Li Hongzhi
September 4–5, 1998, Geneva

Good day to you!

Among those seated here, there are people who just rushed here from the Singapore Fa conference, people who rushed here from other countries and regions, and new students. The main purpose of our holding a Fa conference is for everyone to draw upon each other’s experiences to discover their own shortcomings so that they might improve together in cultivation. At the same time, this event itself is an occasion for spreading the Fa.[1] Everything we wish to do is for enabling us to cultivate and improve—it’s by no means about formalities. So any time in the future when we hold a Fa conference, we have to adhere to this principle so as to truly help our students make progress. We have to ensure that before we can hold such conferences. Too many experience-sharing conferences too often will easily bring about a kind of competition, where you run one way, I do it another, etc., while everybody holds tight to the human mindset. That won’t do. All of us have to proceed from the Fa and hold conferences like this entirely for students’ cultivation.

Quite a few of you in the audience are veteran students. I’m really happy to see all of you. You are really improving yourselves by leaps and bounds on the path of cultivation. You can’t see the changes in yourselves as of yet, but the changes are tremendous. You’ll be able to confirm and see it in the not-too-distant future. So I’m really pleased.

During this period in which you cultivate, by listening to the Fa that I teach at Fa conferences and continually studying Zhuan Falun in depth, you can see many different manifestations of the truth, and you have gained a different and deeper understanding of the Fa. Along with this, I’d like to discuss further with you the process of your cultivation and the concept of another type of cosmic structure. I’ll first talk about another type of cosmic structure. There’s something here I’ve got to explain first: The cosmos was actually constructed by the Fa. So the purpose of my talking about the cosmos definitely isn’t to propel contemporary science to some higher realm, and it’s not told to you as some kind of knowledge. It’s to allow you to cultivate. That’s because it goes hand-in-hand with the Fa. The goal is to have you reach different realms through cultivation. That is, you are to return to the places in different realms where you were created, to return to different levels and realms of the cosmos. This Fa is as immense as the cosmos is large, and that’s still a concept unknown to your mind. Today I’ll speak from another angle and see whether your thinking can keep up.

I’ll first talk about the cosmos. To talk about the cosmos is, to put it another way, to actually discuss matter or the understanding of matter. Regardless of how advanced modern science is, its understanding of matter is still extremely shallow. It’s just not even worth mentioning when compared with the entire cosmos—they can’t be compared. You know that I’ve said that the cosmos is composed of elementary particles. And what are the elementary particles composed of, then? It has to be explained in a specific way. In the concept of different layers of cosmic bodies (not the different layers of universes), how large are the cosmic bodies? The expanse of just one cosmic body alone is extremely large. Yet it’s not like there is regularity whereby one cosmic body consists of some average number of layers of universes. Some consist of upwards of ten thousand layers of universes. And there are ones that consist of upwards of 100 million layers of universes. This concept is extremely vast. So every cosmic body is an unimaginably vast cosmic expanse.

When people talk about the concept of the universe, they are basically talking within the expanse of the number of galaxies that people can recognize. The expanse that modern science can observe is just the small universe that people talk about. Let me take Earth as a standpoint. Starting from this small universe, three thousand small universes of our size constitute the second-layer universe. Then, three thousand universes each as large as the second-layer universe constitute the third-layer universe. Think about it, everyone: The magnification is quite large. Nevertheless, this is to talk about an expansion from one standpoint. But there’s not just one particle the size of Earth in this universe. Particles roughly the size of our Earth are spread throughout the universe, and they’re countless. I just spoke of the universes’ magnification from the standpoint of a single particle. In fact, particles of that size are spread throughout the entire cosmos. They are in anything and everything. They all have that kind of expansion system, spanning from large to small, from small to large. To mankind, even just this layer of small universes is enormous. The number of planetary particles of different sizes within it is immeasurable. Why? Because although Buddhas, Gods, and Daos at very high levels have insight into everything, no one has thought about counting the specks of dust. A planet within a vast cosmic body is really just like a speck of dust drifting in the cosmos.

So three thousand universes of this size continually multiply and expand the range; they continually multiply and expand the system. At roughly the one-thousandth layer, the boundary of this first cosmic body system is reached. But even that expanse is not the only one: In the vast cosmos it is still a particle, and particles of that level, too, pervade the immense cosmos. Beyond the expanse is a state of complete emptiness. And just how empty? If any substance in this system were to enter it, it would be the same as self-disintegration. That’s because any substance within the range of this system has life, characteristic features, and thought. To enter into a microscopic emptiness of that kind would be as if the particle could no longer sustain thought and life. It would instantly disintegrate. In other words, anything that fell into it would disintegrate. Explaining the concept this way makes it easy for us to understand. Beyond that expanse of emptiness, however, there are actually yet other cosmic bodies of even larger expanses. But all the same, the lives in this realm can’t possibly move a single step toward going there, since factors of an even more microscopic nature exist at more, and even still more, microscopic levels. Over in the even larger expanses, however, the concepts of matter and life are different in that cosmic body—the concept of matter no longer exists. Within the range of cosmic bodies, the number of layers of universes is not the same, but each and every cosmic body is composed of the most microscopic and elementary particles. And all of the elementary particles are formed from the nature of the cosmos, Zhen, Shan, Ren.

The concepts I’m talking about here are really complex. You need to pay attention since human language is truly limited. For instance, the largest particulate matter of a certain cosmic body is, as well, made into a layer of particles of that size from the infinitesimal particles in its own system. It’s called a horizontal particle-composition system. That is, the particles of a substance aren’t only assembled from a vertical microscopic system, but are themselves at the same time also composed of substances—from microscopic to larger and even larger—in a system of their own. In other words, the different-sized particles in every level of that system are themselves systems composed of microscopic substances. And particles of different sizes at each level of that system pervade everything. So its particles of different sizes form horizontal compositional schemes as well. Its most elementary particles and its level of largest particles are quite far apart from each other.

Then what, ultimately, is the most original matter? It’s water. But the water I’m talking about is not the water of our ordinary human society. Nor is it the water of the rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans that exist at different levels. This water is what creates all matter and lives of a cosmic body at a given level. You can call it “original matter”… [actually,] you can only call it original matter. And this kind of water differs from the concept of water that we understand in the dimension of ordinary human beings. To be precise, it should be called “still water,” as it doesn’t move. It’s completely still and motionless. It wouldn’t ripple or splash if you were to toss something into it.

Now that we’re talking about water, let’s first talk about the water of the human world. We can take an example from secular science. As you know, in our society of ordinary people, contemporary scientists say that there are organic and inorganic substances. Those are in fact just understandings limited to this dimension. Matter isn’t only composed of substances of this surface dimension. Usually scientists classify as “organic substances” the things considered in this dimension alive—trees, flowers, grass, plants, animals, and human beings. They’re made of this dimension’s water, in fact. You know that water comprises more than ninety percent of the body. That is, we humans are composed of this dimension’s water. I mentioned before that water can create all things. It’s just that contemporary scientists can’t figure it out. Yet [as you know] the water of this physical dimension can grow vegetables. When a vegetable is squeezed again and again in the hands, eventually nothing will be left but some chlorophyll. And if the chlorophyll is specially treated, nothing but water will remain. In other words, everything of this dimension that people consider to be organic substances actually originate from the water of this dimension. That means that water forms and creates everything.

So let me tell you: So-called inorganic substances are in fact created by water of a higher level. But modern science can’t recognize this, and so it thinks that those substances aren’t alive. But they are in fact alive. Their form of existence is quite different from what modern science can recognize. People will never recognize their form if modern science continues to evolve with its current concepts. There was a saying in Chinese cultivation circles of ancient times: “Immortals are so powerful they can toss a rock into a wok and extract water from it.” It sounds like a joke, but in reality it’s no joke. Throughout the entire expanse of this cosmic body that this universe belongs to, the most fundamental origin of any object is water. What’s the more microscopic water like? And what’s the even more microscopic water like? It’s inconceivable, unimaginable. So I’ve said that it can only remain an idea to you.

What I just said was that particles of different levels all have one most fundamental, most original element. But those particles as a whole have both vertical and horizontal arrangements. It’s just like starting from the Earth we’re on: Such and such a number of galaxies constitute one universe, and then such and such a number of universes compose a universe of a larger expanse. We take Earth as a starting point because we human beings are here, and I’m here teaching the Fa. So I take Earth as a starting point. But Earth isn’t the starting point for all substances in this universe. We think that all of the substances we see around us are the most material ones. When I taught the Fa in the past, in order not to confuse everyone, I said that they were the lowest-level substances. But in reality, they can’t be regarded as the only kind of material substances. You could call them “elementary matter.” We can use other terms to refer to them. There is still super-matter, super super-matter, even more super super-matter…

Earth occupies the central position in the dimensions of these Three Realms. It’s in the center vertically, horizontally, and in terms of granular size. Then there also exist substances whose masses are even larger than our Earth. It’s not the kind of mass I’ve discussed before, whereby atoms or atomic nuclei form things of great mass, it’s not that concept. Those are all substances that humankind can recognize. What I’m talking about is super-matter, something that’s not a substance of the human dimension whatsoever. It surpasses the substances of this dimension in terms of its particles and its surface compositional state. So the base point of the largest super-matter is the edge of the Three Realms, and likewise, the base point of the smallest matter is at the edge of the Three Realms. The human dimension, or the base point of matter that humankind knows, lies between the large and small substances. If you were to call everything of this human dimension “matter,” then the things in the Three Realms that are smaller than substances of the human world could only be said to be non-matter, and those even smaller substances would be called non-non-matter, and so on until the smallest particles in the Three Realms were reached. That’s what I meant when I said before that the concept of large and small in the universe isn’t like what ordinary people understand.

And the cosmos as a whole is the same. All particles are alive—they have life. So think about it, everyone: The universe is alive, too, no matter how large its expanse. But within the boundary of a cosmic body, there are numerous, countless particles of different sizes, each existing as an individual living entity. How many layers of heavens are there in this cosmos? How many layers of universes does it have? How many layers of cosmic bodies are there? No being inside it can assess how vast and complex the cosmos is. The concept of the cosmic body that I spoke of includes tens of millions of layers of universes, yet it’s still merely a speck of dust in the immense body of the infinite cosmos. It too is a tiny particle. If you could dash off to a very, very far away place and take a look back, you would see that it’s smaller than what a grain of sand looks to a human being. Looking at it from further away, it would seem smaller than a speck of dust. Looking from even further away, you couldn’t see it anymore. Just now I was explaining it over and over, but to put it plainly, the whole cosmos appears to be constructed with particles composed of particles, and particles composed of particles. But actually, to look at it from an even broader perspective, it’s not composed of particles. There is no language for it, and it can’t be told to human beings.

The human way of thinking is always limited. When I said that particles comprise particles, you were led into a simplistic logic, which actually is not appropriate. The complexity of the structure of the cosmos can’t be clearly explained using human language. Moreover, thoughts, time, dimensions, life-forms… everything changes upon leaving our dimension. Especially when the space-times become different, there are great differences among particles. For example, we know that between planets there are distances which are quite far. But did you know that our bodies, wood, air, water, etc., are all composed of molecules, that molecules are also a level of particles, and that this level of particles is right next to planets? That is, molecules are the largest particles that are smaller than planets. Atoms are the largest particles smaller than molecules. When the distance between molecules and atoms is viewed with human concepts, we think that they’re quite close together, almost without distance between them. But if you were to enter into that realm, you would find that dimension to have its own time and state, too, and that it’s an extremely vast and extensive dimension as well. Every level is like that. Positioned between molecules and planets, we feel that the cosmos is huge. But if you were to stand in-between atoms and molecules, you would feel that that cosmic expanse is even larger than this one. In other words, you have to conform to the way of its time and space in order to understand it.

By discussing this issue just now, I was telling everyone that while you see great distances between planets, the distances between molecules—which are close when viewed with our human notions—are in fact really far. Particles can form countless beings, including us human beings, various kinds of animals, various plants, wood, cement, steel and iron, as well as the air in which we live. I’ve mentioned that human beings are actually living in a mound of soil. We’re aware that worms crawl around in soil. But did you know that gods look upon us humans in the same way—that human beings are burrowing around in soil? Why is that? We humans deem soil to be soil, but gods see all molecules—that is, the molecules in the Three Realms—as soil, and as the coarsest and dirtiest substance. They take them to be soil, and they are indeed soil. So think about it, everyone: How do those gods view this universe and the world? The air is composed of molecules, and the whole environment that exists around you is composed of molecules. The water of this dimension is composed of molecules, too, and so is even the air. Gods see molecules as soil, so you are completely buried in soil, and human beings are burrowing around in soil—human beings just live in that kind of environment. By explaining it this way, maybe you can see why in the Western religious tradition Yahweh or Jesus taught that God created man from clay, right?! Actually, in the East it’s said that Nü Wa[2] created human beings from clay. This explanation should make it easier for you to understand. Gods in fact see all particles made of the matter of this dimension as soil dust, or soil. It’s really true.

Just now I said that particles can form everything in a dimension. The cosmic bodies are extensive and flourishing. The more microscopic the particles that compose a world, the more beautiful and glorious the world. Actually, even larger particles can form even larger cosmic expanses or even larger lives. While these planets appear to us human beings to be pretty far from one another, they seem quite close to one another in the eyes of larger beings; it’s much the same way human beings perceive the distances among molecules. Then could what human beings see between planets be part of a being’s body? In other words, could it make up an even larger life?! It’s really the same idea. In the past it was said that there were giants and dwarves. Whether ordinary people say they existed or not doesn’t matter, I’m teaching in terms of principles. It’s just that times have changed. With history’s progression to this stage, it had to conform to the historical and cultural requirements of this time period. So that caused today’s society to become how it is. People no longer believe in what they can’t see or experience. And the more they disbelieve, the less they are allowed to know the truth. That’s because human beings have become foolish. And human beings’ disbelief was actually something arranged. I often say that human beings want to be in charge but they never, ever have been.

As for the matter of human beings wanting to be in charge and desiring democracy, in reality, human beings have never truly been in charge, for it is gods that control the world. For instance, when persons have many blessings in their lives and great talent, it was certainly arranged that way, or that they become high-ranking officials. Those who have minor blessings and those who aren’t all that capable, conversely, definitely can’t become high-ranking officials. The Paris Commune overturned the monarchy. But let me tell you, all of the presidents elected generation after generation in France were emperors before, it’s just that the arrangement has changed. What I mean by that, is that everything is arranged by gods. So the rivalries that have developed between political parties in today’s human society are just the state of affairs amidst which today’s humankind exists. In ancient times—and I think you’ll all believe this point—there was no such thing. Today, humankind is actually a rather warped humankind with a warped society. For now that’s all I’ll say about this topic.

I just mentioned that the different particles of the universe can make up beings of different sizes. Lives exist on every planet. It’s just that they don’t appear in this dimension of human beings, so we human beings can’t comprehend them. Today’s science doesn’t understand this since it’s underdeveloped and can only crawl around within this dimension. Actually, it’s quite easy to see into other dimensions. As long as you have a huge microscopic observation system you can see the form of existence of those objects composed of particles smaller than molecules. Human beings can’t see their true existence because humans have all kinds of obstacles—they have mental obstacles that prevent them from believing. They don’t dare to do it, and they don’t see the point of doing that. But regardless of whether you want to see them or not, they will reveal their true appearances from time to time. Some people just suddenly see them. Under a strange combination of circumstances, substances that are in motion might suddenly reveal themselves. It’s something that happens every now and then. People always explain mirages as a kind of refraction of the atmosphere. That is a self-justifying theory adopted to explain what modern science cannot, it makes no sense. In reality, they are the true manifestations of other dimensions. You can grasp the concept of the universe that I just discussed, right? (Applause)

All matter in the universe is composed of Zhen, Shan, Ren. At different levels Zhen, Shan, Ren has different manifestations and is displayed in different ways. It has created different living environments for the beings of different levels. When it comes to human beings’ level, the manifestation of this Fa is extremely vast and extremely complicated, cultivation ways are abundant, and the truths that people enlighten to are numerous. If one wants to be a good person, the criteria that exist in this dimension are: benevolence, loyalty, propriety, learning, trustworthiness, and so on and so forth. They are all derived from Zhen, Shan, Ren, and are incredibly many. And that’s not all. Elements that constitute women are delicateness and gentleness, while men need to be strong and upright, and so on. Those are all manifestations of the Fa. How material beings appear and how material forms of existence are, those are all manifestations of the Fa. The Fa has created everything.

Next, let me talk about cultivation. In cultivation, why do you have to meet a realm’s criteria in order to go over there? Because there is Fa for that particular level. In that realm there is a required standard for those beings, as well as a standard for the environment of those beings. A karma-laden body that doesn’t conform to that dimension’s environment is unacceptable. A filthy body absolutely cannot enter a dimension that high. So you have to conform to the bodily state of that higher realm—namely, a karma-free state. Not only do you need to be free of karma, but your body’s substances need to be microscopic and fine in that way. That’s something people who don’t truly cultivate cannot attain, even if they wanted to and pursued it—it can only be cultivated. It’s attained by enduring hardship and going through grueling cultivation.

Moreover, the living side of you has to conform to the standards of that realm. Or in other words, your mind, your thoughts, and all of the spiritual properties of your existence have to conform to the standards of that level.

Of course, there’s also a standard for the form of existence of that dimension’s lives. You can’t go there as a human being like this. You have to assume the appearance of the beings in that dimension when you are about to Consummate. The higher the level, the more youthful and beautiful the appearance of those beings. The lower the realm, the less beautiful. As one goes higher, not only is the appearance more beautiful, but also the thoughts have to be more pure and refined. One’s way of existence, speech, demeanor, and movement will all undergo changes. Their speech is like poetry, and that’s just the way of things at one certain level. Higher levels are even more splendid. It definitely wouldn’t work if you didn’t conform to the requirements of that realm. I often say that “cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.” In other words, though you want to reach that kind of realm, how could you reach it when you don’t even know about it? How could you do that? You yourself can’t do it. I only look at the heart you have for cultivation. Master will take care of the other side if you’re determined to keep cultivating. What’s critical is whether you can be steadfast and whether you can finish your cultivation.

I haven’t discussed the specific way in which gong is evolved, and I don’t want people to focus on it. Doing it this way keeps attachments from springing up and it spares people from letting their imaginations run wild. As you know, the higher one goes, the more tranquil one’s mind. Yet it’s not right for you to insist on seeking tranquility without raising your xinxing. Some people are bent on seeking tranquility when they do the exercises. They insist on trying to attain tranquility, and it develops into an attachment. But I can say that as low-level cultivation ways see it, it is a method, whereas when viewed from high levels, it’s intention-filled conduct. Why? Tranquility can only be achieved through cultivation and gradually eliminating attachments. If someone wants to will himself into total tranquility and part with all attachments just like that, in general that can’t be done. (Of course, there are special circumstances that we won’t discuss.) Being able to achieve that kind of tranquility means that your mind has become pure to that extent. What I call “special circumstances” refers to cultivation ways that cultivate the assistant soul (fu yuanshen), whereby a person can will himself to be tranquil from the very start. But that’s not our Dafa’s way of cultivating. This is no minor thing.

As I mentioned before, when you speak to others with your own goals in mind, wanting to change or persuade them, no matter how reasonable your words are, other people will have a hard time completely accepting them. Nor can the words move people’s hearts. Why? Let me tell you: It’s actually because the words you say contain all of your thoughts. Your sentences have complicated thoughts included in them, such as your human emotions and desires, and even those many attachments of yours. That makes your words not so powerful and rather diluted. Also, people often look at things from their own viewpoints when they say things to others, and those might not conform to the Fa of the universe. So in this respect they lack the power of Truth. Moreover, when speaking to others, people add things to protect themselves so that they won’t get hurt. In other words, the intention behind your words is no longer pure, then. And as a result your words get really frivolous. But when your mind can truly become tranquil, when your attachments get less and less, or when the distracting thoughts get less and less, then you’ll find that your words have power. Why was it that when I spoke about non-action I mentioned that you shouldn’t interfere with things that shouldn’t be interfered with? That’s because your words already have power, and words with power can change people. It doesn’t matter if your changing someone seems right, you might be doing something wrong. You don’t know the truth since what your eyes see is superficial, and since you can’t perceive karmic[3] reasons from the past. Your mind will become increasingly pure as you reach higher levels. What your thinking brings forth then, and what you say, will be extremely pure. The purer and simpler they are, the more they conform to the principles of that level of the universe. The words you speak then can instantly pierce people’s hearts, strike the depths of people’s thoughts, and strike the more microscopic part of their existences. Now isn’t that going to be powerful?! So if you can become tranquil, that ability signifies that you have reached a certain realm.

In our cultivation we need to meet the requirements of a given realm in order to reach that realm. Otherwise you can’t go there. That’s why in our cultivation human attachments have to be discarded, why karma has to be eliminated, why the requirements of the Fa have to be met, and why I ask you to read the book a lot and understand the Fa well.

I’ve only discussed the topic briefly. This is a Fa conference. You don’t have a lot of opportunities to meet me, and you’ve had lots of questions brewing which you have wanted a chance to ask me. So I will use the time that’s left to answer your questions. But there is one thing you should pay attention to: Some people (of course, they are all new students) have a brash attitude when they ask questions, and don’t show due respect for their master. Of course, it’s not so much that I’m demanding respect for a teacher by upholding old-fashioned formalities, but I am your master after all, and will save you to a high realm. What I’m giving you is something that you can never repay in the eternity of your lives. So I hope your tone will be that of a disciple. All right, you can pass your question slips up.

Question:   After Shakyamuni, Lao Zi, and Jesus, how many people have attained the Tathagata Righteous Attainment through cultivation?

Teacher: All in all there have been a lot. Many people did after Shakyamuni attained the Way; they cultivated successfully in the Buddhist religion. And there were people among Jesus’ later disciples and monks whose cultivation met with success. Of course, in China there are lots of cultivation ways. Since cultivation ways aren’t geographically restricted, in ancient times there were also those in Western society who practiced cultivation, and quite a few of them succeeded. It wasn’t by way of religions that they succeeded. But in recent times there have been few who Consummated. In contemporary society the number is almost zero.

Question: It’s mentioned in Zhuan Falun [(Volume II)] that the moon was constructed by the humankind of a remote age. Could Teacher tell us a little about the reason and purpose back then for constructing it?

Teacher: Everyone here is laughing, because that’s so far from why I teach the Fa. You are seeking knowledge and letting your imagination run wild. And when your imagination runs wild, your thinking becomes less pure and tranquil. But instead of letting go of those things you’re attached to among ordinary people, you’re asking me about them and even mixing them together with the Fa. That’s precisely what I’m worried about with you all. Put your mind to cultivation. Of course, I can answer, since the question has been raised.

In the past, the situation never resembled that of today’s science. So the mankinds of different time periods were of course developing in the ways of those times. People at one time recognized the trouble that the dark of night caused people, so they constructed a moon up there to bring light to Earth during the night. That has nothing to do with cultivation. It’s not that I’m unwilling to tell you about it. It’s that whatever I say will materialize something, as the things I say become Fa. So don’t ask me to casually talk about human interest things.

Question: Is the speed of one’s intention faster than the speed of light?

Teacher: That’s for sure. The speed of human thoughts is quite fast. As your level rises you will penetrate every dimension in the levels below you. Listen carefully to what I’m saying: As your level gets higher, when your gong penetrates any of the dimensions in the levels below you, it isn’t subject to the time restraints of those dimensions. Gong is directed by intention. Since you live in this environment, your walking speed, the speed of your car, and so on, every single thing is limited by the time of this dimension. The intention that people emanate is rapid in this human dimension. If a person is a cultivator, he transcends the restrictions of this dimension and his intention is extremely fast. Meanwhile, we’ve said that a person’s gong and all of the abilities carried in his body are controlled by his thoughts. So that means, when his intention arises, his gong arrives—that’s how powerful he is. I’ve said that if the abilities of those of you who have cultivated to very high realms were not locked up for you, you might really turn the Heaven and Earth upside down in just an instant. So before a person has reached complete Enlightenment, he is absolutely prohibited from being unrestricted while he cultivates on the earth, it’s absolutely prohibited. It is all right for those people with minor abilities, since this dimension is watched over by the gods of this dimension, and those gods can control all of this so that a person can’t topple Heaven or overturn Earth. But if a person’s abilities are greater it won’t be allowed. Master also has to watch over this.

Question: In this universe of ours, what type of matter has the greatest speed?

Teacher: You’re asking about science. To tell you would be to satisfy your pursuing mind, and that’d be the same as expanding your attachment. Yet if I don’t tell you, well, you’ve raised the question.

In regards to the speed in this dimension that people nowadays know of, it has even greater energy that people haven’t discovered and can’t utilize. The ideas of what’s the largest and smallest all come from the perspective of human understanding; they are understandings within the range of the human dimension and time field. Size, as conceptualized by humans, doesn’t exist in this universe. So in the universe, what is fast—as referred to by you—depends on the level. For example, the rate at which a very high-level god speaks is still faster than the speed of your mind—even when that god is speaking very, very slowly. The words I’m saying here and what I just said about your being attached have just taken place, but in a specific dimension they actually occurred hundreds of years ago. That’s how big the difference is. The universe is just incredibly vast. The differences in time fields have formed the universe’s complicated dimensions.

Actually, not being subject to the restrictions of time, that’s what is most rapid. But human beings will never really understand the real meaning of that sentence. Your idea, “what type of matter has the greatest speed,” is a human notion and a human understanding. Time is not absolute, even in this present dimension of ours. As you know, I mentioned in Zhuan Falun that a certain star is seen to be 150 thousand light years away from us. But in fact, I was only discussing it by using what human beings can understand with contemporary science. That’s not really how it is. Then how is it? Let’s think about it: There exist different times in different dimensions. Within the expanse of our Earth there is a time field, and everything is confined within the boundaries of that time. As soon as a man-made satellite goes beyond our atmosphere it is in another time field, which is definitely not the same as Earth’s. So there are also the time fields of other planets when it passes by those planets. The larger the cosmic body, the greater the time and speed differences within it.

It’s said that it takes 150 thousand light years for us to see the things that occur in the Milky Way system. Actually, let me tell you that perhaps you can see them in just two or three years. Why? Because the speed of light, too, is subject to the restrictions of time fields. When light penetrates through different time fields, its speed, “shwa—, shwa—, shwa—,” suddenly becomes fast or slow. When it gets here to our Earth, it then conforms to Earth’s time field and becomes extremely slow. There is simply no way to assess the time in the universe using this time field that Earth’s inhabitants can comprehend. Humankind’s understanding of truth, of matter, life, the universe, and many things, including the development of human beings, is wrong.

Question:   How do the great enlightened beings of the Buddha system explain the light of this universe?

Teacher: What’s so great about just seeing light?! There are many kinds of light, and they’re different at different levels. And how, as well as for what purpose, light is emitted is different. Don’t use human thoughts to think about things that are higher than man. I’d say that if you want to cultivate, you need to read the book more and study the Fa a lot. What you can’t enlighten to and what you don’t know will, in the future, all be visible in the Fa. Think about it: I’ve said that every object has energy—even molecules have energy. People can’t sense that molecules have energy because man himself is composed of molecules. That’s why people can’t sense it. Things that have energy have light and power. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill or inflate the significance of every little thing. When Dafa disciples’ mighty virtue is displayed, now that will be glorious and brilliant.

Question: Can we publish Master’s articles in newspapers in order to spread the Fa? On the other hand, I’m concerned that people might misinterpret the meaning of the articles.

Teacher: They will, they all will. So it’s best not to do that. Why? Let me tell you: Our best method for spreading the Fa is for everybody to do the exercises in groups. We’re only saying that we don’t want to leave out people who have a predestined relationship. When I talk about spreading the Fa, I’m not asking the entire humankind to come obtain the Fa—that’s not the idea at all. I’m talking about getting people with a predestined relationship to come obtain the Fa. Today I might as well tell everyone clearly: The Fa-spreading method we’ve adopted all along is that you do the exercises outdoors. Another one is to have our Dafa books for sale in public bookstores. My Law Bodies will direct people with a predestined relationship to buy the book, and as soon as they read it they will come and learn. Also, we’re doing the exercises outdoors, so the Law Bodies will arrange for them to find the practice sites and obtain the Fa. Through a strange combination of circumstances they will be led over here to do the exercises, or they will find our students. That’s how we’ve arranged it.

You want more people to know about it and you’ve used many, many methods. It’s the students’ good intention, I can see that. And you’ve done well. But all of it is self-initiated, individual action, so I don’t approve or disapprove. In the Fa, however, the Fa-spreading methods that I’ve left behind for Dafa are these: We do the exercises outside in groups, hold Fa conferences, and have books for sale in bookstores. People with a predestined relationship will go buy the book, and they’ll want to cultivate after they read it. And then they will find us of their own initiative and learn. That’s how it is. Of course, sometimes students will, as a personal act, put announcements in newspapers to inform other people about it. That too can allow a lot of people to obtain the Fa. I don’t disapprove of that approach, for it can help the predestined ones become aware of it. I’m just saying that the best forms I leave for you for spreading the Fa are group exercises and Fa conferences.

Question: I’ve made spreading the Fa an integral part of my cultivation, but Master has said that spreading the Fa has nothing to do with reaching Consummation.

Teacher: Spreading the Fa and reaching Consummation are of course two different terms and concepts. But there’s one point to be made: For those who work to spread the Fa, if you treat it as a job and, although you often work hard and make a great effort to do it, if you normally don’t read the book much and you don’t have time to do the exercises, this kind of work will inevitably depart from the Fa. In other words, you won’t have integrated your cultivation with your work. You’re really attached when doing the work, and you don’t think about whether the troubles you encounter are related to your xinxing or whether the way you do things conforms to the Fa or to the standards of a cultivator. If you don’t look inside yourself in this manner, if you don’t look at it this way, then your work is just the work of ordinary humans, and you’re just an ordinary person doing work for Dafa. At the very least, you haven’t conducted yourself according to the standards of a cultivator. Cultivation needs to be integrated with our work. When you run into any challenge in your work, you should always check your own xinxing and be able to examine yourself. When you come across troubles, look at yourself and think: “Why are things happening like this? Have I done something wrong? Is there a problem with my intention? Or is it because of something else?” That is, you should demand of yourself and evaluate yourself with a cultivator’s standard at all times. You are truly cultivating when you treat yourself as a cultivator and don’t let up with any bit of your thoughts. Then won’t your work be integrated with the Fa? As for Consummation, that depends on the extent of your cultivation and whether it reaches that stage. Even though a person might cultivate every day, whether he’ll Consummate depends on whether he can reach the level of Consummation.

Question:   I read Zhuan Falun every day, but with respect to some parts of it, such as “The Subject of Sorcery,” “Bigu,” “Fasting,” “Stealing Qi,” and “Gathering Qi,” I think it’s enough to just have a general understanding.

Teacher: I’ll tell you, although I used those things as examples, what I talked about wasn’t limited to that. What I talk about are principles of the Fa! The meanings behind them are countless, boundless, endless. However large this cosmos is, the Fa is no less. I’m just using human beings’ most mundane deeds, the plainest language, and the lowest forms—those of human beings—to teach this Fa. The point is to allow you to understand and enlighten to its boundless and endless inner meanings. So make sure you don’t read it selectively. You must read the Fa from start to finish with nothing left out. Pay attention to this. Its continuity is highly beneficial for your cultivation. The Fa has continuity, so you can’t read it selectively like that.

Question: Is everything in a practitioner’s environment conjured by Master?

Teacher: The surrounding environment isn’t conjured. Everything that occurs around you during the course of your cultivation is a result of prenatal karmic reasons, namely, it’s your karmic retribution as well as rewards for your past good deeds. Everything is a result of your goodness or badness. I utilize them to allow you to cultivate. They aren’t something I conjured. When you go through some ordeal it’s true you are paying for karma, for sure. What a lot of students see in dreams or while they do the tranquil exercises isn’t entirely conjured, either. Much of it is reality being displayed, only you don’t see it too clearly.

Question: Master, could you please disclose a few things about your cultivation to those disciples who will Consummate?

Teacher: You will know things after you Consummate. I intended to share with you my background. Given the present circumstances, though, it looks like that’s becoming less possible. And why is this? It’s because, in the future people won’t be allowed to know of my existence. So I don’t want to leave my story behind for people. As for you, once you Consummate you will know. At that point, words won’t be enough to describe the greatness of your master! (Applause)

I’ve given my utmost concern not just to you, but to all lives. I have almost depleted everything of mine for all lives. Of course, that kind of depletion isn’t what you understand, where there is nothing left. I’ve often said that I have incorporated into this Fa everything that can allow you to cultivate and advance, and everything that you can attain through cultivation. Although you are in different realms, none of you can truly understand the weight of my words. You will obtain everything so long as you cultivate. But do you know how many things of mine are incorporated into what you obtain? (Applause) Of course, I don’t want to talk about these things that concern me. I just want to tell you that you should cherish this undertaking that your Master is carrying out! You have to do well in cultivation. Don’t miss this chance.

Question: When can we get Dafa translated by Westerners?

Teacher: Zhuan Falun will be available soon. The French version will soon be sent to the publisher for printing and the English version is already available. The German version is in bookstores now; apparently a lot of bookstores have it. As for versions in other languages, the Italian and Spanish ones are apparently being translated, and the Russian one is available. That’s the case for the Western languages. And there are people translating it into still other languages. Personally, I’m really concerned about this matter. Often the reason is that conditions aren’t yet ripe in many regards. And there’s interference from different sources that you’re not aware of. So it’s been dragging on.

Question: Since xinxing cultivation is most important, why does Master still mention cultivation levels and divine powers in the book?

Teacher: A lot of questions are being raised by new students. At least read the book before you ask! Cultivation and a Buddha’s abilities are inseparable. So I only speak of those things in a general sense in terms of underlying truths and principles of Fa, and this allows you to comprehend. I give one example to allow cultivators to understand the rest—that’s the reason. It’s not that I ask you to not pursue those things but I go and tell you about them. Those things can’t be separated from Buddha Fa cultivation. What you pursue and the truths of the Fa that you should understand are two entirely different things; divine powers are a manifestation of another aspect of Buddha Fa. Your inability to see the extraordinariness of Buddha Fa’s divine powers results from your reading the book with a human mindset. You’re just reading those things that you like. You don’t read, and even reject, what your human thinking fails to grasp. That’s precisely why you can’t make progress.

Question: Why is homosexuality considered immoral?

Teacher: Think about it, everyone: Is homosexuality human behavior? Heaven created man and woman. What was the purpose? To procreate future generations. A man being with a man, or a woman with a woman—it doesn’t take much thought to know whether that’s right or wrong. When minor things are done incorrectly, a person is said to be wrong. When major things are done incorrectly, it’s a case of people no longer having the moral code of human beings, and then they are unworthy of being human.

Let me tell you why today’s society has become how it is. It results from there not being an upright Fa to keep human beings in check. This Dafa is taught right in the most chaotic environment, at a time when no religion can save people, and where the circumstance is that no god takes interest in people anymore. The Fa is almighty. The best time periods wouldn’t require such a great Fa to be taught. Only in the worst time periods can the power of the Fa manifest. There are other reasons, too.

Question: Why is it that homosexuals are considered bad people?

Teacher: Let me tell you, if I weren’t teaching this Fa today, gods’ first target of annihilation would be homosexuals. It’s not me who would destroy them, but gods. You know that homosexuals have found legitimacy in that homosexuality was around back in the culture of ancient Greece. Yes, there was a similar phenomenon in ancient Greek culture. And do you know why ancient Greek culture is no more? Why are the ancient Greeks gone? Because they had degenerated to that extent, and so they were destroyed.

When gods created man they prescribed standards for human behavior and living. When human beings overstep those boundaries, they are no longer called human beings, though they still assume the outer appearance of a human. So gods can’t tolerate their existence and will destroy them. Do you know why wars, epidemics, and natural and man-made disasters happen in this world? They’re precisely because human beings have karma, and those events exist to remove it. No matter how wonderful a time period may be in the future, there will still be wars, epidemics, and natural and man-made disasters on earth. They are a way of eliminating karma for people. Some people who have sinned can have their karma eliminated through the death of the flesh body and suffering, and then they’ll be free of that karma when they reincarnate. Their lives don’t really die and they reincarnate again. But the karma that some people have accrued is too much, in which case the fundamental elements of their existence will be implicated and destroyed. Homosexuals not only violate the standards that gods set for mankind, but also damage human society’s moral code. In particular, the impression it gives children will turn future societies into something demonic. That’s the issue. That kind of destruction, however, isn’t just about disappearing after they’re annihilated. That person is annihilated layer after layer at a rate that seems pretty rapid to us, but in fact it’s extremely slow in that time field. Over and over again, one is annihilated in an extremely painful way. It’s terribly frightening. A person should live in an upright manner, living honorably like a human being. He shouldn’t indulge his demon-nature and do whatever he likes.

Question: I want to achieve a Righteous Attainment. My goal is set at Arhat Status. I haven’t taken the initiative to help those who have no karmic connection to me, and this includes spreading the Fa. Have I done wrong?

Teacher: You have. That’s your human thinking at the surface. Do you know that I have arranged good things for where each one of you should cultivate to, the extent of your ability to endure, the amount of your virtue, and the level of your material foundation? You want to arrange for yourself the path of cultivation, but that can’t hold, nor would anybody recognize it. Why do you want to settle yourself at the Arhat level? It’s because for now you can only understand the Fa to this extent. You have many attachments that you’re unwilling to let go of. It can only be said that you’re thinking that way because that’s how much you comprehend the Fa. In the future, when you’ve understood the Fa at a higher level—when you’ve increased the number of times you have read Dafa’s books—you will definitely change how you think. You will feel that you shouldn’t have asked that question, and at that point you’ll feel embarrassed. Right now I can only tell you that it represents where you’re at right now, so I don’t blame you, but your conduct isn’t right. If you relax the demands on yourself, the attachments you’re unwilling to break will make it hard for you to progress diligently.

Question: I was quite involved and diligent when I first took up this cultivation way. But not long ago, I suddenly had doubts about Dafa. I’ve repeatedly made mistakes and haven’t been able to pass the tests. Is this thought-karma or demonic interference?

Teacher: Why do I ask you to return to your origin and true self? What’s the purpose of returning to your true self? It’s to return to what your true self is. Human beings have many attachments, all kinds of notions, and a range of emotions and desires. All these thoughts are in your head, yet none of them are you. I’ve said that this door is wide open and that only your heart matters. It’s just up to a person’s heart whether he can cultivate, and whether he can still have the thought and intention of returning to his origin and true self. So I’m telling you that everything that interferes with your thinking might not be you. As for some people who can’t forgo their self-interest while it is at stake among everyday people, or those who can’t tell which thoughts are theirs and which aren’t, and who even think that those bad thoughts are theirs, we definitely won’t keep looking after them. Why? Because those people have taken those bad thoughts to be themselves, and yet these things of ours are not to be given to those bad thoughts.

Question: In Zhuan Falun, it’s mentioned that great enlightened beings constructed the universe based on their own characteristics.

Teacher: Let me tell you, a lot of people have read [and wondered about] this section. It refers to things that happened in the universes of multiple realms in the vast cosmos that encompasses all universes. The cosmos is simply vast. What I was discussing wasn’t about the entire cosmos. Great enlightened beings at different levels of the cosmos enlighten to the different truths of the cosmos’s Dafa, and even what great enlightened beings of the same level enlighten to is different. When some universes of different sizes within the vast cosmos start showing signs of degeneration, great enlightened beings who have enlightened to a high level and to righteous laws will construct a new universe at that level. This doesn’t refer to the greater, tremendously vast cosmos that encompasses countless layers of universes.

Question: In the article “Dialogue with Time,” a god is mentioned. How should we understand the concept of a god and how it differs from a Buddha or Dao? What relation does it have to the primeval gods?

Teacher: All those in the cosmos who have abilities surpassing those of ordinary human beings are gods. The microscopic, yet immense beings that permeate the air are countless and formless gods, that’s the idea. Gods are in a variety of realms and are of varied kinds. Aren’t Buddhas gods? Aren’t Daos gods? Collectively they are known as gods. It’s only that they each have their own cultivation features and appearance. Plus they’ve formed their own unique things. So one is called a Dao, one is called a Buddha, and the other is called a God. Everything in the universe has thought and life. Could you say they aren’t gods? The time in any dimension strictly delimits the changes that occur in all substances of that dimension. Could you say time isn’t a god? It knows the thoughts of all lives within the range of its control. If it wants to speak, it can speak; if it wants to assume a human form, it can do that. Wouldn’t you say it’s a god? Human beings think that time is just a concept. The sun rises and sets, people mark off some points and put some numbers on a clock—and that’s supposed to be time. That, along with the rising and setting of the sun, is how time is expressed in the society of ordinary people. But I can tell you, even the rising and setting of the sun and Earth’s orbiting around the sun are delimited and arranged—without deviation—by this dimension’s time.

Question: I’m determined to achieve Consummation. Once Teacher stops teaching the Fa, will I still be protected by Teacher’s Law Bodies?

Teacher: I’ve actually stopped teaching the Fa. The period of my systematically teaching the Fa has passed. Now I’m just here to participate in the Fa conference and answer some questions for you while I’m here. The assistance center coordinators always want me to talk about more profound things and tell you a little more. My teaching the Fa was most important before. Today, it’s your cultivation and improvement that are most important. How could there be no Law Bodies looking after you? When my Law Bodies no longer look after you, you will have reached Consummation.

Question: Some new students who have just obtained the Fa really want to hear and watch the audio and videotapes of Teacher’s Fa-speeches in North America prior to 1998. Would that be okay?

Teacher: There is now a book of my Fa-speeches from when I first went to the United States. Reading the book will benefit your understanding of Fa a lot. The videos, on the other hand, might not have any direct relevance to you since at that time I was speaking to the specific situations of the students in the audience. The books, by contrast, are suitable for a general audience, since they’ve been reorganized. Moreover, you might have seen from the videos something very peculiar when I give talks on Fa. As I speak, speak, speak, suddenly I switch topics and start talking about something else. Maybe you’ve all sensed it. Why do I do that? Because as I went on, I found that the students had grasped it while I was talking. They understood it before I even finished speaking. So, well, I stopped discussing it and went on to another thing. Since that happens frequently in my videos, in regards to a lot of things, watching the videos might not necessarily be better for you than reading the book. Reading the book would be better for you, that’s what I mean. Coexistence of both a book and video results in interference. So as soon as books of the Fa-speeches in different regions are published, all of the recordings and videos need to be erased, and that’s to protect Dafa. What a person can’t let go of is human emotion.

Question: My wife and I both practice Dafa. A few months ago, one after another, the two of us each dreamed of an extremely beautiful large bird. The bird disappeared after it entered my body, whereas my wife heard birdcalls. What did it signify?

Teacher: It’s just a bird. In your reincarnations lifetime after lifetime, even a god who comes down from a very high level can reincarnate as a human being in one lifetime and as an animal in another. That’s how it is in the human world. The first thing you see at the beginning stage of your cultivation is probably your original form or an image of the earliest place you ever were. It could be in the form of a human, an animal, or this or that. Birds in the heavens are deities, too.

Question: Can cultivators take nutritional supplements?

Teacher: You haven’t read the book, you simply have not read the book. Think about it, everyone: A cultivator’s body couldn’t develop gong if it were sick. That is, your impure body wouldn’t be suitable for cultivation. When you cultivate your body needs to be cleansed to the point of absolute purity, and only then can it start to develop gong. So I’ve said that we don’t do healing. But I will cleanse true cultivators’ bodies, and that kind of body is free of illness. We intend to attain the kind of body found in a Buddha’s realm. Can you attain that by taking nutritional supplements? Definitely not. So why take them? It’s not like that stuff is something delicious and worth sampling for its delicate flavor. We make your body purer and purer during the course of cultivation so as to have it gradually reach the most natural and optimum condition. That’s something taking medicine can’t achieve. Aren’t you still doubtful about cultivation if you take medicine or ingest supplements? You simply are not seeing yourself as a cultivator. Isn’t that the reason? If you don’t see yourself as a cultivator, how could we? Makes sense, right? Whether it be Chinese herbal medicine or Western medicine, it’s medicine all the same, for sure. Your goal is simply to have a healthy body, but our cultivation achieves something well beyond that. I’ve described how these things work. So how do you think it should be handled?

Question: We are disciples who’ve come from China. There are five other people who couldn’t make it for various reasons. Was the demonic interference too strong or was it arranged by Master that they couldn’t come?

Teacher: I didn’t want to let even the five of you come. Why? As I just said, before my teaching the Fa was most important, while today your cultivation and improvement are most important. Put your mind entirely on cultivation and cultivate steadily and solidly—that’s what is key. With the heart unsteady, wanting to find me, wishing to listen to my talks on Fa, chasing me everywhere… that doesn’t benefit your cultivation at all, not in the least. When the Fa conference was to be held in Singapore, a lot of people from China wanted to go. Then I said to the Main Dafa Association, “You need to pass this along: Tell the assistance centers of each region to notify students that they shouldn’t go traveling all around, as it’s of no benefit.” Originally, Law Bodies ordered the steps of your cultivation for this time period. But you have disrupted it. Some of your attachments could very possibly have been discarded in this time that was allotted for you to cultivate, but what should have been improved has been, in a certain respect, disrupted. That’s the reason. Don’t regard as demonic interference all your attachments to insisting on doing things you can’t do.

Question: My husband has never done the exercises, although he has read Zhuan Falun once and watched videos of Master’s Fa speeches. But his Third Eye has opened and he can even do Remote Viewing.

Teacher: That’s because of his predestination. His spiritual foundation might be quite good, which caused his Third Eye to open as soon as he read the book. As for whether he studies it or whether he cultivates, everyone in this complicated society has become extremely complex. Before each of you here in the audience came to the human world, sometime in the past the seeds for you to obtain the Fa today were sown in the depths of your heart and soul. I have looked for and found you many times in human society and conferred markings on you. All of these things play a strong role, yet none of them can lessen your human attachments. And none of them can make you feel the way you did back when you encountered the Fa: “Oh, I’ve waited so many years. I’ve come just to obtain it.” A lot of people no longer have that feeling, and it results in their cultivating on and off and not being diligent. Some people who are predestined and have obtained the Fa still can’t discard their attachments. There are all kinds of scenarios. Once the predestination ends, it’s over.

Question: Master, when you talked about the srivatsa[4] symbol, you said, “A Buddha whose level is twice as high as a Tathagata has two srivatsa symbols.” Were you referring to the height of a person’s gong column being twice as high as a Tathagata’s?

Teacher: I was referring to a person’s xinxing and mighty virtue. Gong is just a manifestation of that. It’s fine to understand it as a person’s gong column, too. But it will have to be the gong column after a person Consummates. That is to say, the height of the gong column after Consummation has to be double that of a Tathagata’s. The gong column developed in the cultivation process doesn’t count. That’s because it’s not yet finalized, for other parts of you haven’t yet Consummated. So it’s just a form of energy’s existence. Yet from a certain vantage point it does represent your level and xinxing while cultivating.

Question: During the Singapore Fa conference, when the disciples applauded, Master usually used both hands in the Heshi position as a gesture of acknowledgment. But when giving Fa speeches before, you mostly used a single hand to acknowledge. What deeper meaning is there in this?

Teacher: I use a single hand toward my disciples. But there’s one thing: When I see everyone’s pure hearts and that they’re advancing diligently and continually, I’m really happy, and then I like to use both hands. Under normal circumstances a Master uses a single hand toward his disciples.

Question: I’ve heard that when a person can recite Zhuan Falun, he can forever carry Dafa with his main soul (zhu yuanshen), regardless of whether he Consummates.

Teacher: Who’d be willing to just remember the Fa but not Consummate? Why do you memorize the book? Isn’t it for reaching Consummation? Memorizing Zhuan Falun helps you improve, since both the microscopic part of your body and the human part at the outermost surface are memorizing it together. But no matter how you memorize it—and this goes even for people who’ve memorized it very well—at a certain time you will suddenly find that you can’t recite it. Why? It’s that the main part of you, the part that memorized it, separates from you after it has met the standard. You suddenly feel like, “Oh, how come I can’t recite it anymore?” That’s because the part that is up to par has been separated, and the human surface can no longer recite the whole thing, for it has forgotten it. Some forget a lot, some forget less. This kind of situation does occur.

Many of you have experienced a situation where periodically you hear well or periodically your Third Eye sees things clearly. When can a person see clearly or see the best? It’s when he is cultivating really well in a given stage, while the separation hasn’t occurred and he’s just about to meet the standard. He can see clearly, hear sharply with his ears, and his body is sensitive. Once the separation takes place he finds that he’s lost that state, and he’ll think, “Is it because I’ve dropped down? How come things aren’t as good?” It’s not that you have dropped down. It’s that the part of you that has finished cultivation has been separated, and what’s left is the part that hasn’t yet finished cultivation and that should keep being cultivated. So you’ll be sensitive from time to time. That’s how it is. This only happens when practicing Dafa.

Question: Is it that as you cultivate to higher levels, you sleep less?

Teacher: That’s not the case. It’s related to the changes and elevation of the particles intrinsic to your thoughts. But it does happen periodically. The matter I just talked about also involves this factor. At the surface you will return to the normal state when the well-cultivated part of you is separated from you. That’s what you will experience all the way until you Consummate. All of this allows you to live like regular people. Yet your human side will become weaker and weaker. And if you hold yourself to high standards, perhaps you will conduct yourself among ordinary people better and better. That’s the way it is.

Question: Time is pressing, but I still can’t sit in the full-lotus position. How can I do better?

Teacher: Don’t be anxious. Nobody is saying time isn’t adequate. I have never said anything like there isn’t enough time. I ask that you hurry up cultivating, and you should just focus on practicing. But that said, you should know that you need to have strict requirements for yourself—that’s what I mean. Anyway, those who absolutely can’t fold their legs into position are very, very rare. There are some whose souls (yuanshen) in the heavens don’t assume a human being’s appearance but that of other gods, who don’t fold their legs in the lotus position. Maybe that factor is involved. But since you have a human body, a flesh body today, I believe all of you can fold your legs into position, except for the extremely unique ones. I’ll put it in a lighthearted way. Of those seated here, many people really have cultivated quite well. Those Bodhisattvas in the heavens are covering their mouths and laughing at those of you who can’t put your legs up, saying “Look at that those cultivators who still can’t put their legs up.”

Question: Could Master please talk about the concept of attachments?

Teacher: What’s the reason people can’t see the truth of the universe? Why is this dimension deluding? Let me tell everyone: Among ordinary people, what you see and what you come into contact with in the dimension of ordinary human society, along with the knowledge learned among ordinary people, these all limit you and confine you. When your knowledge of this dimension accumulates, when your understanding of everything in this dimension becomes clearer and clearer, and when you seemingly become more and more aware, you are actually closing yourself off more and more. What you consider the truth in this dimension of ordinary human beings could well be, in reality, wrong or the opposite. So you won’t see the truth of the universe if you don’t let go of those understandings from the society of ordinary people. Especially those things that we as human beings can’t relinquish for purposes of survival, for protecting ourselves, or for benefiting for ourselves more, I call them all attachments. Those attachments are just like a big, sturdy padlock that locks you in. You have to open every padlock as you progress on your path. If you don’t, they will lock you in and delude you, and you won’t see the truth. And, if you fail to open those locks while on the path that returns you to your origin and true self, you won’t be able to continue forward. That’s what a test is. Everything you are attached to is your obstacle. These tests that you come across in cultivation are in fact your own hardships. The point of my utilizing them is to open the locks of your attachments, to allow you to see the truth, and to have your mind elevate.

Question: How should we understand discarding all attachments?

Teacher: It means letting go of the attachments that can’t be released in the ordinary human dimension, because the way you cultivate today is different from all past ways. I knew that many, many people would come to learn it, and a social phenomenon would emerge. Even more people will learn it in the future. Then this social phenomenon that emerges—the masses that cultivate—will have a great influence on society. If everybody were to cultivate with his abilities unlocked and everyone were to go around doing supernormal things, the entire face of society would change. And then instead of resembling a human society it would resemble one of deities. That can’t happen. Since human society is just the way it is, we take advantage of this environment and cultivate in it. Not only do we not disturb this environment, but at the same time we need to conform to it as we cultivate. That’s because you would have no way to cultivate if you didn’t conform to this environment. The approach we’ve adopted today is like that. Now there are over 100 million people practicing Dafa. It wouldn’t work if they all left their homes to become Christian or Buddhist monks. There will be even more people in the future. What would happen to this society? Who would feed you if everyone came to cultivate? It wouldn’t work. So we should conform as much as possible to the society of ordinary people. We’re utilizing this kind of societal form of ordinary humans to cultivate, so we have to conform.

You all need to have a job, an environment, even a family, and plenty of relatives in the society of ordinary people. Every aspect of these things is a reflection of our ability to conform to the conventions of ordinary people’s society. At the same time, they create good opportunities for us to cultivate and they provide us with an environment for cultivation, for you are cultivating among ordinary people. Then, since you’re cultivating among ordinary people, we conform as much as possible to the way of ordinary people’s society in regards to dealing with material items or material possessions. But there’s one point to make: You are not the same as other people. Since you are cultivators your hearts and minds aren’t attached to those things. You can have a lot of money, a family, property—you can have lots of things. But you need to let go of the attachment to them. That’s your way of cultivation.

The total abandonment that we’re discussing here doesn’t mean you have to give up material things for it to count as letting go. On the contrary, if you give up every material thing but in your heart and mind you haven’t released them, if you’re reluctant to part with them, if you’re not able to sever them, or if you’re even thinking about them often and letting that affect your cultivation sometimes, then I’d say that’s not letting go but being forced to let go. So, superficially taking material items lightly is a formality. As I see it, the real reason one can ascend by way of cultivation is because the human heart and mind undergo a change. Only when a person’s heart and realm of thought have reached the standard has he truly ascended in cultivation. We take material things very lightly. It doesn’t matter whether you have them or not. What’s critical is whether you can let go of the attachment and whether you can elevate—that’s what is most crucial. Moreover, our entire cultivation form is arranged for cultivating among ordinary people, and this allows you to progress diligently while not having your gong regress. All of the arrangements, in every regard, conform to this form of cultivation that we have today. So when I first started to teach the Fa years ago, the gods were saying that this is a “Fa of High Virtue.” They felt that it is really good.

Question: Should the methods of spreading Dafa be adjusted to suit Europeans?

Teacher: It’s great for a cultivator who has obtained the Fa to have this aspiration and think about how to spread it and allow more people to learn it. Regardless of whether it’s in Europe or the East, no matter how you spread it, it will be hard for those who aren’t predestined to come learn it. Which people are “predestined”? I’ve discussed predestination before. Then how are we to find those who are predestined? Say you put an advertisement in the newspaper, searching, “Who is predestined?” That wouldn’t work. But there is one point everyone needs to be clear on. Probably every one of our students know inside that there are some people who will immediately feel struck or excited when you mention the words “Falun Gong” or “Zhuan Falun,” and those people instantly want to learn it. It’s quite likely those are predestined ones. Some people’s hearts aren’t moved no matter how you talk to them, and there’s a good chance they aren’t predestined.

So as for how to spread it and the methods of spreading it, actually, the best way is for our students to do the exercises in public areas so that those who are predestined can find them. Another is to have our Dafa books be available in the bookstores of various ethnicities and countries. I have countless Law Bodies who can instantly see who is predestined and who is supposed to obtain the Fa. If we have books in bookstores and our students are doing the exercises in parks, Law Bodies can find the predestined ones and bring them to look for this Fa. Some challenges will arise if we lack this type of environment. But no matter the method used, a predestined person will find the book and think it’s good when he reads it. Since he’s predestined he will definitely think it’s good and seek it out, and, since there are those of us doing the exercises in the parks, he’ll find us right away. Since the time I first started teaching the Fa a lot of people have obtained it that way. But there are still many people who heard about it from our students. They thought it was really good and told their family members to come learn it. If they felt that it wasn’t good, they definitely wouldn’t have told their family to come get duped. It was precisely because they felt it was good that they told their family members to come learn. Then their family felt it was good, and they told other friends and relatives to come learn. People are strongly impacted when students themselves talk about their personal experiences and how they feel. They wouldn’t lie to their own family members, nor would they lie to their friends. So their friends believe it. And if they then believe it, they’ll come learn it too, and they’ll have their own experiences. That’s how Dafa spreads.

But that said, there is a small number of people who obtained the Fa from seeing articles that our students placed in newspapers or magazines. I said yesterday that I don’t object to obtaining the Fa that way. But what problems might come up in this scenario? It’s that not only the highest type of men will come, but the lowest, too. So the people who come will have different goals and many different states of mind, and that is why some people practice for some time and then leave. They could well be among the lower type of men. Maybe they don’t want to obtain it, or they’re not supposed to obtain it. That’s often the case. And it’s a good thing for students to write articles themselves or put information in newspapers. I don’t object to that, since after all, it does help predestined people to come—superior people will see the newspaper and come. That’s why it can be effective. But there are only two mainstream methods: One is that we have books in bookstores and that we have practice sites, so Law Bodies can take people to find them; the other is Fa conferences and our students sharing their experiences with family. It’s mainly with these two methods that more people come, and their quality is high. As for adopting other methods, be they Eastern or Western, I think those are still the two main methods. People in many regions at the initial stage don’t yet have an understanding of Falun Gong, so we introduce it to people by writing articles in newspapers or magazines and such. Of course that too spreads the Fa, to be sure.

Question: I’m Caucasian. When you come across a test, do you take it or let it go?

Teacher: “When you…” That’s referring to me, right? There’s something I’d like to tell you all. It’s a very good question. I think it’s time to clarify something for everybody.

I can tell you that today, no matter how many people are practicing Dafa or how many students or disciples I have, you are all cultivators. Nobody is an exception. So you’re all cultivating. Whether you’re cultivating well or poorly, diligently or not, or your level is high or not, all of you have to hold yourselves to strict requirements as you cultivate and treat yourselves as cultivators. I, however, am not here to cultivate. You need to be clear on this distinction. I don’t have my own ordeals, nor do I have cultivation factors like yours. There’s a point I want to make: I’m taking you as my disciples, so I am offering you salvation, I’m saving and transforming you. So from this you can tell I’m different from you. You need to treat all of the troubles you encounter as cultivation, because they are definitely cultivation. But if trouble occurs for me, that’s a disruption and harming of Fa. Why should it be looked at that way? This cosmos is primordial. The purpose of my doing this is Fa-rectification. All of the cosmos’ beings have strayed from the Fa, so they have to be rectified with Fa. What I often say to you is that this is something one doesn’t come across even in thousands of years. To teach the Dafa of the whole cosmos in the human world, a Fa that even gods weren’t aware of before, that’s something which has never happened in all of creation.

Lives have become increasingly impure over endless historical ages, and everything is deviating. If it continues like this for long, even the most fundamental base of Zhen, Shan, Ren will deviate. That’s incredibly horrible. But I cherish the lives in the cosmos. I wish to preserve the original lives as much as possible and to avert the process of elimination. That wish came forth, and so I came. (Applause) Since I’ve come here, I come in a manner such that I’m bringing with me everything that is most original, most wonderful, and of the beginning of time—which is more perfect. You know that the Falun rotates. The Falun you see is just a superficial form of the Falun. It also has a Fa side that you can’t see. It’s constantly rotating and has an automatic repair mechanism, returning everything to its most original and optimum state. From the microscopic level to the surface, all matter and all lives are like this, with everything turning and in motion. I have created and restored all of this. What’s more, it’s continually perfecting and harmonizing. There’s no question of cultivation for me. In doing this undertaking, what I need to resolve is the obstructive effect of the evil forces that formed after the universe’s lives became impure. At the same time, there is the challenge presented to me by the karma created by all beings in human society. I often say that I know why Jesus was crucified by people, why Shakyamuni had to undergo Nirvana, and why Lao Zi hastily departed, leaving behind a book of five thousand words. Say a person came to the world and has reincarnated lifetime after lifetime. You have no idea how many lives and how many lifetimes you’ve been through. But in each and every lifetime you have accrued many debts to others and done much wrong. Some people came from various levels and have reincarnated onto this earth. They did wrong things as they were descending step by step, which is to say they’ve spent time in some high-level dimensions. Why couldn’t they remain in those dimensions? It’s because over there they again did bad things and descended further; they did bad things again and descended even further. So the debts accrued from doing wrong in the heavens were owed to gods.

The gods in the heavens won’t allow a human being to return to the heavens! Without a Master to teach you, without a master looking after you, you could never return no matter how great your abilities. After coming to the earth it’s forever impossible to return if you aren’t taken care of by the kind of master who truly saves people. That’s because even if you could really pay for the karma of the human world, you still couldn’t pay for what is owed in the heavens. Jesus wanted to save people and had great mercy, so he ignored all of that. He then had to undo those hard-to-undo karmic knots that were tied onto people. Yet in this universe there’s a law that states: “Those who don’t lose, don’t gain; to gain, you must lose; what is owed must be repaid.” That’s absolute, it’s an absolute and eternal law. Accordingly, if you release a person from it, who will pay for his debts? So those accounts or all of those debts naturally fell on Jesus. “You untied it for them, then you pay for it on their behalf.” All of the knots that couldn’t be undone, everything that was owed, and the things that those people being saved simply had no way to free themselves from, all of it was fastened onto Jesus since he was on the earth. There were karmic debts from all different levels; meaning, they weren’t only from here, among humans. What extent did it finally reach? The more people he saved, the more knots he carried. He simply had no way to free himself, nor did he have the energy to do those things. The knots couldn’t be untied. So in the end, Jesus saved those people, but his own human body couldn’t be freed. Jesus thus had no choice but to abandon this body to pay the karmic debts for them. A lot of lives’ karma as well as great hatred all landed on Jesus. “Alright, I will pay them for all believers.” He was crucified and died an agonizing death. All knots were bound to his flesh body, and with the death of his flesh body they were released. Jesus was freed the moment that body was cast off. That’s why Jesus had to be crucified, and why people say Jesus suffered for people. That’s the reason.

You’ve all seen that many people have come to learn this Fa. In the future there will be even more. You know, for you to cultivate, those things need to be done by the master. But I’m different from them, for whether it be Jesus or Shakyamuni, they are, after all, enlightened beings of a small scale. I’m not inside the cosmos, so I can resolve problems of the lives at different levels and in different cosmic bodies of the cosmos. I said that saving human beings isn’t my true goal, but they are one level of beings that’s included—they are a level of life that I wish to save. In fact, I myself don’t have any ordeals, I’m not cultivating. The troubles I encounter rarely manifest here on the ordinary human side, but there are those that do manifest here, and most of them aren’t known to you. The reason I can free myself from this problem is that I’m not within it. I won’t be like them, unable to disentangle myself. I can disentangle myself, but the difficulty is extremely great, it’s something none of you beings can imagine. I can give up to the greatest extent possible everything of mine, and that is why I can resolve all of it. (Applause)

By the way, let me further emphasize something related to the question that was just raised. There are often some students who accompany me, by my side, and in each region there are some people in charge—center coordinators or others in charge. You need to understand something: Everything you run into is about dealing with hardships. Yet you cannot represent Master. When it comes to any matter in which you know I’ve participated, you have to consider the matter from my perspective. That’s something you’ve neglected before. Troubles created for me are damage directed at this Fa. So it’s completely different from your passing through your hardships. It’s definitely not that your master is cultivating or that your master is passing tests. It really is damage directed at the Fa and the cosmos, so they can’t be equated. Be clear on this. When I handle problems, I treat them as real demons, but you cannot! Everything you encounter is directly related to your cultivation. So you always need to treat it as cultivation and find reasons inside yourself. These are completely different.

Question: It seems very hard for Europeans to enter tranquility. Why?

Teacher: Actually, it’s the same for Asians and Europeans. A person who can reach true tranquility while cultivating in ordinary people’s society is really at a high level. Since you have a job in the society of ordinary people and you have to attend to ordinary human affairs of every sort, so as you sit there, you don’t want to think about anything, but those things will affect your mind to the point that you think about them unwittingly. That’s why you can’t become tranquil. In cultivation we’re constantly improving ourselves and getting rid of attachments. As your attachments become less and less, you will find that you naturally become more and more serene, more and more serene. It reflects your level. It’s not realistic to expect that you reach tranquility right from the outset. No method can achieve that, except for cases where you have extremely special circumstances; such persons’ human sides are really weak and the other side is really strong. They’re in a state of being partly enlightened, partly not. Those are extremely special people who can achieve a certain degree of tranquility, and it mainly owes to their godly side taking effect, not their human side. Apart from cases like that, others can’t possibly on day one reach the point where they can become tranquil. So there is no difference for different races, it’s the same for Europeans and Asians.

Don’t be anxious if you can’t become tranquil. So long as your body is comfortable and relaxed when you do the exercises, just try your best to restrain yourself from thinking all over the place. If you really can’t stop your mind from wandering, then let it be, and treat those unbridled thoughts as someone else: “Go ahead and think. I’ll watch you think.” That’s also an approach. At least you can clearly distinguish that it’s not you, and that is really precious. Or, you restrain it and don’t let it think, in which case you’ve achieved what a cultivator is able to do. After the body is relaxed, one enters the optimum state for transformation and refinement. But what if your mind can’t calm down and you can’t achieve the best state for transformation and refinement? You know, our cultivation begins from the microscopic level, so the microscopic side of us is tranquil. Starting from there, as that side becomes increasingly tranquil and is cultivated better and better, what’s on the surface will be restrained and grow weaker all the time. The surface is worse [than before], but it’s weaker. That’s the relationship. A lot of you have cultivated for a long time and find that there are still bad thoughts in your minds. You can suppress them if you want to. That’s because even though they’re getting worse and worse, and more of them are surfacing, they’re getting weaker since they no longer have roots.

Question: How do we Western practitioners tell what’s right, and how should we lead our lives? Should we let things happen naturally?

Teacher: I’ll tell you what I think. Under different circumstances I’ve talked about letting things happen naturally. I haven’t told you to let things happen naturally with regard to everything. When you work in a company, your boss pays you. If you’re muddleheaded with your work, you let things happen naturally, and you don’t work hard, then you really don’t deserve the pay. We should be good persons wherever we are. I’m saying that “letting things happen naturally” should be applied according to the situation. In cultivation we follow the natural course of events, but we still have to make an effort to repress the bad side of ourselves and we still need to work hard at cultivation—doing otherwise is not called “letting things happen naturally.” This is in fact how all of you have been cultivating. We know well that in cultivation we are to actively cultivate ourselves, and that in our everyday lives we need to conform as much as possible to the ways of ordinary people’s society. So you have to separate your everyday human job from your cultivation—you definitely should draw a distinction between them. Work is work, and cultivation is cultivation. But there is one thing: Because you’re a cultivator, the high standards you hold yourself to will be reflected in your work, in society, at home, and in different social environments. In other words, you’re always a good person no matter where you are, and others will all say that you’re a good person. That’s how they go together. The idea of letting things happen naturally isn’t like what people said in the past, where a person would no longer care about anything and would just sit there as though he’d left the secular world; a person who did that was thought to be “letting things happen naturally.” That’s not how it is—that’s definitely not the idea.

If you encounter certain troubles, I think that as cultivators you have to first examine yourselves: “Is it because I myself didn’t do well in some regard?” If each of you cultivators can’t do this, you will have no way to make progress. So when any one of you encounters any troubles, you have to always examine yourself first: “Is it that I did something that wasn’t quite right?” I often talk about a principle: Everything in the universe is in harmony; if you do something wrong yourself, it will create a kink, a discordance with others, and everything around you will seem to be out of sorts. And interpersonal relations will become tense. At that point, look inside yourself for the reasons and correct your mistake. You will find that everything becomes harmonious and right again. I don’t think we should argue with others about things. If trouble really befalls you and it looks like somebody is wronging to you, I think it could well be that you, a cultivator, owed it from a previous lifetime. Endure it (ren) and let it go. Even an ordinary person knows that two people will leave upset after they have a clash; friction arises and the two get entangled. When the friction persists for a long time it will get increasingly harder to resolve, and in the end they’ll become enemies. But we are able to tolerate it, disregard it, and take a step back. In China there’s a saying, “Take a step back and you will find the sea vast and sky boundless.” If you keep on prodding and pushing ahead, you will find that there’s really no way out. But take a step back, let the attachment go and disregard it, and you’ll find that truly the sea is vast and the sky boundless—it’s a whole new world. That’s the way it is. That’s how it should be for a cultivator. If we argue and fight just like ordinary people and have a hand in clashes like they do, I’d say we’re just the same as ordinary people then. Isn’t that right? It is, in fact.

Question: How can we know our own level?

Teacher: Subjectively speaking, I’m extremely reluctant to let you know your level at the beginning. For a person to melt into such an immense Fa… I’ll give an example. It’s like if a wood chip or a piece of sawdust were to drop into a blast furnace of molten steel: instantly you’d lose sight of it. As you melted into such an immense Fa, your body’s karma, thought karma, and all kinds of things would be gone in an instant. If we were to do it entirely that way, it would be the same as your not having cultivated and it would be equivalent to my having re-created life. It wouldn’t count as you having cultivated. So we can’t do it that way. We need to have you cultivate yourselves and change yourselves. This Fa is immense. During the course of your cultivation, as long as you take yourself to be a cultivator, cultivate steadily and firmly, and keep reading the book, you will continually ascend and improve. Add to that our supplementary method—performing the exercises—and your rate of improvement is very fast. It’s the fastest way to cultivate.

If at the start I let you to know your level, you wouldn’t be able to handle yourself: “Whoa! I’m extraordinary! I’ve already gotten this far in cultivation!” Suppose I let you see the real changes that have occurred around your own body, think about it: Since you carry emotions, desires, and all kinds of attachments of ordinary people, wouldn’t your heart be swayed? I can’t let you know too soon, for your ordinary human thoughts are still quite strong. It’s because I want to ensure that you constantly elevate at the fastest speed in your cultivation. When a superior person hears the Dao, he will achieve Consummation simply by way of enlightening. That’s the most admirable. And it’s the most rapid—it really is the most rapid.

We have some disciples whose situations are different, so some people cultivate with their abilities unlocked and some are in a half-locked state. They can see, and some can even see quite clearly and know everything. Those are exceptional cases. Most people cultivate with their abilities locked. Just focus on reading the book and cultivating, and you will be constantly improving yourself and continually enlightening to heaven’s secrets. The laws and principles of the Fa are themselves enough to fill you with confidence. Of course, people in today’s society have been too deeply deluded by all kinds of false, so-called “realities” of the society of ordinary people, and they are too strongly attached. It’s just too hard for them to break out. They often struggle in choosing between the Fa and their attachments to self-interest. A person would even rather give up the Fa than give up his attachments. These things are hard to determine, as today’s society has come to this stage where people no longer know their true nature or the standards for human beings.

Bad as it is, however, it provides us with the best environment for cultivating. Isn’t it that the more complicated the environment, the more it can forge highly accomplished cultivators? That’s the principle. Many masters of qigong appeared in China a few years ago. Ordinary people admired them: “Wow, amazing qigong grandmaster, you have all these amazing abilities!” People gave them favors and even money since they healed people. Their pursuit of material grew ever stronger, and many thus dropped and lost their gong. They were totally ruined, and their masters wouldn’t watch over them anymore. Why? Cultivation used to be practiced in settings that weren’t known to ordinary people. Cultivating in the mountains, in obscure settings, in monasteries, or through other religious forms, they didn’t come into contact with the realities and complicated stakes of ordinary people’s society, nor did they enter into this big dye vat. If they were to come into contact with society, they would immediately be contaminated by the complicated society, they would end up chasing after fame and gain like ordinary people, and they would turn into ordinary people, for their cultivation methods would lose their effect when among ordinary people. By contrast, we cultivate exactly inside this big dye vat, and everything we meet with is of that kind. Aren’t you extraordinary if you can rise above it?! Do you know why you can cultivate to a high level? One of the most essential factors that ensures your cultivating to high levels is the fact that it’s so rotten here. If you can rise above it—even if your heart is touched just a little and wants to cultivate today—you are extraordinary, because in the midst of this kind of environment, soaked in suffering, you still have that wish.

Visible suffering that’s on the surface doesn’t count for much. What’s really excruciating is the suffering that happens when you’re severing and breaking attachments—that is when it hurts most. So this complicated environment provides the best conditions and allows you to cultivate to high levels. Conversely, the power of this Dafa can only be revealed in these most adverse of situations. This Dafa wouldn’t be necessary were everything good in a society. And Fa-rectification wouldn’t be needed in a good environment. It would be enough to just have Jesus’ and Shakyamuni’s Tathagata-level Fa in the world. But why have religions now entered the Age of Law’s End, wherein none of them can still save people? People even dare to curse Buddha, and statues of Jesus are even stepped on and urinated on. In this age, asking people to learn the Fa of [such Tathagatas] or saving them with those Fa wouldn’t do the job.

Question: I really want to cultivate, but how can I stop doubting Dafa?

Teacher: What I’ve told you is that everyone in the society of ordinary people will acquire many, many notions in his mind after birth and absorb “knowledge” from the false realities of ordinary people’s society, which delude him even worse here. The many notions and set ideas formed in your mind are all factors that block your gaining the Fa. Aren’t those doubts that arise in your mind caused by your assessing the Fa with what you’ve learned from ordinary people’s realities? Isn’t that how those doubts surfaced? Definitely. In other words, you are assessing the Fa by using notions formed from ordinary human knowledge and ordinary human thoughts. Aren’t ordinary human beings at the lowest level? Aren’t ordinary people lost in illusion? What can they possibly have that can be compared to the truth of the universe? Nothing. Then again, this Dafa of ours is taught in the lowest, ordinary human manner using human language—the lowest form of expression. So [Dafa] seems as though it too is superficial. But as long as you keep on studying it you will find that it becomes ever more profound. The more you study it, the more it becomes too deep to measure and too distant to reach. Ordinary human knowledge, on the other hand, doesn’t have that kind of profound content. You’re making a huge mistake if you take all of the disbelief and doubts you have to be your own thoughts. Those are notions formed after birth among ordinary people. You’re thinking that they are you, yourself, but they’re not you.

Question: My Third Eye had opened before I started the practice. I make my living by fortune-telling. Do I have to give up my job?

Teacher: If you didn’t cultivate and were to remain an ordinary human, I wouldn’t be against it. I’m teaching the Fa to cultivators to enable them to cultivate. I’m not trying to get everyone to come practice Dafa. If you think you can cultivate, then do it. Otherwise, don’t. Perhaps in man’s future society there will still exist these side-path practices like fortune-telling, fengshui,[5] and even the healing of illness using certain methods. It’s possible all of them will exist. They have always existed worldwide since ancient times. But in the time ahead the things you, as a cultivator, will see will be of higher and higher realms, and the power of your words will become greater and greater. Problems will arise when you tell other people their fortunes. Sometimes things in the human world are not fixed; they might not turn out a certain way. Then if a person believes what you say, and firmly believes it, it will reinforce that likelihood. Once you have energy, it’s possible that your words might cause an element that isn’t fixed to become fixed, resulting in something that wasn’t originally supposed to happen. What you see isn’t the real situation; there exist other karmic reasons. Yet you will have fixed it when you speak of it. In this case, you might have done a bad thing. And karma of this sort is something extra that you have added to your cultivation. Your trials and tribulations are in front of you here, and you have to pass each and every one of them. You won’t be able to pass the extra tribulations that you add on. If you do something that has a great impact or seriously bad consequences, you won’t be able to pass the ordeal and cultivate. So cultivators emphasize cultivation of speech. Yet you failed badly to meet that requirement. If you directly tell others what you see, you are divulging heaven’s secrets, and you are casually and irresponsibly telling them to ordinary people. How could that be okay? That’s even less acceptable.

Also, let me tell you that the great majority of fortune-tellers have external factors that play a role, apart from their individual factors. So it’s a frightening thing. That’s really frightening for a living being! In that case there’s no way to cultivate. I’m just telling people the principles of the matter—I’m not against ordinary people doing that. If you want to cultivate, I have to tell you about it and I have to be responsible to you. If you do that, it will do nothing but harm to you. That said, you’re sure to think, “So how am I to make a living?” I’m simply teaching the Dao, teaching the Fa, to cultivators. If you can cultivate, then cultivate. I can only discuss it this way. I have to be responsible to you. On the other hand, it will be ensured that you, a Dafa disciple, can make a living, which is the way it should be.

Question: How can I get rid of my fear?

Teacher: Fear is an attachment, too. It’s a matter of whether your will is strong. You should overcome it. Some people say, “I fall asleep whenever I do the exercises.” That too is something you need to overcome with your own will. Although it’s not a demon, it can have a demonic effect on cultivators. It will effect you if you can’t conquer it.

Question: I can never feel the Falun spinning in my lower abdomen.

Teacher: Not everyone can feel it. Some people are so sensitive that they feel it as soon as the energy moves: “Wow! It’s so strong!” Some people still don’t feel anything when earth-shaking things happen in their bellies. Each person’s bodily condition is different. Don’t judge the height of a person’s level according to what he feels. Be sure not to judge it based on feelings.

Question: Will my Third Eye never be opened?

Teacher: Are you pursuing it? If it weren’t to open even when you succeeded in cultivation, then I think something would be wrong. What you mean is, “Won’t it be opened in the course of cultivation?” If you pursue it, if you have that kind of thought—even just slightly—you won’t be allowed to see. And even when you do have the ability to see, you won’t be allowed to see, since that attachment you have hasn’t been eliminated. So you need to get rid of that attachment and ignore it. Then see what happens.

Caucasian students are different from Asian students because the cultural origins of the East—particularly of China—are deeper. It not only has a culture that’s five to six thousand years old, but has also inherited the prehistoric culture of the previous period. So in its very bones and in its very cells there is profound cultural substance. Yet the culture in Caucasian society has only been around for two thousand years, so its myths are easily ruptured. They can almost see as soon as the myths fall away. Then by contrast, in what way are Chinese people different? When you tell them the reason why, they’re still thinking, “Oh, that’s right, but why the why, then?” When you then tell them why the why, they’re still thinking, “Oh, then why the why of the why?” So you need to clear things up for them all the way to the end before you can completely open their minds. That’s why many of our Caucasian students can inadvertently see once they start to learn—that’s the reason. They’ve been sealed off very little by the superficial things in the society of ordinary people. It’s only the theories—the ordinary human theories—that bind them. As soon as those theories are punctured there’s nothing among ordinary people that can confine them. That’s the idea. Of course, it’s not always that way. A perceptual grasp and a rational grasp are two different things. If a person can truly learn the Fa and absorb it into his mind, truly grasping the Fa in cultivation, then that’s different from the perceptual grasp at the beginning. One will transcend to understand the Fa rationally.

Question: How does one spread the Fa to monks and nuns?

Teacher: I often think about monks and nuns. I’ve been especially concerned about them the past couple years. Be it Shakyamuni or Jesus, those great enlightened beings founded their own cultivation ways which disciples carry on. They’re considered Buddha system disciples, after all, so I have been thinking about them. But the Age of Law’s End has come to this point, and there really aren’t many people in religions who truly wish to cultivate. I’ve found a problem: Many monks and nuns are upholding religions, rather than upholding Gods and Buddhas. Their minds aren’t on cultivation but fully on preserving the formalities of religion, and this attachment has resulted in a serious obstacle for them. Also, some people think that beyond the religious forms there is no Buddha Fa, but only wicked practices and crooked ways. It’s one of the biggest factors that seriously blocks them from obtaining the Fa. Still though, there are those who genuinely think things through and can truly evaluate everything based on reasoning, and such people are extraordinary. They read my book, and after they finish reading they know what this is, for people all have Buddha-nature within. It works just like electricity: When the two electrodes make contact, “Bam!”—they connect. If they didn’t have Buddha-nature they wouldn’t connect, they couldn’t strike up those sparks, and electricity wouldn’t be conducted. So some monks and nuns are different, and I think they are truly remarkable since they know that their reason for leaving the secular world is to cultivate. On the other hand, some people don’t have that righteous a mind. Of course, I won’t say much more about religious things, I’m just talking about it in passing. You can talk to them if you are their lay patron, friend, or relative. If they want to cultivate, they will. And if they don’t want to cultivate, let them be. We really shouldn’t drag people: “Come cultivate, it’s really a shame if you don’t! You have to come with me!” The heart can’t be changed by personal or emotional ties. People’s hearts have to be stirred of their own accord.

Question: How should monks who have set duties in temples truly cultivate? Should they go back to secular life?

Teacher: They definitely don’t need to return to the secular world. Why not? The matter of “practicing only one cultivation way” that I talk about mainly relates to the Fa which we now cultivate. In the past, behind every word in the Buddhist scriptures there were the images of Buddhas. Now when you flip open the scriptures you can’t see them; even behind Shakyamuni’s and Jesus’ names there are no longer their images. That is, the books no longer have the power to save people, for they are merely black ink on white paper. Furthermore, performing religious rituals is just a religious formality, and I just consider them ordinary work. Actually, many monks have come to treat those formalities as a job—they think they’re working and earning a salary. The monks in Mainland China are classified into section level and division level, and receive wages accordingly. I heard that there’s even a bureau level. They’ve altered Shakyamuni’s original teachings. People don’t know that they are undermining the Fa taught and spread by Shakyamuni. Now that it has reached this stage, of course Shakyamuni doesn’t look after them anymore, and things are what they are now. So I just consider it a job. Be it chanting scriptures or doing religious ritual, there is no effect. Those people won’t be bound-up by any forms so long as they cultivate in Dafa. As I said, a great way has no form. No ordinary human forms are worthy of such a great Fa. So we manage things loosely and only look at people’s minds. If you cultivate, I will look after you. And this kind of care-taking is invisible to ordinary people, so it doesn’t have to take on any ordinary human form. Since we don’t have formalities, I regard everything done among ordinary people as work—I can only look at it that way now. If you’re a monk and want to conduct religious rituals, you can do them, provided you know that you cultivate in Dafa. You need to put in more effort to forge ahead vigorously—that’s how you should handle it. The same goes for other religions.

Question: Does having “a clear and pure mind” mean getting rid of all attachments and everything one is interested in?

Teacher: It’s like that if one truly attains the state of having a clear and pure mind. But you cultivate starting from the level of ordinary people. You’d immediately become a Buddha if you could achieve it instantaneously. So it’s impossible. In order to reach a Buddha’s realm, you have to go through a process of cultivation and have a deep and substantial mental foundation. That is, you are continually cultivating, continually deepening it, and improving yourself more and more. It’s attained gradually. If you were made to truly reach that level immediately, you might be so scared you would no longer dare practice. That’s because your thinking is not yet at a level that high, since you’ve just started from the level of ordinary people. So it’s reached gradually and naturally, and it can be attained without too much effort. You will attain it as long as you cultivate and read the book. The principles of the Fa can resolve all of your problems. It’s not done forcefully. Doing it forcefully is itself an action with intent. Just conduct yourself as a cultivator—you’re clear on this. Everyone cultivates his own heart and mind and tries his best not to do bad things. That’s not called intention-filled action. It’s called getting as close as possible to your innate, original nature.

Question: You said that science is a religion, yet I still have to do well in my scientific research work. This is always a contradictory scenario.

Teacher: I’ve said that science is a religion and have discussed it in great detail. Why is it a religion, and why is it a comprehensive one? The reason is, it neither pays attention to virtue nor recognizes the existence of gods, and since it can’t see the existence of gods, it doesn’t recognize that people are punished for doing bad and rewarded for doing good. It uses scientific theories to negate and attack anyone who says that there’s good fortune as recompense for doing good, that there’s retribution for doing bad, or that gods exist. It even attacks upright religions. It is undermining human morality. In the absence of moral restrictions people dare to do any bad thing. Based on this one point alone, would you say this science is upright or wicked? Isn’t it playing a wicked role? Why has the morality of people today degenerated to such an extent? It’s precisely because people no longer have upright beliefs. Actually—and this holds especially for Westerners—what you truly believe in is not religion, but your science. Think about it from the depths of your mind: What you believe in most is really science. Everything else is secondary to you. Science is very much foremost. I’m pointing this out to you because it’s an obstacle in cultivation.

It’s said that in the past the Roman Catholic Church disagreed with the notion that human beings evolved from apes. They believed that man was created out of clay by God. I hear the Roman Catholic Church has now publicly conceded that humans evolved from apes. Haven’t they denied their Lord? This science is so powerful that everyone believes in it today. I can clearly explain everything about humankind, from major things to minor things; I can clearly explain every part of the development of humankind from antiquity to today. But I don’t talk about such things since those are all affairs of ordinary people. I only talk about things that relate to your cultivation. The basis of almost all understanding in science is flawed, and that includes the basis for understanding matter, the universe, and life. Today’s science says that the hole in the atmosphere above Australia, that is, the breach in the ozone layer that appeared in the sky above the Antarctic, was caused by industrial emissions—the fluorocarbons used in air conditioners and other waste gases—and that it was these things that caused the damage in the ozone layer. Actually, I want to tell you: Everything in this universe is life—everything is alive. The massive gaseous entities that you can’t see are layer upon layer upon layer upon layer—you couldn’t count how many there are. They are all lives, all deities. It’s the industry brought about by modern science that’s been seriously damaging humankind’s habitat. That’s absolutely true. It’s not the damage of the gaseous entity that caused the hole in the atmosphere above the Antarctic. Human beings can’t harm high-level beings. Why didn’t a hole appear in Europe, an industrially developed region? Why did it have to be in the Antarctic, a place where there are no inhabitants? It’s because gods saw that there was too much waste emission and toxic gas on earth, so they opened up a window to let the waste gas out and then closed it up. It’s not in the least what modern science presumes.

Nowadays, humankind’s development has reached a stage wherein science controls all domains. So now humankind can no longer break free of it, for it has become a reality of man’s social development. It doesn’t work if you are at odds with it. We act in conformity with ordinary people to the greatest extent possible. So, do a good job with your scientific research. It’s not your fault. It’s not something that an individual, a people, or a nation can break free of. Since it’s a job, you should do it well, fulfill your duties, and do your work well. That’s all. Don’t think that you are doing such and such for the sake of science. In reality, science has unsparingly occupied every domain of humankind. Almost everything of humankind exists for its sake, so you can’t stop doing everything because of [what science is]. As for cultivators, I just want you to understand the principle. I’m not asking you to separate from this reality that has shackled human society. It’s not that I am asking you to give up your job.

I said that science is a religion and that it’s a complete one. It leads you to first recognize things in a material sense, which makes you believe in it spiritually. True religions, on the other hand, have you understand principles first—you come to truly comprehend things in your mind. Your understanding develops from the intangible to, at last, the tangible. Eventually you can understand it in a material sense and return to your heavenly paradise after reaching Consummation. It’s that sort of process. Science reverses the process. It starts from material things that drive people’s faith. Religions, on the other hand, start from spiritual understandings that propel material changes. I explain this principle so that you can understand it. Since science has become a reality of society I’m not against it—it’s something human existence has come to rely on. I’m just talking about the real situation of contemporary science.

Question: Could Master please talk about causal relationships and the heart of compassion?

Teacher: Since you’ve mentioned compassion, I need to correct your thinking. Let me tell you what compassion is. People in the society of ordinary people think that if they live quite comfortably with no disasters or hardships, if each day is pleasant and carefree, and if they’re not short of money and have everything they need, then God is compassionate toward them and is being really good to them. Let me tell you though, that God isn’t like that. If He were really that way, He would be being terrible to people. That’s because human reasoning is totally reversed. You know that people living in this world are bound to have social interactions, and so they will accrue karma. Jesus said that people have sins. Because they have sins they dropped down to this dimension of ordinary people. They are accruing karma in this dimension and committing sins lifetime after lifetime. By wanting to be comfortable, aren’t you unwilling to pay for your karma? If you don’t pay for the karma and you accrue more in this life, in your next life you won’t even get a human body—you might reincarnate into something worse. And if you accrue still more karma you can only fall towards hell. If you fall even further you will be destroyed. Then when it’s looked at in light of this principle, tell me, how should God treat you if He is to be considered “good to you”? That’s what causality is.

What do I view as true compassion (cibei), then? If a person is truly good, he will encounter many, many hardships in this life. The goal is to have him pay his karmic debts in the midst of these hardships, to seize this lifetime in which he has a human body and quickly pay for all of it. After all debts are repaid he can go up to a heavenly paradise to enjoy happiness forever. So he will suffer when among ordinary people. Think about it, then: What is true compassion? Buddhas’ take on things is completely different from that of human beings. Ordinary people think that Buddhas or Gods are compassionate to people if they let them enjoy ordinary, human fortune. They complain to heaven and earth when they suffer, “Oh, God, why do you forsake me? I’m a lost soul!” By having you pay for karma, God is taking care of you so that you may return. How wonderful it is to return to a place where there is no birth, annihilation, or falling downwards. That is true compassion. You know that you’re cultivating. So why don’t I eliminate all of your suffering? It would be unnecessary for you to go through tribulations, as I’d simply take you up there and that would be it, right?—and how compassionate that would be! But that wouldn’t do! You yourselves have to pay for what you owe. Hurry up and pay for it! Hurry up and pay for it, and only this way can I save you as quickly as possible. Isn’t that the principle? I’m speaking from another perspective about compassion and what compassion is. The Fa is taught to you, not ordinary people. Don’t ever forget that. Ordinary humans are forever lost in illusion. They aren’t allowed to know these principles. Humans are humans, whereas you students are students. Cultivators and ordinary humans will always be different.

There’s something I can tell you: Nothing in the world is by chance—gods are watching. In this dimension, there are those who arrange reincarnation, those who are responsible for order in society, those who arrange social systems, those who control the stability of the earth, those who are in charge of the air and the various components of air, and those who watch over what different gods are doing on the earth. In this dimension there are all kinds of gods. How could they not be overseeing such things? Could the things in human society just follow from what people want? That’s absolutely impossible.

Question: With respect to the principle of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition, is it true that at high levels, one of these two substances is closer than the other to Zhen, Shan, Ren?

Teacher: It shouldn’t be understood like that. The entire universe is composed of Zhen, Shan, Ren. Let me put it this way: The two substances [you referred to] are both created in the universe by Zhen, Shan, Ren. If in this universe only the positive side existed, it would be extremely pitiful for beings. They would have neither happiness nor pain, and life would be a bore. It’s exactly because there is hardship and pain that people know to cherish and treasure happiness when they have it; only this way will they feel that life is interesting. So since there exists a positive side in the universe, the existence of a negative side was arranged for beings, and it can eliminate karma for them.

Question: Since resolving my problem at the root, I’ve felt my blood boil as soon as someone mentions protecting Dafa. Master, is this a correct state?

Teacher: No, it’s not right. It’s not right. Everyone, pay attention to this! Just now I talked about there being a positive side and a negative side. As the negative side gets to the level down here, it becomes the bad side; while the positive side, as it gets to the level down here, is the good (shan) side. So I’m telling you that in the society of ordinary people we absolutely can’t do things the way ordinary people do. We must always have our good side be in command. Buddha Shakyamuni said that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature. Actually, let me tell you that all sentient beings have demon-nature at the same time. That is, demon-nature and Buddha-nature coexist in each being. In situations where a person loses his temper or is violent or irrational, it is his demon-nature at work. In situations where a person is rational, kind, and compassionate, it is that person’s Buddha-nature at work. These two different natures manifest under different circumstances. So we always use the good side. Not so long ago, when a television station broadcast a groundless report on us and we went to meet with them, everyone talked to them rationally and with goodwill. A lot of people went there that time, but having a large number of people didn’t necessarily make it a bad incident. The attitude and approach that people adopt can be good or bad. They explained things with reason and in an entirely kind way. They didn’t get involved in the nation’s political issues, nor did they damage public property. Everyone managed to act like a cultivator and explain our reasoning. People [at the station] were moved because they had never met people like that. Conversely, why is there violence in human society? Ordinary people hold demonstrations and protests when they want to take a stand on some issue or to reason with someone. There is violence and yelling, and they even take up arms. That’s because people have a demonic side and those are ordinary people. Here we are cultivators, and we should use only the good side, not the bad side. Ordinary people use both the good side and the bad side; ordinary people employ both reason and violence. They swear and lash out when they can’t win an argument. Ordinary people have both a good side and a bad side.

Question: Teacher said that when the universe was cleaned up, there were alien beings who escaped onto the earth. Do they exist in the form of possessing spirits or in some other form?

Teacher: Let me first explain what alien beings are all about. You know that this Earth isn’t the only planet with life in this universe, and Earth hasn’t existed just this once. I’m saying that at Earth’s position there were Earths that existed before. Those previous Earths were discarded. Some exploded. It happened many times—the number has been quite large. The final stage of an Earth has always been a time when its lives were the most corrupt and its matter was the most impure, so the Earth could no longer be kept. It would be eliminated since the whole sphere had turned into a ball of karma. The reason is, lives reincarnate. They reincarnate into soil, rocks, plants or matter, and regardless of what they are reborn as, they carry karma with them. Earth would become a ball of karma when karma was all over the place, so at that point it would be eliminated. There would still be some people on Earth who were relatively good, and those exceptionally few or extremely few ones were taken and placed onto another planet within the Three Realms. Yet through the ages this Earth has been replaced innumerable times and each time there were people who remained. So over time those remaining lives increased in number. The gods in each time period created humans with a different appearance, so the differences are quite substantial, and there are some who were created on other planets. These are alien beings.

They’ve become like a record of history, placed there like a page of history left behind. That’s the function they serve, a minor one. They were left behind from the final stage of Earth during those times, and took with them the technology they had in those times over to other planets, so their starting point was more advanced. Over this long period of time, the knowledge of the universe they came to grasp far exceeds that of the inhabitants of today’s Earth. Their bodies can enter other dimensions and adjust to the mode of those dimensions they are in; they’ve developed to this stage. Those things they ride in that fly back and forth—those aircraft that human beings call flying saucers—can enter other dimensions and fly into other space-times. If they travel in a fast space-time, after being there for just a short while they traverse a long distance. So that speed is inconceivable to human beings. The types of fuel they use aren’t in the least the kinds of substances conceivable by the technology, theories, or concepts of modern science.

Over the ages, these alien beings have continually been developing and metamorphosing. So in this universe there have really appeared the abnormal social relations that these kinds of lives have. Greed and lust have caused something like star wars to actually happen over where they live. They haven’t yet threatened humankind because humankind doesn’t have the ability to pose a threat to them. So they haven’t attacked humankind. They would attack humankind if you were to threaten them. Although alien beings haven’t attacked humankind, they know that a human body is the most perfect. They’ve thus taken a fancy to the human body and want to steal it. They saturate all domains of humankind with science to make human beings firmly believe in science and rely on it. When human beings’ thoughts and way of existence are completely assimilated to theirs, they just have to replace people’s souls and humans will become them, and they will eventually replace the human race.

It’s a long story. They have been coming here full-scale since the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in the West. They had come prior to that time, but they didn’t control people then. Their full-scale arrival began when Caucasian society entered the industrial age. They made full preparations and systematic arrangements for occupying this earth. It was they who created science for human beings. So this science was set up by aliens. Their purpose was to unify human beings and simplify their thoughts to the point of being as uniform as machines. And they unified knowledge to make it easy for them to later on control and replace human beings. Furthermore, they’ve chosen a few nationalities as the vanguards of their future, total control of humankind. Japan is the vanguard that drives technology. The United States is the vanguard in breaking away from all ancient cultures on earth. The cultures of even the most ancient and closed-off nations haven’t been able to escape. The whole world is being impacted by America’s modern culture. England was the vanguard in the manufacture of machinery during the early stages, and Spain was the vanguard for mixing the human races. The way alien beings get human beings to shake free of the gods is to mix the races, causing human beings to become rootless people, just like the plant hybrids people make nowadays. South Americans, Central Americans, Mexicans and some people in South East Asia—all of these races have been mixed. None of this can evade the gods’ eyes. Alien beings have made rather extensive preparations for overtaking human beings.

Everyone who knows how to operate a computer has been registered. Of course, our students don’t have this problem. Once you obtain the Fa, I clean up that layer of your body that’s been occupied by them. They have formed a layer of their body within the human body. It’s incredibly frightening! Everything people learn from elementary school right up through college is the science they brought, and everything that human beings use nowadays is the product of this omnipresent science. Why do the inspirations people get make computers and technology develop with such tremendous speed? It’s done by that layer of the body that alien beings formed so as to control the human race. It’s exactly because that system of their technology and science that has formed in the human body is making people’s minds do so. Today it’s incredible how developed computers are. But it is not a human technology. Man will be replaced by alien beings if it continues like this for long. But think about it, everyone: Alien beings are, after all, beings within the Three Realms, where ordinary humans are. There are other reasons why they dare to do this sort of thing. It has happened because the Fa of the universe has deviated and gods no longer look after things. So it has to do with high-level beings as well. If this situation is to be turned around, it has to begin from high levels. That’s because they have this idea that human beings are no longer any good, their morality has degenerated, and everything is perverted. So they think it’s all right to just replace them, given that they are going to be eliminated all the same. Buddhas are merciful to people because Tathagatas and Bodhisattvas are closest to humankind—they’re the lowest-level Buddhas. When Buddhas who are many levels above that level of Buddhas stop and take a look, Tathagatas are to them likewise ordinary people. Then what are human beings to them? Human beings count for nothing. When they see that human beings are no longer good, they just destroy them and start over. That’s their thinking. Mercy to them is not towards human beings but towards Buddhas. When gods at even higher levels stop and take a look, human beings are nothing to them and more trivial than microorganisms. You see the idea here, right? Some people are even saying, “Teacher, you should save us such-and-such way.” To that I reply, “So you think that if a Buddha doesn’t save you he’ll suffer withdrawal, just as if he were addicted to doing that?” That’s not how it is. Buddhas [save people] only out of their mercy upon people, upon you. People want to choose, they want to be saved in some specific ways, and they want to cultivate in certain ways. They don’t know what they’re talking about.

That’s the situation as far as alien beings go. They are being swept out up there, and they found out about the cleaning, so they scurried over here, and in particularly large numbers in recent years. Yet they don’t know that this thing I’m doing has been systematically arranged, so no matter where they run to they can’t escape. They have to pay for all of the bad things they’ve done, for sure. The principles of this universe are absolutely reasonable toward any life. So they have to answer for everything they’ve done. As for how their lives will eventually be dealt with, alien beings definitely won’t exist in the future. If there are truly good ones among the alien beings, then their lives can reincarnate as other lives. Bad lives will be eliminated. So every thing that every being does positions himself for the future. And that includes all human beings. Whatever a human being does positions him.

As of right now, most of the alien beings who have come here did so fleeing for their lives. They knew that in the end it would be hard for them to escape, so some alien beings have married Earth dwellers. But it’s not that they marry legitimately, because no one would marry them. They catch a village woman to leave behind their offspring. And there are those who are hiding among ordinary people. They can’t stay under cover no matter how they hide. Immense gong is coming up from the microscopic level. Whether it be steel, iron, wood, the human body, water, rocks, air, plants, animals, substances, etc., from the microscopic level of everything gong is coming up toward the surface. Tell me, where could they escape to? The gong is omnipresent and rushing up to the surface. So they’ve seen that there is no way to dodge it or to hide from it. How do they exist? They aren’t actually possessing spirits. But some of them have assumed man’s appearance and walk the streets. You have no idea who they are. Some have hidden and don’t come out. But the number is now small, very small. In the past they could hide, and their flying saucers could fly up and go to another dimension. But the other dimensions have all been cleaned up. Immense gong is rushing here and they can no longer hide. They can only hide in a cave or at the bottom of the sea in this dimension. Even so, they can’t stay concealed. Anyway, that’s the problem they face. All lives are positioning themselves in this affair.

Question: The science of ordinary people’s society is wrong, so can we directly enter into cultivation without being indoctrinated with ordinary human knowledge?

Teacher: From another perspective, we can still increase our knowledge [by studying science]. When I teach the Fa, I also use modern people’s concepts to explain the Fa so that people can understand. Knowledge can open your mind, so it’s helpful for obtaining the Fa. If a person’s educational level is really low, it will be hard for him to understand the modern terminology that I use. But it’s not that one cannot do without it. If the culture weren’t this type—one brought about by science—I could teach the Fa with an ancient language instead of the way I teach today. All the same, society has become this way, so it’s fine for you to conform to the way of ordinary people’s society. For now it can only be this way. Whether you’re an adult or a child, I think that you should, as a cultivator, do everything well in whatever position you have. If you’re a student, learn your schoolwork well; if you work, do your job well. If you come up with some special approach, your way of cultivation might change correspondingly and bring difficulties to your life and cultivation. You should know that although alien beings brought their science to human beings to achieve their goals, gods are in charge of everything and are in turn using them.

Question: Should we spend a lot of time on cultivation and less time on our jobs among ordinary people?

Teacher: That’s not the idea. You should do your best to complete your work within the work hours ordinary people have. I think that no matter how busy you are, you have time to do the exercises and read the book. That’s the way it is. I think that you should, as a diligent disciple, want in your heart to use more of your spare time to cultivate.

Question: Do we need to intentionally seek a complicated environment for cultivating?

Teacher: That’s not necessary. You can’t always want to do things according to your own will, nor arrange your cultivation path for yourself. Don’t go by your own will in wishing to do this or do that—your path is arranged by me. If you want to cultivate, that’s the way it is. Just do whatever you’re supposed to do. In China there are some people who suddenly stopped paying attention to their attire after they started practicing. It goes without saying that a person should dress presentably and groom himself neatly, like the way a human being should. But they became sloppy and unkempt, to the point of almost being shameless. That’s unacceptable. [The way we cultivate] isn’t the way Zhang Sanfeng[6] cultivated the Dao years ago. You are cultivating in the society of ordinary people. At the very least you should look like a decent human being. Gods are higher than human beings and should act even better—they need to act better in every respect. Be sure not to ignore everything and become sloppy, unkempt, and grimy once you practice Falun Gong—that’s unacceptable. From a certain point of view, you are damaging Dafa’s image. Isn’t that the case? So for this conference I told everyone and notified the persons in charge that everyone should dress neatly and not look inappropriate to others, right? The Chinese economy has been good these years, so it’s really not a problem for someone to [buy and] wear a decent outfit. I’m not saying you have to wear expensive clothes, but at the very least, tidy up and dress a little neatly. Remember, we cultivate in the society of ordinary people. This shouldn’t be a problem. So, as far as cultivation goes, you shouldn’t arrange for yourselves a cultivation environment.

Question: A four year-old child’s Third Eye has opened and he can see Falun and Teacher’s name emitting light. But sometimes he’s strong-willed, and if adults don’t yield to him he will cry and throw a tantrum. This agitation makes me upset.

 Teacher: “This agitation makes me upset.” Didn’t you just point it out? You’re upset, and if you are upset, your mind is perturbed. Isn’t the child helping you improve?

Question: When this two year-old child sees a Falun, she excitedly says, “Falun.” When she sees Teacher’s picture, she says, “Master.” She often sits on the floor with her hands in the Heshi position, saying, “Do the exercises.” Sometimes when we play Teacher’s audiotape she says, “Listen to Master.”

Teacher: Then this child is really special, as she is only two years old. Children like this have probably come to obtain the Fa. Among our four to five year-old and five to six year-old little disciples, little students, there are a great many who’ve cultivated well. They are really amazing. Some of them possess quite a few extraordinary abilities. There are lots of people like that. The gods above see clearly which family will obtain the Fa in the future: “Oh, this family will obtain the Fa.” Maybe they then make arrangements to reincarnate there, since they can obtain the Fa that way.

Question: Do hospitals have more karma than other places?

Teacher: A hospital in the society of ordinary people is an institute that treats diseases, and it does seem to have slightly more pathogenic qi. Then again, what are you afraid of as a practitioner? It has nothing to do with us practitioners. Those things can’t harm us.

Question: Does performing autopsies in a hospital have a bad effect on [Dafa] practitioners?

Teacher: If it’s your job, just do it. There’s no issue since those people are dead. We require that in cultivation you conform to the society of ordinary people to the greatest extent possible. Don’t alter the ways of ordinary people’s society because you are now cultivating. That wouldn’t do.

Question: If a person doesn’t swear verbally but swears in his mind, will this person lose virtue?

Teacher: Some people say, “I’ve cultivated quite well and have conducted myself quite well,” but the attachments in their hearts haven’t been discarded in the least. Can that count as cultivation? Isn’t that fake? So only fundamental changes are true changes. What’s on the surface is all show. Whether or not you swear verbally is a formality. Whether or not your heart and mind have changed is what’s real. If you swear in your mind, then of course your mind hasn’t changed. Whether or not you lose virtue is a minor issue. Dafa is not being taught to preserve ordinary people’s virtue.

Question: Some students are afraid of poisonous animals and other creatures. Can one Consummate if these fears aren’t discarded?

Teacher: Those are two different things. Just get rid of the attachment of fear and you will be fine. Many of you aren’t necessarily afraid of them, but dislike those things because they’re dirty. It’s not the kind of dirtiness a person feels upon seeing excrement, but rather, it’s the kind of dirtiness he feels when he thinks those things are bad. In the world of the future, in the universe of the future, such creatures won’t exist. Let me tell you that the universe initially didn’t have those poisonous, wicked things. Why did they emerge later on? Because lives’ karma became greater and greater, the lives became worse and worse, and the universe became more and more impure. So more and more bad things emerged, and gradually they became more and more poisonous. That’s how they evolved.

Question: In the scripture[7] “Enlightenment,” it says, “pair after pair continually arrive (liang liang xiang ji er lai).” How should we understand “pair after pair (liang liang)”?

Teacher: That’s ancient Chinese syntax. Ancient Chinese syntax can explain things clearly. The language is concise, yet the meaning it conveys is profound and the inner dimensions it encompasses are comprehensive. It’s the best written language. In the past, people said it was the language of the heavens, the written language of the heavens. Nowadays, man’s morality has become corrupt and is no longer good, so the vernacular is used. If this “pair after pair continually arrive” is to be explained, it means: three in a group, two together; once someone discusses it with another person, saying, “This Fa is pretty good, let’s go cultivate,” that other person will think it’s pretty good too, so he will come as well. Then he too will tell and bring his family members, and people will come in pairs and trios. Using the plain vernacular of our day, I had to use so many words. Using “liang liang xiang ji (pair after pair continually)” arrive, everything is encompassed in just four words. That’s what it means. As for “xiang ji (one after another),” it means coming at different times, one after another, continually, continuously. Explaining xiang ji also takes a lot of words.

Question: Can Dafa disciples who do business in books and periodicals buy Dafa books at wholesale price and sell them at retail price?

Teacher: Not so long ago, I thought about something myself. Since recently more workers had to leave their duties (actually, they became unemployed) in China and a small number of them are our students, I thought about whether to let them sell Falun Dafa books. This way, not only could they make a living, but also ease the difficulty of students buying books. And some students have done so. Afterwards, I thought about it more carefully and it didn’t seem right. In what way was it wrong? Think about it, everyone: Dafa—a Great Way this sacred—can save us, yet we’d be using it to make money. Where would we be placing ourselves? Where would we be positioning Dafa? It really shouldn’t be done. So I didn’t let them do it. Why can it be done [by ordinary people] in society, then? Because I’m making use of the society of ordinary people to spread the Fa. The society of ordinary people is also a manifest form of the Fa at the lowest level, so its various trades and professions just exist like this, which isn’t wrong. Were our book not to have dimensions behind it and were it just black ink on white paper, it would just be a book. It is because it has its dimensions behind it that it has the effect of the Fa. It’s no problem for bookstores and book dealers in ordinary people’s society to sell them; that is, it conforms to the Fa at the level of ordinary people’s society. But as for our disciples, the kind of problem I described does in fact exist. If we used the Fa to make money, and since most of the people buying the books are our disciples, how could we spend that money?

If you yourself own a bookstore and make use of that convenient circumstance to sell Dafa books, and if the bookstore isn’t established specifically for Dafa and you owned the bookstore beforehand, then I don’t object to your doing this, since you were already dealing books prior to this, after all. But that said, I think that as you keep deepening your understanding of the Fa, you will have a new way of handling it.

Question: I ignored everything and fell out with my family members in order to see Teacher. Was that right or wrong?

Teacher: If you came from Mainland China, it is quite possible you weren’t allowed to come. Or, it’s quite possible that my Law Bodies didn’t want you to come and tried to keep your mind on cultivation. If you aren’t from Mainland China, then maybe there are other reasons on your part. Maybe it was to see whether you are steadfast. Anything is possible. You have to figure it out yourself.

Question: I know that I need to make good use of time to cultivate, but I also want to have children. Does this count as an attachment?

Teacher: We’ve said that we should cultivate while conforming to ordinary people to the greatest extent possible. Now there are tens of millions of young disciples who cultivate. If none of them gets married and has children, wouldn’t that be a form of harming ordinary people’s society? At the very least, I can tell you that you wouldn’t be conforming to the way of ordinary people’s society in your cultivation. Then again, some people say, “In this lifetime, I simply don’t want to get married. I’ve made up my mind.” I’m not against that, either. You can cultivate that way. As long as it doesn’t cause any additional burden or problems in your life or in other respects, I won’t do anything about it. Matters in the human world are decided and done by you, yourself. If you are saying that having children would affect a person’s cultivation, I don’t think it’s the case. That won’t happen.

Question: What are the forms of Consummation? Do they all require taking one’s benti?

Teacher: I’ve discussed this. Only those who go to the Falun Paradise take the body. As for those who are going to other places, since many of you have come to obtain the Fa from different levels and different realms, from the perspectives of the beings up there, were you to take a body back, those Gods and Buddhas would think it was as if you’d brought back with you some kind of strange and bizarre thing. So they definitely don’t have bodies there and do not want them. If that thing were brought back it would disrupt their entire cultivation system. Please note that no matter where you came from, I am only assimilating your original things to the new and most righteous Fa. When it comes to the surface things of your cultivation, I don’t touch any of them, so as to ensure that you will return to your original place. In other words, if you were a Buddha, you will be a Buddha; if you were a Dao, you will be a Dao; and if you were a God, you will be a God. Your appearance and anything that you had before won’t change. Those who didn’t have an Attainment Status before might be able to attain one through this round of cultivation, and then wherever you are supposed to go, it will be arranged for you to go there.

Question: Whenever I do the exercises, I always hear the same, non-Dafa music. I’m concerned that there is interference by other dimensions’ messages.[8]

Teacher: Music in other dimensions is different from the music for our cultivation. But there is indeed beautiful music in other dimensions. If you hear it, then let it be—don’t be concerned about it. Those are sounds in other dimensions. And don’t worry: Music itself doesn’t represent cultivation. When you are cultivating in Dafa I let you exercise with this music. The purpose is to replace thousands of thoughts with one thought until at some point your mind can reach a tranquil state. That is to say, when you listen to the music, your mind won’t run all over the place but will just listen to the music. It benefits your doing the exercises. But the music you use has to be the one for doing our exercises.

Question: My body has encountered a type of interference, which involves words and pictures. It’s been half a year and I haven’t been able to overcome it.

Teacher: If you are a true cultivator, no matter what your intention was when you initially took up Dafa, you have to let it go and not be concerned with anything. You have to be clear that you didn’t come to cultivate in order to resolve some issue. The purpose of my spreading this Fa is to save people, to enable people to cultivate, and to enable people to return. It’s not to resolve some problems of ordinary human bodies. It’s a serious thing. You have to be sure that you yourselves are truly cultivating, and then any problem can be resolved for you. But if you just want to resolve some ordinary human problems, then we can’t resolve any of them for you. In a sentence: The Fa is for cultivation. For example, some people know that healing is not Falun Gong’s purpose, so they think: “Then I won’t do it to get healed. I understand that the purpose isn’t to heal my ailments, and I won’t mention healing. I won’t ask for healing either.” Yet in their minds they’re still thinking, “As long as I do the exercises, Master is sure to clear out my ailments.” You see, in their minds they’re still thinking, “As long as I do the exercises, Master will surely clear out my ailments.” That bit of thought is still there, buried deep in their minds. They still want me to resolve their health problems, which is to say, they’re still attached to their ailments. If they truly let go of them, don’t think about them at all, and aren’t concerned with them, then see what happens. It’s called “gaining naturally without pursuit.” Every cultivation way and method works like that. In the society of ordinary people you can obtain whatever it is you want by trying hard or even going after it doggedly. But the principles in other dimensions are precisely the opposite, they’re reversed. You will get nothing when you go all out trying to gain something or do something, full of attachment. You can only obtain it when you let go more and are less concerned with it. So it’s called “gaining naturally without pursuit.”

Question: When Master was doing the large hand signs at the Singapore conference, some people felt comfortable, some people felt the signs were wonderful, and some people felt heartbroken and sad, and wept. Was it related to cultivation levels?

Teacher: Close enough—that’s basically not far off. Each persons feeling and understanding is different.

Question: In order to Consummate in cultivation, everyone has to reach the realm of no selfishness and no ego. Then why are there different levels [at which people Consummate]?

Teacher: Let me put it this way. A person can Consummate at the level of the initial level Arhat Attainment Status as well; attaining self-liberation is adequate. It’s not necessary to think about saving all sentient beings, and a person doesn’t need to think about taking care of others—the cultivator just needs to work at [attaining liberation] himself and achieve it. That’s the initial-level Arhat Attainment Status. If you want to achieve the Bodhisattva Attainment Status—even if it’s just the initial Bodhisattva Attainment Status—you need to cultivate and develop a heart of great compassion as you cultivate, and along with achieving self-liberation, you have to also help others be liberated. Whether you can accomplish that or not, you will have that compassion, see all sentient beings as truly suffering, and shed tears at the sight of them. It’s not feigned—it is real. It’s not something you will to happen. Of course, in cultivation that state won’t occur all the time, but it will occur. Your compassion will be different if you cultivate into a Buddha. You definitely won’t shed tears like a Bodhisattva does when looking upon sentient beings. You will have compassion, will more clearly understand the karmic connections among sentient beings, and will view everything with greater wisdom. When Buddhas who have cultivated to a level much higher than a Tathagata stop and look at it, they’ll think, “What kind of compassion is that?” They think that the compassion Buddhas have toward ordinary human beings is also an attachment. They can only be compassionate toward those Gods, Buddhas, and sentient beings in the paradises of Buddhas below them, but have no compassion towards human beings. That’s not to say they aren’t compassionate, but rather, their realms are too high. To them, the lives down here are so trivial that they’re even lower than microorganisms. They don’t think that those deficient human beings are any kind of useful life form. When Buddhas who have reached even higher realms look back, they think: “Oh, these Tathagata Buddhas are ordinary people too; what are those people doing down there?” What do human beings look like to them? Humans are nothing; they burrow around in the dirt like extremely tiny microorganisms. Then what about Buddhas in even higher, and even higher higher realms? If you want to achieve that state, you have to cultivate to that realm. I’m only giving you a simple idea of what it’s like. It’s not limited to just this.

The True Fa can’t be made known to human beings, because you still have human minds. Beings in different realms have different ways of existence. Also, the physical bodies of beings on this side are constantly changing. If a Buddha’s body is composed of atoms, then the bodies of those even higher Buddhas, and the bodies of the gods who are higher than Buddhas, could be composed of what is equivalent to neutrons. Further up, they could be composed of neutrinos or quarks. And that’s only the microscopic scale that humans can recognize. What about those that are composed of more microscopic, even more microscopic matter? Their energy is visibly greater. The smaller a substance’s particles, the greater its density. Their appearances are thus extremely fine and lustrous. We can see pores on the human body, but if you look at a god’s body, there aren’t any pores. If you look at the beings in the Three Realms with bodies that are one level higher than those of humans—that is, the heavenly beings at different levels inside the Three Realms—you will see that to the human eye, their bodies are smooth, fine, and just wonderful. That’s because their particles are smaller and denser than those of humans in the secular world. In other words, as a being continually elevates, the entire form at the surface elevates in tandem; but elevation of realms is a prerequisite. Consummation can be achieved in different realms. No matter which level you reach in cultivation, what’s below your level will no longer be a mystery to you. Everything below will be displayed before your eyes, and you will see things as they truly are. Yet everything higher than your level will forever be a mystery to you, you will never know about them, as [where you are] is the Attainment Status you have enlightened to. You will get out however much you put in and cultivate.

Question: I realize that cultivation is a serious thing. On the other hand, is it wrong to find joy in hardship and to cultivate cheerfully?

Teacher: That isn’t wrong. If you can remain cheerful at all times in your cultivation, and do so no matter what problems you encounter, then I’d say you are really remarkable. Everyone will truly admire you and hold you in high regard, as what you described is hard to do. It’s hard to keep your mind steady in the face of any difficulty and to cheerfully handle things. But being able to maintain an optimistic disposition and a compassionate heart at all times—even when we don’t meet with troubles or face tests—is what a cultivator should normally do. That is the best state of mind.

Question: May practitioners have sexual relations in their marriage?

Teacher: We’ve said that you are cultivating among ordinary people and are not disciples who have left the secular world to dedicate yourselves to cultivation. So your way of life needs to conform to the ways of ordinary people. We don’t deem the physical forms found here among ordinary people to be important. Why is that? What’s being changed is the human heart and mind. If a person’s heart and mind don’t change, it’s all meaningless. If, say, on the surface you have nothing and yet deep down inside you can’t let go of things and are antsy when it comes to these [human] things, it’s useless. If you say, “Deep down inside I’m not attached to them and I just see them as things that allow us to keep a human state,” then I would say you’re doing pretty well. Of course, all of these things are to be left behind when you reach a high and profound level in cultivation. What you do during this period of time can’t be counted as wrong. I’ve discussed it clearly in Zhuan Falun—I’ve talked about this situation.

Why are you allowed to be this way during your cultivation? The reason is, this cultivation way of ours, this Dafa that I’m teaching today, is purposely brought out to be practiced in the complicated society of ordinary people, and only that way can people from higher levels return. If the society of ordinary people weren’t complicated enough—that is, if you didn’t have such big ordeals and interference—those of you who came from higher levels could never return. Since the Fa is great and is spread in the society of ordinary people, it has provided you with the convenience of being able to live in ordinary people’s society. The transformation of your body starts from the microscopic level, from the origin of your existence—the fundamental particles that comprise your being—and expands outwards from the inside, like the rings of a tree. It will expand outward like the rings of a tree for as long as you cultivate, and will do so as soon as you meet the standard. When it expands out to the surface, just like tree rings reaching the bark, the transformation is complete and you Consummate. Before it has reached the bark, that is, before it has reached the outermost surface layer of your physical body, your physical body on the surface still has thoughts like those of ordinary humans and you are bound to have a variety of ordinary human desires, lust, feelings, and other attachments of all sorts. Those thoughts are not as strong as ordinary people’s, but they are there, and they’re purposefully left for you so as to make sure you can conform to the setting of ordinary humans as you cultivate. The side that has finished cultivation, however, won’t be driven by the ordinary human surface body to get involved with human affairs. As soon as the side that you’ve finished cultivating meets the standard, it is separated.

What’s the benefit of its being separated? No matter what activities the human surface on this side engages in among ordinary people, no matter what it does, the side that has finished cultivating sits over there and doesn’t move at all; it doesn’t have any mental activities or thoughts. That body doesn’t move and doesn’t engage in anything. This then ensures that when the person is doing human things his godly side doesn’t do them, and that it is the human side—which hasn’t been fully cultivated—that does those things. This ensures, then, that you will only keep ascending, and not descend, as you improve yourself. If, instead, we had chosen to start the transformation from the surface and gone towards the depths, and done so in the society of ordinary people, then you definitely couldn’t cultivate in that society. Everything you did among ordinary people would be equivalent to a god doing it, as a transformed body is equivalent to the body of a god. So it would be considered as if it was doing human things, and you simply couldn’t cultivate. Is it permitted for gods to do ordinary human things? It’s absolutely prohibited for gods to have ordinary human feelings. So we’ve reversed it: We start transforming you from your life’s origin. This way, it keeps expanding further and further out toward the surface. Before you Consummate you can always maintain the way of life among ordinary people at the surface level. It’s just that you become more and more free of attachments until finally you can take everything lightly and let go of everything. You’re then close to Consummation. You will have fully achieved Consummation when, as a whole, you have expanded all the way to the surface. It’s natural at that moment and there are no quakes. In the past, a person’s Consummation would generate shock waves. When a person Consummated, landslides, seismic sea waves, and earthquakes would occur across a large area. Yet our form of Consummation doesn’t generate shock waves. It’s thus suitable for more people to cultivate in the society of ordinary people, as it does not affect it. With so many people attaining Consummation, I think there’s no way the earth could take it. So we’ve arranged each and every facet to be suitable for cultivating in the society of ordinary people.

Before the part that is yet to be fully cultivated has expanded to your surface, I wouldn’t believe you if you said that you didn’t have ordinary human attachments. You would be forcing yourself [to achieve that]. You can strictly hold yourselves to high standards and conduct yourselves like practitioners. At the same time, conform as much as possible to the ways of ordinary people’s society. But what I’m talking about applies to more than this one issue [of sexual relations]. It’s not as simple as handling sexual relations between husband and wife a certain way, that’s not the case. You can choose for yourselves the most suitable approach on this issue. Whichever way you feel is best, that’s fine. If you feel that you still have ordinary human thoughts, that they are quite strong; if you still want to get married, want to find a boyfriend or girlfriend, and you like a particular young lady or a young man… if you have these desires and do these things, then it indicates that your cultivation hasn’t yet reached that point yet, so you can partake of such things. Don’t claim that you can immediately let go of everything today, that you can do so instantaneously and be a Buddha. If that were the case you wouldn’t need to cultivate—you would already be a Buddha. So cultivation is done little by little, it’s a gradual process. Although I’ve said this, if you think, “Oh, Teacher said that before I succeed in cultivation I will have all kinds of ordinary human emotions and desires at the surface level. Then I can do that sort of thing,” then guess again! Although you have those things and I am telling you to conform to ordinary people as much as possible, if you don’t strictly hold yourself to the standards for a cultivator, you are just the same as somebody who doesn’t cultivate. That’s the dialectical relationship.

Question: Caucasian students want to use all of their time to listen to the Fa, but there’s not yet any audiotape with simultaneous translation. Can they record themselves reading Zhuan Falun and then listen to it?

Teacher: The result won’t necessarily be too good. Why not? It’s because the Fa in my voice has power. Since you are a cultivator, before you Consummate, everything you say carries various kinds of ordinary human messages. So when you play it back, you absorb them back. This repeated, reciprocal contamination isn’t good. It’s a different matter when you read the book. We’re now making a simultaneous translation. We’re speeding up our pace in making it; it should be available soon and this problem will be resolved soon. Anyway, I’m telling you this principle: What you say carries all of those ordinary human attachments and notions of yours. The Fa needs to be at work. A person won’t get much out of it by listening to just the superficial principles. What comes out of your mouth is your understanding at your level. When you come back and listen to it again, your understanding will always remain at that level. Simultaneous translation is different since my voice is there. Even though the volume of my voice is low and the translator’s is higher, in actuality, he is translating, and it’s really me who is teaching. The students can understand me as well as receive everything I carry when I teach the Fa. That’s what I mean.

Question: I met, for a total of three times, a little girl between three to five years old. When I was half asleep and half awake, she would step on my pillow, jumping and laughing. Is she a Cultivated Infant (yinghai) who has come out of the Falun?

Teacher: These situations are good things, generally, but not always so. Cultivated Infants are little. Each person’s background is complex, so don’t pay attention to these kinds of things. She could be someone you brought along from the past, or there could be other reasons. Anyway, she’s a little girl after all. It could be a good thing. Don’t pay attention to her. Just mind your cultivation.

It appears that I haven’t explained this clearly, because some people haven’t grasped it yet. I’ll give an example to illustrate the point, though it might not necessarily apply to this situation. When some people come down and reincarnate, they are followed by their child from the past. The child hasn’t reincarnated, though, and just follows over on that side. Also, there are other people who had children in previous lives, and when they reincarnated in one lifetime, their child didn’t reincarnate in that lifetime. Yet the child is exceptionally intuitive and always follows him. There’s also this situation. There are circumstances of all kinds. Because you’ve obtained the righteous Fa, we’ll arrange all of this for you if the child has a karmic connection to you. All of this will be appropriately arranged for you, so you don’t need to be concerned about it anymore.

Question: I racked my brain but still couldn’t come up with a question. Is it that I haven’t cultivated very…

Teacher: Some of our veteran students who’ve cultivated well can’t come up with anything to say when they meet me. I know that they feel uneasy when they can’t come up with anything to say, despite trying really hard. Prior to meeting me they have a belly full of things they want to ask me, but as soon as they meet me they’re speechless. Let me tell everyone why that is. As long as you’re a cultivator, you will be like that when you meet me. The reason you have nothing to say upon meeting me is because, as you continually cultivate, the part of you that has become enlightened through cultivation—the part that has been fully cultivated—is separated from you. It’s separated from the part that hasn’t yet been fully cultivated. So the part of you that hasn’t yet been totally cultivated will always feel confused, so it will have questions and will even want to ask them. But since you see the master when you meet me, the part of you that has been totally cultivated will, like your surface, also become attentive, and as soon as it becomes attentive the ordinary human side of you is completely controlled by it. Why is it that you have no bad thoughts and are so benign as you sit here? It’s because the part of you that has been fully cultivated has become attentive, and your entire body is controlled by it. Tell me, if the part that’s been fully cultivated weren’t up to par, could it have finished cultivation? In other words, it knows everything. It’s just the part that has not been fully cultivated that doesn’t know. Which is to say, at that point you will no longer want to ask, and there’s nothing to ask about since you know it all clearly. Upon your parting with me it will no longer pay any heed and will stay motionless, so this part of you here will again become unclear about things. “How come I didn’t ask Teacher just now?” Isn’t that the situation? That’s in fact how it is.

I’ll tell you all, you should read the book more, read the book more, and read the book more—you must read the book repeatedly. These teachings are the Fa of the cosmos. Since ancient times, each cultivation way’s Fa that was transmitted in the society of ordinary people has been Fa at or below the realm of Tathagata. Such an immense Fa as this has created different living environments for the different beings in the cosmos. It is the great Fa that has created the entire cosmos. It’s just that you can’t see its content at high levels until you reach those realms. But in it is everything you need to know in order to achieve an Attainment Status and to Consummate. So you must read the book more—read the book repeatedly. Of course, our veteran students know that if they have a question, they just have to read the book and it’s guaranteed to be resolved. Later on, new and higher-level questions will arise as you enter into new realms. When at that time you read the book over again, it will again answer them for you. After that you will again have questions in yet another realm, and at that time when you read the book some more, it will again answer them. In this way you keep on cultivating and constantly ascend. This Fa will answer questions when you have them. And as you hold yourself to strict requirements in everyday life and constantly improve, you are advancing diligently with force.

Question: Is selfishness the root of self-interest, emotion, and the desire for renown?

Teacher: Self-interest and the desire for renown are both selfish. As for emotion (qing), I’ve revealed in previous Fa speeches that it permeates this dimension of humankind as well as the Three Realms. No being inside the Three Realms can escape it—they are all within its control. Human beings are precisely amidst this emotion. The more you are attached to it, the greater its power and thus the more effect it has on you. In particular, when people lose their loved ones or when young people have their hearts broken, the more it’s thought about, the greater the power emotion has. Emotion is inside the Three Realms, so you, a cultivator, must shake free of it. You should shed this emotion and go beyond it. As for self-interest and renown, those are things that human beings value highly. But actually, they too come from emotion. With renown, won’t you enjoy the happiness and good fortune it brings? You’ll then be really pleased. Doesn’t a person pursue renown and self-interest to gain satisfaction? If someone is satisfied, isn’t he then pleased? Isn’t that pleasure you feel also emotion? Renown can bring you joy and honor, which are emotion, aren’t they? If you’ve gained satisfaction over self-interest, aren’t you again pleased? It’s again emotion. So human beings live precisely for this emotion. Among ordinary people, whether or not you’re happy, whether or not you’re against something, whether or not you want something, or whether you want to attain a certain status, what you consider good or bad, what you do or don’t want to do, all of it is emotion. I’ve said that human beings just live for emotion. Could there be no emotion in human society? If there were no emotion in human society, human beings wouldn’t find living interesting—it really wouldn’t be. That’s just how man is supposed to live.

As for selfishness, I mentioned a principle to you earlier and you all applauded with much delight. I spoke about the future universe’s not becoming extinct, and all of you were happy about it. Do you know why it can be that way? Some people say, “If a person is not out for himself, he’ll be damned by the heavens.” Some people have taken this as their motto. Actually, you don’t yet know that this selfishness reaches all the way up to very high levels. As a matter of fact, for cultivators in the past to say, “I’m doing such and such,” “I want to do such and such,” “I want to obtain such and such,” “I’m cultivating,” “I want to become a Buddha,” or “I wish to attain such and such,” none of that was outside of selfishness. But what I want you to do is to truly, purely, and unselfishly Consummate with the real righteous Fa and righteous Enlightenment—only then can you achieve eternal non-extinction. So I’m telling you that you have to consider others first in everything you do. Some people are happy if others give them money. When someone gives them money they don’t consider whether it will bring the other person trouble, whether his financial situation will become tight, and so on. “As long as others give me something, I’m happy, but I don’t consider others. As long as others are nice to me, I’m glad, but I’m not concerned about others.” Sometimes, even when some people are extremely distressed and have no choice but to say something to please you, you aren’t understanding of them. There are all kinds of situations. In other words, from now on in your cultivation, in everything you do, you have to think of others.

Question: In [Zhuan Falun] Volume 2 it mentions that there are people in the ocean, and that there are several different kinds of people.

Teacher: Yes. Some live in this dimension of ours, some don’t. Not only are there people in the ocean, but in the dimensions existing at the same level as ours, too, there are other people—people who are the same as you and people who aren’t the same as you. You can call them humans, or not. Since they have certain feelings but don’t have sexual desire as ordinary human beings do, the lower half of their body is in the form of some material; only their upper body is in human form. So they can float and fly around. Most of the people in the ocean belong to human races that were eliminated from the earth during different time periods. And there are some people that are just people from the bottom of the ocean: There are those who are similar to human beings, there are those whose upper body is human and lower body is that of a fish, and there are those whose upper body is that of a fish and lower body is human. Also, underneath the continental plates too there are people from the past, that is, human races that were eliminated in the past. They can’t come back up because they were weeded out from the human world—from the earth, that is. So a portion of them that didn’t have that much karma and that many sins burrowed into the earth. That’s how they are, and they don’t come out—they just live there. Their number is quite small. They’re often a little more capable than human beings and not as deluded. Okay, don’t be curious or concerned with these things, as they don’t have much to do with your cultivation.

Question: In the future, after the new Japanese version of Dafa is officially published, how should we dispose of the old-version books that have translation errors?

Teacher: It can’t be said that they have errors. It’s just that the translation was inadequate or that the words chosen were inaccurate. We can only describe it like that. How should they be disposed of? Don’t dispose of them, just leave them as is. No foreign-language version could possibly be translated from the Chinese without being somewhat off from the original. I’d even suggest that it is actually better to have more translation versions. When people read them, they will realize, “Oh, there’s this meaning… Oh, and there’s that meaning too… So that’s the way it is.” So there are actually some benefits, if you ask me. Just leave them as they are.

Question: Is timidity an attachment or a physiological factor?

Teacher: Timidity is caused by a factor called “timidity” that exists in this universe. It causes you to be afraid. The more scared you are, the more its effect on you. You have to conquer it with willpower—it’s a matter of willpower. This too needs to be accomplished in your cultivation.

Question: While I do the exercises, I often think about matters related to cultivation, spreading the Fa, and Teacher’s words. Is this right?

Teacher: It’s a state during a particular time. In the future it won’t be a problem.

Question: If someone takes lives on my behalf, is the karma still accrued by me?

Teacher: If you do this kind of work… I don’t want to discuss this matter in this kind of setting. I’ve written two articles that discuss and explain this matter, but some people can’t seem to realize what I’m saying. Let me talk about it this way: Do you know how many lives you have harmed over the course of all your lifetimes? Each person has harmed many lives. With a lesser Fa you couldn’t succeed in cultivation in this lifetime, and you would have to pay for the lives that you owe from each lifetime. In Buddhism it’s believed that cultivation can’t be completed in one lifetime. So they too have seen that the lives which are killed have to be paid for. But today we’re allowing you to reach Consummation, so there isn’t that much time remaining. Then what’s to be done about those lives that you have taken? Aside from the portion of suffering that you owe them—a portion for which you are dissolving karma and paying through suffering—I have to eliminate the great majority for you. The remainder is left for you to pay, ensuring that you can pass this trial. At the same time, a portion of the lives that you harmed will become beings in the paradise you will have after you Consummate, so it will turn into a good thing. If the to-be-harmed life knew, “Oh, I’ll go to a Buddha’s paradise in the future,” it would stretch its neck out to let you kill it. It would happily, cheerfully let you kill it. Of course, it wouldn’t have an Attainment Status. It would just go to that paradise to be a common being, it would go to your Buddha paradise to be a regular citizen, a flower, or an animal such as a bird. Anyway, there are different arrangements per the different lives.

Yet after I talk about it this way, some people might understand it in the opposite way: “Oh, it’s alright for me to take lives, then.” If you can’t Consummate, you will never, ever be able to pay for all of the lives you’ve killed, though you have to pay for them. That is how tremendous the karma you have accrued is. In other words, your repayment process would be terribly excruciating and almost endless. So it’s a really horrific situation. Yesterday a student said: “Teacher hasn’t talked about hell.” I’d say that I can’t talk to you about it. This setting of ours is so sacred, and it’s terrifying to talk about that. Of course, it’s not terrifying for me, but to some people it’s really horrifying. So I think that even though I didn’t directly answer you just now, I’ve nonetheless explained it clearly.

In China there was a student who was a Ph.D. candidate in medical science. He was doing dissection experiments. He was going to receive his doctorate after completing the experiments. That is, he had passed all of his exams, but he still needed to do some experiments and dissect a thousand or maybe five hundred mice and then he could receive his Ph.D. Later on, he brought up with his teacher that he couldn’t do this. He said, “I’m now practicing Falun Dafa and I know that killing generates karma.” Then he told his academic advisor, “I can’t take lives—I’d rather give up the degree.” Let’s think about it. If a person can’t pass the trial of life and death, he cannot achieve Consummation. But it’s not that you will definitely have to go through exactly something like that for it to count as laying down your life; that’s only the form of it. I don’t deem that important. What I look at is whether or not your mind can truly do that. Think about it, everyone: Human beings live in this world for nothing but renown and self-interest. If he were to receive his Ph.D. degree, he would have a good job and future ahead of him. And naturally, his salary would be high—that goes without saying. It would be higher than that of regular people or an average person. Don’t people just live for those things? He could even let go of those things. So think about it: He dared to forgo even that. He was able to let go of those things as a young person, so wasn’t it that he could give up anything? Wasn’t it that he dared to lay down his life? Don’t people just live for those things? The cultivation realm of people who can do that is up there, in fact. With regard to these people and these types of situations, I said that since they could let go of their emotion, renown, and self-interest, why not also let go of the very fear of taking lives itself? Wouldn’t that be discarding the final attachment? I’m just telling a point. It would be different if you couldn’t reach that realm, couldn’t pass the trial of life and death, couldn’t abandon all of those things, and you did it this way. All of the lives you took would have to be paid for in your own, endless payment process—that’s how frightening it is. I’ve spelled out the principles of the Fa and the underlying laws. But as for how you should act, that still remains for you to determine for yourself. The principles of Dafa teach that you cannot take life. For as long as you cultivate you cannot kill. At a higher realm, however, Dafa is all-encompassing and the Fa displays principles that are in a Buddha’s realm. I’ve said that some of the lives that you have harmed will be consummated and become common beings in your future paradise, but everything will come to naught if you can’t Consummate! All of your karma will have to be repaid by you, yourself. That’s the relationship. I don’t want to discuss the Fa at high levels precisely because even after I had revealed it, many people still wouldn’t truly comprehend the principles I would have talked about.

Of course, the Fa is higher than the principles among ordinary people. You wouldn’t find it even if you rummaged through all books—ancient, modern, Chinese, and foreign—and you wouldn’t find it even in other scriptures. That’s why everyone likes to hear it. But don’t regard it as knowledge—I’m not here to satisfy your attachment to seeking knowledge. I’m teaching the Fa in order to save you.

Question: Teacher, you often use the word “we.” How should we understand this?

Teacher: I’m using the phrasing used in modern Mainland China. I feel that you’re all members of Dafa and thus a part of Dafa, so I’ve referred to you as “we.” I feel that when you hear it perhaps you will place yourself in true cultivation. That’s the thinking behind it.

Question: When is a person considered to have psychosis?

Teacher: Psychosis is just that a person can’t control his own body and is very weak. As soon as this type of person encounters troubles, he doesn’t want to deal with anything. It’s as though his main consciousness (zhu yishi) is asleep, pays no attention to anything, and has suddenly let go of this body. At that point the person is in what ordinary people call a psychotic state. And why is that? When his main consciousness doesn’t control his body—that is, when he’s not rational—the various thoughts of his that are generated by karma and the various notions which formed after birth start to control his body, mouth, eyes, and everything else of his. So he will talk nonsense and act insane without any reasonable, normal behavior, and people will say he’s psychotic. I have said that psychosis is not a disease. It doesn’t have any pathological condition; it’s merely that the person’s main consciousness is too weak. There are also congenital illnesses where the person’s main consciousness is weak from birth and his body is always controlled by other beings; it constantly gets handed over to others to control. Add to that strong interference by messages from other dimensions, and the person will do anything. The brain is a ready-made machine and anyone can operate it. If you don’t operate it, and you turn it over, others will come to operate it and then it won’t follow human standards. So a person has to have a strong will. The will must be firm!

Question: Are there people who will have neither their innate body (benti) transformed nor an Immortal Infant (yuanying) cultivated at the time of Consummation?

Teacher: I’ve said that many of our Dafa disciples come from different levels, so there might exist different situations. All the same, don’t be concerned with which situation yours is. I guarantee that as long as you cultivate I will allow you to reach the state that you will be most satisfied with. The same goes for everyone. Isn’t my giving you the best my creating the best for this cosmos? (Applause)

Question: When reading Zhuan Falun, I rarely feel that the Buddhas, Daos, and Gods are clearly pointing out something to me. But in the course of lived cultivation, I do enlighten to the Fa’s principles.

Teacher: You are able to enlighten on your own, so it’s not necessary to point things out to you. Managing to do that on your own is enlightening to the Dao on your own, and that is excellent. Some people really can’t enlighten to something, yet we see that they are good prospects. So what’s to be done? We drop them a hint.

Question: Of late I have often had an awful state of mind, my thoughts haven’t been good, and my thinking has been a mess. Have I really fallen that much?

Teacher: Karma will attack like mad when you slack off. If you are strong on this side you can suppress it. When you have suppressed and controlled it, if I see that you are really good and indeed a cultivator, I will have to look after you and eliminate those things for you. That’s how it works. It won’t do if you fail to handle it yourself. You might say, “Oh, then as long as I suppress it Teacher will eliminate it for me. Then I’ll start to suppress it.” It’s similar to what I said earlier about the thinking people with illness have: It won’t work if you practice only because you want me to eliminate karma for you! The bottom line is, you shouldn’t be attached to anything. You must have righteous thoughts.

Question: May we play the videotape of Master teaching the exercises when we are doing group exercises in the park?

Teacher: That’s all right if the environment permits it and the government doesn’t intervene. Whether you may play the video depends on the situation and the location.

Question: I’ve cultivated for more than a year and it is as though the more I cultivate, the more fragile I become. A tiny attachment can cause my heart much unrest.

Teacher: It’s also possible that you have become increasingly sensitive and are afraid that you aren’t doing well cultivating. Don’t develop that attachment, either. Cultivate openly and with dignity. On the other hand, you have to hold yourself to strict requirements. Every one of you will make mistakes in the course of cultivation and will have trials that you can’t pass. If you could smoothly get over every trial, then I, as your master, wouldn’t have arranged it well. So every trial is challenging to pass. You will either pass it or fail to pass it, and you will either pass it well or pass it poorly. But when you pass it poorly, you agonize over it and know that you haven’t cultivated well and regret it deeply. You make up your mind to cultivate well next time. Then the next time you will try again to pass it. It’s precisely in this state of being able to pass it, not being able to pass it, examining yourself, and doing this constantly that you are cultivating. If you could pass every trial well you wouldn’t need to cultivate. If no trial could stop you, you would be about to Consummate. On the other hand, if you think, “Teacher said that it doesn’t matter whether we pass it well or not, it’s fine as long as we cultivate,” and from here on out you slack off and don’t mind when you fail to pass trials well, then you are no longer cultivating. That’s how these things work. It won’t do if you do not hold yourself to strict requirements.

Question: What is Consummation? Is it dying like an ordinary person, or is it arranged by Master?

Teacher: Consummation takes many different forms. As you might know, Shakyamuni taught Nirvana in order to discard human attachments to the greatest extent. In his cultivation way they didn’t even want the human body. So a person in his practice shouldn’t be attached to the human body, and should just cultivate that way. Tibetan Lamaism teaches Light-Transformation. That is, the person sits there at the time of Consummation, and if his entire body is successfully cultivated, at the moment of Consummation his body is transformed into a beam of red light and his own Soul leaves with the successfully cultivated Buddha-Body. Since the Buddha-Body that is successfully cultivated doesn’t contain matter from this ordinary human side, human beings can’t see it, and can see only light and that a shape made of light rises up. There are people who haven’t cultivated that well and who can’t undergo Light-Transformation of the entire body. So at the time of Light-Transformation his body instantly shrinks, “Shwa!” to a full person about one foot tall. It looks exactly like him but has been reduced to about a foot tall, with a proportionate body. That is because he didn’t cultivate enough and was not completely transfigured in Light-Transformation.

There are other scenarios too. In the Dao system in China, they take the form of “deliverance from the corpse” when they Consummate. What is “deliverance from the corpse”? In ancient China, many people practiced the Great Dao.[9] The cultivation way of Great Dao requires that after a person succeeds in cultivation he takes the body with him—their way even wants the body. But this type of person’s flesh body is no longer an ordinary human body, for it has been completely transformed into high-energy matter and become his Dao-body. Their method of deliverance from the corpse is as follows. The person knows that he has cultivated to Consummation and that his entire body has been fully cultivated. How is he to leave the secular world? Most Daoists don’t resolve their unfulfilled wishes among ordinary people until after their Consummation. The Buddha system isn’t like that, though, as things are resolved in the midst of one’s Consummation.

Deliverance from the corpse would stop people from looking for the person after he leaves. He will fake his death, though by that time he is in fact capable of going up to the heavens or entering into the earth. As he is about to leave, he tells his family: “I will pass away. I have succeeded in cultivation and I’m about to leave. Prepare a coffin for me.” Precisely at the time he predicted, he lays down in bed and a moment later stops breathing. Family members see that he has passed away, so they put him in the coffin and bury him. But in fact, he has used the ability of “camouflaging”—he has used a supernormal power. What his family saw that day wasn’t his real body. So what was it? It was conjured from an object he had pointed at. He used a shoe, a whiskbroom, a wooden pole, or a sword, and transformed it into his own image. He had pointed at an object and transformed its image. It knows how to say whatever is needed, and it says to his family: “I’ll lay down here and in a moment it’ll be over. Just put me in the coffin, that’s all.” So in actuality, it was that piece of wood, that whiskbroom, or maybe a shoe [laying there]. The real person had left and gone far, far away. So the family buries him. After being buried, in a few hours that object will in fact return to its original form; it will return to a shoe, a bamboo pole, or a piece of wood. That is what’s called “deliverance from the corpse.” Sometimes a person will return from somewhere else and say: “Oh, I saw so and so from your family in a really far off place. We even spoke to each other when I went there for business.” His family will say: “That can’t be. He passed away.” That person will then respond: “I saw him. He hasn’t died. I really did see him. I even spoke with him and had a meal with him.” “That’s bizarre, he really did die.” His family knows that he was a Daoist: “Let’s dig him up and take a look, then.” When the coffin is opened they see a shoe in there.

In the Dao system there is also a form called “Ascension in Broad Daylight.” The Ascension in Broad Daylight form is used when a person’s body has been fully cultivated and he has fulfilled his wishes in the secular world prior to Consummation. It’s time for him to leave since there is nothing left to do. At that point something called “opening of the heavenly gate” takes place; in other words, the gate of the Three Realms is opened. Then, for some a heavenly god comes to receive him, or there comes a dragon, a crane, or whatnot, on which he rides and flies away, or a heavenly chariot comes to carry him. Such things happened a lot in ancient times. There is Ascension in Broad Daylight of this sort. In our practice system, I use the method of Ascension in Broad Daylight for those who are to go to the Falun Paradise. There are people in some cultivation ways who don’t want the body. Everything in that person’s entire paradise would be thrown into disarray if he were to be given a body. It’s just like with Shakyamuni’s Nirvana: If you were to give him a body it wouldn’t be Nirvana—wouldn’t the entire cultivation system be spoiled? His paradise is composed of the elements of Precept, Concentration, and Wisdom, and so he doesn’t want the body. Many of you think with a human mindset, “Oh, this Ascension in Broad Daylight is awesome. People will see me fly up.” You are thinking about divine matters with a human mindset, and that is totally unfitting. Put another way, at the time of Consummation there will naturally be a form for it. I can tell you, though, that with so many people reaching Consummation this time, I will definitely leave a profound lesson for the people who didn’t believe. So when my disciples Consummate in the future it will very likely be a magnificent sight, one that human society will never forget. (Applause)

With that said, you still have to discard all attachments and not be concerned with these things. Just keep cultivating. If your cultivation fails, everything is for naught.

Question: In the book Zhuan Falun, are there different Buddhas, Daos, and Gods behind different words?

Teacher: Yes, for sure. That’s why I tell you all to read the book. Some people understand something, “Aha!” and that instant when they realize that thing their bodies experience a sudden shudder and feel a warm current. Though they only have a subtle sensation, at that moment, the changes in the body are in fact extremely substantial, and on the other side churning is occurring everywhere. That’s because you have ascended to yet another level, and the body experiences different forms of changes at different levels. As you know, in Chinese temples some Buddha statues have another four heads on top of the head, or yet another three heads on top of those four heads, and one more head grows atop those three heads. Actually, it is a manifest form of a Buddha’s Fa-image at different levels. Which is to say, at different levels the changes in bodily states are quite profound. It’s not only magnificent, but solemn, majestic, and incredibly wonderful. So there is a reason why you aren’t allowed to see it. Since you have ordinary human thinking, you will understand it with human thoughts, and might even act insane as a result. We can’t have anything like that happen.

Question: Does hand-shaking and bodily contact transmit karma?

Teacher: If you are a true cultivator that will do no harm to you, no matter how sensitive you are. Your cultivated body has gong: how could it fear something lower than gong? There is a big gap between the two in terms of realm and level, so you shouldn’t fear it.

Hand-shaking among people, that is, contact and hand-shaking among ordinary people, can indeed transmit karma. At the very least there is contamination. That’s for sure. Nowadays everyone shakes hands. Hand-shaking came from the Western, Caucasian society. Asian people in the past didn’t shake hands. When they met, they would cup a fist in the other hand. That was pretty good. Women wouldn’t cup their fists like that because it would look bad. They would cup a fist to the right front of their abdomen like this; when they met people they would cup a fist to the side of the body and slightly bend their legs. It seems that hand-shaking appeared only after the Renaissance took place in the West; earlier on they didn’t shake hands, either. They had different kinds of greeting etiquette—some of this, some of that. Anyway, there were different kinds, all kinds of them. The handshake came into use later on. Don’t we have Heshi? It is the Buddha system’s custom.

Question: In more than a year of cultivation people have rarely made trouble for me. If it continues like this, how can I get rid of the many attachments I have?

Teacher: It’s not like that. Everybody’s circumstances are different. Maybe it’s this way, maybe it’s that way, maybe… There are all different sorts of factors. So make sure you don’t get attached to these things [here]. The day hardship really does arrive you will find it difficult to pass, yet when there are no hardships you want them. There’s a reason for everything. Actually, some people truly don’t have that many hardships. That’s also true.

Question: There are dozens of people at our practice site, and the vast majority of them have bad complexions. Is it because we aren’t cultivating solidly?

Teacher: There are a small number of practice sites that really aren’t right, where gossip circulates among the students and they “enlighten” to things indiscriminately. Some people indiscriminately “enlighten” to things that really have nothing to do with the Fa I teach, and they even lead students to think in one way or another and let their imaginations run wild. They even comment on the Fa, saying how this Fa is, how this section is, and how that section is. Are human beings worthy of commenting on the Fa? At the very least you still have a human mindset, so it’s not right to do that. You should just cultivate yourself, read, study, and perform the exercises in groups in accordance with Dafa. Use more of your time to read and study the Fa, and less time to talk about your own experiences and views. Or, after you finish doing the exercises you may discuss things together—that’s all right too. If you use the time meant for cultivation and reading the Fa to instead discuss your experiences, I don’t think that’s good. The things that some people talk about carry various selfish thoughts and emotions, and even have nothing to do with the Fa. In that case they can lead students astray and even indulge irrelevant thoughts. Human beings all have an ordinary human mindset. Our students, whether veteran or new, couldn’t possibly be allowed to talk about or know the principles that are higher than the words’ surface meanings. After all, what you talk about is the words’ literal meaning and principles at the surface, for Heaven’s Fa cannot be discussed among ordinary people. I don’t know what has gone wrong with some people. I don’t know how they “enlighten” to those messed up ideas. You must pay attention to this!

Question: What’s the translation of “yin”?[10] Why does one need to do “Jieyin”?[11]

Teacher: Buddhas don’t call it yin. It’s a manifestation of Buddha Fa’s dignity. It’s a term from ancient India that was translated directly, called yin. Jieyin, large shouyin,[12] and small shouyin are other expressions of the majesty of the Fa’s manifestation and language.

Question: I have cultivated for almost a year now, yet I have never seen the Falun.

Teacher: Let me put it this way. If you say that you haven’t had any changes in yourself, haven’t experienced any changes that the Fa has brought you, or don’t know or have not enlightened to anything that goes beyond how ordinary people are, then I don’t believe you unless you aren’t a cultivator. If you need to see something, have it manifest, or have it concretely shown just as clearly as when one looks at ordinary people, then I don’t think that will work. The reason being, there are different ways to handle each person in accordance with his own condition, his different mental states among ordinary people, and what he will achieve when he reaches Consummation in the future. In doing this task, I absolutely won’t do things uniformly in every situation. You might seek to see the Falun, but you won’t see it if the attachment isn’t discarded.

Question: Since Buddhas at higher levels see human beings as nothing, please tell us why Master has come to save us?

Teacher: The Fa of the cosmos created living environments at different levels for the beings at all of the many levels of the cosmos. It follows that there have to be lives in these living environments. Ordinary human beings are at the lowest level of the different levels created by this Fa for the entire cosmos. So from my standpoint, I need to take into consideration the entire Fa and the entire cosmos. Have I explained it clearly? (Applause) So from my standpoint, I view lives—lives of both the positive and negative sides—differently from you. It’s not something you can comprehend.

Question: As I continually study the Fa, the things I think about become fewer and fewer, to the extent that sometimes I don’t want to think about anything. Is this because my main consciousness is weak? Has my cultivation has gone astray?

Teacher: It’s not so. And I can even tell you that it’s a good phenomenon. Why do I say that it’s a very good phenomenon? I will tell you. A person’s brain works really astutely among ordinary people. In order not to lose out, a person’s thinking is extremely quick in this respect, and his memory is sharp. What I’m saying is, using your brain that way isn’t good, for you will generate karma. When your brain is too developed like that, it interferes with your cultivation. So what’s to be done? We use an approach whereby at first we restrain this part of your brain. In other words, we first lock it up, adjust it, replace it with the portion of your thoughts that can think like a cultivator, and have this part of your thinking develop. Then the cunning part is adjusted and we gradually loosen the restraint. At that point you will be able to handle yourself properly. When you can’t even detect those bad thoughts of yours—since that part of your brain is so well-developed—as soon as you think about something you burrow into that part of the brain. That part of your brain severely interferes with your cultivation. So, many people will experience what I just described. It is temporary. The thoughts that you often like to use to protect your self-interest, the thoughts that can hurt others, and those brain cells that are too developed are all sealed off and adjusted. So this situation will occur, but it’s temporary. After they are sealed off, they need to be taken care of for you so that they won’t be so developed and will be just adequate for normal use. We have your righteous thoughts and cells develop. That’s how it goes. Otherwise… Let me use a colloquial expression that can describe it more fittingly: You are an upright and noble person cultivating Buddhahood, so your mind can’t be cunning, crafty, slippery, and sly!

Question: Listening to others’ experiences inspires and enlightens me, but I find it not as solid as enlightening to things on my own.

Teacher: That is right. Of course that’s how it is. What you enlighten to yourself, which is mainly through your own cultivation, is the most solid. On the other hand, you can indeed draw lessons from what others say. That can facilitate your progress too, so it is beneficial. Fa conferences won’t be held often. Our conferences do have benefits. But don’t share experiences too often. You should focus your energy on studying the Fa and reading the book.

Some of the questions that were raised were pulled out since were relatively low level or repetitious, or they can be resolved by reading the book. Due to time constraints we’ll stop answering questions here. (Loud Applause)

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benti                          “innate body,” “original body,” or “true being.”

Dafa                          “The Great Law,” or “The Great Way”; short for the practice’s full name, Falun Dafa, “The Great Way of the Law Wheel.”

Dao                            1. Also known as “Tao,” a Daoist term for “the Way of nature and the universe”; 2. An Enlightened being who has attained the Dao.

Fa                             “Law” or “Way.”

gong                          “cultivation energy.”

Heshi                          The position formed by placing the palms together vertically in front of one’s chest; sometimes in the West called “prayer pose.”

qi                                In Chinese thought, this substance/energy is said to assume many forms in the body and the environment. Usually translated as “vital energy,” qi is thought to determine a person’s health.

qigong                        A general name for certain Chinese practices that cultivate the human body. Qigong has been immensely popular in China in recent decades.

xinxing                       “mind-nature” (lit.), “thought,” or “character.”

Zhen, Shan, Ren         – true, real, truth; Shan – good, kind, compassion, benevolence; Ren – to endure, tolerate, forbear.

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