have not been through the process of consecration, and neither was the goal of consecration achieved after they were taken to temples. If consecration is done by a phony qigong master or a person from an evil practice, it will be even more dangerous, as a fox or a weasel will sneak onto the Buddha statue.

For a Buddha statue that has not been through the procedure of consecration, if you worship it, it will be too dangerous. How dangerous will it be? I have said that as humankind evolves to this day, everything is deteriorating. The whole society and everything in the entire universe are becoming corrupt in succession. Everything that happens to everyday people is caused by them, themselves. It is very difficult to find a righteous way or to follow a righteous way, owing to interference from various sources. One wants to pray to a Buddha, but who is a Buddha? It is very difficult to find one to pray to. If you do not believe it, let me spell it out. It will be terrible when the first person worships a Buddha statue that has not been through the procedure of consecration. How many people now worship a Buddha to attain Right Fruit in cultivation? There are too few such people. What are most people’s motivations for worshipping a Buddha? They seek to eliminate tribulations, solve problems, and make a fortune. Are these things from the Buddhist scriptures? They do not include these things whatsoever.

Suppose a Buddha worshipper who is after money prostrates himself before a Buddha statue or that of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara or a Tathagata and says: "Please help me make some money." Well, a complete mind will form. Since this request is made to a Buddha statue, it is instantly projected onto the Buddha statue. In another dimension, an entity can become big or small. When this thought arrives on this entity, the Buddha statue will have a brain and mind, but it does not have a body. Other people also come to worship the Buddha statue. With this type of worship, they will gradually give it some amount of energy. It will be more dangerous if a practitioner worships it, for this worship will gradually give it energy and enable it to form a tangible body. Yet this tangible body is formed in another dimension. After it is formed, it exists in another dimension and can also learn some truths of the universe. Therefore, it can do some things for people. In this way, it can also develop some gong. But it helps people conditionally and for a price. It moves freely in another dimension and can control everyday people quite easily. This tangible body appears exactly the same as the Buddha statue. So it is human worshipping that creates a phony Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara or a fake Tathagata, which looks just like the Buddha statue with a Buddha’s appearance. But the mind of the phony Buddha or phony Bodhisattva is extremely bad and is after money. It is born in another dimension. With a mind, it knows a little truth and does not dare to commit major wrongdoing, but it does dare to do minor bad deeds. Sometimes it also helps people; otherwise it is completely evil and will be killed. How does it help people? When someone prays: "Buddha, please help me because someone at home is ill," well, it will give you a hand. It will make you donate money in the donation box because its mind is after money. The more money you put in the donation box, the quicker the illness will be healed. Since it has some energy, it can, from another dimension, manipulate an everyday person. It will be particularly dangerous if a practitioner goes to worship it. What does this practitioner pray for? Money. Think about it, everyone: Why should a practitioner go after money? Praying to eliminate misfortune and illnesses for family members is the attachment of sentimentality to one’s family. Do you want to change other people’s fate? Everyone has his or her own fate! If you worship it and mumble: "Please help me make some money," well, it will help you. It would like you to go after more money, for the more you want it, the more things it can take from you. That is a fair trade. Other worshippers have put plenty of money in the donation box, and it will let you get some. How is it done? You may find a wallet after walking out the door, or your workplace may give you a bonus. Anyway, it will arrange for you to get money. How can it help you unconditionally? No loss, no gain. It will take some of your gong if it needs it, or it will take away the dan that you have cultivated. It wants these things.

These phony Buddhas are very dangerous sometimes. Many of our practitioners with the Celestial Eye open think that they have seen a Buddha. One might say that a group of Buddhas came to this temple today, with a Buddha called so-and-so leading a group of them. This person will describe what the group was like yesterday, what the group is like today, and that shortly after one group leaves, another arrives. Who are they? They just belong to this category—they are not genuine Buddhas, but sham ones. These cases are quite numerous.

It is more dangerous if this occurs in a temple. If monks worship it, it will take charge of them: "Aren’t you worshipping me? And you are doing it with a clear mind! Well, don’t you want to practice cultivation? I’ll take care of you and tell you how to practice cultivation." It will make arrangements for them. Where will they go if they complete cultivation? Since cultivation practice is arranged by it, no schools of practice at high levels will accept you. Since it arranges everything for you, you will have to follow it in the future. Won’t your cultivation end up in vain? I have said that now it is very difficult for humankind to achieve Right Fruit in cultivation. This phenomenon is quite common. Many of you have seen the Buddha-light in well-known mountains and along major rivers. The majority of it belongs to this category. It has energy and can manifest itself. A true great enlightened person does not casually reveal him or herself.

In the past, there were relatively fewer so-called earthly Buddhas and earthly Taos. Now, however, there are many. When they commit wrongdoing, the higher lives will kill them. When this is about to happen, they will run and get on the Buddha statues. Usually, a great enlightened person does not casually interfere with the principles of everyday people. The higher a great enlightened person’s level is, the less he or she would bother to interfere with the principles of everyday people, not even a bit. After all, this higher being will not suddenly shatter a Buddha statue with lightening, for he or she will not do such a thing. The higher being will thus leave them alone if they climb onto Buddha statues. They know if they are to be killed, so they will try to escape. Consequently, is what you see the actual Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara? Is what you see a real Buddha? It is hard to tell.

Many of you may think of this issue: "What should we do with the Buddha statues at home?" Perhaps a lot of people have thought of me. In order to help practitioners in cultivation practice, I am telling you that you may do it this way. While holding the Buddha statue in hand, you can take my book (because the book has my photo) or my photo. Then you make the Big Lotus Flower Hand Sign6 and make a request to Teacher for consecration, just as though you are requesting it to me. It will be done in half a minute. Let me tell everyone that this can only be done for our practitioners. This consecration does not work for your relatives or friends, since we only take care of practitioners. Some people say that they will take my photo to the homes of their relatives or friends to keep evil spirits away. I am not here to keep away evil spirits for everyday people—that is the worst disrespect towards Teacher.

Speaking of the earthly Buddhas and earthly Taos, there is another issue. In ancient China, there were many people practicing cultivation in remote mountains and deep forests. Why aren’t there any today? In fact, they have not disappeared. They just do not let everyday people know, and not even one of them is missing. These people all have supernormal abilities. It is not that they are no longer around these years—they are still around. There are still several thousand of them in the world today. There are relatively more of them in our country, particularly in those famous big mountains and along the major rivers. They are also around in some high mountains, but they seal their caves with supernormal powers so that you cannot see them. Their cultivation progress is relatively slow, and their methods are relatively clumsy since they have not grasped the essence of cultivation. We, on the other hand, directly target one’s mind and practice cultivation according to the universe’s highest characteristic and to the universe’s form. Naturally, gong increases quite quickly. This is because the ways of cultivation practices are like a pyramid; only the central path is the main route. On those side and small paths, one’s xinxing level in cultivation practice may not be high. One may become enlightened without achieving a high level of cultivation. They are, however, far inferior to the main road of genuine cultivation practice.

One from such a school of practice also takes disciples. Because this practice can only reach so high a cultivation level and one’s xinxing level can only grow so high, all the disciples practice cultivation only towards this level. The closer a side-path practice is to the outskirts of cultivation, the more requirements it will have and the more complicated its cultivation practice will be, since it cannot grasp the essence of cultivation. In cultivation, one should mainly cultivate one’s xinxing. They still do not understand this and believe that they can practice cultivation by merely suffering hardships. Therefore, after a lengthy period of time and having practiced cultivation for several hundred years or more than one thousand years, they have obtained but a little bit of gong. In fact, it is not through suffering that they have gained gong. How do they get it? It resembles the case of a normal person: One has a lot of attachments in youth, but by the time one becomes old, with the passage of time one’s future seems hopeless. Those attachments are naturally relinquished and worn out. These side-path practices also use this method. They find that when one relies on sitting meditation, trance, and suffering hardships to progress in cultivation, one can also increase gong. Yet they do not know that their attachments of everyday people are slowly worn out over a long and harsh period of time, and that it is through slowly giving up those attachments that gong is increased.

Our practice has a focus and truly points out those attachments. By abandoning them, one will make very rapid progress in cultivation. I have been to some places where I would often run into those people who have practiced cultivation for many years. They said: "Nobody knows we are here. With regard to what you are doing, we won’t interfere with it or cause any trouble." These persons belong to the ranks of those who are relatively good.

There have also been some bad ones that we have had to deal with. For instance, when I gave a class in Guizhou7 for the first time, someone came to find me during the class and said that his grand master wanted to see me. He described his grand master and how he had practiced cultivation for many years. I found that this person carried negative qi and looked very vicious with a yellowish face. I said that I did not have time to see him and turned him down. Consequently, his old master was upset and began to make trouble for me, persisting to make trouble for me everyday. I am a person who dislikes fighting with others, and neither was it worth a fight with him. Whenever he brought some bad things upon me, I would just clear them up. Afterwards, I would resume my lecturing.

There was a Taoist in the Ming Dynasty,8 who was possessed by a snake at the time of his Taoist cultivation. Later, this Taoist died without completing his cultivation. The snake took over the Taoist’s body and cultivated a human form. That man’s grand master was that snake in human form. Because his nature had not changed, he transformed himself into a big snake to make trouble for me. I thought that he went too far, so I caught him in my hand. I used a very powerful gong called "the dissolving gong" to dissolve his lower body and turn it into water. His upper body ran back home.

One day, the volunteer director at our instruction center in Guizhou was contacted by that person’s disciple who said that his grand master wanted to see her. The director went there and entered a dark cave where she could not see anything except for a shadow sitting there with eyes beaming with green light. When he opened his eyes, the cave would be bright. The cave would be dark again if his eyes closed. He said in a local dialect: "Li Hongzhi will be coming again, and none of us will again cause those troubles this time. I was wrong. Li Hongzhi comes to offer salvation to people." His disciple asked him: "Grand Master, please stand up. What’s wrong with your legs?" He answered: "I can no longer stand up as my legs were injured." When asked how they were injured, he began to describe his trouble-making process. At the 1993 Oriental Health Expo in Beijing, he again meddled with me. Because he always committed bad deeds and interfered with my teaching of Dafa, I then eliminated him completely. After he was eliminated, his fellow sisters and brothers all wanted to take action. At that point, I said a few words. They were all shocked and became so scared that none of them dared to do anything. They also came to understand what was going on. Some of them were still completely ordinary people though they had practiced cultivation for a long time. These are a few examples that I give you in addressing the issue of consecration.

Zhuyou Ke9 

What is zhuyou ke? In the community of cultivators, in the course of teaching qigong many people teach it as a category of cultivation. In actuality, it is not something that belongs to the category of cultivation practice. It is taught as knack, incantations, and techniques. It utilizes the forms of drawing symbols, burning incense, burning papers, chanting incantations, etc. It can heal illness, and its treatment methods are very unique. For instance, if someone has grown a boil on her face, the practitioner will draw a circle on the ground with a brush-pen dipped in cinnabar ink and draw an "x" in the middle of the circle. He will ask her to stand in the center of the circle. Then he will start to chant the incantations. Later he will use the brush-pen dipped in cinnabar ink to draw circles on her face. While drawing, he will chant the incantations. He will keep drawing until he makes a dot on the boil with the brush-pen, and the chanting of incantations is over. He will tell her that it is now well. When she feels the boil, she will find it indeed smaller and no longer painful, for this can be effective. He can heal minor illnesses, but not major ones. What will he do if your arm aches? He will begin to chant the incantations while asking you to hold out your arms. He will give a puff to the hegu point10  of this hand of yours and have it exit from the hegu point of your other hand. You will feel a waft of air, and when you touch your arm, it will not feel as painful as before. In addition, some people use the methods of burning papers, drawing symbols, posting symbols, etc. They do these things.

The worldly side-path practices in the Tao School do not cultivate life. They are entirely devoted to fortune-telling, fengshui,11  exorcising evil spirits, and healing illness. Most of these are used by the worldly side-path practices. They can heal illnesses, but the methods employed are not good. We will not point out what they use to heal illness, but practitioners of our Dafa should not use them since they carry very low and very bad messages. In ancient China, healing methods were classified into subjects, such as, fracture-setting methods, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, acupressure, qigong healing, herb treatments, and so on. They were classified into many divisions. Each healing method is called a subject. This zhuyou ke has been classified as the thirteenth subject. Therefore, its full name is "The Number Thirteen Subject of Zhuyou." Zhuyou ke is not something within our cultivation category, for it is not gong attained through cultivation practice. Instead, it is something like a technique.


1 srivatsa—"Wheel of light" from Sanskrit, the symbol dates back over 2,500 years and has been unearthed in cultural relics in Greece, Peru, India, and China. For centuries it has connoted good fortune, represented the sun, and been held in positive regard.
2 Qimen (chee-mun) School—"Unconventional School."
3 asura—"malevolent spirits" (from Sanskrit).
4 Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara—known for her compassion, she is one of the two senior Bodhisattvas in the Paradise of Ultimate Bliss.
5 Nanjing (nahn-jing)—capital of Jiangsu province.
6 Big Lotus Flower Hand Sign—a hand posture for consecration.
7 Guizhou (gway-jhoe)—a province in the Southwest China.
8 the Ming Dynasty— a period between 1368 A.D. and 1644 A.D. in Chinese history.
9 Zhuyou Ke (jew-yo kuh)—the practice of supplication.
10 hegu (huh-goo) point—acupuncture point on the back of the hand, between the thumb and the index finger.
11 fengshui (fung-shway)—Chinese geomancy, a practice of reading landscapes.