Bigu1
Some people have brought up the issue of bigu. There is this
phenomenon of bigu. It does not only exist in the community of cultivators, but
also among a good number of people in our entire human society. Some people do
not eat or drink for several years or over a decade, yet they live very well.
There are some people who speak of bigu as an indicator of a certain level,
while others take it as a sign of body purification. It is also claimed by some
to be a high-level cultivation process.
In fact, it is none of the above. What is it, then? Bigu
actually refers to a special cultivation method in a specific environment. Under
what circumstance is it used? In ancient China, particularly prior to the
establishment of religions, many practitioners employed the form of secret
practice or solitary cultivation in remote mountains or caves far away from
human settlements. Once they chose to do it this way, it would involve the issue
of food supplies. If one did not use the bigu method, one could not practice
cultivation at all and would die there of hunger or thirst. I went from
Chongqing2 to Wuhan to teach the Fa, and I took a boat heading east
on the
Yangtze River. I saw some caves on both sides of the Three Gorges in the mid
sections of the mountains; many well-known mountains also have these things. In
the past, after climbing into a cave with the help of a rope, a practitioner
would cut off the rope to practice in the cave. If this person could not succeed
in cultivation, he would die inside it. Without food or water, it was under this
very special circumstance that he resorted to this particular cultivation
method.
Many practices have gone through this inherited process, and
so they include bigu. A lot of practices do not include bigu. Today, the
majority of the practices that have been made public do not incorporate bigu. We
have said that one should be single-minded in one practice, and that you should
not do whatever you humanly desire to. You might think that bigu is good and
pursue it. What do you want it for? Some people think that it is good and become
curious, and perhaps they think that their skills are good enough to show off.
There are people with all kinds of mentalities. Even if this method is used in
cultivation practice, one must consume one’s own energy to sustain this
physical body. Therefore, it is not worth the effort. You know that particularly
after the founding of religions, one has been supplied with food and tea during
the period of sitting in trance or solitary cultivation in a temple. It does not
involve this issue. In particular, we practice cultivation amidst ordinary human
society. You do not need to employ this method at all. In addition, if your
school of practice does not include it, you should not casually do something at
will. If you really want to practice bigu, however, you may go ahead. As far as
I know, usually when a master teaches a high-level practice and genuinely guides
a disciple, and if one’s school of practice has bigu, this phenomenon may take
place. Nevertheless, one cannot promote it in public; one typically takes the
disciple away to practice it secretly or alone.
Now there are also qigong masters teaching bigu. Has bigu
taken place? Not really, in the end. Who has succeeded with it? I have seen many
people hospitalized, and quite a few people’s lives are in jeopardy. Then, why
is there this situation? Doesn’t the phenomenon of bigu exist? Yes, it
does. However, there is one point: Nobody is allowed to casually undermine the
state of our ordinary human society—it is not allowed to be disrupted. Not to
mention how many people in the whole country would not need to eat and drink, I
would say that it would make things much easier if people in the Changchun areas
did not need to eat and drink! We would not need to worry about making meals.
Farmers sweat so hard in the fields, and now nobody would need to eat. That
would really make things much easier, as people would only work without having
to eat. How could that be allowed? Would that be a human society? It is
definitely forbidden, as such large-scale interference with ordinary human
society is not allowed.
When some qigong masters teach bigu, many people’s lives
are endangered. Some people are simply attached to seeking bigu, yet this
attachment has not been removed, among many other attachments of everyday
people. Such a person’s mouth will be watering when he sees some delicious
food. Once this desire surges, he cannot control it and will be anxious to eat
the food. When his appetite arises, he will want to eat; otherwise he will feel
hungry. However, he will throw up if he eats. Since he cannot eat, he will
become very nervous and quite scared. Many people are hospitalized and, in
actuality, many people’s lives are endangered. There are people who look for
me and ask me to take care of these messy cases, and I am not willing to do it.
Some qigong masters simply do things irresponsibly. Nobody is willing to take
care of these problems for them.
Furthermore, if you get into trouble in practicing bigu, isn’t
it from your own pursuit? We have said that these phenomena do exist, but they
are not the so-called "high-level state" or so-called "special
reactions." It is only a practice method used under a special circumstance,
so it cannot be promoted widely. A number of people go after bigu and classify
it as so-called bigu or semi-bigu, and rank it into different levels. Some
people claim that they only need to drink water, while others claim that they
only need to eat fruit. All these are phony bigu, and as time passes, they are
all bound to fail. A genuine practitioner will stay in a cave without drinking
or eating—that is real bigu.
Stealing Qi
When speaking of stealing qi, some people will look pale as
if a tiger was mentioned, and they will be too scared to practice qigong.
Because of gossip about the phenomena of cultivation insanity, stealing qi, and
so on, in the community of cultivators many people are too scared to practice
qigong or approach qigong. If it were not for these views, perhaps more
people would be practicing qigong. Yet there are qigong masters with poor
xinxing who specially teach these things. That makes the community of
cultivators quite chaotic. Actually, it is not as terrible as they have
described. We have said that qi is only qi, although you may call it the
"mixed primary qi" and this qi or that qi. As long as a person’s
body has qi, he is at the level of healing and fitness and is not yet a
practitioner. As long as he has qi, it means that his body has not yet been
highly purified and so still has pathogenic qi—this is for sure. The person
who steals qi is also at the level of qi. Among our practitioners, who would
want that impure qi? The qi in a non-practitioner’s body is rather impure,
though it can become brighter through qigong practice. So the place of an
illness will show a very big cluster of high-density black substance. By
continuing the practice, if the person has indeed healed the illness and become
fit, his qi will gradually turn yellow. If he keeps practicing further, the
illness will really be cured, and his qi will disappear as well. He will enter
the state of the Milky-White Body.
That is to say, if one has qi, one still has illnesses. We
are practitioners—what do we need qi for in the practice? Our own bodies need
to be purified. Why should we need that impure qi? Definitely not. A person who
wants qi is still at the level of qi. Being at that level of qi, he cannot
distinguish good qi from bad qi, as he does not have that ability. The
genuine qi in your body’s dantian cannot be taken away by him since that
primal qi can only be removed by someone with high-level abilities. As for the
impure qi in your body, let him steal it—it is not a big deal. During
practice, if I want to fill myself with qi, by just giving it a thought, my
belly will be full of it shortly.
The Tao School teaches the standing exercise of tianzi
zhuang3 while the Buddha School teaches pouring qi into the top
of the head. There is a lot of qi in the universe for you to fill yourself with
every day. With the laogong point and the baihui point4
open, you
may fill yourself up with qi through your hands while focusing on dantian.
You will be full of it in a while. No matter how much you are filled with qi,
what use does it have? When some people have practiced qi a lot, their fingers
and bodies feel like they are swollen. When others walk up to such a person,
they will feel a field around him: "Wow, you’ve practiced really
well." I would say that it is nothing. Where’s your gong? It is still a
practice of qi, which cannot replace gong no matter how much qi one has. The
purpose of practicing qi is to substitute the qi inside one’s body with good
qi from outside, and to purify the body. What does one accumulate qi for? At
this level, without any fundamental change, qi is still not gong. No matter how
much qi you have stolen, you are still nothing but a big bag of qi. What use
does it have? It is not yet transformed into the high-energy matter. So what
should you be afraid of? Let him steal the qi if he really wants to.
Think about it, everyone: If your body has qi, it has
illnesses. Then, when the person steals your qi, isn’t he stealing your
pathogenic qi as well? He cannot differentiate these things at all, since one
who wants qi is also at the level of qi and will not have any capabilities. A
person who has gong does not want qi—that is for sure. If you do not believe
it, we can conduct an experiment. If a person really wants to steal your qi, you
can stand there and let him steal it. You can focus your mind on filling your
body with qi from the universe here while he is stealing your qi behind you. You
will see what a good deal it is, as it will help you speed up your body
purification, and you will not have to fill up and discharge qi from your body.
Because he has a bad intention and steals something from others, though he has
stolen something not good, he has also committed a deed that loses de.
Therefore, he will give you de. It forms a circuit whereby while he takes your
qi here, he gives you de over there. The person who steals qi does not know this—if
he knew it, he would not dare to do it!
All those people who steal qi have bluish faces, and they are
all this way. Many people who go to the parks for qigong practice aspire to
remove illnesses, and they have all kinds of diseases. When one is healing an
illness, one must try to discharge the pathogenic qi. Yet the person who steals
qi will not discharge qi and will collect all kinds of pathogenic qi all over
his body. Even his internal body becomes very dark. As he always loses de, his
appearance is all black. With a large field of karma and great loss of de, he
will become black inside out. Were the person who steals qi to find himself
experiencing this change and realize that he is giving de to others by doing
this foolish thing, he would not do it at all.
Some people have blown qi out of proportion: "If you’re
in America, you can receive the qi that I emit." "You can wait on the
other side of the wall, and you’ll receive the qi that I emit." Some
people are very sensitive and can feel it when the qi is emitted. But qi does
not travel in this dimension. It moves in another dimension where there is no
such wall. Why can’t you feel anything when a qigong master emits qi in an
open area? There is a divider there in the other dimension. Thus, qi does not
have as much penetrative power as people have described.
What really works is gong. When a practitioner can emit gong,
he or she no longer has any qi and can give off high-energy matter, which is
seen in the form of light by the Celestial Eye. When it reaches another person,
it makes that person feel warm; it can restrain an ordinary person.
Nevertheless, it still cannot completely achieve the goal of curing illnesses,
for it only has a repressing effect. In order to truly cure illnesses, there
must be supernormal abilities. There is a specific supernormal ability for each
disease. At the very microscopic level, each microscopic particle of gong
assumes your own image. It can recognize people and has intelligence, as it is
high-energy matter. If someone steals it, how can it stay there? It will not
stay there and cannot be placed there, as it is not that person’s own
property. As to all those true practitioners, after they develop gong they are
looked after by their masters. Your master is watching what you do. When you try
to take things from another person, that person’s master will not let it
happen, either.
Collecting Qi
In teaching cultivation practice at higher levels, stealing
qi and collecting qi are not issues that we will help resolve for everyone. This
is because I still have this intention of restoring the reputation of
cultivation practices and doing some good deeds. I will disclose such bad
phenomena, which nobody addressed in the past. I want all of you to know it so
that some people will not commit bad deeds all the time. Some people who do not
know the truth of qigong are always scared to talk about it.
There is plenty of qi in the universe. Some people talk about
the heavenly yang qi and the earthly yin qi. As you are also an element of the
universe, you may go ahead and collect the qi. But some people do not collect
the qi in the universe. They specialize in teaching people to collect qi from
plants. They have even summarized their experience: How and when to collect this
qi, the qi of a poplar tree is white, or the qi of a pine tree is yellow.
Someone also claims: "There was a tree in front of our house. It died
because I collected its qi." What kind of ability is that? Isn’t that a
bad deed? It is known to all that when we truly practice cultivation, we want
positive messages and assimilation to the characteristic of the universe.
Shouldn’t you practice Shan? In order to assimilate to the characteristic of
the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren, one must practice Shan. If you always commit bad
deeds, how can you increase gong? How can your illness be cured? Isn’t this
the opposite of what our practitioners should do? That is also killing lives and
committing bad deeds! Someone may say: "The more you say, the more
inconceivable it is—killing an animal is killing a life, and killing a plant
is also killing a life." Actually, it is so. Buddhism has talked about
samsara. You might have been reincarnated into a plant during samsara. That is
how it is said in Buddhism. Here we do not talk about it that way, but we tell
everyone that trees are also lives. Not only do they have lives, but they also
have very high-level thought activity.
For instance, there is a person in America who is specialized
in electronic studies and teaches others how to use lie detectors. One day, an
idea suddenly hit him. He put both ends of a lie detector to a dragon pot plant
and poured water to its root. He then found that the lie detector’s electronic
pen had quickly drawn a curve. This curve was identical to that drawn when the
human brain produces a brief second of excitement or happiness. At that moment,
he was shocked. How could a plant have feelings? He almost wanted to yell in the
streets: "Plants have feelings!" Enlightened by this occurrence, he
continued to do research in this area and conducted many experiments.
One time he placed two plants together and asked his student
to stomp one plant to death in front of the other plant. Then he took the other
plant into a room and connected it to a lie detector. He asked five of his
students to enter the room in turn from the outside. The plant had no reactions
when the first four students entered the room. When the fifth student—who had
ruined the plant—came into the room, before he even walked up to the plant,
the electronic pen quickly drew a curve that only appears when a person is
frightened. He was really shocked! This occurrence implies a very important
issue: We have always believed that a human being is a high-level life with
sensory functions that can distinguish things and a brain that can analyze
things. How can plants distinguish things? Doesn’t this indicate that they
have sensory organs as well? In the past, if someone said that plants had
sensory organs, thinking minds, feelings, and could recognize people, this
person would have been called superstitious. In addition to these, plants seem
to have surpassed our people today in certain regards.
One day he connected a lie detector to a plant and wondered:
"What kind of experiment should I do? Let me burn its leaves with fire and
see how it reacts." With this thought—even before the leaves were burned—the
electronic pen quickly drew a curve the same as that created only when someone
cries for help. This super sensory function was in the past called mind reading;
it is a latent human function and an innate ability. Yet all of humankind is
corrupted today. To regain them, you must practice cultivation from the start
and return to your original, true self or to your original nature. Yet the plant
has them, and it knows what is on your mind. It sounds quite inconceivable, but
it was an actual scientific experiment. He has conducted different experiments,
including testing the capability of long-distance remote controls. Upon
publication, his papers caused quite a stir throughout the world.
Botanists in different countries including those in our
country have begun their research in this field, and it is no longer considered
something superstitious. The other day I said that what our humankind today has
experienced, invented, and discovered is sufficient to change our present
textbooks. Due to the influence of conventional mentalities, however, people are
reluctant to acknowledge them. Nobody is systematically organizing these things,
either.
In a park in the Northeast, I noticed that a group of pine
trees were dead. No one knows what kind of qigong some people were practicing
there: They would roll all over the ground and afterwards collect qi from the
trees with their feet one way and with their hands another. Soon after, all the
pine trees over there turned yellow and died. Was what they did a good deed or a
bad one? From our practitioners’ perspective, that was killing lives. You are
a practitioner. Thus, to gradually assimilate to the universe’s characteristic
and release those bad things of yours, you must be a good person. Even from an
everyday person’s perspective, it was not a good deed, either. It was abusive
of public property, and it sabotaged the green vegetation and the balance of the
ecological system. It is not a good deed from any perspective. There is plenty
of qi in the universe, and you may collect it as much as you want. Some people
have a lot of energy. Upon practicing at a certain level, they can indeed with
one wave of their arms collect plants’ qi in a large area. Still, that is
nothing but qi. No matter how much one collects it, what use does it serve? When
some people go to a park, they do not do anything else. One claims: "I don’t
need to practice qigong. It’s good enough to collect qi while I walk around,
and my practice is then over. It’s adequate to just get qi." They think
that qi is gong. When people walk up to this person, they will feel that his
body is quite chilly. Isn’t the qi from plants of the yin nature? A
practitioner must maintain the balance of yin and yang. Although this person’s
body smells like pine oil, he may still think he does well in his practice.
Whoever Practices Cultivation Will Attain Gong
The issue of who practices gong and who attains gong is a
very important one. When I am asked about the advantages of Falun Dafa, I say
that Falun Dafa can enable gong to cultivate practitioners and so reduce the
amount of time in practice. It solves the problem of one’s not having time to
practice and yet still being cultivated constantly. Meanwhile, ours is a genuine
cultivation practice of mind and body. Our physical bodies will undergo great
changes. Falun Dafa has yet another advantage, the greatest, which I have not
mentioned previously. Only till today do we unveil it. That is because it
involves a major issue of historical significance and has quite an impact on the
community of cultivators, nobody in history has dared to disclose it, and
neither is anyone allowed to unveil it. Yet I have no choice but to make it
known.
Some disciples have said: "Every sentence that Master Li
Hongzhi has said is a heavenly secret and a disclosure of the heavenly
secrets." We are, however, truly bringing people toward higher levels,
which is to save people. Being responsible to everyone is a responsibility we
are able to assume. Thus, it is not disclosing heavenly secrets. If one talks
about it irresponsibly, that is a disclosure of heavenly secrets. Today we will
make public this issue of who practices gong and who attains gong. In my view,
all practices today—including throughout history the practices in the Buddha
School, the Tao School, and the Qimen School—have cultivated one’s Assistant
Spirit, and it has been the Assistant Spirit that obtains gong. The Main Spirit
that we are mentioning here refers to our own minds. One should be aware of what
one is thinking about or doing—that is your real self. But you do not know at
all what your Assistant Spirit does. Though you and it are born simultaneously
with the same name, same appearance, and control the same body, it is not you in
a strict sense.
There is a principle in the universe: Whoever loses gains.
Whoever practices cultivation obtains gong. Throughout history, all practices
have taught people to be in trance during practice, and that one should not
think of anything. Then one should be in a deep trance until, in the end, one
loses awareness of everything. Some people sit in meditation for three hours as
though only a brief second had just passed. Others may admire this person’s
ability for being in trance. Did he actually practice? He himself does not know
it whatsoever. In particular, the Tao School teaches that shishen5
dies and the Primordial Spirit is born. What "shishen" refers to
we call "the Main Spirit," and the "Primordial Spirit" it
refers to we call "the Assistant Spirit." If your shishen really dies,
you will indeed be dead, and you really will not have a Main Spirit. Someone
from another practice told me: "Teacher, when I practice I’m unable to
recognize anyone at home." Yet another person told me: "I won’t
practice like others who do it early in the morning and late at night. After I
go home, I lie down on a couch and go out of myself to practice. While lying
there I’ll watch myself practice." I found it very sad, but it also was
not sad.
Why do they save the Assistant Spirit? Lu Dongbin6
once
made a statement: "I’d rather save an animal than a human being."
Indeed, it is extremely difficult for people to be enlightened since everyday
people are deluded by ordinary human society. With practical benefits before
them, they cannot give up the attachment. If you do not believe it, upon the
conclusion of this class, some people will walk out of this auditorium as
everyday people again. If anyone offends them or bumps into them, they will not
put up with it. After a period of time, they will not conduct themselves as
practitioners at all. Many Taoists in history have realized this point: Human
beings are very difficult to save, for their Main Spirits are extremely lost.
Some people have good enlightenment quality and will understand it right away
with a hint. Some people will not believe you no matter what you say. They think
that you are telling tall tales. We are talking so much about cultivating one’s
xinxing, yet this person still behaves as usual once he is among everyday
people. He thinks that the actual and tangible benefits within his reach are
practical, and he will pursue them; the Fa from Teacher also sounds reasonable,
but cannot be followed. The human Main Spirit is most difficult to save, while
the Assistant Spirit can see scenes in other dimensions. They therefore think:
"Why should I save your Main Spirit? Your Assistant Spirit is also you. Isn’t
it the same if I save it? It’s all you, so whoever obtains it will be the same
as you obtains it."
Let me describe specifically the methods of their practices.
If one has the supernormal ability of clairvoyance, one will probably see this
scene: When you sit in meditation, as soon as you are in trance, someone with
the same appearance as yours will suddenly leave your body. If you try to
differentiate, where is your own self? You are sitting right here. After you
watch that person leave your body, the master will take this person to practice
cultivation in a dimension transformed by the master. It may be in the form of a
bygone society, today’s society, or a society in another dimension. The person
will be taught the practice and go through numerous hardships for one or two
hours daily. When the person returns from the practice, you will also wake up
from trance. This is the case for people who can see.
It is even more pitiful if one cannot see. Such a person
wakes up after two hours of sitting in trance while knowing nothing and in a
daze. As a way of practice, some people fall asleep for two or three hours and
completely give themselves away to others. This is done intermittently with the
sitting meditation for a certain amount of time daily. Another type is completed
at one time. Everyone may have heard of Boddhidarma, who sat before a wall for
nine years. In the past, there were many monks who would sit for decades. In
history, the record for the longest sitting time is over ninety years. Some even
sat longer than this. Even with thick dust deposited on their eyelids and grass
growing on their bodies, they would continue sitting there. Some in the Tao
School also teach it. In particular, some practices in the Qimen School teach
sleep as a form of practice. One can sleep for decades without exiting the
trance state, and one will not wake up. But who has practiced? The person’s
Assistant Spirit has gone out to practice. If he can see it, he will find the
master taking his Assistant Spirit off to practice. The Assistant Spirit can
also owe much karma, and the master does not have the ability to eliminate all
of the karma. Therefore, the master will tell it: "You should practice hard
here. I’ll be away and come back in a short while. You wait for me."
The master knows exactly what will happen, but still must do
it this way. Eventually a demon will come to scare the person or transform into
a beauty to seduce it—there will be all kinds of things. The demon then
realizes that it indeed is not affected in the least. This is because it is
relatively easier for the Assistant Spirit to practice cultivation, as it can
know the truth. Being desperate, the demon will make an attempt on its life for
revenge, and indeed kill it. With that, its debt is repaid all at once. After
death, the Assistant Spirit will emerge like a waft of smoke drifting about and
will be reincarnated in a very poor family. The child will begin to suffer from
an early age. When it grows mature, the master will come back. Of course, the
child cannot recognize him. Using supernormal abilities, the master will unlock
its saved memory. It will at once recall everything. "Isn’t this my
master?" The master will tell it: "Now, it’s time to start the
practice." Thus, after many years the master will pass the teachings to it.
After the instruction, the master will again tell it:
"You still have many attachments to remove. You should go out to wander
about." Wandering around in society is rather torturous. It must beg for
food and meet different kinds of people who will scold, insult, or take
advantage of it. It might encounter all kinds of things. It will treat itself as
a practitioner and balance well relations with others, always maintaining and
upgrading xinxing. It will not be moved by the temptations of different benefits
among everyday people. After many years, it will return from wandering around.
The master will say: "You’ve already attained the Tao and have completed
cultivation. If you don’t have anything to do, you may pack up and get ready
to leave. If there’s still something to do, you may go ahead to finish that
everyday people’s business." After many years, the Assistant Spirit
returns. Upon the Assistant Spirit’s return, the Main Spirit also comes out of
the trance state, and the Main Consciousness wakes up.
Yet this person has not actually practiced cultivation. That
Assistant Spirit has practiced it, so the Assistant Spirit will obtain gong. But
the Main Spirit has also suffered. After all, the person has devoted his entire
youth to sitting there, and this lifetime as an everyday person is all over. So
what will happen? After awakening from trance, this person will feel that he has
developed gong through his practice and has obtained supernormal abilities. If
he wants to treat a patient or do something, he will be able to, as the
Assistant Spirit will try to satisfy him. Because this person is the Main
Spirit, after all, the Main Spirit controls the body and makes decisions. In
addition, he has spent so many years sitting here that this lifetime has
elapsed. When this person dies, the Assistant Spirit will take off. Each will go
one’s own separate way. According to Buddhism, this person will still go
through samsara. Since a great enlightened person has been successfully
cultivated in his body, this person has also accumulated a lot of de. So what
will happen? He might become a high-ranking official or make a big fortune in
his next life. It can only be this way. Didn’t his cultivation end up in vain?
It has taken us much effort to get permission to articulate
this issue. I have unveiled the eternal mystery—it was the secret of secrets
that absolutely could not be disclosed. I have revealed the root of all
different cultivation practices throughout history. Didn’t I say that it
deeply involved historical considerations? These are the reasons. Think about
it: Which practice or school does not practice cultivation this way? You
practice back and forth, but without obtaining gong. Aren’t you sad? So who’s
to blame? Human beings are so lost that they are not enlightened to it, no
matter what hints they are given. If something is explained from a high
perspective, they will find it inconceivable. If something is explained from a
low perspective, they cannot enlighten to what is higher. Even when I address it
this way, some people still want me to cure their illnesses. I really do not
know what to say to them. We teach cultivation practice, and we can only take
care of those who practice cultivation toward high levels.
In our school of practice, it is the Main Consciousness that
obtains gong. Then, will the Main Consciousness obtain gong if you say so? Who
gives permission? It is not like that, for there must be a prerequisite.
Everyone knows that our school of practice does not shun ordinary human society
in cultivation practice, and neither does it avoid or run away from conflicts.
In this complex environment of everyday people, you should be clear-minded and
knowingly lose in terms of interests. When your self-interest is taken by
others, you will not go to compete and fight for it like others. With different
xinxing interference, you will suffer losses. In this difficult environment, you
will temper your will and upgrade your xinxing. Under the influence of different
ill thoughts from everyday people, you will be able to reach above and beyond.
Think about it, everyone: Isn’t it you who suffers
knowingly? Isn’t it your Main Spirit that sacrifices? As to what you have lost
among everyday people, haven’t you knowingly lost it? Then this gong should
belong to you, as whoever loses, gains. Therefore, this is why our school does
not avoid practicing cultivation in this complex environment of everyday people.
Why do we practice cultivation amidst the conflicts of everyday people? It is
because we ourselves are going to obtain gong. The future professional
practitioners in temples will need to, in their cultivation practice, wander
around among everyday people.
Some people have asked: "Don’t other practices at
present also practice among everyday people?" But those practices are
promoting healing and fitness. Nobody has truly, publicly taught practices
toward high levels except for taking a single disciple privately. Those who
genuinely teach their disciples have already taken them away to give them
private instruction. Over the years, who has talked about these things in
public? Nobody has done this. Our school of practice has taught in this way,
because this is exactly the way we practice cultivation, and this is exactly the
way we obtain gong. Meanwhile, our school of practice gives hundreds and
thousands of things all to your Main Spirit to truly enable you to attain gong
yourself. I have said that I have done something unprecedented and opened the
widest door. Some people have understood these words of mine, as what I have
said is really not inconceivable. As a person, I have a habit: If I have a yard
and I say only an inch of it, you may still claim that I am boasting, but what
was said is in fact only a tiny portion. Because of the great gap in levels, I
cannot disclose to you a bit of higher Dafa.
Our school practices cultivation this way, enabling you,
yourself to truly obtain gong. That is unprecedented since the beginning of
heaven and earth—you may examine history. It is good because you will obtain
gong yourself, but it is also very difficult. Amidst the complex environment of
everyday people and its interpersonal xinxing frictions, you are able to rise
above and beyond––this is the most difficult thing. It is hard in that you
knowingly lose your vested interests among everyday people. Amidst your critical
self-interests, are you moved? Amidst interpersonal mindgames, are you moved?
When your friends or family suffer, are you moved? How do you weigh them? This
is how difficult it is to be a practitioner! Someone said to me: "Teacher,
it’s enough to be a good person among everyday people. Who can succeed in
cultivation?" After hearing that, I felt really disappointed! I did not say
a word to him. There are all kinds of xinxing. One enlightens to however high
one can; whoever enlightens obtains.
Lao Zi said: "Tao is the way that can be followed, but
it isn’t an ordinary way." Tao will not be precious if one can pick it up
everywhere on the ground and succeed in practicing it. Our school of practice
teaches you to attain gong through conflicts. Therefore, we should accord with
everyday people as much as possible. Materially, you will not really be made to
lose anything. But in this material environment you need to upgrade your xinxing.
It is convenient because of this. Our school of practice is the most convenient,
as one can practice it among everyday people instead of becoming a monk or nun.
It is also most difficult because of this, as one will practice cultivation in
this most complex environment of everyday people. Moreover, it is the best
because of this, for it enables one to attain gong oneself. This is the most
crucial point in our school of practice, and today I have disclosed it to
everyone. Of course, when the Main Spirit attains gong, the Assistant Spirit
also obtains it. Why is this? When all messages, living beings, and cells in
your body are attaining gong, the Assistant Spirit is certainly obtaining it as
well; however, its gong level will not be as high as yours at any time. You are
the master while it is the guard of Fa.
Speaking of this, I would also like to add that there are
many people in the community of cultivators who have always attempted to
practice toward high levels. They have traveled everywhere and spent a lot of
money. They have not found the well-known masters after having been all over the
country. Being well-known does not necessarily mean that one really knows things
well. In the end, these people have traveled back and forth, spending much money
and effort for nothing. Today we have made public to you this great practice. I
have already delivered it to your doorstep. It is up to you whether you can
practice cultivation and make it. If you can do it, you may continue your
cultivation. If you cannot do it or cannot practice cultivation, from now on you
can forget about practicing cultivation. Except for demons that will deceive
you, nobody else will teach you, and in the future you will not be able to
practice cultivation. If I cannot save you, nobody else can. As a matter of
fact, finding a true master from an orthodox Fa to teach you is harder than
climbing to heaven. There is nobody at all who cares. In the Dharma-ending
Period, even very high levels are also in the End of Havoc. Nobody is taking
care of everyday people. This is the most convenient school of practice. In
addition, it is practiced directly according to the characteristic of the
universe. It is the quickest, most direct path, and it precisely targets one’s
heart.
Heavenly Circuit
In the Tao School, the great and small heavenly circuits are
taught. We will explain what the "heavenly circuit" is. The heavenly
circuit that we usually refer to is the connecting of the two energy
channels7 of ren and du. This heavenly circuit is a
skin-deep heavenly circuit which accounts for nothing but healing and fitness.
This is called the small heavenly circuit. Another heavenly circuit that is
neither called "the small heavenly circuit" nor "the great
heavenly circuit" is a form of heavenly circuit for practicing cultivation
in meditation. Starting inside one’s body, it goes around niwan and comes down
internally to the dantian, where it goes around and moves up. It is an internal
circulation. This is the real heavenly circuit for practicing cultivation in
meditation. After this heavenly circuit forms, it will become a very powerful
energy current which then brings hundreds of energy channels in motion via one
energy channel, so as to open up all other energy channels. The Tao School
teaches the heavenly circuit, but Buddhism does not. What does Buddhism teach?
When Sakyamuni taught his Dharma, he did not explain the practice of exercises,
and neither did he teach them. Yet his practice also has his own form of
transformation in cultivation practice. How does the energy channel move in
Buddhism? It starts at and goes through the baihui point. Then it develops from
the top of one’s head to the lower body in a spiral form and, in the end,
through this method it drives hundreds of energy channels into motion and opens
them up.
The central energy channel in the Tantric religion also
serves this purpose. Someone has said: "There isn’t a central energy
channel. So why can the Tantric religion develop this central energy
channel?" In fact, when all energy channels in the human body are put
together, they amount to hundreds or tens of thousands in number. They intersect
vertically and horizontally just like blood vessels, and they even outnumber
blood vessels; there are no blood vessels between the internal organs, but there
are energy channels. They will be connected vertically and horizontally from the
top of one’s head to different parts of the body. Perhaps they are not
straight initially, and they will be opened up for the connection. They will
then gradually expand and slowly form a straight energy channel. With this
energy channel as the axis, it rotates by itself to spur into motion several
conceptual wheels in horizontal rotations. Its goal is also to open up all
energy channels in the body.
The cultivation practice in our Falun Dafa avoids using this
method of one energy channel bringing hundreds of energy channels into motion.
From the very beginning, we require that hundreds of energy channels be opened
up and make simultaneous rotations. All at once, we practice at a very high
level and avoid the low-level things. For some people to open up all the
hundreds of energy channels with one energy channel, a whole lifetime may be
insufficient. Some people must practice cultivation for decades, and it is very
difficult. Many practices have said that one lifetime is not enough to succeed
in cultivation, while there are many practitioners in high-level practices who
can prolong their lives—don’t they talk about cultivating life? They can
prolong their lives to practice cultivation, which will take a very long time.
The small heavenly circuit is basically for healing and
fitness, while the great heavenly circuit is practicing for gong—that is when
one truly practices cultivation. The great heavenly circuit that the Tao School
refers to does not come as powerfully as ours, which opens up hundreds of energy
channels all at once. The rotation of the great heavenly circuit in the Tao
School refers to that of several energy channels that will travel once from the
Three Yin and Three Yang8 channels of one’s hands to the bottom of one’s
feet, to both legs, to the hair, and all over the entire body. That is the great
heavenly circuit in motion. As soon as the great heavenly circuit is in motion,
this is practicing gong. Therefore, some qigong masters do not teach the great
heavenly circuit, for what they teach are only things for healing and fitness.
Some people have also spoken about the great heavenly circuit, but they have not
installed anything in your body, and you cannot open them up on your own.
Without the system installed, how can things be easily opened up by relying on
one’s mind-intent? It is like doing aerobics—how can that open them up?
Cultivation depends on the efforts of the individual while transforming gong is
done by the master. Only after the internal "mechanism" is fully given
to you, can there be this effect.
Throughout history the Tao School has considered the human
body a small universe: It believes that the exterior of the universe is as big
as its interior, and that its exterior looks the same as its interior. This view
seems inconceivable and not easily understood. This universe is so big—how can
it be compared with a human body? We are making this point: Our present physics
studies elements of matter from molecules, atoms, electrons, protons, and quarks
to neutrinos, but what size is further down the line? A microscope cannot detect
it at that point, so what will the very microscopic particle be further down the
line? It is not known. In fact, what our physics now understands is simply so
far away from the smallest microscopic particles of the universe. Once one does
not have this flesh body, one’s eyes will be able to see things with magnified
vision and will see the microscopic level. The higher one’s level, the greater
the microscopic level one can see.
At his level, Sakyamuni brought up the theory of three
thousand worlds, which is to say that in this Milky Way there are also people
with flesh bodies like those of our human race. He also mentioned that a grain
of sand contains three thousand worlds, and this agrees with the understanding
of our modern physics. What’s the difference between the rotation pattern of
electrons orbiting nuclei and that of Earth orbiting the sun? Therefore,
Sakyamuni said that at the microscopic level, a grain of sand contains three
thousand worlds. It is just like a universe with life and matter within. If it
is true, think about it: Is there sand in the world of that grain of sand? Are
there three thousand worlds in the sand from that grain of sand? Then is there
sand in the three thousand worlds in the sand of the sand? If the search
continues on downward, it will be endless. Therefore, even at the level of
Tathagata, Sakyamuni made this statement: "It’s immense, without an
exterior, and it’s tiny, without an interior." It is so immense that he
could not see the perimeter of the universe, yet so tiny that he could not
detect the most microscopic particle from the origin of matter.
One qigong master has said: "In a sweat pore there is a
city with moving trains and cars." It sounds quite inconceivable, but we
find this statement not inconceivable if we really understand and study it from
the scientific perspective. The other day when I spoke about opening the
Celestial Eye, many people during the opening of their Celestial Eye found this
situation: They were racing out along a tunnel in their foreheads as though they
could not reach its end. Everyday during their practice, they feel like they are
racing out along this big road, with mountains and rivers on both sides. While
running, they pass through cities and see quite a lot of people, and they may
think that it is an illusion. What’s the matter? What is seen is quite clear
and not an illusion. I have said that if one’s body is really that immense at
the microscopic level, it is not an illusion. This is because the Tao School has
always considered the human body a universe. If it is indeed a universe, the
distance from the forehead to the pineal body will be more than 108 thousand li.
You may charge toward the outside, but it is a very remote distance.
If the great heavenly circuit is fully opened in the course
of cultivation practice, it will bring the practitioner a supernormal ability.
What supernormal ability? You know that the great heavenly circuit is also
called "the meridian heavenly circuit," "the
qiankun9
rotation," or "the heche10 rotation."
At
a very low level, the rotation of the great heavenly circuit will form an energy
current, which will gradually become more condensed, transforming toward higher
levels and becoming a large, high-density energy belt. This energy belt will
have a rotating motion. In its rotation, we can, with a very low-level Celestial
Eye, find that it can make qi exchange places inside one’s body. The qi from
the heart may move to the intestines, or the qi from the liver may travel to the
stomach ... At the microscopic level we can see that what it carries is
something very large. If this energy belt is released outside one’s body, it
is the ability of teleportation. One with very powerful gong can move something
very big, and this is called the Great Teleportation. One with very weak gong
can move something very small, and this is called the Small Teleportation. These
are the types of teleportation and their generation.
The great heavenly circuit directly involves practicing gong.
Thus, it brings about different conditions and forms of gong. It will also bring
us a very special state. What state is it? Everyone may have read this phrase
called "levitation in broad daylight" (bairi feisheng) in
ancient books such as A Biography of Immortals, Dan Jing, Tao
Zang, or Xingming Guizhi. It means that a person can levitate in
broad daylight. In fact, let me tell you that a person can levitate once the
great heavenly circuit is opened—it is just that simple. Some people will
think that there are quite a few people whose great heavenly circuits have
opened after so many years of practice. I would even say that it is not
inconceivable for tens of thousands of people to have reached this level,
because the great heavenly circuit is, after all, only the beginning step in
cultivation practice.
Then, why hasn’t anyone seen these people levitate or seen
them take off into the air? The state of ordinary human society cannot be
disturbed, and neither can the form of ordinary human society be casually
disrupted or altered. How can it be allowed for everybody to fly in the air?
Will that be an ordinary human society? This is one primary aspect. From another
perspective, human beings do not live among everyday people to be human, but to
return to their original, true selves. So there is an issue of being enlightened
to it. If one sees that many people can indeed levitate, one will also want to
practice cultivation, and there will not be the issue of enlightening.
Therefore, if you can levitate through cultivation, you should not casually show
it to others or demonstrate it to others, as they also need to practice
cultivation. Consequently, after your great heavenly circuit is opened, you will
not be able to levitate if your finger tip, toe tip, or a certain part of your
body is locked.
When our great heavenly circuits are about to open, a
situation will occur wherein some people will lean forward during the sitting
meditation. Because the circulation in one’s back is opened better, one’s
back will feel very light while the body’s front will feel heavy. Some people
lean backward and feel their backs are heavy while the fronts of their bodies
feel light. If all of your body is opened well, you will feel as if you are
being lifted up, like levitating off the ground. Once you can truly levitate,
you will not be allowed to levitate—but this is not absolute. Those who
develop supernormal abilities are usually at both ends: Children do not have
attachments, and neither do elderly people—especially elderly women. They can
easily develop and preserve this capability. For men, especially young men, once
they have a capability, they cannot help having the mindset of showing off. At
the same time, they might use it as a means for competition among everyday
people. It is thus not allowed to exist and will be locked up as soon as it is
developed during practice. If one part of the body is locked, this person will
not be able to levitate. This is not to say that you will be absolutely
forbidden to have this state. You might be allowed to try it, and some people
are able to keep it.
These situations occur wherever I give lectures. When I
taught a class in Shandong, there were practitioners from Beijing and
Jinan.11 Someone asked: "Teacher, what’s happened to me? While
walking, I feel like I’m leaving the ground. I also feel like I’m levitating
while sleeping at home. Even the bedding covers take off like a balloon."
When I taught a class in Guiyang,12 there was an elderly
practitioner from
Guizhou who was an elderly woman. She had two beds in her room, with one bed by
one wall and the other bed next to another wall. When she was sitting in
meditation on the bed, she felt herself levitating, and when she opened her eyes
she found herself having drifted to the other bed. She thought to herself,
"I should return to my bed," and so she flew back again.
There was a practitioner in Qingdao13 who sat in
meditation on a bed during lunch break when no one was around in his office. As
soon as he sat there, he levitated and moved harshly up and down, as high as a
meter. He would come down after rising up, and this kept occurring. The bedding
cover was even bounced to the floor. He was a little bit excited and somewhat
scared. This up and down movement lasted the whole lunch period. Finally, the
office bell rang, and he thought to himself: "I shouldn’t let others see
this. They’d wonder ‘what’s going on?’ I should quickly stop." He
stopped. This is why elderly people can conduct themselves well. If this had
happened to a young person, when the office bell rang he would think: "You
should all come to see me levitate." This is where one cannot easily
control one’s mentality of showing off: "See how well I’ve practiced—I
can levitate." Once one shows it off, the capability will be gone, as it is
not allowed to exist this way. There are many such cases among practitioners
everywhere.
We require that hundreds of energy channels be opened from
the very beginning. By this day, eighty to ninety percent of our practitioners
have reached the state where their bodies are very light and free of illness. At
the same time, we have said that in this class you are not only pushed to this
state where your body is completely purified, but also many things have been
installed in your body so that in this class you can develop gong. It is the
same as my raising you up and then sending you further ahead. I have been
teaching the Fa to everyone in the class, and everyone’s xinxing has
been changing constantly as well. Upon walking outside this auditorium, many of
you will feel like different people, and your outlook will be guaranteed to
change. You will know how to conduct yourselves in the future, and you will no
longer be so befuddled. It is guaranteed to be this way. Therefore, your xinxing
has already caught up.
Speaking of the great heavenly circuit, though you are not
allowed to levitate, you will feel that your body is light, as though treading
on air. In the past, you would be tired if you walked a few steps, but now it is
very easy no matter how far you walk. You feel as if being pushed while riding a
bike, and you are not tired when going upstairs—no matter how many floors
there are. It is guaranteed to be this way. Those who read this book and
practice cultivation on their own can also reach this state, as expected. I am a
person who will not say what he does not want to say, but what I say must be
true. Especially under this circumstance, if I do not tell the truth in teaching
the Fa, if I make inconceivable statements, or if I speak aimlessly and
casually, I will be teaching an evil Fa. It is not easy for me to do this thing,
as the whole universe is watching. It is not permitted for one to deviate.
An everyday person will only know this great heavenly
circuit, and that will be it. In fact, this is not enough. For the body to be
replaced and transformed completely by the high-energy matter as soon as
possible, there must be another heavenly circuit that drives into motion all the
energy channels in your body. It is called "the maoyou14
heavenly
circuit," and this is probably known by very few people. This term is
occasionally mentioned in books, but nobody has explained it or told you. It is
only discussed as theory, as it is the secret of secrets. We will disclose all
of it to you here. It can start from baihui point (or also from the huiyin
point), and it comes out to move along the borderline between yin and
yang. It then moves from the ear down to the shoulder, going along each finger,
the side of your body, and then coming down to your foot’s sole. Then it moves
up the inner side of one thigh and down the inner side of the other thigh, going
across your other foot’s sole and coming up the other side of your body. It
again moves along each finger and reaches the top of your head, completing a
full circle. This is the maoyou heavenly circuit. Others can write a book about
it, and I have summed it up in a few words. I think that it should not be
considered a heavenly secret, yet others find these things very precious and
will not discuss them except when truly teaching their disciples. Although I
have disclosed it, none of you should use mind-intent to guide or control it in
the practice. If you do, you are not practicing our Falun Dafa. Genuine practice
toward higher levels is in a state of wuwei and free of any mind activities.
Everything is installed in your body, ready-made. They are automatically formed,
and these internal mechanisms cultivate you; they will make self-rotations when
the time is due. One day during practice your head might swing from side to
side. If your head swings to this side, it is rotating this way. If your head
swings to the other side, it is rotating that way. It rotates both ways.
When the great or the small heavenly circuits have been
opened, one’s head will nod during the sitting meditation, and this is the
sign of energy passing through. The same is true with the Falun heavenly circuit
that we practice; we just practice it this way. In fact, when you are not
practicing, it rotates by itself. It will constantly rotate forever; when you
practice, you are reinforcing the mechanisms. Haven’t we talked about the Fa
cultivating practitioners? Normally, you will discover that your heavenly
circuit is always rotating. Though you are not practicing, this layer of energy
mechanisms installed outside your body, that is, a layer of large external
channels, is driving your body in practice—it is all automatic. It can also
rotate in reverse, as it rotates both ways and is constantly opening your energy
channels.
So what’s the goal of opening the heavenly circuit? Opening
the heavenly circuit is not itself the purpose of the practice. Even if your
heavenly circuit is opened, I would say that it is still nothing. If one’s
cultivation continues further, through the method of the heavenly circuit one
aims at opening hundreds of energy channels via one energy channel, and one can
thereby open all the body’s energy channels. We have already started to do
this. With further practice, one will find in the rotation of the great heavenly
circuit that the energy channels will become very wide like a finger and quite
broad inside. Because the energy has also become very powerful, after the energy
current forms, it will become very wide and bright. This is still nothing. When
will the practice be good enough? Hundreds of one’s energy channels must
gradually become wider, with energy getting stronger and brighter. In the end,
thousands of energy channels will join together and turn one’s body into one
without any energy channels or acupuncture points; they will join together to
make one whole body. This is the ultimate purpose of opening energy channels.
Its goal is to have the human body completely transformed by the high-energy
matter.
At this point, one’s body will basically be transformed by
the high-energy matter. In other words, one has reached the highest level of
In-Triple-World-Fa cultivation. The human flesh body will have been cultivated
to the ultimate limit. At this time, one will experience another situation. What
kind of situation? This person will have developed very rich gong. In
cultivating an everyday person’s body or in the course of In-Triple-World-Fa
cultivation, all human supernormal abilities (potential capabilities) and
everything will be developed. However, while practicing among everyday people,
most of them are locked up. In addition, one’s gong column will grow very
high. All forms of gong will be reinforced by the mighty gong, becoming quite
powerful. Yet they can only function in this dimension of ours, and cannot act
on anything in other dimensions since they are supernormal abilities cultivated
from our ordinary human flesh bodies. Nonetheless, they will already be very
substantial. In different dimensions, and in terms of the body’s forms of
existence in different dimensions, there will be quite a lot of changes. The
things this body carries in each level of the dimensions will be quite
substantial and appear very scary. Some people have eyes all over their bodies,
and all the sweat pores in their bodies will become eyes. There will be eyes
within this person’s entire dimensional field. Because it is gong from the
Buddha School, some people will carry the image of Bodhisattva or Buddha all
over their bodies. All forms of gong will have reached a very substantial
extent. In addition, many living beings will manifest themselves.
At this time, a situation called "three flowers
gathering above the head" will occur. It is a very obvious state that is
also eye-catching. Even with a low-level Celestial Eye one can see it. One will
have three flowers above the head. One is a lotus flower, but it is not the
lotus flower in our physical dimension. The other two flowers are also from
another dimension and are extraordinarily beautiful. These three flowers take
turns rotating above one’s head. They will rotate clockwise or
counter-clockwise, and each flower can also rotate by itself. Each flower will
have a big pole as thick as the diameter of the flower. These three big poles
will reach all the way to the top of the sky, but they are not gong column—they
are just in this form and are extraordinarily wonderful. If you can see them,
you will be shocked as well. When one’s cultivation reaches this stage, one’s
body will be white and pure, and the skin will be fair and delicate. At this
point, one will have reached the highest form of In-Triple-World-Fa
cultivation, yet this is not the ultimate end. One still needs to continue
cultivation practice and move forward.
As one moves forward one enters the interim level between
In-Triple-World-Fa and Beyond-Triple-World-Fa, called the state of
the Pure-White Body (also known as the "crystal white body"). When
cultivation of the physical body has reached the highest form of In-Triple-World-Fa,
it is only that the human flesh body has transformed into the highest form. When
the whole body is truly in this form, it is completely composed of the
high-energy matter. Why is it called the Pure-White Body? It is because this
body has already reached the absolute purity of the highest degree. When it is
seen with the Celestial Eye, the entire body is transparent—just like
transparent glass. When you look at it there is nothing, as it will exhibit this
state. Put simply, this body is already a Buddha-body. This is because the body
composed of the high-energy matter is already different from our physical
bodies. At this point, all supernormal abilities and supernatural skills will be
abandoned at once. They will be placed in a very deep dimension, as they are
useless and will no longer serve any function. One day in the future when you
succeed in cultivation, you may look back and review your journey of cultivation
practice by taking them out for a look. At this time, only two things will be
left: Gong column still remains, and the cultivated Immortal Infant will have
grown very large. Yet both exist in a deep dimension that cannot be seen by a
person with an average-level Celestial Eye. All one can see is that this person’s
body is transparent.
Because the state of the Pure-White Body is only an interim
level, with further cultivation practice one will truly begin Beyond-Triple-World-Fa
cultivation, also known as the cultivation of Buddha-body. The whole body will
be composed of gong. By now one’s xinxing will have become stable. One will
begin cultivation practice with a fresh start and develop supernormal abilities
all over again, and they should no longer be called "supernormal
abilities." They should be called "the divine power of Buddha Fa,"
as they can act on all dimensions with their boundless power. As you continue to
practice cultivation in the future, you, yourself will know things at higher
levels, how to practice cultivation, and cultivation practice’s forms of
existence.
Attachment of Zealotry
I will address an issue that belongs to the attachment of
zealotry. Many people have practiced qigong for a very long time. There are also
people who have never practiced it, but who have pursued and pondered the truth
and the meaning of human life. Once they learn our Falun Dafa, they will
understand at once many questions in life that they have wished to understand
but could not answer. Perhaps along with their minds being elevated, they will
become very excited—this is for sure. I know that a genuine practitioner will
know its weight and cherish it. Yet this problem often occurs: Due to human
excitement, one will develop unnecessary zealotry. It causes one to behave
abnormally in one’s form of doing things, in interacting with others in
ordinary human society, or in the environment of ordinary human society. I say
that this is unacceptable.
The majority of people in our school will practice
cultivation in ordinary human society, so you should not distance yourself from
ordinary human society and you must practice cultivation with a clear mind. The
relationships among one another should remain normal. Of course, you have a very
high xinxing level and an upright mind. You will upgrade your own xinxing and
your own level; you do not commit wrongdoing and only do good deeds—these are
only such a manifestation. Some people conduct themselves as though they are
either mentally abnormal or they have seen enough of this secular world. They
say things that others cannot comprehend. Others will say: "How come a
person who learns Falun Dafa becomes like this? It seems he has a mental
problem." Actually, it is not so. He is simply too excited and so appears
to be irrational without common sense. Think about it, everyone: Your acting
like this is also wrong, and you have gone to the other extreme—again it is an
attachment. You should give it up and practice cultivation while living normally
like everyone else among everyday people. If while among everyday people others
consider you infatuated, they will not deal with you and will keep a distance
from you. Nobody will provide you with opportunities to improve xinxing, and
neither treat you as a normal person—I would say that this is not right!
Therefore, everyone must be sure to pay attention to this issue and conduct
himself or herself well.
Our practice is unlike ordinary practices that make one
absent-minded, in trance, or infatuated. Our practice requires you to cultivate
yourselves with full awareness. Someone always says: "Teacher, once I close
my eyes my body will swing." I would say that this does not necessarily
need to be so. You have already developed a habit of abandoning your Main
Consciousness. Once you close your eyes you will put the Main Consciousness to
rest, and it will disappear. You have already developed this habit. While
sitting here, why doesn’t your body swing? If you maintain the state in which
your eyes are open, will your body swing with eyes slightly closed? Absolutely
not. You think that qigong should be practiced this way and you have formed such
a concept. Once you close your eyes, you will disappear without knowing where
you are. We have said that your Main Consciousness must be conscious, because
this practice cultivates your own self. You should make progress with a
conscious mind. We also have a meditation exercise. How do we practice
meditation? We require of everyone that no matter how deeply you meditate, you
must know that you are practicing here. You are absolutely forbidden to be in a
state of trance wherein you know nothing. Then, what specific state will occur?
When you sit there, you should feel wonderful and very comfortable as though you
are sitting inside an egg shell; you will be aware of yourself practicing the
exercise, but you feel that your whole body cannot move. This is what must occur
in our practice. There is another state in which as one sits for a while, one
finds that the legs are gone, and cannot think where the legs went; the body is
also gone; the arms are also gone; the hands are also gone—only the head is
left. As one keeps practicing, one finds that the head is gone as well, leaving
only one’s own mind, a little thought that one is practicing here. It is
sufficient if we can achieve this state. Why is this? When one practices in this
state, the body is being fully transformed, and it is the optimum state. We thus
require you to achieve this state of tranquility. However, you should not fall
asleep or lose consciousness, otherwise good things might be practiced by
someone else.
All of our practitioners should be sure to never behave very
abnormally among everyday people. If you play a bad role among everyday people,
others may say: "Why do those people who learn Falun Dafa all behave this
way?" It is the same as undermining the reputation of Falun Dafa, so make
sure to pay attention to this issue. In other matters and in the course of
cultivation practice, one should be sure to not develop the attachment of
zealotry—this mentality can be very easily taken advantage of by demons.
Cultivation of Speech
Cultivation of speech was also required by religions in the
past. However, the cultivation of speech to which religions referred applied
mainly to some professional practitioners—monks and Taoists who would not open
their mouths to talk. Because they were professional practitioners, they
intended to abandon human attachments to a greater extent. They believed that
once one thinks, it is karma. Religions have classified karma as "good
karma" and "sinful karma." Regardless of whether it is good karma
or sinful karma, from either the emptiness approach in the Buddha School or the
nothingness teaching in the Tao School, it should not be produced. Therefore,
they claimed that they would not do anything since they could not see the karmic
relationship of affairs, that is, whether those matters were good or bad, or
what karmic relationships existed. An ordinary practitioner who has not reached
such a high level cannot see these things, so he will worry that though
something appears to be good on the surface, it could be a bad thing once it is
done. Therefore, one does his best to practice wuwei and will not do anything so
that one can avoid producing karma. This is because once karma is produced, one
must eliminate it and suffer for it. For instance, for our practitioners it is
already predetermined at what stage they will become enlightened. If you
unnecessarily insert something halfway along, it will cause difficulties to your
entire cultivation practice. One thus practices wuwei.
The Buddha School requires the cultivation of speech, that
is, one’s speech is dictated by one’s thinking. Accordingly, one’s
thinking has intentions. If one’s mind wants itself to think a little bit,
express something, do something, or direct one’s sensory organs and four
limbs, it may be an attachment among everyday people. For example, there are
conflicts among one another, such as "you’re good, but he isn’t
good," or "your cultivation is good, but his isn’t." These are
conflicts themselves. Let us talk about something that is common, such as
"I want to do this or that," or "this matter should now be done
this way or that way." Perhaps it will unintentionally hurt someone.
Because interpersonal conflicts are all very complex, one may unintentionally
produce karma. As a consequence, one absolutely wants to seal off one’s mouth
and say nothing. In the past, religions took the cultivation of speech very
seriously, and this is what has been taught in religion.
The majority of our Falun Dafa practitioners (that is, except
for those professional practitioners) practice cultivation among everyday
people. They therefore cannot avoid leading a normal life in ordinary human
society and interacting with society. Everyone has a job and must do it well.
Some people must do their work by talking. So isn’t it a conflict? It is not a
conflict. Why isn’t it a conflict? The cultivation of speech that we refer to
is very different from that of others. Because of differences in cultivation
ways, the requirements are also different. We should all speak according to a
practitioner’s xinxing rather than create conflicts or say something improper.
As practitioners, we must measure ourselves with the standard of the Fa to
determine whether we should say certain things. What should be said will not
present a problem if one complies with the xinxing standard for practitioners
according to the Fa. In addition, we must talk about and spread the Fa, so it is
impossible not to talk. The cultivation of speech that we teach refers to: that
which involves one’s reputation and personal gain that cannot be given up
among everyday people, that which has nothing to do with the actual work of
practitioners in society, the senseless gossiping among practitioners in the
same school of practice, attachments that cause one to show off, hearsay or
circulating rumors, or those discussions on some social issues that one is
excited about. I hold that these are all attachments of everyday people. I think
that in these areas we should watch what we say—that is the cultivation of
speech we refer to. Monks in the past took these things very seriously, because
once one started to think one will create karma. Therefore, they would cultivate
"body, speech, and mind." The cultivation of body they spoke of meant
that one would not commit bad deeds. Cultivation of speech meant that one would
not talk. Cultivation of mind meant that one would not even think. In the past,
there were strict requirements for these things in professional cultivation in
temples. We should conduct ourselves according to a practitioner’s xinxing
standard. It should be fine as long as one grasps what should or should not be
said.
1 Bigu (bee-goo)—“avoidance of grains”; an ancient term for abstinence from food and
water.
2 Chongqing (chong-ching)—the most populated city in Southwestern China.
3 tianzi zhuang (tyen-dzz jwahng)—a form of standing qigong exercise in the Tao
School.
4 baihui (buy-hway)—acupuncture point located at the crown of one’s head.
5 shishen (shr-shuhn)—A Taoist term for one’s Main Spirit.
6 Lu Dongbin (lyu dong-bin)—one of the Eight Deities in the Tao School.
7 energy channels—in Chinese medicine, they are said to be conduits of qi which comprise
an intricate network for energy circulation.
8 Three Yin and Three Yang—a collective name for the three yin and three yang meridians
of both the hands and the feet.
9 qiankun (chyen-kuhn)—“heaven and earth.”
10 heche (huh-chuh)—“river vehicle.”
11 Jinan (jee-nahn)—capital of Shandong Province.
12 Guiyang (gway-yahng)—capital of Guizhou Province.
13 Qingdao (ching-dow)—a seaport city in Shandong Province.
14 maoyou (maow-yo)—the borderline between the yin and yang sides of the body.
