Hongzhi Li
March 29–30, 1998 ~ New York

I am here to attend this conference and, like everyone else, I would like to listen to your experiences. I was the one who initially suggested holding this conference. Since we have never held a nationwide Dafa students’ experience-sharing conference in the United States, I thought it would be appropriate for students to convene and exchange experiences with one another. And the time is right. A year has passed since I last came to the U.S. to teach the Fa. All of you have made progress during the past year through cultivating, and in particular, you all felt that listening to the Fa last time had a certain effect in accelerating your progress. But to find out how much you have really progressed, I thought sharing your experiences would be of benefit. Doing so can also accelerate the further spreading of our Dafa.

As to its spreading, there is a misunderstanding at present. Some people have said, “Teacher has taught us to focus on truly cultivating.” They thought that I meant they should stop doing everything except for truly cultivating. Of course, I wasn’t saying that you were no longer doing ordinary work; you are able to balance the demands of ordinary work and cultivation. The main problem is that you haven’t taken spreading the Fa (hong fa) seriously. You have obtained the Fa, but there are others who have not yet. I can tell that in fact, no one in today’s human society is supposed to be a human being. What do I mean? I made the arrangements for my teaching this Fa as long ago as an ancient, distant time. In addition, what is being taught is such an immense Fa—the Fa of the entire cosmos. Last time, in San Francisco, I explained to you the structure of the cosmos. Many of you have gained some understanding of it, and thought, “So that’s how the cosmos is structured.” Actually, let me tell you this: The concept I taught you last time involving the structure of the cosmos, which you think is simply immense, describes a speck of dust in the grand cosmic body. Then just imagine how vast the cosmos is. Then think about how remarkably easy it is for such an immense Fa, when taught in human society, to assimilate one person. Let me draw a simple analogy: If a piece of sawdust drops into a furnace of molten steel, it will vanish in a twinkling. It would be effortless for a Fa as immense as ours to assimilate a person such as you, to eliminate your karma, to remove your improper thoughts, and so on. Given that the Fa’s power is so great, why don’t we do it that way? We can’t do that in ordinary human society, because cultivating that way wouldn’t be considered cultivation. Rather, it would be regarded as re-creation. It would mean discarding you completely and re-creating another person. So you have to genuinely cultivate in order for the result to be you. Many tests of xinxing will arise as you go about cultivating, and frictions will arise when you, our students, don’t cooperate well as you go about Dafa work, and so on. All of that is inevitable, only you don’t realize it.

If, when a Fa is made public, it doesn’t undergo ordeals and leave behind mighty virtue for future generations, I would say that it’s a wicked Fa. There would be nothing great about it, nothing to rejoice over, and no mighty virtue given to future generations. That would surely be the case. You have obtained the Fa that I teach and are now able to cultivate, but you have to think about others’ being able to cultivate and obtaining the Fa. As I just said, no one in the human world has come for the purpose of being human. But don’t get complacent—if you don’t obtain the Fa, or if you can’t return through cultivation, you are just a human being. You might even drop further and actually become inferior to humans. So you need to see the importance of spreading the Fa. That’s all I will say about it.

Many students want me to talk about something higher and novel. If that attachment is not gotten rid of, you will not achieve Consummation. Isn’t that right? Any attachment is an obstacle. I can tell you that the development of today’s society and its entire developmental process has been, in its formation and evolution, controlled and driven by alien beings. I am talking about these things today. I could probably explain it in greater depth if I were to use the culture and language of ancient China, but you wouldn’t understand it today. Your mindset is entirely that of contemporary man, so in my teachings I have to integrate knowledge from modern science. It is actually quite low-level, as its insights are terribly superficial. What’s known as “empirical science” is limited to the physical dimension visible to the human eye—merely one dimension in the Three Realms. Then, how many layers of matter are there in the Three Realms? They are innumerable, and humankind inhabits but one of them. Your eyes can see only what is within this one layer; they are confined to merely this single domain. The vast cosmos can never be fathomed by the human mind, for your mind lacks the capacity. Man’s language cannot describe the cosmos at very high realms. There is no such vocabulary for it, nor even concepts—nothing can be described clearly. So the language of human beings cannot be used to teach that which is of high levels. Only through constantly progressing in cultivation can you gradually come to understand it or gain insight into it. When you read the Fa, the Fa will alert you to things.

What allows this Fa to have such an enormous impact and make it possible for you to learn such elevated principles? I can tell you that an ordinary human book, i.e., with bound sheets of paper and black ink printed on white paper, has no special effect whatsoever. All it can do is merely spell out the plainest human principles known to humankind. The book Zhuan Falun would be no different if there were no deeper meanings contained in it. So why is it that by reading Zhuan Falun over and over again you can see or gain insight into principles in realms at exceptionally high levels? It is because behind each word there are countless, layers upon layers, of Buddhas, Daoist deities, and Gods. Their numbers are incalculable. No matter how high of a level those of you here in the audience cultivate to, you still won’t be able to see the end of them even when you achieve Enlightenment in the future. Think about how high of a level that means you can achieve cultivating by this book. When it’s time for you to elevate, all of the Buddhas, Daoist deities, and Gods behind a word can see it. You have reached a new plane and are ready to know the principles of that level, so they will reveal to you the real meaning behind a word or a line. You will suddenly gain that insight. It’s not that you became smarter, but rather, they have consciously revealed it to you, and thus you gained that insight. So there is a strict requirement for it: If you have not reached that realm through cultivation and have not gotten to that realm, you are absolutely not allowed to know the principles of that plane. When you have insight into the principles of that plane, you are in fact in that realm.

Many of our students get anxious when they feel, as they often do, that their cultivation is progressing slowly on the surface and that improper thoughts and states of mind frequently appear. But I will tell you, you don’t need to be anxious. The form our cultivation assumes today is different from all those of antiquity, yet also the same. They are different in that we don’t take the path that a lesser Fa or Dao does; and they are the same in that all of the ancient Fa’s were just the lowest and most limited cultivation forms of this cosmic Dafa that we teach today. Naturally, as I am teaching this Dafa, its immense powers, the path we take, and the methods used to save people are the best choices. So given that, could this Fa possibly not have such a major effect? I just talked about what was behind the book because it contains such immense meaning.

The Buddhas, Daoist deities, and Gods that I told you about aren’t fake. They are true Buddhas, Daoist deities, and Gods who manifest in this Fa. They possess the immense powers I described. You can see that they are behind each word, and when they want to be large, they can be boundlessly so. That is their duty. They are one manifestation of the Fa. It is thus easy for this Fa to assimilate a person. All of the Fa’s and cultivation methods of the past were merely a few low-level forms of the cosmos’s immense Fa. Their levels were quite low. If time allows, later on I will tell you more about the structure of the cosmos at certain levels.

Let’s first talk about the importance of studying the Fa. In other words, studying the Fa can lead you to improve, and that’s because there is deep meaning behind the Fa. Why can no other book achieve this realm, this state? It’s because they have nothing in them, though it’s not to say that none ever had anything in them, since each person’s circumstances are different. I often tell you not to keep books from bad religions. Of course, I’m referring to those books from wicked or bad religions, or bad qigong practices. That’s because their words likewise have certain things behind them, and their things are embedded there. Yet those things are not Buddhas, Daoist deities, or Gods, but rather, filthy, messy things such as beings that possess, ghosts, spirits, and so forth. A human body is just like a garment and a person’s mind is just like a hat. Whoever wears them, that’s who takes charge. How so? Human beings are so weak that anything can control them and interfere with them. Aren’t human beings worthy of pity? But although it is pitiful, mankind dropped to this level on account of its own doing. Indeed, for each one of us and those of you sitting here who study the Fa, it hasn’t been easy. You have all kinds of interference and difficulties. Whenever you want to study the Fa, things get busy at work, you are short of time, and so on. These seem like natural occurrences to you, but in fact, there are all kinds of factors interfering with you and preventing you from obtaining the Fa. And there are indeed some people who claim that this Fa isn’t good. But let’s not judge such a person, for his thoughts are most likely not his own but someone else’s. Those bad things control what the person says. We can’t save that kind of person. Are we saying that since this person isn’t himself, how could he still be saved? That is the case, because when a person is used like that, it is because his thoughts were so bad in the first place. So we can’t save people who directly do harm to Dafa. This also applies to people who are rotten to the core and who have completely lost their senses. Although it is bad things that dictate what they say and do, they can no longer take control of themselves. Our Fa calls for doing cultivation with an aware mind. We can’t give the Fa to someone who isn’t conscious or is muddle-headed and willing to be controlled by foreign spirits, for how could bad things be allowed to control our Fa? That is why it can’t be given to such a person.

You will encounter many difficulties as you go about cultivation. When from time to time I see you suffering a great deal as you cultivate, it is hard for me too when I see this! Sometimes I think about when a student can’t pass a test and pitifully looks at my picture with tears in his eyes, begging in his mind for Teacher to help him by further eliminating his difficulties or freeing him from the misfortune. But do you know what I am thinking? Had I taken away that tribulation for you, you would lose the opportunity to make progress. Do you think you can smoothly, without any hardship, raise yourself to that high of a realm? That’s definitely not allowed. We all know that human beings have accrued much karma lifetime after lifetime. It’s just as Jesus said, man is sinful. If you want to just go to heaven without paying for your karma and sins, could you really just brush them off, leave them behind, and go off to heaven? Think about it, could that work? Definitely not. That’s why you yourself have to eliminate the karma by paying off what you owe. You also have to improve your xinxing as you eliminate your karma. You can only ascend to a particular level upon making it to that high of a realm. It is the Fa that enables you to elevate to that level.

You will meet with many ordeals in the course of your cultivation. As long as you study the Fa earnestly, you will be able to overcome any difficulty. As long as you study the Fa earnestly, answers can be found within the Fa that will be able to solve any hard-to-untie knots in your heart, or any hang-ups. This Fa encompasses how to be a human being as well as how to be a divine being. I am also telling you how to be a Buddha, Dao, or God, and even how to be a god in still higher realms. How could the Fa fail to eliminate your hang-ups? How could the Fa not open up your mind? How could the Fa not resolve your problems? It can do all of that. You are often unwilling to part with the various notions you have formed by living in human society so long. You have some accomplishments in various fields, and believing that you have made some achievements, you are holding fast to them and not letting go. And you hold on to what you think are “accurate” concepts that you have learned among ordinary people. It’s usually these things that hold some people back. Others include the habitual forces of various kinds that many of you develop in ordinary society, a person’s established way of life, and those things that ordinary people are supposed to pursue. These things are the most intense and sensitive. Once challenged, they will immediately object. Some people would rather give up learning the Fa [than change them]. Nothing can be done in that case. Whether someone learns the Fa or not is his own decision ultimately. No one will force someone to learn it.

To make a sweeping statement, everyone has an obstacle with studying the Fa. For learned persons, the obstacle is modern science. If something conforms to this science, they can accept it; if it doesn’t, they cannot. They are severely impeded. Nobody realizes why I incorporate modern science as I teach the Fa. Why do I do that? The reason is that I want to break that shell of yours that impedes you from obtaining the Fa. Some people are influenced by certain religions. If something accords with the beliefs in the person’s religion, he or she will say that it is good and learn it. Otherwise, he or she won’t learn it. In order to save you and enable you to obtain the Fa, I have talked about religious things, as well as the process and form of religion’s degradation. And even for ordinary people who have their jobs in ordinary society and can’t let go of their work, my Fa has discussed cultivating while complying with the ways of ordinary people to the greatest extent. It’s not that I’m compromising to accommodate you, though. This Fa truly does enable you to cultivate while keeping a job, and there are many other situations, as well. Everyone has obstacles and one or even more notions that can’t be let go. Any human notion is an obstacle. I’m not against the glorious achievements that have come about with society’s development up through today, nor do I disapprove of the knowledge accumulated in that process. Let me tell you, though, that you need to, as cultivators, clear them from your minds. Ordinary people can enjoy such glories and go through life with a human frame of mind, but, as cultivators, you have to discard those acquired notions. In other words, the principle I have taught is this: You should cultivate while complying with ordinary people as much as possible. Since you live among ordinary people, you can work and study [as an ordinary person does]. But you have to let go of human notions.

I’m not saying that as you let go of human notions you will lose all material possessions, like a monk or Daoist priest. That’s not the case. Since I ask you to do cultivation among ordinary people, you have to be in keeping with the ways of ordinary society. In other words, what you are really to let go of are attachments. Human beings just cannot let go of attachments. When you can truly discard an attachment, however, you will find that you have not lost anything. Learning the Fa is itself a blessing—how would you have lost anything? Actually, if you really do lose something, it is caused by your unwillingness to let go of that attachment. Your attachment is always being chafed in order to have you break from it. If you really do find yourself in a crisis, it is meant to have you eliminate your attachment. So what will happen if you insist on not eliminating it and still cling to it? A deadlock will result. The more the deadlock persists, the worse your situation and living conditions might become. When you truly let go of the attachment, you might find that things turn around immediately, that your mind instantly relaxes, and that your body has changed and become altogether light. Looking back, you will find that you have lost nothing. It’s just like the Chinese saying, “[Just when the treacherous mountains and water seem impassable], amidst the willow trees and flowers a new village appears on the horizon.” Good things will suddenly come your way again.

When good things do come to you again, even if you have more wealth, more fortune, or more challenges, you will find that you are no longer attached to them like an ordinary person. You will take those things lightly, but you will still have everything. Wouldn’t that be great? Why do you have to get so painfully entangled as you hold on to money, a job, or desires that you can’t eat or sleep well and are always worried about losing them? Do you think it’s good to live that way? Actually, what people can’t let go of are attachments. The state of human society won’t be lost simply because people do cultivation. Humankind’s form of existence will continue forever. Whether you want it to or not, it will always exist. It’s just that when ordinary people can’t let go of their attachments, it makes their own lives so tiring.

Of course, humans are quite complicated. The extent of a person’s fortune has to do with his previous life, the one before, or even earlier lives of different times. Seeing that someone else is a prominent businessman shouldn’t make you think that if you do cultivation and forgo your attachments you too might become a CEO like him. You won’t. Just like how things work in human society, it has to do with what you brought over here with you. You have a certain amount of good fortune while you cultivate, and you would probably have the same amount if you didn’t. What’s the difference, then? The difference is that your mind is at ease [as a cultivator]. In the other scenario, your mind would be tense. You lead a tiring life as it is, and your mind would be even more worn out, rendering you unable to eat or sleep well. Of course, your body would get tired and age, deteriorate, and, like an ordinary person, have various illnesses. If, by contrast, you let all of that go, you will feel very much at ease even if you are poor. In reality, you won’t become poor on account of learning Dafa. I do think, though, that living happily is better than being attached like that. You do need to do your worldly jobs. As more people take up cultivation, I would say it would be completely unacceptable if all of you were to stop working. It’s just a matter of balancing things well. Whatever the case, it is a blessing to learn Dafa. Dafa brings good fortune to its disciples after they let go of ordinary human attachments. Good fortune is definitely not something one gets by being attached to becoming a CEO.

Another thing is, when questions arise as you study the Fa, or when you run into problems that can’t be solved, you shouldn’t always pursue and search for answers externally. For example, when problems occur among students or assistants, it’s not right to point fingers and cause friction or tensions. If that happens to Dafa disciples or if you are angry about those issues, your thinking is that of an ordinary person. Whenever there’s a problem you should turn to the Fa for answers. You should examine yourself and look inside, asking: “What did I do wrong? Did I do something wrong and cause the problem that sprung up today?” Think it over carefully.

In times of trouble, how many of you can genuinely look within yourselves for reasons? Of course, many of you can manage to do this on some occasions, but numerous other times you can’t. When you find the real reasons within yourself, if you dare to face and acknowledge them, you will see that the matter instantly changes and the problem disappears. Suddenly, for no obvious reason, it will seem that no friction or anything ever happened between you and the other person. That’s because for a cultivator there is no such thing as “by chance”; nothing arbitrary is allowed to disrupt the course of your cultivation.

Everything that you come across is a test to see whether you can regard yourself as a cultivator and find your own wrongdoing and mistakes. When it comes to whether you can conduct yourself as a cultivator, remember these words of mine: No matter what trouble you encounter, no matter what makes you feel unhappy, and no matter whether on the surface you are right or wrong, if you are to truly regard yourself as a cultivator you should always examine yourself for the cause. Ask yourself whether you have a wrong, hard-to-detect motive that is related to the problem. If you, as a cultivator, only let go of things superficially while beneath the surface you are still guarding and stubbornly defending something, defending your own vital self-interest from being infringed upon by others, I would say that your cultivation is fake! If your thinking doesn’t change, you cannot advance even one step and are deceiving yourself. Only when you truly improve from within can you make real progress. So be sure to remember this: Whenever you come across anything such as troubles, unpleasant things, or confrontations with others, you need to examine yourself and search within. You will find the reason that has kept the problem from being resolved. Previously, during the qigong craze, many people learned that a person’s own energy field could influence his or her surroundings. But actually, that’s not the case. That happens because there is a problem within you, which contradicts the essential nature of the cosmos, and so you find everything around you to be at odds with you. That’s what is at work. Everything will go smoothly if you are able to realign everything. That’s how it is.

There is another thing about Fa-study. When it comes to some students’ Fa-study, it’s hard to say that they’re not diligent because they have read the book some, but you also can’t call them diligent because they haven’t finished reading even one book, unable to complete Zhuan Falun. I’m telling you not to take this situation lightly. Of special importance is when new students read the book for the first time: If you can’t finish reading it in its entirety, you will find that from now on you won’t have the time or opportunity to read it. Even when you have time you won’t remember to read it again. Why? Everyone has thought-karma, which is selfish and bad. When it finds that the Dafa you study is so virtuous and good, and that it [the thought-karma] will be eliminated, that karma will be afraid and try to stop you from studying and reading more. If you stop reading the book halfway through, that thought-karma will try to prevent you from having another opportunity to read or come in contact with the Dafa book. That’s the reason some people discover that after reading just a little part of the book, it’s hard to find another chance to learn the Fa. So once you decide to read the book for the first time, you must read it from beginning to end without letting up. When you have finished reading the book the first time, you will find that all of the bad notions that affected your thinking have been basically eliminated. The next time you study the Fa there will no longer be obstacles in this respect. So our students, particularly our veteran practitioners, must be sure to pay attention to this phenomenon. When you ask someone else to learn it (if he wants to read it), ask him to read it from beginning to end without stopping. If the first time he doesn’t finish reading it and stops, when you next ask him to read the book he will promptly say that he has no time and has read only a little. The person is actually being quite foolish. I have said that a person’s body is just like a piece of clothing, whoever wears it, that’s who is in charge; one’s mind is just like a hat, whoever dons it, that’s who takes charge. He claims that he has no time, but that statement is actually made by that karma, which prevents him from reading. It finds things to keep him busy and prevents him from remembering to read the book. This is a problem that can easily occur with Fa-study, so by all means pay attention to this.

The foreign language versions of Zhuan Falun have exactly the same effect as the Chinese book. But a problem needs to be addressed here. Many of our students who translate the book into different languages tend to always argue with one another, saying, “There’s this meaning which you haven’t included,” “There’s that meaning which you’ve omitted,” “This word isn’t translated correctly,” “That word is translated wrong,” etc. They often argue like that and can’t finalize the translation. Let me share something with you. Are you wrong to do that? No, you aren’t wrong, but at the same time you are. Why aren’t you wrong? The meaning that you say should be included [in a given line] is indeed what you have come to understand, but it is beyond the level of ordinary people. Yet what’s left in black ink on white paper may not exceed the level of ordinary people. So when you do the translation, it is all right as long as the words’ original meanings at an ordinary person’s level are rendered to the greatest extent. You have come to realize the deeper meanings and principles behind the words because the elements behind them have been at work. Issues like this are common in translation work.

A problem might arise as our students make continued progress, and here I want to make it clear to you. I wish to talk to you about something that’s particularly relevant to some of our Caucasian disciples and disciples of other [non-Chinese] races. As they go about cultivating Dafa, many people are able to see something: They discover that among our students, many bodies that are developed through cultivation don’t belong to the Buddhist school. Instead, some are Daoist, some are like those of Gods, and others resemble the appearance of Gods in the Caucasian heavens. Let me tell you that your perceptions of which school is better or which isn’t so good reflect an ordinary human standpoint. Things are perceived differently on higher planes. So, why do some of our disciples acquire the bodily appearances of different paradises? It is because you come from different places, and perhaps you have reincarnated on Earth as a certain human race. But if you are a being who came down from a high level, then you would have an intrinsic desire to return to your original place. Right now you are thinking that you want to go to Master’s heaven. That thought comes from thinking in a human way. So, in order to ensure that you can fulfill your original wish rather than your present human one—in other words, to ensure that you can assimilate to the Fa and then return to your original place—though the Fa that I am teaching is based in the Buddha School, it is the Fa of the entire cosmos and includes Fa principles for all of the lives of different levels, in different realms, and in different unitary worlds.

While on this topic, let me take the opportunity to elaborate, from another angle, on the topic of dimensions. I just said that human beings come from different dimensions and levels. I will talk about the structure of the cosmos in passing. As I have said, our Earth is located at just about the center of the cosmos. An extremely miniscule number of planets like Earth exist elsewhere, but only our planet is at the central position. Occupying a central position has its significance, but what that means in a cosmic sense hasn’t been discussed. For example, when ordinary people acquire knowledge in human society, they regard the center as the highest or the best. I can tell you that in the context of the cosmos, however, Earth, being in the center, is in the worst position. Why? Because the cosmos is spherical and various kinds of lives in the cosmos will drop. Where do they go when they fall? Since the cosmos is spherical, while the left is the top, isn’t the bottom also the top? The right is also the top (making hand gestures), as is the rear, and the front, so the bad things in the cosmos will fall downward. And where do they go when they fall? They fall to the center, don’t they? Yet the cosmos is extremely complex, and there are still other concepts related to the central position.

There are so many levels in the cosmos. For example, roughly less than 3 billion galaxies like the Milky Way comprise the expanse of one universe. We usually call this a small universe. Then there are about three thousand such small universes beyond this one, and the distance among them is quite far. There isn’t such a concept among ordinary man. Even when common gods conceptualize it, that distance is still considerably long and beyond the range of vision. Yet there is a shell outside of these three thousand universes that constitute a second-layer universe. Going further in this manner, beyond a second-layer universe, three thousand universes of that size make up a third-layer universe. The concept these numbers describe is enormous. If we use a grain of rice to represent one universe, then when we multiply it out, things get considerably big. Then three thousand grains of rice get to be as large as a desk, or even larger. Then three thousand desks, in turn, couldn’t be contained by this auditorium. So the size of the multiples is considerably vast. In other words, its volume and scope are extremely immense.

Yet what I have told you about this cosmos is merely a simplified conception. A universe such as this one is still seen as one particle. In reality, it is indeed but a particle, and it is one type of small particle in the cosmos. Also, in the overall composition of the cosmic body, within each particle are its cosmic body’s different forms of existence; there are also different layers of heavens within that cosmic body. Within each particle of a cosmic body there are different layers that, to the beings inside them, are different heavens or different layers of heavens. Within these different layers of heavens are the innumerable paradises of different gods. Last time when I came to the United States and taught the Fa in San Francisco, I told you a concept that was enormous. How many layers did I mention? At first I spoke of eighty-one layers, and later on I spoke of over one thousand layers. That expanse which I talked about was quite vast. But I can tell you, the expanse I talked about, which you consider inconceivably vast, is in fact still extremely small. If you were to be at a distance from it, or rise above it, and look back at it, it too would look like a speck of dust in the cosmos. The cosmic body is that vast.

Yet I am telling you that the gigantic cosmic body that develops (“develop” isn’t the right word, but I can only use human language since there is no other language available) and expands with the Earth as its base—the connection there can only be described as “development”—is merely one system. Such systems are innumerable, and cannot be calculated with numbers known to man. There are different lives in those cosmic bodies, which are separated by great distances. Think about it. This cosmos is so immense that its size cannot be described with human language. So it follows that the differences among lives are substantial. Humankind is always proud of the civilization it has developed so far, such as Manhattan having the highest and most numerous skyscrapers in the world. Humans are complacent with their present scientific achievements, which they consider amazing. Looking back, they think that the ancients were worse off than modern people; the ancients had to ride horse-drawn carriages, while today’s people travel by car, train, and airplane. People think that their developments are quite glorious. But I will tell you this. You came from different cosmic bodies and worlds, and everything that has been developed in human society is the result of traces, or what’s called “messages,” from different cosmic bodies and societies that have remained in the human mind and enabled you to re-create such things among ordinary humans, using these coarsest materials of the human dimension. In other words, these things already existed long ago in different dimensions of the cosmos.

As I just said, many people come from faraway places. Think about it, then: The differences among them and in their characteristics are going to be substantial. As a long period of time passes and living beings continually become no longer as good (in the language of the heavens, there is nothing like “good” or “bad”; the words or concept they often use is that something “starts sinking”), they begin to sink and deposit. When they are no longer so pure, or light and floating, they deposit. In actuality the material has undergone deviation; that is, it has become impure. The process of continually sinking and depositing downward is how lives progressed in the past. Yet it is an extremely slow process, and people do not perceive any changes in themselves. Nor do gods sense that they have undergone changes. That’s because the time involved is extremely long; it cannot be calculated with human time.

So as for time, there are different times across different dimensions. Time is incredibly complex. It almost resembles the different sized gears inside a clock, only here the complexity is in fact more than a billion- or trillion-fold that. It can’t be generalized with any human concept. [That cosmic body] has its own revolution and its own time. So, the material I described has deposited, bringing with it those variations. Upon reaching the human level, people perceive the human mind to be complicated. I can tell you that the human mind is indeed complicated, for it went through a much extended period of time before arriving here. And during that much-extended time, your life carried with it things from each [previous] level. Scientists today know that seventy percent of the human brain goes unutilized. That is, human intelligence is reduced. If there were no restraints on human intelligence so that humans could have as much wisdom as gods, it would be terrible, having those complicated thoughts of yours present in human society. There would be no telling what changes might take place in society. So while we’re on this topic, I want to mention that the current development of humankind is not a good thing. There is no limit to human greed. It wouldn’t be good at all if a person were to achieve a high level and yet still have greed, and hope to go still higher. Why is that? If people were to go beyond the state of human beings or beyond what can be known by human beings, it would be extremely dangerous for humankind. The reason human intelligence is closed off is that humans are forbidden to know that much or have that much wisdom.

Having said this much, I’ll say something else. Consider the following: If you pay careful attention to your thoughts, you will find that they will change in an instant. Within a split second many thoughts can pop up, and you won’t be able to tell where they came from. Some thoughts are rather bizarre, in which case they are notions from your many past lives. They will come forth when you meet with trouble. Every person acquires notions postnatally that are selfish and protective of his or her own interests, and this is why human beings are growing increasingly immoral. It is for this reason that human beings can only fall downward and not rise to higher levels. The Enlightened Beings, Buddhas, and Gods come to save people since they see these things. Of course, there are many other complex factors involved. Gods will not save just anyone. All of them are looking to save their own people. Of course, I have disclosed another secret. I am the only one who has undone all of these constraints in order to save all people. Some of you say that it is merciful of Teacher to save you. And yet there is so much more to it that you cannot know. You will never be allowed to know how difficult it is to save you. Think about it: Those complicated notions of yours involve matters at different levels of heavens, worlds, and realms. There is a saying in China now, whereby working something out is called “balancing things evenly.” Well, how are things of this nature to be balanced evenly?

Everyone talks about “saving” people, but no one knows how to save people to high levels, as it is just so hard. As I just said, all of the Enlightened Beings are looking to save their own people; they don’t involve other people and try their best to exclude them. Once other people are involved, they cannot save them, and they might even find themselves in a difficult situation. That’s because matters involving this world are far too complicated. Even concepts of good and bad have undergone deviations at certain levels. [These beings] don’t share in the human concepts of good and bad. When you have affected their things, you may have affected numerous things of theirs, their worlds may have been altered, and so forth. Can you take responsibility for that? You can’t. Forcing something like this would amount to doing something bad, even if you were trying to save people. It’s not as you imagine it. This is an extremely difficult undertaking. Every additional disciple or student adds a share of difficulty for me. But I still want to save you, and I will try my utmost to save more people—as many as possible. I will give you a simple example. Let’s say that I want to save you but you believe in a certain religion. That religion used to be quite righteous, but now it can no longer save people and has become a political entity. So in order to save you, I have to inform you that this religion can no longer save people. Then won’t this religion be offended? So it will obstruct and disrupt, or even do various bad things. That’s a simple example.

Of course, I have discussed things to this extent because all of you here in the audience are my Dafa disciples. We can’t say that many religions in the past were wicked. I recognize that Buddhism, Christianity, Catholicism, as well as Judaism and some other religions were historically righteous. But in this present historical period where the human mindset is modernized in today’s society, people can no longer use their original human nature and ancient mindset to understand those religions. That is to say, there is a disconnect between your conceptions and those original teachings. Since you can no longer understand them, you cannot be saved by them and they don’t look after you. Yet people will boast and flaunt their religious credentials so as to inspire others’ trust in them and elicit material support. They seek profit and renown, and even become politicians. So look back upon it and reflect for a moment: Are those religions still righteous? I didn’t say that Buddhas, Daos, and Gods aren’t righteous. I’m referring to the religions. Religions are created and recognized as such by human beings. Gods don’t recognize religions. Rather, they only look at the human heart. Although your goal is to go to the paradise of a Buddha or Jesus, your conduct doesn’t reflect that. When everything about the religion is like that, could you say it’s a righteous faith? That would be a stretch. I have to be responsible to all of you. I tell you this because I fear that you may be hampered by those religions that are incapable of saving people.

Like everyone else, I’m here to attend this conference, so I will address whatever issues I notice.

As I was listening to our students’ speeches, some of you couldn’t sit still even then and wanted them to cut their speeches short so that I could talk. This Fa-conference is a forum for exchanging experiences and insights. Let’s not detract from it. I teach the Fa only when there is a specific purpose, and do so to address specific issues. As I notice problems, I spell them out so as to facilitate your improvement. Of course, there are many questions that arise as you carry out your cultivation. I have said time and again that no matter what part of the world it is in which we cultivate, we should follow the way and form that was used in China. Why is that? As you know, Chinese society can be considered strict in terms of regulating people. If we can manage to disseminate the Fa smoothly in a society as strict as that one, then in the future, spreading the Fa in any society can likely be done without incurring harm. Put another way, as I have taught the Fa over the years, I have told people in China to do things as they should be done. I rectified problems when they arose so as to ensure that things developed in a smooth and healthy way. All of you from other countries and regions should do the same, so that the Fa will take fewer detours and practitioners suffer fewer setbacks and losses. That’s the purpose.

Cultivation is an extremely serious thing. I can tell you that not a single thing in the entire development of human society happened by chance. My view of human society’s development is entirely different from yours. All human thought and consideration of any given issue is in the interest of one’s own nation, region, or even own person, thinking about things on that basis and thus is entirely human thinking. I don’t look at things like that. I don’t analyze history or look at mankind’s development as you do. What humans perceive to be the case is likely opposite of the truth, for their starting point is the pursuit of worldly happiness. Gods intend to have people pay off their karma while among humans as soon as possible, so that people may return to their original places and live in ease and comfort. That’s a fundamental difference. Human beings just want to live in comfort over here. Of course, that’s how they think when they have not obtained the Fa. Once they obtain the Fa, their mindset changes and becomes altogether different. So I often say that it is a good thing, not bad, for human beings to suffer a little hardship and meet with adversity. How so? When people want to protect themselves, their thoughts arise from selfishness—a self-serving desire. They don’t want suffering, only happiness and good fortune. But think about it. Human beings all desire happiness and a good life, and compared to China and many Asian countries, right now the conditions in many Caucasian societies are much better and they take it to be great happiness. But in fact, they have other forms of hardship. Mortal beings can’t escape the suffering that comes from the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Worse yet is the pain caused by the flux of emotions that comes from unsatisfied desires. And they may feel that their lives are without purpose and know not what they live for. They feel isolated and lonely. Unbearable loneliness is the most dangerous thing for a human being, and it is the greatest challenge in cultivation. So in the process of enduring hardship or in various settings, people can do cultivation and elevate themselves. Thus it’s not a bad thing to suffer and experience some misery. That’s because as gods view it, after the suffering your karma will go down. However serious your trouble might be, you have to handle it properly, with a calm, composed mind. Just as I said, when in conflict with others, you need to examine your inner self and find the faults within yourself—don’t look externally. If you can do that, your xinxing will improve on a fundamental level.

I mentioned before a saying in the cultivation world, one about people being “already in the Dao without practicing the Dao.” What does it mean? It refers to someone who has meager means in ordinary society and constantly meets with ordeals. But whenever problems occur, he is able to treat others with kindness and find faults inside himself. This person is truly the best kind of human being. If he can continue like that long term and persist until the last moment of his life, you will find that he attains the Dao. Why can he attain the Dao? Consider this. You know that Western religions differ from what I teach you today as well as from the cultivation form of the East. [In the West] they teach “faith.” As long as you have faith in the Lord or Jesus (Christ) and follow God’s teaching, you will be able to go to Heaven. This [“in the Dao” saying] is the same idea.

Of course, Western religions are also cultivation ways, in fact. How so? When a person prays, he confesses his wrongdoing. The next time, he does the right thing and doesn’t repeat the same mistake. He gradually conducts himself better and better, and he doesn’t repeat previous wrongs. Isn’t he behaving better? Isn’t he improving himself while cultivating xinxing? Cultivation is about cultivating the mind, and isn’t he elevating his mind? Doesn’t that type of elevation amount to cultivation? He is however missing one thing: Our cultivation way elevates both mind and body at the same time, while his cultivation way only cultivates the mind. So at the end of his life he will be judged by Jesus Christ or the God of Westerners, Yahweh, to determine whether he meets the criteria to ascend to Heaven. If he does, He will create a divine body for him and take him up to Heaven. Our cultivation way today, by contrast, shares certain features with the ancient cultivation forms of the East. As you improve your xinxing, your innate body (benti) is transformed and replaced by high-energy matter. This is a feature of our discipline.

In regards to cultivating a Buddha’s body, it used to be said that as a person increasingly improves his level during his cultivation, an Immortal Infant (yuanying) will arise in his elixir field, and the Immortal Infant continually grows. When it becomes visible, it will have the image of a little Buddha or little Dao infant. It grows bigger and bigger. When it has grown to be the same size as the person’s body, it will replace the person’s original flesh body. Buddhism believes in Nirvana—the flesh body isn’t carried forth. Those who have seeing abilities can observe that when the flesh is cast off, a Buddha will emerge from the body and depart. People of the East and West have different views because their cultures are different nowadays. In ancient times, some people in the West cultivated the Dao and some cultivated their bodies. It’s just that modern Westerners have lost this heritage.

I have traveled to various places over the past few years. In the mountains of Australia I saw Caucasian-type deities, terrestrial deities doing cultivation. I also saw terrestrial deities in the Alps of Europe and in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. But don’t get excited now that you’ve heard this—you won’t find them even if you go there. In other words, they won’t dare to meet you. Why is that? Because what you are cultivating is Dafa, which is extremely righteous. Let me tell you that the reason you don’t sense this extreme righteousness is that the cultivation of your surface body progresses relatively slowly. In contrast, the transformation of your life’s microcosmic substances progresses quite rapidly as you cultivate. Why does it progress so fast? It’s because the body from your life’s origin is in the heavens to begin with. Yet this concept of “the heavens” isn’t the same as the human concept of distance, as you imagine it to be. Think for a moment. If you observe Earth from Mars, isn’t Earth in the heavens? It too is in the heavens. Take the area of space that is less than an inch from your finger and pointed at by it, and isn’t that the heavens? That too is the heavens. It’s not like the heavens that you imagine with the human concept of distance. If we were to liken going from macroscopic to microcosmic matter to how cells in the human body are, composed of molecules and followed by atoms, atomic nuclei, and neutrons, until at last it reaches the point of quarks or neutrinos, even at that point it is still not going very far in the context of going all the way to the microcosmic. From the perspective of the human concept of distance, there isn’t much distance involved with what we just described, whether it’s on your body or any object outside your body, and in fact it’s almost contiguous. The expanse of that cosmic body, however, is extremely enormous. The more microcosmic a certain material is, or the more microcosmic the particle of a material, the greater its overall expanse. One of that material’s particles is tiny, but since it is a whole body composed of innumerable particles, it is extremely enormous and even surpasses the scope of the dimension of man. And the human dimension looks really large, when in fact it is not at all.

As you cultivate, no matter what type of difficulty you encounter, as long as you can first examine yourself for the cause, you will be able to resolve any problem. You have to search inside yourself when you encounter problems. As I said earlier, [it comes about] not because others have wronged you, but rather, because there is something wrong on your part. For example, if the grand cosmic body is in harmony but there is discordance on your part, and a knotty situation occurs only where you are, it is you who is not in accord with others. When you spot the cause within yourself and correct that problem, things will become harmonious and calm, and everyone will treat you nicely once again. I used a simple example to illustrate the principle.

Since this is a Fa-conference and people are here to present their speeches, I think it should resume. Tomorrow I will talk with you again and answer your questions.

I have told you that cultivation isn’t easy. You have endured many hardships. Enduring hardships occurs only in righteous religions or cultivation ways. If a practice can be carried out smoothly without any ordeals, it can’t be called a cultivation way and it cannot lead a person to Consummation. This is an absolute truth.

While we’re on the topic of cultivation, let me speak about the diverse array of religions that are in society today. I would also like to make it clear that our Falun Dafa is not an organized, institutional religion, and that is something I won’t be a part of. Our Falun Dafa is absolutely not that. I can also say that corresponding to the Fa’s dissemination in society, there exists in certain levels of the cosmos a law called “mutual promotion and restraint.” That is, while I’m teaching the righteous Fa, evil teachings emerge in turn. This is caused by the law of mutual promotion and restraint. It then becomes a question of which practice one adopts and which teachings one seeks to find enlightenment in. Human beings fell to this level on account of their own doing, and thus created for themselves the obstacle of delusion. In this state of delusion, whether you can still recognize a righteous cultivation way, and what you desire, becomes critical. In fact, your being able to sit here and obtain the Fa is no easy feat. You have no idea which of your various consciousnesses have, knowingly or not, led you to overcome great challenges in order to obtain this Fa.

There are also some cults that are spreading. All of them teach about the end of the world, they talk about such things. Of course, I have said that [ordained] catastrophes do exist. Buddhism also believes this to be the case, and Christianity, Catholicism, and Daoism share in this view. It is the law of the cosmos’s evolution. However, it is nothing at all like what the cults profess. Also, I have observed that while such an event might indeed happen during a certain time, it is not inevitable. I can solemnly proclaim here to everyone that all of that alleged end of the world, doom of the universe, and so on in the year 1999 simply does not exist. Why would there be catastrophes? Let me tell you a principle. Suppose that as humankind’s morality decays, all matter is rotting. In other words, it has become tainted. At present, the cultures of humankind are in disarray. They are a messy combination of every sort, and the races are becoming increasingly mixed. These things have indeed caused humankind to slide to a dangerous point, to be sure. As I said, catastrophes occur on account of humankind’s depravity.

Why do those alleged “catastrophes” no longer exist, then? I indicated that there are now 100 million people in China studying our Dafa. And we have many disciples throughout the world studying it. The number has become quite sizable. If all of them are striving to be kindhearted, are cultivating, and are behaving as good people, then what would happen to all of these good people if the universe or Earth were destroyed? You see the logic, right? Destruction is only carried out when the planet is no longer good. With so many good people around, how could it be destroyed? In other words, such danger no longer exists. (Applause) I have told you this because everyone sitting here came to study the Fa. Since I’ve touched on this topic, I will go into more detail to further dispel those evil things and chaotic ideas.

You know that I’m teaching the Fa and saving people. Since you have benefited personally, all of you here believe that. You have truly comprehended what is happening here starting from the Fa and its principles. I can tell you, though, that I am not here only to save people. What I am doing does include saving people. Since the concepts I’m talking about are of a very high level, some beginners among you may find them hard to accept. I spoke before about the entire cosmos deviating from its essential nature and becoming impure (regarding the nature of the cosmos, I have explained this clearly in Zhuan Falun: Zhen, Shan, Ren is the essential nature of the cosmos). When all creatures, matter, and beings in the cosmos become impure, it is a deviation from the essential nature of the cosmos, a deviation from the Fa. The Fa of the cosmos has created living environments for beings at different levels, and when the beings and substances turn impure over a long period of time, they no longer meet the Fa’s requirements at that level. This is why beings can drop down—they fall when they no longer conform. The worse they become, the lower they drop, until at some point they reach the plane of humankind. But that isn’t the last stop.

If, in this scenario, the problem I just described holds for substances on an overall and broad scale, the danger involved is both grave and hard to detect. Had I not taught this Fa, and had you not come to study this Fa, no one would realize the degree to which the current human society has degenerated. Because you have studied the Fa and gained insight, when you look back at human society you can see how bad mankind has become. So although today I have taught you this Fa of the cosmos, in the past, even gods didn’t know of it. No beings were allowed to know that there is a Fa in the cosmos. They knew only that the cosmos had different requirements for beings at each level, and knew nothing specific. So even though it has been a long period of time in the cosmos during which they have slowly deviated from its Fa, they can’t sense the process of transition. I have undertaken a task this huge. Why am I doing this? There are reasons behind it. I can’t describe them now, of course.

What I am saying is that what I have undertaken doesn’t offer salvation merely to human beings. I also want to rectify all deviated lives and matter. (Applause) Otherwise, there will be danger even on higher planes as well, and you would have no safe place to stay, no matter how high of a level I enabled you to cultivate to. So all of this needed to be done. You have no idea how hard this is. Even though I have explained it to you, you cannot see what I have done over on the other side. The image I carry is simply that of a human being, Li Hongzhi, with a complete human figure sitting here and talking to you. So you should just regard me as a human being like you. What I have discussed isn’t sensationalism. I am merely teaching the Fa and telling you the principles of the cosmos. Whether to believe it, and whether you can cultivate, are matters fully up to you.

Having said that, I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you that this cosmos has basically been rectified, leaving only humankind and substances in this most exterior layer still unfinished. It’s in the finishing stages, though. My gong is fully capable of preventing this layer of matter from splitting, exploding, or similar things—it can fully restrain it. (Applause) So the phenomena predicted in history definitely no longer exist. Of course, I have said that for me to do this task, I have to turn whatever is to be retained into something good. I gave the example of a bad apple before. If the apple is already rotten, keeping it would be a bad deed. To the eyes of beings in very high realms, humankind is like garbage. They don’t regard human beings as their species: “You want to spare them? Why? If you are to keep them, you must have them become good.” That doesn’t apply to just humankind: All substances, plants, animals, and the myriad things on earth are included.

What I do today is for the purpose of rectifying humankind and all of the earth’s matter, and I can do this. Since it’s not necessary for other organisms, plants, and animals to understand the Fa, I can just convert them directly—directly re-creating or assimilating them. So that said, let’s just talk about human beings. It’s no longer possible to rectify every person on the earth. Why not? Because some people have become too bad to be allowed to know about the Fa. Or even if they do know about the Fa, they are not permitted to learn it, that is, they are no longer deserving. There are a considerable number of people like this. It’s quite a large number. What’s to be done, then? Never have I said that there would be catastrophes impacting mankind or the earth. Yet I can tell you that it’s no coincidence so many incurable diseases and all kinds of natural disasters occur in society nowadays. Modern science can’t recognize that all substances are living beings and that each has a side that is alive. Using only modern science to explain physical phenomena at a superficial level, one would not be able to see the living nature of matter. So it is certain that humankind will experience elimination on a large scale. Those who aren’t so good will of course be eliminated. It’s like the human body’s need to metabolize: Unfit parts are eliminated. Something like that will happen.

Something of the sort has in fact happened in each era of history, and that has been the case consistently for thousands of years. A person expels what is stale and incorporates that which is fresh, as the body metabolizes. Such is the case for the earth and human society, there being birth and death. What I am saying is that something like this will occur that is yet more devastating and larger in scale. People whose karma is truly great can no longer go on existing like that. What needs to be done to preserve Earth? Much like your cultivation, as your bodies are being transformed, so is the new earth being made. Some people wonder whether once the new earth is made we will be transported there by riding in something or other. That is a human way of thinking about it and a human concept.

As I said earlier, all matter in the cosmos is formed through the continual formation of microcosmic substances and particles that, in turn, make up larger particles, continuing until reaching the plane of cells—particles the size of molecules that can be observed today by man. That is, all substances below the plane of molecules have been renewed, and only this surface plane of molecules, or even more exterior planes, remain [to be renewed]. In other words, the earth, as formed by microcosmic particles below the surface plane of molecules, is already a new earth. The substances in the dimension of the surface-plane will have it so that the good people—who are to be kept and go on to the new earth—one day unknowingly find that the world has suddenly changed; or they may wake up one morning and discover that all the earth has been renewed. Other than that, people might not sense anything else. People will sense a change, but there will be nothing like shock waves.

Why is that? It is because every level of matter below the surface plane is composed of microcosmic matter. And when the microcosmic matter disintegrates, the matter at the surface level likewise disintegrates and disappears. The disintegration happens imperceptibly, like a dissipating mist. At that time, human beings will still be in the same spot but already on the new earth. My purpose in telling you these things is to inform you that, while the alleged catastrophes don’t exist, it is nonetheless dangerous not to be a good person. This matter bears direct relevance to our mankind of today as well as to our cultivation.

Next, I want to take this opportunity to tell you that none of you should look to find something sensational in my words, quote them out of context, or disseminate them recklessly out of overzealousness or some other attachment. You, as disciples, should know what to do. I still feel that some people can’t keep things to themselves. Let me explain this further. Why are human beings what they are? Why are they said to be so deficient? For one thing, they have little wisdom. Another is, they have to use their hands and feet to get something done, using physical means and getting worn out. A god, by contrast, doesn’t need to move his hands or feet when he wishes for something to be done. That god can achieve it with his mind—whatever he thinks of will come true. That is because a god’s gong exists in particles ranging from the extremely microcosmic to the very macrocosmic, and every one of those particles has that god’s image. His gong contains particles of all sizes, and whenever that god wants to form something, he will create it simultaneously via planes ranging from the most microcosmic to all others, including the surface plane. As that god thinks, his gong brings into being the object, which was nonexistent, and does so in a fast time-field. That’s why a Buddha or a God is so powerful.

Human beings, meanwhile, are the most deficient. They have to labor with their physical bodies to accomplish anything. To construct a building, so many people need to go up and down, just like hundreds of molecules that are busy working here and there, back and forth. But that’s the clumsiest method. What’s more, when a Buddha wants to do something, it is done in the dimension of the fastest time—unlike with human beings, who do things in this human time. So it can happen instantaneously in this dimension. In the human field of time, it is achieved with as if but one thought. The higher one’s cultivation level, the more powerful one is and the more time-fields one can command.

Next, I will answer questions.

Student: My four-year-old son likes to read and recite Teacher’s Zhuan Falun and scriptures very much, but he doesn’t like to do the exercises. Does it count as cultivation?

Master: Young children aren’t the same as us adults. Young children like to play. That is their nature, and it can’t be regarded as an attachment since that’s just how they are. If a child is able to study the Fa, it is best to have him study it. I really like to watch children because their thoughts, minds, and bodies are so pure. If they cultivate they can proceed very fast. They don’t have any of the attachments that are developed later on in life. Some children play at the same time as listening to Fa teachings, and it seems they don’t hear anything. But in actuality, they hear it all. If you inquire, you will find that they know everything that was taught. It’s great if a child can do the exercises, but it’s not feasible if he is too young. Since he’s a young child, he has to play. Young children need to be treated differently.

Student: When spreading the Fa among Caucasians, we have noticed that some of them can’t let go of their faith in Jesus. What kind of impact does this have on their cultivation in Dafa?

Master: I have discussed the matter of “no second cultivation way.” If one can’t focus on cultivating Dafa exclusively, one cannot achieve Consummation in our Dafa. Earlier I said that the entire cosmos, or an even greater expanse, has deviated from the Fa. Doesn’t that include humankind? Weren’t religions established by human beings? If all beings in the cosmos have deviated from the Fa, do the beings that have deviated from the Fa not include [those of] the heavens that humans believe in? If the heavens of Buddhas, Daos, and Gods are all part of it, think about what a problem this is. Regardless of who taught in those years—be it Jesus, Shakyamuni, Lao Zi, or Yahweh—when they gave their teachings, all beings and lives in the cosmos had already long since deviated from the essential qualities of the cosmos.

Let me give you an example in the coarsest language. Suppose the heavens of Buddhas and Gods were made of gold, but over the long course of time they became impure and no longer of solid gold. They are still made of gold, then, but the gold is only 18-carat or 16-carat. Today, the Fa is rectified, and the gold is pure, solid, and 24-carat. Yet the religions or cultivation ways those beings left behind come from the era of 18- or 16-carat-gold, and they cannot meet the criteria of the new heavens of Gods and Buddhas. Could a person [who follows those ways] return to a heaven of pure 24-carat gold? Even if one such molecule of his were to return, it would contaminate that heaven. So that’s not allowed to happen. Isn’t that the case? I am taking this opportunity to tell you that none of the religions in the world today—and this includes all of the righteous ones taught by Buddhas, which I won’t call wicked—can still provide a means for human beings to achieve Consummation.

Regardless of which religion a person chooses or how well he cultivates, even if he precisely adheres to what was taught by the Buddha or Jesus in those years, the most he can accomplish is to reach the highest principle then taught by a Shakyamuni or Jesus. Yet that is only 16- or 18-carat gold. Could he still return to a heaven of solid gold? This isn’t to say that Shakyamuni and Jesus aren’t good enough. What I am saying is that the beings of the entire cosmos have deviated from the Fa, and both of them are simply among the elements included. That is the case. I won’t go into detail, as this is a big problem. People just obstinately stick to a course they are attached to, and they only believe what they can now see. People also have a serious, ingrained habit: They don’t look at things rationally. Rather, they like to judge things with emotion. Because of emotion, they can’t forgo things inherited from ancient times and don’t use rationality to analyze just what exactly is right or wrong.

Student: What should we take note of when spreading the Fa to Caucasians?

Master: Caucasians have a different way of thinking from people like us who are Asian, so you should be mindful of their unique traits. Don’t baffle them by using the terribly complicated Chinese way of thinking or speaking. That will make them think “this is too difficult,” and the outcome might not be good. So my suggestion is this: In your effort to help Caucasians obtain the Fa, show them Falun Gong first. After they have studied it, they can then read Zhuan Falun. This way, learning will be relatively easy for them. If they begin by reading Zhuan Falun, it’s likely most of them will give up in the event that they don’t understand it. Of course, there are also some who are exceptionally good and can get into it right from the first glance. Another problem is that you need to find ways to have them finish reading the book on the first attempt. If they stop halfway through, it will be hard for them to again find time to read it. And then if you ask them to study it or read it, they are sure to say that they have no time. That’s always the case. It is in fact thought-karma that prevents them from continuing to read the book, because it is frightened. After reading the book their thought-karma will be eliminated.

Student: We have introduced Dafa to American radio stations, television stations, and newspapers, but haven’t received any response. Should we continue these efforts?

Master: I will tell you a principle. All of you probably know about my consistent way of doing things. I have said that we will never adopt a religious format. I don’t write down your names one by one in a membership roster as ordinary people would. We have no structure, no offices, and nothing tangible. Anything tangible can induce human attachments and thus has no place in cultivation. What we should let go of is not just money, wealth, fame, and self-interest. I can share that since our Fa is spread in human society and is simply so immense, the requirements for spreading such a great Fa have to be, relatively speaking, the highest. You have no idea why I have adopted such a formless approach. Because our Fa is so grand, to do it justice we have to take a “great way without form” to spread this Fa in the secular world. Many have come before to teach Fa, such as Buddhas, the Western God Jesus Christ, and even Yahweh. All of them gathered people together, fearing that people otherwise would fail to learn it well or would falter. People were thus assembled to cultivate together. Shakyamuni required his disciples to shave their heads and take up the robe. The disciples of Jesus entered monasteries. I can tell you that the reason they did that was because the Fa they preached was lesser. They couldn’t save people without such strictures. By contrast, today we have such an enormous Fa that we certainly dare to open things up and leave everything up to you—only your heart matters. I said that I have opened a huge door. In fact, you haven’t realized that there is no door at all. It is completely open—only your heart matters!

Let’s say you have come from different dimensions and paradises to obtain the Fa. Your human minds have no clue. If you want to return to your paradises, think about it: Can you do that with the methods or religions from the past? Absolutely not. By contrast, our Fa today can save all beings and return them to their original places, because this is the Great Fa of the cosmos. That being the case, it follows that the manner in which this Fa is disseminated in the secular world must be extremely virtuous. So I have told you that we have taken the most virtuous path. We ask people to let go of concern for fame, profit, and emotion. Starting with me, we all discard these things. And that’s not all. We also ask that as you spread the Fa in the ordinary society, you conform to and don’t violate the ways of ordinary society.

While disseminating the Fa, we have hardly advertised through ads, television, and newspapers or tooted our own horn. No, we haven’t done that. All of the publicity back when I was giving Fa-teachings had nothing but this gist: Li Hongzhi is here. The number of students who have publicized Dafa has been extremely small. And those were their own, personal acts. They were doing good deeds for the Fa as individuals. If our Dafa were to employ any type of promotional media to advertise itself, it would be tarnishing itself. That’s why we have not taken that approach. Suppose you are a practitioner as well as a reporter or the editor of a newspaper, and you wish to promote the Fa. Well, that is still a personal act—our Fa doesn’t demand that of you. A personal act or a personal desire to do such things is a personal inclination. A person’s wish to do good as an individual has no intrinsic connection to our Fa as a whole.

Why are there so many people studying the Fa? You all know that our Fa is good. Since it is the Fa of the cosmos, who could say that it’s not good? Even the most wicked of individuals who oppose it outwardly still admire it inwardly. And why do they oppose it outwardly? They know that if everyone conducted him or herself according to the Fa, it would really be their turn for elimination. So, to summarize, what you do to spread the Fa is a personal act. Dafa itself doesn’t have any such format. We have adopted a true “great way without form.”

All of you will be regular members of society when you go back after today. We only value your hearts—we have no creed or stipulations of any type. Indeed, no one in the past dared to take this approach. Whatever the religion, if you were to tell people to go home and cultivate without doing any religious rituals or purposive activities, that religion would crumble. They wouldn’t dare to do that, for their Fa was not mighty enough. We, by contrast, do dare to take that approach. When you go back, all of you will resume your jobs and your lives will be unchanged. Yet all of you will keep the Fa in your hearts, cultivate yourselves, and truly improve. I have said before that Buddhas and Gods are neither concerned with nor acknowledge the religions of ordinary human beings—they only value people’s hearts. Why didn’t Buddhas intervene when religions were harmed? Why didn’t Christ step in when a church was ravaged? It was because those things were human doings. Humans wanted to do something good and so they built temples or churches to provide means for people to worship a Buddha or Christ. Those were formats adopted by human beings. Gods and Buddhas, however, only value one’s heart. So we don’t use any such formats.

Of course, as I have said before, there are even more reasons for us not to get involved in politics. We absolutely must not get political. In terms of human society’s development, such as a country’s state of affairs and the relations among people, it is all determined by the development of society. It is not something ordinary people can block. All people can do is rack their brains to try to get ahead, study intensively to achieve something, or have some aspiration. However, without larger cosmic changes, ordinary people can’t change a thing. Humankind’s development is on a preordained path, and each step it progresses in its development will not veer. A cultivator transcends an ordinary human being. Why should he concern himself with human affairs? Politicians in certain religions engage in politics for the sake of independence, territory, or even some status or other. Some even kill or engage in terrorist activities, which is evil. I would say they are not cultivators. A cultivator doesn’t intervene in the politics of ordinary people. Such people are merely politicians. What a Buddha or God wants is a heavenly paradise. Why fight over the human world? Do you think those people are cultivators? Do they meet the criteria? Yet people still worship them as holy. The truth is, some of them aren’t even decent people, and they will go to hell.

Student: Is the material setting of human society that has existed over thousands of years one of the factors that has brought about thought-karma?

Master: Yes, of course. You wouldn’t produce any karma were it not for this material setting. Without the current setting in which man exists, you wouldn’t be able to do either good or bad deeds. Without this setting, you couldn’t be a human being, for sure. Yet at the same time human society has its own particular traits, so it has to exist.

Student: Is the demonic nature of American society the major obstacle preventing Americans from obtaining the Fa?

Master: You can’t put it that way. When I visited the countryside and some small towns here in the U.S., I saw many kindhearted people, kindhearted Westerners. All large cities in the world are fairly chaotic; good and bad people are mixed together, and it is hard to discern the good ones from the bad ones. Usually there are exceptionally good ones as well as exceptionally bad ones, owing to the principle of mutual promotion and restraint. So you shouldn’t make simplistic generalizations. But that said, the U.S. does have its own characteristics. It has played a major role in the development of the modern style of distorted human thinking throughout the world, which has affected every area and field, such as the arts, culture, and human values. This modern style is perverted culture—it is not human culture, to be sure. I think that American culture prior to the 1950s was human culture. People were quite kind. Western men had a gentlemanly manner about them and acted civilized, while women behaved the way women ought to. I think that was quite good. Nowadays men and women seem to have the same personality. Of course, I’m not saying that the U.S. is not good.

As I said earlier, I am talking about mankind’s changes. Nowadays, Asian people are also rather awful. Everyone is hurting one another and has bad intentions. When two persons meet, they immediately begin to hurt one another before even having said much, and they don’t even know or realize this. That’s because over the course of a long cultural history, life after life, you never know who owes what to whom. Since it has been an extremely long time over which grievances and gratitude have built up, when people meet, they each want to have the past repaid, and so they harm each other cruelly. Haven’t you said that the Chinese people in America don’t get along? You all look at the surface, whereas I see the real causes. That is the cause.

Student: I have been affected by demon nature. It moves wildly about or is inside my body. And the people around me have turned black, yellow, green or pale faced, like demons...

Master: Let me tell you this: While some people claim that they are cultivating Dafa or you might claim that you are a Dafa disciple, I have to see if you are a true Dafa disciple. Your lip service won’t do. My disciples have to truly cultivate and, when encountering troubles, search for their attachments by asking the question: Was it caused by any problem that’s in my mind? After reading the book only once, some people claim that they are cultivating Dafa and have run into this or that problem. Their minds are full of human things. They fight with others when they meet with adversity, and, during instances of friction, find fault with others rather than with themselves. They claim that they are my disciples, but I don’t acknowledge them. [Cultivation and just paying lip service] are certainly two different things. Of course, I’m not referring to this question or the person who asked it.

What I am saying is that any problem can be resolved if you search inside yourself for inadequacies. You might find that a person has learned a lot of messy stuff and his body was surrounded by disorderly messages. He often saw terrifying images or his body had horrible reactions. He came to learn our Dafa for these reasons, as he knew about the tremendous power of our Dafa. But I am telling everyone that this is called purposefully coming to obtain the Fa with the attachment of pursuit. That doesn’t work, and nothing will be gained. Yet we don’t object if you have such an attachment at the beginning, when you have yet to comprehend the Fa. But upon studying the Fa, you need to part with those attachments. Then any situation can be resolved. I think I have made my point clear. This matter is spelled out well in Zhuan Falun. You have to read the book and study the Fa more. Reading the book can solve all of your problems.

Student: I have always felt that I am kind, but why can’t I achieve the mercy described by Teacher?

Master: This is a good question. But actually, the question is itself an attachment. I don’t mean that writing the question is. Rather, you are attached to your mercy, which doesn’t rise up as you wish. As your level raises, the part of your emotions that has been removed won’t become vacuous—it will be replaced by mercy, which grows gradually. Among my disciples sitting here, many have indeed cultivated to very high levels, so why don’t you have the mercy of levels that high? In actuality, the mercy of gods is nothing like what modern people imagine it to be. I have talked with you about this many times before. In order for you to live in the society of ordinary people, you aren’t allowed to appear too unusual on the surface. If you were to demonstrate so much mercy, you really wouldn’t be able to live among ordinary people any longer. For this reason, your mercy and everything else that you have gained through cultivation are developing at a high speed at the most microcosmic levels of your existence, and they are separated from your surface layer.

Human lives are made up of particles formed sequentially from microscopic particles to molecules that are at the surface of the largest particles; molecules, in turn, form cells. As you continue cultivating, the molecules inside your body (I can only describe it in this fashion since human language is limited) and the microscopic particles of your life are all transforming drastically such that they conform to the criteria of the Fa. Then, as you finish cultivating a piece of yourself, it is the same as its being moved over. As you finish cultivating another piece, it will be moved over as well—even your mercy is moved over. It’s like a warehouse that stores on your behalf everything that you have attained through cultivation. You couldn’t cultivate if your body were to change too quickly at the surface. You would want to weep over everything you saw. Whatever you would do, it would be just as though the part of you that had been fully cultivated were doing it along with you. And that would be equivalent to having a god do human things. Even when you did bad things, it would be equivalent to their being done by a god. You would fall as a result. In order to prevent you from descending and, at the same time, to enable you to maintain your cultivation among ordinary people, the part of you that has been fully cultivated is immediately separated from the part that is not yet fully cultivated and still composed of coarse particles. It forever remains still, seated in the lotus position, like a god does, whereas the part of you that has yet to be fully cultivated will always live among ordinary people like a human being. As you continue your cultivation from the inside toward the outside, you are gradually perfecting yourself. When the molecules at the most superficial layer have been perfected and assimilated, the last step is the final Consummation. That is the approach we have chosen.

Some students have asked, “Teacher, I’ve been cultivating so hard, but how come I don’t feel much improvement. And why do improper thoughts still show up in my mind sometimes?” I would like to tell you not to be anxious. You really could not cultivate if all human substances were removed from the surface. If you didn’t have human thoughts, you would be able to perceive all thoughts that humans emanate. Every single word, act, and thought of a modern person is selfish, and there are even some deep, indecent thoughts which you couldn’t bear. How would you be able to live among them? How would you be able to interact with them? So it can’t be done like that. For instance, if you have fully cultivated one hundred portions in your body, only one [bad] portion can be removed from your surface, so you will always feel that the improvement at the surface isn’t that rapid. This is normal. Having heard what I just said, you shouldn’t think: “Oh, so that’s how it works. Then I won’t be worried and I will just do what I want to do.” I am talking about principles of the Fa. If you don’t hold yourself to strict standards or fail to act in accordance with the criteria, it can’t be said that you are cultivating. That’s the idea.

Student: The moment I become inattentive, I’m revealed for what I am.

Master: Don’t get too down on yourself. You are in fact a cultivator. When you can see your shortcomings, you have already risen above your thoughts of just an instant ago, and you have surpassed your old self. An ordinary person can’t see his inadequacies. He thinks everything about him is good, as if he were a flower, right? Since you can cultivate yourself, examine yourself, and see your inadequacies, aren’t you a cultivator?

Student: I have made two major mistakes, and I was very regretful afterwards. Was it my subordinate consciousness or my messages that were at work?

Master: If you have done something among ordinary people, or done something bad, you can’t say that it was not you who did it. Nor can you discern whether it was the master consciousness or subordinate consciousness that did it, because you are one coherent body. What’s more, you can’t say that such things were done by your thought-karma, because they also result from your master consciousness being weak. That karma will plague you until you eliminate it. When that karma has yet to be eliminated, its outward behavioral expressions should all be considered yours. If you strongly repel it, or if you can perceive it [for what it is] and keep your master consciousness strong, things will go differently. So you have to take the blame if you don’t fend off what the karma instigates. Cultivation is about eliminating those bad things and meanwhile strengthening your master consciousness. As you go about cultivation it’s best not to think about past happenings. They have already taken place, however bad they were. Do well in the future so that you won’t develop an attachment.

Student: We made video recordings of several Fa conferences in the United States, but we haven’t given them to relatives abroad. Is doing this against Teacher’s will?

Master: I can tell you that the approach to cultivation that our Dafa takes is the best and the purest. I am being truly responsible to you so as to ensure that you may really achieve Consummation. I have to clear away from our Dafa all things that are not a part of our Dafa cultivation. Even if it’s something that I said, if it’s said to disciples in a certain region or country, or if it’s not suitable for other regions, it should be cleared away just the same. Words said to only one region that don’t have universal application should be cleared away. The goal is to enable you to really cultivate without interference. That is the purpose.

Some people have asked, “Wouldn’t it be beneficial for students’ progress if, for the time being, we play for them Master’s talk today after we return?” If you have recorded it, then let it be, but don’t spread it in society with an attachment of zealotry or excitement. It’s all right if after you go back you show it at your practice site or to the students in your country. But I would say that you, as a disciple, shouldn’t need me to tell you in detail how to handle this. When everyone has watched it or when books of the lecture are printed, just erase it—that’s all. If someone irresponsibly records them for other people, plays them, spreads them, or wantonly has publishing houses or factories mass-produce them, he is committing the worst deed. I would say that such a person doesn’t meet the criteria for being a Dafa disciple.

Student: I wasn’t diligent in my cultivation and failed to pass the test of sexual desire several times. If I mend my ways now, will you still take me?

Master: Let me tell you this: Don’t think that you cannot cultivate anymore just because you couldn’t pass a test once or twice. Actually, that is how a person cultivates. Some people who are cultivating well have passed the test, while some people who aren’t doing as well have not passed the test well enough, or haven’t even passed the test at all. However, that [latter type of] person can pass other sorts of tests. Struggling through it in this manner and passing tests sometimes adequately, sometimes not—that’s how cultivation is. If everyone could pass every test, you wouldn’t need to do cultivation and would instantly become a Buddha. Isn’t that true? But you should take it seriously when over and over again you fail to pass a test. Would you still be considered cultivating if you were to let it go on like this for long?

Student: Before I studied Zhuan Falun, doing qigong healings was my profession. After learning Falun Gong I gave up that career. May I now learn Chinese medicine and acupuncture and practice them as a career?

Master: That is definitely not a problem. Chinese medicine is a form of medical treatment in human society. It is a human thing and is not at odds with doing cultivation. As for doing healings with qigong, I have told you all to be sure not to do that. I think that if you can learn Chinese medicine and acupuncture, that’s fine—you can learn it and do it.

Student: We have a small number of students in my area, and we live in dispersed places. We don’t have the kind of great environment for learning the Fa that they do in China. How can we create a better environment?

Master: Do you know that in the old days when I went to Beijing to teach the Fa, there were only over two hundred people at the first seminar? Yet now there are 100 million people. All of you have an obligation to tell other people about the Fa. Won’t there be more people in the future? Your environment is created by you yourself. It is surely good to have more people cultivating together. People can exchange views, learn from one another, help one another improve, and talk about things that have happened in cultivation. That will heighten one’s confidence in cultivation. At the same time, there is a strong energy field when the exercises are done in a group, and that definitely benefits practitioners, for sure. If a person does his cultivation on his own, he may neglect it when he gets busy or does the exercises irregularly, doing them at inconsistent times. Whatever the case, he is undoubtedly more sluggish.

Student: Why is it that the people I see in other dimensions all appear to be Westerners—some are even angels with wings—while I have never seen Asians?

Master: If that’s what you have seen, then so be it. If I were to spell it out for you, I am afraid you might develop a new attachment or a misunderstanding. Our students may seem to be Chinese today, or you may seem to be Swedish or another type of Caucasian, but you may be of a different race. The cosmos is extremely immense. Perhaps after you succeed in cultivation you will go to the heaven of a god who has the appearance of a Westerner. That might be the case. I’m not saying that is necessarily the case—don’t develop an attachment. You shouldn’t get elated or confused and stop practicing Buddhist school methods hereafter. If you don’t practice the system that I teach you today, you won’t be able to reach that place. If you say, “What Master is teaching us belongs to the Buddhist school [but it turns out I should return to the paradise of a Western god], so I’ll go pray in a Catholic church tomorrow,” then you won’t be able to return there [to that Western paradise]. I have said that my teachings are based in the Buddhist school, but what I am expounding is the Fa of the cosmos. Which school wouldn’t be included within the scope of the cosmos’s Fa? So that’s the reason. I have been more and more explicit in the Fa I teach. This might not be beneficial to your cultivation. You have to cultivate and gain insight into these things yourself.

Student: I tried to persuade a relative to stop practicing a certain qigong. I didn’t control myself well in a dream one night when I received anointment (guanding) from him. Many bad things were poured in. I felt a headache after I woke up, and have often had headaches since then. What should I do?

Master: You didn’t handle yourself well. That is, you didn’t object to it when he was going to do anointment for you—no objection meant that you wanted it. You agreed to his anointment due to a moment of weakness. You must remember this lesson and control yourself next time. Don’t worry, this is a test. The sensation of a headache is false. It is teaching you to improve your powers of discernment. Undergoing tests in dreams is not cultivating. It is, rather, testing you under those conditions to see if your cultivation is solid. That’s what it is. If you can decisively control yourself even in dreams, it means your cultivation at your current level, and in regard to that issue [you are tested on], is solid. But what I said applies only to what happened to you this one time. Many dreams might not be dreams. If a demon truly visits you, it will be a different scenario.

Student: Master, you once said that this world of ours is filthy. You also said that things from here are precious to that other side. How can this be explained?

Master: If you were to bring something from this world over to that world intact, nobody would want it. It would be considered the filthiest thing, even filthier than feces. That is the truth. Yet substances in this world are precious after they assimilate to that realm through a process of transformation. That’s the idea. In other words, some substances [over there] originated here, while substances that are here have dropped from above. That’s the connection. Heaven’s secrets are all revealed.

Student: When someone practices cultivation to the point that his Immortal Infant comes forth, his Third Eye can see the Immortal Infant. What’s the criterion for reaching the middle level?

Master: In the past, practitioners of certain cultivation methods in the secular world could see it. For example, it used to be that in the Daoist school, when the Immortal Infant (yuanying) grew to be the size of a seven- or eight-year-old child, the person’s master soul (yuanshen) would go in to control it and the Immortal Infant would come forth from the body. It was called the Immortal Infant Entering the World. He was too excited to hold back—after all, he is a Buddha-body—and he wanted to come out to move around and play. If you see the Immortal Infant in your body and he doesn’t come out, it’s not called the Immortal Infant Entering the World. Our way of practice does not allow him to come out, or at least, he cannot at this time. As I said, this is the only dimension that has yet to be taken care of, and it is filthy and dangerous here. When the dimensions at upper levels were dealt with, many beings came to this dimension, in fact—and even bad things from very high levels came. Some of the people you see walking down the street are not human beings, it turns out. If you have the ability, take a look at this world and you will see that there are many alien beings. Yet they look like human beings and you can’t tell the difference. All of this needs to be dealt with.

So, what’s the criterion for reaching the middle level? Can you know which level you will manage to cultivate to? Where is your middle level? To ensure that you can cultivate, for now I just teach you to cultivate [unaware]. So you have no way of knowing, and you are not allowed to know. Were you allowed to, you would immediately develop an attachment of excitement or some other attachment—there’s no telling what you might do. Some people in the past who cultivated like that [and could see it] were ruined. Suddenly, one day, the person saw that he had a Buddha’s appearance, and so he went out and became a qigong master. He thought to himself, “I’m a Buddha.” And then he went and acted on it. He refused to heed anyone, even his master. You may say that you won’t be tempted, but that is what you say now, in your present state. Once you leave this setting and see something, won’t you be swayed? So, in order to ensure that you all can advance faster, some of you will not be allowed to see. Many people are allowed to see, however, as everyone’s situation is different. We also have a lot of disciples who are on the verge of achieving Consummation. Actually, they have already reached it. It is just that no movement is allowed for him. But they know many things. Some people speak with me, they see me and wish to communicate with me. This phenomenon didn’t take place before, it wasn’t possible. This demonstrates that our students have been improving rapidly in their cultivation.

Student: I have seen some disciples who put on airs as if they were better than everyone else, and I just want to distance myself from them. Is this a normal phenomenon or does it mean that I am not doing well in my cultivation?

Master: This can only be said to be a normal phenomenon. Some people do have attachments like that. Some of our students can’t bear it when they sense the attachments that are revealed in certain people’s thinking—and that’s especially true with new students, as their thoughts are more apparent. This isn’t to say that those students are not cultivating well. It results from the attachments that have not yet been removed being revealed. That’s how cultivation is. You can’t say that someone is not good when you see an attachment in him. Nor can you say that he has cultivated to a high level when you see him do something well. A person has to be evaluated comprehensively.

 Student: Master, in the scripture “Expounding on the Fa” you wrote that “Having fostered the evil demons with your own actions…” What are the “evil demons”?

Master: What are demons? They are just demons. There have always been demons in this universe. The demons that you’re asking about are mainly demonic things that manifest in one’s xinxing or thoughts, and it means that the person still has demon nature. Even our students may sometimes act as demons for each other. Once in a while a person may interfere with others as a demon would. But you can’t say that he’s a demon. You can only say that he has played that role. Perhaps that person is quite good. He’s still cultivating himself, and it’s only that at the time he didn’t do something right and thus acted as a demon in others’ lives. There are also some people who have relatively more thought karma. The demons referred to in the scripture “Expounding on the Fa” are those who do damage to the Fa and do harm to your cultivation. It’s not that I can’t protect you from such demons. I can tell you that everything that comes about in the course of cultivation is related to you, so you have to cultivate [through it].

Student: How should the side that has attained the Fa rectify the Fa?

Master: You are asking about the scripture “Expounding on the Fa.” I won’t explain it to you in detail here. However you understand the scripture “Expounding on the Fa,” you won’t get it wrong. [At worst] it will just be a matter of your grasp of it being limited. Actually, I didn’t write it solely for your human side. Rather, I wrote it for the side of you that has been fully cultivated. So to whatever degree you can comprehend it is fine.

Student: Disciples in Xinjiang long to see Master.

Master: They are asking me to go there. I know your feelings. Thank you all. People in many regions want me to come. Let’s see if the right opportunity comes.

Student: I really want to help spread the Fa, but sometimes I’m afraid that maybe I won’t do it right and will damage Dafa by mistake. How should I handle this?

Master: Talk about your own experiences learning the Fa. Don’t talk about the Fa as if the words were yours—don’t misinterpret the Fa. Talk about your own experiences. If you are afraid of doing harm to the Fa, you can talk about what you have experienced and what you’ve understood from the Fa, and things like that. And then you add the following: “The meaning of this Fa is really profound. That’s just how I understand it now, with where I’m at in my cultivation.” Doing it that way won’t undermine the Fa. Alternatively, you can tell the person Teacher’s words and let him comprehend them for himself. Neither of these methods undermines the Fa. If you speak my words to others as if they were yours, it will unwittingly have a bad effect. Sometimes a person adds his own notions into the Fa, stating that a certain line means such and such. It’s awful when he gives his own interpretation. Isn’t he misinterpreting the Fa? The reality is that the Fa has profound, deeper meanings, and he cannot interpret it in the least. You can only say this: “I have come to see that there is this meaning in the Fa, but there are still higher, deeper meanings to it.” That will be all right.

Student: We need to practice nonaction (wuwei) and not interfere with ordinary human affairs. At the same time, we have to always consider the welfare of others. How should we reconcile these two things?

Master: One of the principles in the Fa that I have taught is that everyone must cultivate his own heart and mind, turn himself into a good person—a better person—and even meet the criteria of high realms. When problems occur, look for causes within yourself. If you meddle in the societal happenings that you catch sight of, you might not handle things right and make mistakes. That is why you should do this as little as possible or not do it at all. Consider this: Why did monks in the past avoid the secular world? A monk would even plug his ears with cotton so that he wouldn’t hear anything all day long, he didn’t want to hear a thing. And he would gag himself in order to refrain from speaking. He had come to realize that bad things would get in by hearing. It seemed to him that everything would bring about karma.

Do you know what a wicked person is? What makes a wicked person wicked? It is that the person’s mind is filled with so many bad things. He has learned so many bad things, and his mind is full of wicked thoughts. He is a wicked person, regardless of whether or not it’s apparent. And where did those bad things come from? Didn’t they come from what he heard? [Monks would thus think:] “I don’t want anything, I don’t listen to bad things. I ignore what I see, and I don’t listen to anything.” What is a good person? You are a good person if your mind is full of good thoughts. If there are only good thoughts in your mind, what you do will meet the criteria. All behavior is directed by one’s brain, so what you do will certainly be good things. If you, a cultivator, always like to meddle in ordinary human matters, you will make mistakes because you cannot see the preordained arrangements. If it is something at your job [that you need to hear], then of course you can’t ignore it. But if it’s a case where in ordinary society you see someone kick or curse at someone else, or you see people fighting with each other in some conflict, and you step in to defend one party against the injustice, then you shouldn’t have meddled in those things. Why is that? There are policemen and people in positions of authority. Your having a hand in the matter equates to intervening. Besides, what you do might not be correct. If one person in his past life owed the other person a kick, he just paid it back in this life. But if you intervene he wouldn’t be able to pay it back. From an ordinary human standpoint, yes, you did a good thing. But as seen by the god who arranged that incident in order to settle the karmic debt, you have done a bad thing, for a cultivator can’t be measured by ordinary human standards. I’m illustrating the point that you shouldn’t do those purposeful actions.

So, how are you to always keep the welfare of others in mind? Since I have said that your cultivation should maximally accord with ordinary society, you have to maintain contact with people. So there will be things that involve self-interest. I would say it’s no good if you are still really selfish, thinking of yourself first in situations and not considering others. The bottom line is, you still need to maintain your interactions with people in society. If at work you just sit there, cold and detached, doing nothing, then I think your boss will fire you. You still have to observe the way of life in human society. You have to continue to interact with people, be kind to people, and consider others before doing things. In today’s society, some businessmen just want to empty others’ pockets and get rich instantly. As for this, I think the Caucasian businessmen of Europe have a healthy state of mind. A Caucasian businessman considers his business a profession and a duty, and he does it wholeheartedly to the best of his ability. He doesn’t mind even if there is only one customer a day. He thinks that it is his job, it’s part of life, that he is doing something, and that it’s fine as long as he can support himself or his family and save a little. That is how a person should be. Nowadays, people’s desire to get rich quick is terribly strong; that mentality is what directs them. People are simply hurting one another, as if they want to empty everyone else’s pockets of money in order to fill their own. What are other people going to do in that situation, though? Why don’t they think about the hardship it will bring others? They do things without the slightest regard for others. This is the mentality of the degenerate human beings seen in today’s society. When doing something, think about whether others can take it—that’s how a human being should be.

Student: Would you please tell us again about the meaning of the article “Take the Middle Way”?

Master: All of our students ought to know that you shouldn’t interpret the Fa with human emotions and thinking. Simply put, that is the idea. For example, someone interviewed me today. He asked me, “So how about telling us what the interior and exterior of the universe are like?” I said to him, “The concept you mentioned comes from a human mindset. In this universe there isn’t the kind of interior and exterior that you suggested, there is no such concept. What you said was the product of human thought and a human mindset.” What I am trying to tell you is that you need to transform your human mindset. That is, in your daily life or in your understanding of the Fa, you really mustn’t keep approaching the Fa with a human mindset, and you mustn’t interpret the Fa with those human substances that you firmly hold on to and don’t discard. The surface meaning of “Take the Middle Way” is “don’t go to extremes.”

Student: Teacher, you said that the mighty virtue of the great Buddhas in the heavens was something they cultivated. But since it’s hard to cultivate in Buddhas’ heavens, does it mean that all of them need to return to this human world to cultivate?

Master: There are two sources of beings in the cosmos: One is born of parents, and the other results from the motion of matter in the cosmos. The realm of awareness of a being created at a certain realm is just as high as that realm. That being isn’t contaminated by anything at lower levels and doesn’t have to meet any criteria for lower levels. It conforms to the criteria of that realm the moment it is brought into existence. Doesn’t it have to live in that realm? There are also others who reach there through cultivation. Here I am putting emphasis on cultivation since you are cultivators. Actually, the proportion that reaches up there through cultivation amounts to an extremely small number in the cosmos. Most beings of that realm originate in that realm.

Student: I am very touched by many students’ enthusiasm for spreading the Fa, but I am often apathetic. What should I do to change this state of mind?

Master: I don’t have any requirements on this. I haven’t said that our students have to go spread the Fa or pass the Fa on to others. If someone doesn’t have enthusiasm for it or if he or she doesn’t want to spread the Fa after obtaining it, that’s fine. You aren’t obligated to do that and it’s not considered wrong. But we do say that you, as a student [of Dafa], should tell others about the Fa when you see them suffering, since you have compassion. Any amount of money or any kind of help you could give them wouldn’t be as good as informing them about the Fa, which is the best thing to do.

Student: When we are not doing the exercises to the music, does the speed of our movements affect the results?

Master: It won’t be too fast however quickly you do them, and it won’t be too slow however slowly you do them. The speed isn’t set. You are strengthening the mechanisms, so it’s not that they have to be exactly like mine. But that said, when you do the exercises, the speed should be more or less the same as the audio tape recording. The movements should be the same and well synchronized when you do them as a group.

Student: One’s Immortal Infant stops growing when it becomes the same size as oneself. Then do children need to wait until they have grown up to cultivate?

Master: How could human beings be compared with the Immortal Infant? The Immortal Infant is developed via cultivation. Aren’t there many children doing cultivation?

Student: Other people’s thoughts can often enter my mind. When someone is sleepy, I too want to sleep. When he’s angry, I become unhappy.

Master: This is a state that occurs in one’s practice. That is, your pores are all opened and you can sense external messages. It’s not a supernormal ability. It is just a state in one’s cultivation process: When someone suffers from pain somewhere in his body, you feel it as well; when someone experiences discomfort somewhere, you also feel discomfort; when someone is happy, you are likewise happy. It’s actually a state that occurs when your body is opened up all throughout. But it will pass quickly. The faster you proceed in cultivation, the faster this state will pass.

Student: I heard that in China there was a student who died not long after he learned the Fa. He refused to take medicine before passing away. Why would a person die when he didn’t even fear death like that?

Master: When a sick person doesn’t take medicine, you can tell from the surface whether it is because in his mind he wants me to heal him or because he determinedly deems himself a practitioner. If an ordinary person caught a deadly disease and insisted on not taking medicine no matter what, would he die? He dies, doesn’t he? It was time for him to die, so he dies, for he is an ordinary person. How could an ordinary person’s life be casually extended? This person claims that he has done the exercises. Think about it, everyone: Does doing the exercises of Falun Gong and reading the books make you a Dafa disciple? If you aren’t diligent and don’t truly conduct yourself by the standards I have taught you, how could you be my disciple? Whether you are my disciple depends on whether I recognize you as one. In other words, are you up to the standard for a disciple? If you perform the exercises every day just like doing other physical exercises, if you read the books without absorbing the content, if you don’t make diligent progress and act according to the requirements in the books, could you be my disciple? Aren’t you still an ordinary person? Let’s say that an ordinary person becomes ill and, like someone drowning who grasps at a piece of straw, he realizes that I can eliminate a person’s sickness karma. Since with this practice system the understanding is that no medicine is to be taken when dissolving karma, he has done the exercises with the misconception that if he just performs the exercises and doesn’t take medicine he will get well and not die. Not only is he an ordinary person, but he also has such a strong attachment. How could he not die?

Dafa is solemn, and cultivation is a serious thing. How can a person’s life that is supposed to end be casually extended, or an ordinary human be easily allowed to achieve Consummation and become a Buddha? You must cultivate your mind. It doesn’t count if your mind fails to undergo fundamental transformation. You aren’t considered to have passed the test if you seemingly do well but still have a little bit of attachment inside that you fail to notice. That’s because nothing is more serious. Fundamental changes need to truly take place. You know that many people practice Falun Gong, and that a considerable number of them have been cured of cancer or other fatal conditions. I don’t need to tell you about this because all of our students know about this.

There have also been critically ill people who suffered from cancer or other deadly diseases who came to practice Falun Gong but died just the same. Why was that? While the person paid lip service to practicing Falun Gong, his mind didn’t let go of that illness whatsoever. Some people may think this way: “He was quite keen on practicing. He told us about not taking medicine, and he also advised us to give up the attachment to illness. He even helped others learn the Fa.” But he didn’t necessarily give it up himself; you don’t know what was on his mind. This shows how complicated it is. He asked others to give up the attachment, knowing that Teacher could hear it. He wanted it to be heard by Teacher. To put it plainly, he was trying to fool Teacher. His real intention was: “Teacher will certainly take care of me in return for all that I’ve done. I’m reading the books, doing the exercises, and telling others to cultivate, so Teacher will definitely heal me.” You would see that on the surface he stopped taking medicine, said those words, and acted according to my requirements for practice. But in essence he didn’t truly meet the standard for a cultivator. He was still thinking, “As long as I do this, Master will surely heal me.” He was still thinking like that. Did he root out that desire to have Master heal him? Wasn’t that desire still embedded and concealed in his mind? In that case, wasn’t he trying to fool someone? Was he fooling me? He was only fooling himself, in fact. That’s the truth. Then in that case, how could he be healed?

Nonetheless, we often give chances to people who are seriously ill, and we keep deferring things. The date of the hospital’s death sentence will have long passed. A long time will have passed—maybe half a year, a year, or even several years. We keep giving the person chances and waiting for him to discard that attachment. But he just won’t let it go. Although he doesn’t say anything, his mind is often unsettled by thoughts like: “Since I’m practicing Falun Gong, my illness is probably gone. Since I’m practicing Falun Gong, maybe it will be cured.” He can’t truly regard himself as a cultivating disciple who has no thought of illness. I have said that I have hardly any requirements for you. Everything is unrestricted, only your mind matters. If I didn’t even look at your mind, could I save you? No matter which cultivation way a person practices, his mind has to be transformed. The difference is that our cultivation system aims directly at one’s mind.

Student: The more I study the Fa, the more I realize that the power of the Fa is boundless, that everything is encompassed within the boundlessness, and that there is no end to it. Teacher, would you please tell me why that is?

Master: “Everything is encompassed within the boundlessness”—this is a type of test as well. Once you sense that Consummation is nearing, you will no longer have that sensation. The sense you have is a very good one. No matter what you sense, though, don’t pay too much attention to it. Sometimes a person can ascend rapidly when he or she improves. But upon arriving at the part of the body that is within the Three Realms, it becomes incredibly hard to progress even one increment forward. It is so hard that you’re simply unwilling to part with your human mindset. This is a situation I have observed.

Student: Teacher, you have often said that time is pressing. Meanwhile, you have also said that Dafa would spread far and wide among ordinary people for a long time. Is that a contradiction?

Master: I am indeed saying that time is pressing. I have said that I am not merely saving people. After you achieve Consummation, I still have to do other things that I cannot tell you about. I can’t teach the Fa for very long in the human world. If I say that time is pressing, you should simply speed up your cultivation. Don’t misinterpret my words or confuse them with talk of catastrophes like those evil religions now do. The time for cultivation is indeed quite pressing. There won’t be a catastrophe, but there is a deadline for the end of cultivation. Once the true picture is revealed, everything will end, and you will not be allowed to cultivate further. But, humankind will continue. Cultivation will exist forever, although it will assume the form of a future way of cultivation.

Student: Living in ordinary people’s society, if a person does things earnestly, is responsible to his job and family, and isn’t the least bit negligent, is he considered attached?

Master: I can’t say that what you said is wrong, but neither can I rule out there being strong human elements in your words. That’s because when you are trying to do these things well in ordinary society, it’s not possible to carry them out with a Buddha’s way of thinking. You would be unable to get things done in that case. So you still have a human being’s way of thinking. There are different situations at various levels. This is merely a manifestation of it.

Student: My American friends complain that the English version of Zhuan Falun is hard to understand. Could you please tell us the prospects for Dafa among Americans?

Master: I can tell you, it’s not that the English version is hard to understand. I would say the English versions were translated well—the one that came out in the U.S. is especially easy to grasp. There is so much underlying meaning in this Dafa. Those Americans who are somewhat simple-minded consider it hard to comprehend. Some things are indeed hard to understand for young people who aren’t keen on thinking hard. Who among you sitting here can say that you easily understand everything in Zhuan Falun? You all feel that the more you study it, the harder it gets. You know that Monk Xuanzang traveled on foot for eleven years to acquire the Buddhist scriptures from India. He went through all kinds of ordeals and dangers, and upon his return he had to do the translation himself. Today, Dafa has been brought to you right here, yet you still find it difficult. If you don’t think that the translation is good, you too can do a translation—do a better one.

In China, we organized some students to translate the book into English. It took them two years. They were always debating among themselves because they wanted to translate the meaning for English readers without any bit of divergence from the original text. They overcame great challenges. You obtained it ready-made and still you find it hard. If something [in the book] is really uncertain to you, you can compare it with the version translated in China. There is a Russian student in Boston. I was listening to him when he spoke yesterday. Everyone found that his process of learning Chinese was extraordinary. There have been many cases like that. If you put your mind to it, I think all of you can be like him.

As for Dafa’s prospects among Americans, let me tell you that for every event, every life, and every thing done in this universe, the future can be seen from beginning to end. Only the future of this undertaking of mine can’t be seen. There was simply no future before I set out to do it. As to what the future will be, if today’s human society continues on like this, people will become extremely wicked, like demons. Of course, when people are bad, violent conflicts as well as natural and man-made disasters increase. People kill and fight one another, and karma billows. What’s in store, in that case? It is really terrifying. As for cultivation, then, the prospect for Dafa in the U.S. depends on how well Americans obtain the Fa.

Student: Some Americans think that some parts of Dafa oppose other related qigong practices. This often creates some problems.

Master: Let me tell you, such a great Fa has been taught. Just in this book alone, there are many, many tests directed at different people to see how their minds react. Dafa can’t be obtained lightly. For example, the diversity of cults and the number of false qigongs are large these days, and they lead people astray. Many people who are capable of cultivating get sucked into them, and some of them engage in suicide—it’s a mess. I said that I’m not simply saving people. If I didn’t point out these bad things, if I didn’t tell you that they are evil, how could you concentrate on your cultivation free of distraction, and how could I address the critical matter of “no second cultivation way”? Dafa can’t be obtained lightly. Perhaps someone is attached to those things and so is impeded and doesn’t want to obtain the Fa. If he doesn’t want to obtain the Fa, then let him be, because if he doesn’t discard the attachment and doesn’t practice only one way, he won’t be able to achieve Consummation and will do harm to Dafa. It is his personal emotions that prevent him from obtaining the Fa. Dafa is solemn. Not everyone can obtain the Fa. We can spread the Fa widely and have all those people who are predestined or are still able to obtain the Fa obtain it. But there are indeed a number of people who simply can’t obtain the Fa. They are no longer allowed to see it, so they are probably impeded. If a person is not impeded, he or she is most likely still ordained to obtain the Fa.

Student: The mudras are different in several pictures of Teacher that have been officially published. Could you please tell us their meanings?

Master: Other than this picture hung up here at the conference, no picture that features mudras has been published. Mudras are quite complex. They are just like all these words with which I am teaching you the Fa today. Mudras in motion are a language. A series of them gestured is a passage of Fa taught. If it were something I could tell you with words, I wouldn’t make mudras for you today. I use them because such content can’t be spoken. You think that what I have said today is lofty, I’m sure you think so. But you have no idea how much more lofty mudras are than this: They depict the truth. If you can understand them, great, and if not, that’s fine.

Student: I think it was arranged for us to come to a Western society so that we could spread the Fa, and that we will return to the East at the appropriate time. Is that right?

Master: If you are asking me why you immigrated to the West, I can’t tell you. You can go wherever you want to nowadays. If you are saying that you will return to the East when you have achieved Consummation, what would you be doing on earth if you had achieved Consummation at that point?

Student: There is a person who had a transplanted kidney removed after it failed. He had the opportunity to learn Falun Gong and is diligently cultivating his xinxing in daily life, hoping to be able to achieve Consummation in this lifetime. Does he have a chance?

Master: I can say that many of you have asked about operations and whether you can still cultivate without certain body parts. The fact is, an operation is done in this human dimension and cannot touch the bodies in other dimensions whatsoever. So what’s removed is only something in this superficial dimension. The essentials of the body can’t be touched. In other words, the bodies over there are intact. But you do depend on this body here to cultivate. If you can truly meet the standard in cultivation, any miracle can be granted to you. And if you can’t meet the criteria, nothing can be given to you. Cultivation is a serious matter.

Student: If someone enlightened to something but didn’t act accordingly, is that person still considered unenlightened on the matter?

Master: If someone enlightened to something but didn’t act well, he “does what’s wrong while fully aware.” It’s not that he didn’t enlighten to it. Well, I was just bantering. I would say that many of you know the principles perfectly well, but when facing a test, you still aren’t able to let go of the attachment. Isn’t that the case? Is that right? (Everyone answers, “Yes.”) What’s the reason? Some people have acted to protect their pride, and some haven’t been able to forgo their emotions, right? So they have knowingly made mistakes. Now you are a cultivator, so you can’t always knowingly do what is wrong. You must pass the test at some point.

Student: Can still water contain Zhen, Shan, Ren?

Master: The cosmos is comprised of the property Zhen, Shan, Ren. Don’t be concerned with its conceptualization. It is this way within the framework of a certain concept and another way in another. Neither personal gain nor the pursuit of knowledge should be your motive for cultivating. That won’t work. You should concentrate on cultivation.

Student: If someone wants to cultivate to a level surpassing that of Arhat, does one have to make a wish to save all sentient beings? Is it true that if one doesn’t make this wish one can achieve only a lower level?

Master: I didn’t guide your thinking toward this. I didn’t say those things. From which religion did you hear that? What do you mean by “wishing”? Let me tell you that that’s all just the product of human emotion. Since you have brought it up, though, I will talk about why Buddhist disciples say that. Isn’t the making wishes that is talked about in today’s Buddhism a human-driven action? Aren’t those in fact attachments of purposeful action and pursuit? In Buddhism they talk about making a wish to save all sentient beings. They think that they will be made Buddhas if they make a wish to save all sentient beings. Isn’t that a joke? One can become a Buddha only by truly cultivating oneself to reach that level, by bearing many hardships, and by attaining that exalted realm. Buddhist disciples now want to save all sentient beings. How can they save all sentient beings without having cultivated to a high level? Actually, many Buddhist disciples bind up in that saying many attachments of emotion and an intention of showing off. My words can instantly pierce a person’s heart. How can human beings understand at a Buddha’s level the meaning of “saving all sentient beings”? When people talk about saving all sentient beings these days, isn’t it actually a display of their mentality of showing off and a complicated attachment that results from wishful thinking? It is driven by attachments to human beings and feelings, mixed together with a thought of showing-off in the future. Could a Buddhist disciple during the Age of Law’s End be in such a noble and holy realm? That’s not possible.

Also, saving all sentient beings can’t be casually talked about or done. How could humans know that before Shakyamuni came down to the world he had to get permission from many Buddhas, Daos, and Gods, as well as still many more Buddhas, Daos, and Gods on even higher planes? Who would dare to come down if it weren’t for a special mission? Coming down is just like dropping down. One needs to do cultivation in order to return, so who dares to come down? And moreover, one is prohibited from just willfully entering the Three Realms. One might think that one won’t be contaminated by human beings. But could someone not be contaminated if he jumps into a manure pit? He’s surely contaminated, right? So it can’t be willfully done. Originally those words were sacred religious sayings; they are words of the Buddhist school, spoken by gods and used in cultivation. Now, however, ordinary people have casually taken them and uttered them carelessly. Ordinary people use them as if they were virtually worthless, and their sacred sense has been lost.

Another thing is, an Arhat doesn’t have an intention of saving all sentient beings. Why not? An Arhat is a self-awakened enlightened being—that’s an Arhat. What’s a self-awakened enlightened being? A self-awakened enlightened being has simply cultivated himself and achieved Consummation beyond the Three Realms. He’s considered to have succeeded and been liberated, so he simply doesn’t have a desire or aim to save others. A Bodhisattva, meanwhile, merely assists a Buddha in his effort to save sentient beings. A Bodhisattva is said to save people to her paradise, but she doesn’t have a paradise—she resides in a Buddha’s paradise. Whether or not she can freely save people depends on the willingness of the Buddha to take them. Isn’t that true? The situation is that if the Buddha wants to save people, she will help carry out the specific actions that entails. That’s the relationship.

Student: Is it true that I just need to do my best to let go of my attachments, but that whether or not they’re discarded is in Master’s hands?

Master: Wouldn’t it be me who is cultivating then? The process is as you described, but the understanding isn’t quite right.

Actually, you have met the criteria the moment you can identify your problem and truly identify those attachments that you shouldn’t have. Master will naturally remove the relevant material from the surface for you. It can’t really be considered Master doing it, however, since it stems from your own cultivation.

Student: How should we balance grand mercy and wuwei (nonaction)?

Master: In the realm of Arhat or Bodhisattva, human emotion (qing) is replaced by grand mercy. Human beings live for emotion. That is, humans are immersed in emotion and it is hard for them to break away. A person cannot cultivate and make progress without freeing himself from emotion. As to wuwei, it is required in cultivation. That state is also present in someone who has attained a fairly high realm in the cosmos: He knows everything, but does not want to do anything, though he is capable of doing anything, as if it were simpler than playing with toys. Let’s say that you are a college student and are extremely smart. If a few simple wooden blocks were placed before you and you were asked to move them back and forth or play with them, would you want to? You wouldn’t. Everything would be clear at a glance. They’re just a few wooden blocks, why play with them? You wouldn’t want to make a move. Wuwei is stressed in cultivation so as to prevent you from creating more karma. You are in the realm of grand mercy if you free yourself of emotion and attain the standard of wuwei.

Student: I am a part-time editor for a general-interest magazine. In order to spread the Fa, we intend to publish Zhuan Falun and other works of yours. Since space is limited, however, we can only subjectively select certain chapters and sections.

Master: That’s not a good idea. For one thing, since your magazine covers a wide variety of things, placing the Fa in there wouldn’t be appropriate. Also, making selections as you described would in fact amount to quoting out of context. And it would be hard for people to understand, and would likely be taken by those so-called “literati” as some human thing. So be sure not to do such things and be sure not to quote out of context.

Student: Teacher, you said that it’s normal for a veteran student not to go to the practice sites to do the exercises. Is it a good idea for Teacher not to encourage them to cultivate in such a setting?

Master: It’s not as simple as you think. Do you know that I even need to consider these situations of yours while I save you? When you ask someone who is in a different realm and state to go there, you don’t know that he feels uneasy. What you say and do is intensely annoying to him. There are cases like that. If someone is not in that state and simply doesn’t want to come out, however, I would say he needs to correct his approach. Coming out to do the exercises benefits you. If you truly don’t have the time because of work, that’s understandable, and then it is up to you.

Of course, in China there are instances where they go outside to perform the exercises in both the morning and evening. They come out at four o’clock in the morning and six o’clock in the evening after dinner to do the exercises together twice a day. They find that doing the exercises like that is excellent. Yet people in many places in other countries aren’t doing the exercises that way, using various excuses. Let me tell you that if you do as I have taught in this practice system, it is guaranteed that there will be no harm, only benefit. You claim that you are too busy and don’t have the time. Actually, you are afraid that you don’t get enough rest. Has it ever occurred to you that cultivation is the best form of rest? You can obtain the kind of rest that can’t be obtained through sleep. Nobody would say: “The exercises are making me so tired that I can’t do anything today.” One would only say: “The exercises are making my whole body relaxed and at ease. I don’t feel sleepy after a sleepless night. I feel full of energy. I feel completely fine after a day’s work.” Isn’t that the case? So if someone who doesn’t come out to do the exercises says that he has no time or uses other excuses, I would say that it’s solely because he lacks a deep understanding of the Fa and lacks the will to make diligent efforts. Of course, it is strictly a different situation when a veteran student is in that state. But it’s not right if someone has not reached that state and yet uses that excuse to not come out. Cultivation is about cultivating oneself. Fooling others is, in fact, fooling oneself.

Student: Airplanes have long existed at higher-level dimensions. But people at higher-level dimensions can fly, right? Why do they still need to use airplanes, then?

Master: I have said that in different dimensions not all beings are like the Buddhas and Gods throughout the heavens—beings differ substantially. There are places like that of mankind, but few. There are particularly more places like those of alien beings. They need to fly and need to use flying devices. I can’t tell you about all of this, steering your thoughts in that direction and encouraging curiosity. Beings are extremely complex. There are worlds of all kinds and there is great diversity in the cosmos. Now the human beings on earth have merely white, yellow, and black races. Over there, there are also green and blue ones, and even multi-colored ones. There are diverse ones of every sort, unlike anything you have imagined. In other words, you should stop thinking about these things with your human frame of mind.

Student: Falun Gong is loosely administered. How is it different from a tangible organizational structure?

Master: It is loosely administered and there is no organizational structure. If you want to come you can come; if you don’t want to you can leave. We don’t have a membership roster. People [here] only know your face, no one knows your identity. Isn’t that right? Everyone is learning out of his or her own will. For example, people asked around about where Master was, and then they came to listen to the Fa-teaching, right? It’s not that I issued mobilization orders so that everyone would come to the U.S. to listen to the Fa-teaching. There was nothing of the sort. Whether or not a person does cultivation is entirely voluntary. Once an ordinary human type of administrative form is adopted, any kind of human attachment can arise, and attachments will prevent one from cultivating and bring trouble to the Fa.

Student: What does “no omission” mean as in “No Omission in Buddha-Nature”?

Master: “No omission” used to be a term in Buddhism; that is, it was Buddhist cultivation language. Consider this, humans have all kinds of feelings, desires, and attachments, all of which result from emotion (qing). They are numerous, such as jealousy, showing off, hatred, etc. Every one of these attachments has to be eliminated. It is considered an omission if any one of them is not removed. A person cannot achieve Consummation if there is an omission. A person needs to cultivate until there is no omission and no attachment left. He or she will be able to achieve Consummation only when there is truly nothing omitted.

Student: Has the nature Zhen, Shan, Ren changed each time when a new universe has been re-created by Enlightened Beings at extremely high levels?

Master: You shouldn’t ask these types of questions anymore. You shouldn’t even think about them. The essential property Zhen, Shan, Ren remains eternally unchanged. The Fa is unchanged so that changes in the beings and matter within it can be measured.

Student: Other than helping cultivators attain a tranquil mind, does the music of Falun Gong have any other special...?

Master: Its major role is to help people reach tranquility as soon as possible. That’s because when people listen to the music they don’t think about ordinary human affairs, like rivalries with others, messy situations, how their businesses are doing, or how much money they’re making. That approach is adopted. The music is used to substitute one thought for thousands of thoughts. The content of Dafa is furthermore added into the music. So the more you listen to it, the more pleasant it is to you and the better you feel.

Student: Can we listen to Teacher’s Fa teachings when we perform the tranquil exercises?

Master: How could you attain tranquility while listening to my Fa-teachings? Your brain cells are very active when listening to the Fa, aren’t they? So you wouldn’t be able to reach tranquility. Listening to Fa-teachings should simply be listening to Fa-teachings.

Student: Teacher, you mentioned yesterday that with every additional practitioner you bear an additional share of hardship. I was sad to hear that, because I have led many people to the path of cultivation.

Master: I knew you would think about that. But I can tell you: Don’t think like that, for I have my ways. You don’t need to be concerned with such things. Just concentrate on cultivation. If you guide many people to learn the Fa, it can be said that your contribution and virtue are boundless, and you are in effect helping your master spread the Fa. Your mind is rather active to think of the issue. What I meant was that with each additional practitioner, I need to be concerned with one more person. My concerns are not as you imagine them. I have countless Law Bodies (fashen) who handle these matters.

Student: I find myself flying in the sky during my meditations and dreams, but I have never seen figures from the Buddhist school dressed in yellow. I wonder if what I saw was real.

Master: Actually, you did see something. The reason there were no figures of the Buddhist school is that the place you went to was different. If you see those things, I think you should just let it be. Don’t pay too much attention to it, and put your mind on cultivation. Be sure to do so.

Student: The gods above no longer regard modern persons as human. But Teacher, yesterday you said that nobody today is meant to be a human being.

Master: People nowadays are indeed degenerate. Gods don’t look after them anymore. No religion is being looked after by gods, since gods see that humankind is too depraved and they no longer regard human beings as human. Where you came from does not determine whether you can be saved. There are things that I don’t want any lives to know. Besides, I didn’t say that my way of doing things is the same as theirs. There is an even broader significance to what I am doing. Human society will continue to evolve. Those who can succeed at cultivation and achieve Consummation will go to heavenly paradises at different levels. Those who can’t achieve Consummation but who are able to meet the criteria for the original humankind will become humans in the next period of civilization.

Student: Teacher, you wrote in the scripture “Validation” that we should “validate Dafa as a correct and true science...” How do we validate it?

Master: You are educated people. When faced with people who don’t understand [Dafa] or who are saying bad things about us, you can validate [Dafa] by sharing your experiences, knowledge, or the results from your work, and so forth.

Student: I’m Polish, and I want to spread the Fa in Poland. When will we be able to see materials in Polish and how can I help?

Master: There are some Chinese people in Poland. Some of them are studying and doing the exercises, but no Polish translations have been done. We will see if the opportunity comes along since only our disciples can do the translations. It’s hard for others to translate Dafa books. Just like you, I long to see Zhuan Falun in Polish soon. Of course, it would be great if you could translate it.

Student: It’s not easy to introduce the Dafa of Zhuan Falun to others appropriately. At times, some relatively profound things are unwittingly said, making it hard for people to believe—contrary to what was intended.

Master: That’s right. Everyone needs to take note of this point. When you are interacting with people who haven’t yet learned the Fa, don’t present [Dafa] from the angle of what you have come to understand in it. Doing that will intimidate them. What you say is quite deep, whether you realize it or not, because it will reflect the realm you are in. And there are even more profound things that you may not articulate but that are implied by your words. Those things can’t be perceived by that person’s mind at the surface, but they are perceived by his mind on a deeper level. And he cannot bear it. So when we are presenting Zhuan Falun to others, we have to talk about its principles at the lowest and most superficial level, such as how to be a good person and how to improve. Discuss simple principles like these. It’s analogous to asking someone to go to school, and talking to him about concepts at the university level when he has yet to attend elementary school. He would say, “I don’t want to learn it—I don’t understand it.” Wouldn’t that be the case?

Student: If someone is missing a leg and a hand, he can’t sit cross-legged or perform the movements. How can he cultivate?

Master: I have said that Dafa cultivation is a serious matter. I am teaching the Fa for people to cultivate. In other words, he is able to cultivate. It is his heart that matters. Without a hand and a leg, you still have your heart to cultivate with. Even if you do it with one leg and one hand, I think miracles will happen. The decisive factor is one’s heart.

Student: When meditating in concentration, if I am no longer conscious of this body but feel the existence of light and sound, how should I further my cultivation?

Master: I didn’t tell you about what happens or the kind of state one enters during tranquility—I haven’t talked about those things. We stress cultivation of one’s heart and mind, which is fundamental. An attachment to any kind of state will make you unable to reach a high realm, and will limit you severely. Wuwei is the great way. The things that you see or hear are all normal occurrences. Don’t be concerned with them and don’t get attached to them.

Student: When the master soul leaves the body, should I have no conscious thought about it and let it fly? Can I have the intention of flying higher and in a more beautiful posture? Or, can I alter the posture, such as changing from lying to sitting, or to facing down...?

Master: If you can fly, then fly. It doesn’t matter how you fly, be it lying down or sitting. But don’t regard it as having fun. Some people have asked me to demonstrate things for them. [Were I to do that,] you would look upon what I displayed with a human mindset and merely be entertained. You wouldn’t grasp the true grand significance of Buddha Fa’s divine powers, so they can’t be used in that manner. Even if you can [fly], you shouldn’t regard it as having fun.

Student: My master soul used to be able to fly high and far when it left my body. Why is it that recently it suddenly can’t fly high?

Master: Perhaps it’s because you developed an attachment. And besides, in cultivation, you aren’t allowed to be like that all the time. It’s not good if it happens so often that it affects your cultivation. Raising your cultivation level is first and foremost.

Student: I admire your Falun Dafa from the bottom of my heart, but it’s said that we need to consecrate fruits in front of your picture every day.

Master: Actually, when a god saves people in the human world, he, too, eats food, but not the kind of food consumed by humans. What does he eat? You know I have said that for every object there exist other bodies. The god consumes those other bodies of your food. You are disciples and I am your master, so of course I won’t be a stickler for etiquette. When your food is served at a meal, I have already taken it away on that other side. I haven’t asked you to follow any devotional format. But if you have the desire to do that and really want to do so, I won’t object, because that is your wish. As to cases where some of you kowtow to me, I think I’ll be happy upon seeing you if you don’t kowtow to me but are cultivating well. If you kowtow to me every day but fail to cultivate well, I will be sad upon seeing you. You see the idea, right? That is merely a surface form, though it does show the person’s heart.

Student: When I am perplexed about a certain problem, I ponder it over deeply, and at that time an answer comes forth from my imagination, sometimes even with pictures appearing in my mind. Is this a good or bad thing?

Master: This usually happens among ordinary people. It is a state that often occurs when a person thinks about ordinary human problems. If you still do so in your cultivation and Fa-study, I would say that you are too attached [as you go about studying] the Fa, to say the least. When you think about problems at work or in your life, work is just work, and you have to separate it from cultivation. You should set it aside and not think about anything while you are cultivating. It’s all right to throw yourself into your work when you are working. The appearance of pictures and answers is a manifestation of a supernormal ability.

Student: If one’s mind is always empty without any thoughts, how is it different from Zen Buddhism?

Master: There is a substantial difference. No matter how empty your mind is, it’s not okay for you to let your consciousness depart; that is the kind of “emptiness” we teach. In Zen Buddhism, meanwhile, emptiness means that nothing is left and the person is oblivious to everything. They aren’t cultivating themselves; they aren’t doing cultivation, but merely being motionless. So they are cultivating someone else, namely, their subordinate souls.

Student: Master, I don’t quite understand what you said yesterday about “no one on the earth today should be a human being.”

Master: Let me start from this most superficial shell of human beings. Nowadays, humankind (of course, you aren’t included since you do cultivation) is capable of every sort of vice, yet each person came for profound reasons. That’s the situation. Meanwhile, I have found that the actual human race, the people who used to be here, are in another dimension, namely, the netherworld. As they died in wars, [etc.], they gradually migrated there instead of reincarnating back up. That race has been fully replaced now by the beings who came for profound reasons. Yet whoever comes has to be made deluded like human beings are, and, without exception, they become depraved along with the degeneration of human society. So that’s the idea. Only those who had the divine courage to come down can hear the Fa that is so mighty and profound. But not everyone came to obtain the Fa: There are some who came to do harm to the Fa. That’s why I said that none of them came in order to be human beings. Not everyone came to do cultivation, either. There are some who came specifically to undermine the Fa, and they will be banished to hell. There are still others, such as those who are no longer good and cannot obtain the Fa. There are also ones who no longer deserve to obtain the Fa.

Student: I’m from Denmark and was lucky to obtain the Fa in California. Should I go back to Denmark to spread the Fa? I am afraid that I might be unable to shoulder the responsibility.

Master: You don’t need to worry about such things. When you are trying to help someone obtain the Fa, many of you typically say, “This book is really good.” You tell that to a friend. Then the friend says: “Really? Let me check it out.” Unwittingly, he or she is thus able to engage it. It’s all rather simple, but not accidental. Of course, there is one thing. That is, you can’t say, “I think this is so great. How come you don’t want to learn it?” That person might say, “I just don’t want to learn it. I don’t have the time,” or, “I don’t think it’s good.” It is wrong to impose it on others. Why is it wrong? You are forcing and pressuring that person to obtain the Fa. There should be no coercion. If someone’s heart isn’t moved, the Fa must not be given to him; the person’s heart has to be moved on its own. In other words, he needs to be worthy of the Fa to be shown the Fa. That makes sense, right?

Student: How should we understand: “Right before he is Unlocked and fully Enlightened, eight tenths of his gong will be taken down together with the marker of his xinxing”?

Master: I have explained this principle. The purpose of taking down your gong is to enable you to achieve Consummation. What does it mean to “achieve Consummation”? That is when you have reached the criteria through cultivation, and your gong along with all of your blessings and virtue are consummated. A Buddha can have any thing or any ability he desires. Where does that capacity come from? It comes from the tremendous effort that you put in. That is, it is composed of and perfected by your mighty virtue—gong, which co-exists with xinxing. Without it, you can’t go to heaven. You know that there is a circle around a Buddha’s body. The Buddhas painted in portraits in ancient temples all sit in what seems like a moon. It’s actually none other than the Buddha’s own paradise. This paradise needs to be substantiated, or you would have nothing but gong. How could you be called a Buddha, then? If you wanted to save people and do good things, you would be missing that paradise which you need to have. You need to have your own paradise before you can have whatever you want.

Student: Without Dafa experience sharing conferences like this one today, I don’t think I could possibly raise my xinxing. Is this normal?

Master: Experience sharing conferences can indeed be of great benefit to our students’ improvement and progress, and at the same time the conferences can introduce the Fa to others. It’s an excellent format, and I think it should be done like this. It can indeed enable those who are sluggish in their cultivation to find where they fall short, and thus be compelled to catch up. It would be wrong to say that a person couldn’t obtain the Fa without this conference. The Fa is here for everyone to learn. Fa conferences can serve the purpose of introducing the Fa to others and accelerating your progress. There are some people who do obtain the Fa through the conferences.

Student: Teacher, you said that during the current period, gods in different levels of dimensions are also learning this Fa. Are the scriptures studied by high beings at those levels the same as the scriptures we see?

Master: They are completely different—there are different Fa for different levels. Black ink on white paper is for humans to read. The words and meaning of the same Fa are different at different levels.

Student: Demons reincarnate and bring deplorable turmoil to the human world. Why do higher beings allow demons to reincarnate from hell?

Master: Not all demons exist in hell—there are different demons at different levels. Some exist due to the principle of mutual promotion and restraint; some come as a result of people’s enormous karma; still others are old and degenerate forces that come to make trouble for the Fa.

Student: Last year I was baptized, but now I realize that Falun Dafa is the true Great Way. I am determined to cultivate in Falun Dafa. Is there a conflict?

Master: There is no conflict. Baptism is a human act and it is superficial—it’s not an act of gods. I have said that what gods recognize is a person’s heart, not some human form.

Student: You said that the universe goes through formation, stasis, and degeneration. Why is there degeneration?

Master: You all know how food turns putrid, people get old, iron rusts, and even rocks are subject to weathering—that’s the idea. It’s just that it takes a longer time. The time difference and the long duration are inconceivable to human beings, [seemingly] lasting forever and never deteriorating.

Student: For the last couple of months, I haven’t been able to break away from the disturbance of demons that speak to me in foul languages. I am disturbed by bad messages in my dreams and in my daily life.

Master: Read the book more and any problem can be resolved. I just told you to read the book more, but actually, you might not necessarily understand the underlying meaning of what I just said. This book is almighty, omnipotent. When you make your master consciousness more determined, the karma in your thoughts is taken away. In most cases, the situation you described occurs due to rather severe thought-karma, but you should really pay attention to firming up your master consciousness!

Student: I have no problem with reading the books and doing the exercises on my own. But when I go to the practice site, I feel as though we’re doing politically-driven indoctrination [when we read the book together].

Master: Perhaps you loathe politically-driven indoctrination, and so it’s caused by your strong sense of aversion? The form is unimportant—what’s important is the essence. Isn’t that a strong attachment you have, an attachment of aversion?

Student: Is the brief introduction to Falun Dafa that has been printed in publications regarded as quoting out of context?

Master: The brief introduction isn’t extracted from my Fa. It’s simply that, a “brief introduction,” so it is not quoting out of context. It introduces the general outline of my Fa. They have done this, but they were always careful. They did it only after lengthy deliberation.

Student: How should we understand loneliness as being the most dangerous adversary in cultivation?

Master: You have no idea that loneliness can ruin everything for a person. In the past, what did monks depend on in their cultivation? Why were they able to succeed at cultivation? Their greatest hardship was loneliness. What hardship did they have to endure? It was the hard-to-endure loneliness. Why could a person who went up to a mountain to practice the Dao manage to attain the Dao? Worldly people were meanwhile enjoying glory, splendor, wealth, and rank. Even poor people, who weren’t enjoying glory, splendor, wealth, and rank, at least had kith and kin and enjoyed their own worldly pleasures. But these cultivators would be off cultivating hard in the mountains, all alone. When a person has no contact with others, that loneliness, which is hard to endure, can wear away his many attachments and desires. Of course, we don’t use that approach. We aim directly at one’s heart, and this is the fastest way. I don’t think there is time for you to have them worn down over the course of several decades.

Student: The mentally ill aren’t allowed to attend the [Dafa] classes. But are patients with delusions of grandeur, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and so forth, regarded as mentally ill?

Master: Actually, I can share that how people understand “mental illness” is different from my interpretation. What I refer to as mental illness is when a person’s master soul (zhu yuanshen) is not in control of his body, and any foreign messages, other beings, or his karma can command him to do this or that. The karma in his brain makes him swear and do bad things, and so people say that he’s mentally ill. I have found that the mentally ill indeed have no injuries or pathogens. Can it be called an illness, then? It’s simply an abnormal human state. This Dafa of ours, however, is for saving people and for cultivating the master soul; if the person’s master soul isn’t in charge, to whom would Dafa be given? So we don’t let him attend our classes. If it is karma or possessing spirits that direct him, would it be allowed to save that karma and those possessing spirits [as would happen if we gave him Dafa]? That’s the reason for our approach. Besides, people would say, “Look, Falun Gong made him crazy.” That would cause us a great deal of harm.

Student: Dating can give rise to many attachments in us. Should I stop the relationship with my boyfriend or should I let things take their own course, get married, and have children?

Master: I have said that human society still needs to reproduce, in fact. If the number of our Dafa disciples were in the billions instead of 100 million, wouldn’t what you described cause serious problems? Isn’t that the issue? I have asked you to conform to ordinary people to the greatest extent possible in your conduct. And in fact, it’s fine for you to do that; you are just setting too high of a standard for yourself. Of course, I am not opposed to overly-high standards. But I think that you should be in keeping with ordinary people as much as possible. [Following unnaturally high standards] by way of forcing it can cause society to misunderstand us, which will cause our Fa a certain amount of harm. When you haven’t reached that standard, [yet you impose it on yourself,] you will suffer the agony of enduring your [unnaturally suppressed] attachments. If you have truly reached that level, then I am not against you doing those things; if you haven’t, do the best you can to do things naturally.

Balance these things well. You really won’t be able to date anymore if all emotion is removed. Before you reach that state, however, I think you should still act in accordance with the ways of humankind. You definitely won’t fall in level on account of getting married, that won’t happen.

Student: If someone was an animal in his past life, can he reach Beyond-Triple-World-Law through cultivation in this life?

Master: Let me give an example: A person may have come from a very high level, but during the course of his reincarnations he might not have been a human in all of his lives. He may have been this or that. Anyway, he reincarnated as a human during this phase. You [may] have reincarnated as an animal prior to this phase, but it can’t be said that you are an animal. It’s just that you were one in the course of transmigration. What’s most important is what your true being is.

Student: Sometimes I gain new insights when reading the books and studying the Fa. But sometimes I don’t even after reading the book two or three times.

Master: You definitely won’t gain new insight if you intentionally seek to do so. You should take this book and just read it. It is called “gaining naturally without pursuit.” I was just saying yesterday that when you encounter a problem, don’t try to find the pertinent sections to read. You won’t find them. A person usually gains something naturally, without pursuing it. Just pick up the book and open it at random, and it is guaranteed you will find what you should gain that day. Having said this, however, some people will interpret it to mean: “Good. From now on, when I read the book I will just open it at random.” That would then become yet another attachment, and again you wouldn’t be able to find what you seek. Once more, there is the problem of pursuit—it’s just in a different form.

Student: We firmly believe in you and Falun Dafa. We heard that recently there have been some troubles in mainland China. How should we respond?

Master: There have been constant troubles since the day I started to teach the Fa. Why is that? If a righteous Fa were to spread without any disturbances from evil or if everyone could understand it, in my opinion, its level would be the same as that of human beings, right? In that case it wouldn’t be able to save people. There is interference just because there are people who can’t understand it, or the evil wants to disrupt it upon realizing that it is a righteous Fa. Although this Fa has already been successfully disseminated, it remains extremely important how it is spread, how it saves people, how Dafa itself and I act when disruptions are encountered, and whether the course taken is straight. This has a direct correlation with whether the Fa is righteous and able to save people. You see the idea, right? So there have been constant trials and hardships. Every step we have taken has been righteous. Even if someone intended to attack us by seizing on one error and ignoring all the good facts, that person wouldn’t be able to find anything wrong since the course we have taken has been extremely righteous. That is how we have managed to come this far. That is how we established our mighty virtue through trials and hardships, and only that way could we give later generations something to talk about. We can also leave later generations with the experiences and lessons gained by undergoing and overcoming various ordeals. Only this way can the Fa possess mighty virtue, right?

Student: Master, you have said that because we cultivate among ordinary people, we have to be in keeping with the ways of ordinary people as much as possible. In the U.S., sometimes it’s hard to spread the Fa to the public without having a registered organization.

Master: A Dafa association has been registered in the U.S., but we can’t regard this organization as an ordinary human undertaking. It merely creates for our Fa an environment for practicing the cultivation system legally and a safeguard for you to engage in cultivation legally. These are its only purposes. You definitely shouldn’t regard this entity as some sort of project. I have said that a great way has no form; you aren’t supposed to focus your attention on some venture or other. Even the effort to put together this big conference today is to be integrated into your cultivation. The students aren’t charging any fee because it is a charitable organization. However, it is not a religious venture.

Student: I live by myself and have little contact with other people. My family is in China. I study the Fa in my spare time at home. Is this environment…?

Master: However you cultivate is fine. As long as you regard yourself as a cultivator at every moment and are studying and doing the exercises, you won’t be left out. It’s better that you come out to exercise and cultivate.

Student: Do we need to repel interference from all sorts of messages throughout the entire cultivation process?

Master: When you perform the exercises, if you can really hear some voices, if there are messages in your mind, or if some thoughts are interfering with you, you have to get rid of them. If they are strong, you can treat them as a third party or as thoughts of others that have nothing to do with you. Why do I say this? It is because everything that is yours is at your command. Your arms, legs, fingers, and mouth can move whatever way you want them to move. Why is that? It’s because they are yours. When you want to enter into concentration, the thoughts don’t quiet down. And the more you want them to be quiet, the more rowdy they get. Are those thoughts you, then? Would you recognize them as you? They are karma and notions that you have acquired throughout your life. That is why you should regard them as a third party: “You keep on thinking, and I will watch you do that.” This time, you leap out from them. If you can truly discern them [as not you], it equates to your having made a clean break from them and having found yourself. Doing this is itself cultivation, and it can remove them quickly. If you can truly discern them, they will be scared since it’s time for them to be eliminated.

Student: Zhuan Falun is being left to future generations and your picture is in it. Yet you have also said that people in the future won’t know your appearance.

Master: Zhuan Falun isn’t being left to future generations. People in the future won’t know about the existence of Zhuan Falun. So although the Fa I have taught is profound and many of heaven’s secrets have been revealed, if people that have heard the Fa indeed achieve Consummation in the time ahead, wouldn’t I have taught it to none other than gods? Human beings would still not know it. That is why I teach you as I do. I hope that all of you will be able to achieve Consummation.

As for the books, they can easily be dealt with. At a certain time, we can make them become plain paper without a single word on them.

Student: How should we handle certain versions of Zhuan Falun that are missing lines and sentences of text?

Master: There are many cases of that in the pirated editions of Zhuan Falun. Make sure you pay attention to this issue. If you find missing words or lines, add them in with your pen. In the future, don’t buy any books with missing words or lines. In other words, you can buy books with the original typesetting. Make sure you don’t buy books with a new typesetting.

Student: There are some students who used to do various qigong practices. Now, when spreading the Fa, they first talk about what they used to practice in order to attract students.

Master: Some of you do have this form of ordinary human intent, but you can’t say that such a person is not good. I have noticed in these two days of speeches that some people kept mentioning things from their past. In general, what everyone has said has been quite good. It’s just that there are still people who displayed their ordinary human attachments. When spreading Dafa you should no longer mention anything of what you learned previously, for you have made a clean break with it. It doesn’t belong to you, and it’s not a part of what you want to attain. Isn’t that the same as promoting two or more cultivation ways?

Student: Teacher, could you please tell us more about the stipulation that no money should be kept at the assistance centers? In this commercial society of the United States, it’s hard to get things done without money involved.

Master: Let me tell you that no one can change this: The assistance centers absolutely cannot keep any money. Suppose that during the current period a little money were left after selling books and that we wanted to use that money to do some things right away. No money is involved in principle, but in actuality it is involved. If this goes on for a long time, it will become endless, and you will be practically keeping money and property. I can tell you that when we do things to spread the Fa, I think that some of the students who are better off might take care of the lesser expenses. For instance, this big conference hall we have today was paid for by one of our students. He did a good thing, wishing to help people obtain the Fa. Perhaps what he gains from it is thus greater. Anyway, I think I’m just talking about the idea. The path we take must be correct—we must walk this path right.

Student: Is it true that the higher the level, the closer it is to the original matter? This would explain why flowers cast by heavenly maidens can pass through the body of a Bodhisattva but can’t pass through the body of an Arhat.

Master: It’s not like that. What you are referring to is a difference in matter, whereas I refer to a difference in realms and in celestial rank. Of course, differences in celestial rank can cause differences in the particles of your body—that’s certain. But differences in particles are not a prerequisite. The level of xinxing and celestial rank are the prerequisite.

Today’s questions have basically all been answered. New students should read the book more. If you want to learn this and cultivate, go read the book. A Fa-conference is hard to come by. Had I told you about elementary-level things, this conference would be virtually fruitless for those of you sitting here since you wouldn’t have heard what you should have heard. The purpose of the conference is to help everyone progress more quickly and achieve Consummation sooner. It can also advance the cause of this Fa and allow more people to obtain it. So I think you should improve a great deal from the conference. Also, we should help more people who haven’t yet gained the Fa learn it. I can tell you that there are still many people among the white race and other races who can be saved yet who have still not gained the Fa. Of course, I won’t force you to do this. However much you are able to do is fine. The Fa saves predestined people. You can only advise people to be kind, but you can’t compel them to cultivate. That’s how it is. I hope that everyone may make even more rapid progress and achieve Consummation soon.

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