Chapter
I Introduction
In
our country, [China], qigong
has a long history, as it dates back to ancient times. Our people thus have a
natural advantage in practicing qigong.
The two upright schools of qigong
cultivation practice, the Buddha School and the Dao School, have already made
public many great cultivation methods previously taught in private. The Dao
School’s ways of cultivation are quite unique, while the Buddha School has its
own cultivation methods. Falun Gong
is an advanced cultivation method of the Buddha School. In this lecture series,
I will first adjust your body to a state suitable for advanced cultivation and
then install a Falun
and energy mechanisms (qiji) in your
body. I will also teach you our exercises. In addition to all of these things, I
have Law Bodies (fashen) who will
protect you. But your having only these things is inadequate, as they can’t
achieve the goal of developing gong—it’s
necessary that you also understand the principles for cultivation at high
levels. That is what this book will address.
I am
teaching the practice system at high levels, so I won’t discuss cultivation of
any particular meridian,
acupuncture point, or energy passage. I am teaching a great cultivation way, the
great way for true cultivation to high levels. Initially it might sound
inconceivable. But as long as those who are dedicated to practicing qigong
carefully explore and experience the practice, they will find all the wonders
and intricacies within it.
1. The Origins of Qigong
The
qigong that we refer to today was not, in fact, originally called qigong.
It originated from the solitary cultivation ways of the ancient Chinese people
and from cultivation in religions. The two-character term, qi
gong, is nowhere to be found in the
texts Scripture of Dan Cultivation,
the Daoist Canon,
or the Tripitaka.
During the course of our present human civilization’s development, qigong
passed through the period when religions were in their embryonic forms. It had
already existed before religions came into being. After religions formed, it
acquired some degree of religious overtones. Qigong’s
original names were The Great Cultivation Way of Buddha, and The Great
Cultivation Way of Dao. It had other names, such as Nine-fold Internal Alchemy,
The Way of Arhat,
The Dhyana of Vajra,
etc. We now call it qigong so that it
better suits our modern thinking and is more easily popularized in society. Qigong
is actually something existing in China for the sole purpose of cultivating the
human body.
Qigong
is not something invented by this civilization. It has a fairly long history
that dates back to distant years. So, when did qigong
come into being? Some say that qigong
has a history of three thousand years, and became quite popular during the Tang
Dynasty. Some say it has a history
of five thousand years and is as old as Chinese civilization. Some say that,
judging from archaeological findings, it has a history of seven thousand years
thus far. I regard qigong as something
not invented by modern humankind—it is from prehistoric culture. According to
investigation by people with supernormal abilities, the universe we live in is
an entity that was remade after being exploded nine times. The planet we dwell
on has been destroyed many times. Each time the planet was remade, humankind
again began to multiply. At present, we have already discovered that there are
many things on the earth that surpass our present civilization. According to
Darwin’s theory of evolution, humans evolved from apes, and civilization is no
more than ten thousand years old. Yet archaeological findings have revealed that
in the caves of the European Alps there exist 250-thousand-year-old frescoes
that exhibit a very high level of artistry—one far beyond the abilities of
modern people. In the museum of the National University of Peru, there is a
large rock on which is an engraved figure who holds a telescope and is observing
the stars. This figure is more than thirty thousand years old. As we know,
Galileo invented a 30X astronomical telescope in 1609, just over three hundred
years ago. How could there have been a telescope thirty thousand years ago?
There is an iron pillar in India whose iron content is over ninety-nine percent.
Even modern smelting technology cannot produce iron with such high purity; it
had already surpassed the level of modern technology. Who created those
civilizations? How could human beings—who would have been microorganisms in
those times—have created these things? These discoveries have caught the
attention of scientists worldwide. They are considered to be from prehistoric
culture since they prove inexplicable.
The
level of scientific achievement was different in each time period. In some time
periods it was quite high, surpassing that of our modern humankind. But those
civilizations were destroyed. Therefore, I say that qigong wasn’t invented or created by modern people, but discovered
and perfected by modern people. It is from prehistoric culture.
Qigong
is not exclusively a product of our country. It exists in foreign countries as
well, but they don’t call it qigong.
Western countries, such as the United States, Great Britain, etc., call it
magic. David Copperfield, a magician in the US, is a master of supernormal
abilities who once performed the feat of walking through the Great Wall of
China. When he was about to pass through the Wall, he used a white cloth as a
cover, pressed himself against the Wall, and then proceeded to go through it.
Why did he do that? Doing it that way would lead many people to consider it a
magic show. It had to be done like that since he knew there are many people in
China with great supernormal abilities. He was afraid of interference from them,
so he covered himself before he went in. When coming out, he raised the cloth
with one hand and walked out. As the saying goes, “Experts watch for tricks
while laymen watch for excitement.” With it done this way the audience thought
it was a magic performance. These supernormal abilities are called magic because
they aren’t used for cultivating the human body, but for stage performances in
order to display unusual things and to entertain. From a low-level perspective, qigong
can change the condition of one’s body, achieving the goals of healing and
health. From a high-level perspective, qigong
refers to the cultivation of one’s original-body (benti).
2. Qi and Gong
The
qi we now talk about was
called chee
by ancient people. They are essentially the same, as both refer to the qi
of the universe—a shapeless, invisible kind of substance existing throughout
the universe. Qi does not refer to
air. The energy of this substance is activated in the human body through
practicing cultivation. Its activation changes the body’s physical condition
and can have the effect of producing healing and health. Yet qi
is merely qi—you have qi,
he has qi, and one person’s qi
cannot have a restraining effect on another’s qi. Some say that qi can
cure illnesses, or that you can emit qi
towards someone to cure his or her illness. These remarks are rather
unscientific, as qi cannot cure
illness in the least. When a practitioner’s body still contains qi,
it means that his or her body is not yet a Milk-White Body. That is, the
practitioner still carries illness.
A
person who obtains advanced abilities through cultivation does not emit qi.
Instead, he or she emits a cluster of high energy. It is a high-energy substance
that manifests in the form of light, and its particles are fine and its density
is high. This is gong. Only this can
have a restraining effect on everyday people, and only with this can one treat
sicknesses for others. There is a saying, “A Buddha’s light shines
everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities.” It means that those who practice
true cultivation carry immense energy in their bodies. Wherever these persons
go, any abnormal condition within the area covered by their energy can be
corrected and restored to normal. For instance, sickness in one’s body is
truly an abnormal bodily state, and the sickness will disappear after this state
is corrected. More simply put, gong is
energy. Gong has physical characteristics, and practitioners can experience
and perceive its objective existence through practicing cultivation.
3. Gong Potency and
Supernormal Abilities
(1)
Gong Potency is Developed Through Cultivating Xinxing
The
gong that truly determines the level of one’s gong potency (gongli)
isn’t developed through performing qigong
exercises. It is developed through the transformation of the substance called
virtue (de), and through the
cultivation of xinxing. This
transformation process isn’t accomplished by “setting up a crucible and
furnace to make an elixir from gathered chemicals,”
as imagined by everyday people. The gong
we refer to is generated outside the body, and it begins at the lower half of
the body. Following the improvement of one’s xinxing, it grows upward in a spiral shape and forms completely
outside one’s body. Upon reaching the crown of the head it then develops into
a gong column. The height of this gong
column determines the level of a person’s gong.
The gong column exists in a deeply
hidden dimension, making it difficult for an average person to see it.
Supernormal
abilities are strengthened by gong potency.
The higher a person’s gong potency
and level, the greater his or her supernormal abilities are and the easier they
are to use. People with lower gong
potency have weaker supernormal abilities; they find it harder to use them, and
some are completely unusable. Supernormal abilities themselves represent neither
the level of one’s gong potency nor
the level of one’s cultivation. What determines one’s level is gong
potency, rather than supernormal abilities. Some people cultivate in a
“locked” mode, whereby their gong
potency is rather high but they don’t necessarily possess many supernormal
abilities. Gong potency is the determining factor, is developed through xinxing
cultivation, and is the most crucial thing.
(2)
Supernormal Abilities are Not What Cultivators Pursue
All
practitioners care about supernormal abilities. Supernatural abilities are
attractive to the general public and many people want to acquire some. Yet
without good xinxing one won’t be
able to acquire supernormal abilities.
Some
supernormal abilities that might be possessed by everyday people include an open
Third Eye (tianmu),
clairaudience, telepathy, precognition, etc. But not all of these supernormal
abilities will appear during the stages of Gradual Enlightenment, as they vary
with each individual. It is impossible for everyday people to have certain
supernormal abilities, such as that of transforming one kind of substance in
this physical dimension into another kind of substance—this isn’t something
everyday people can have. Great supernormal abilities are only developed through
cultivating after birth. Falun Gong was developed based on the principles of the
universe, so all supernormal abilities that exist in the universe exist in Falun
Gong. It all depends on how a practitioner cultivates. The thought of acquiring
some supernormal abilities isn’t considered wrong. Nevertheless, excessively
intense pursuit is more than a normal thought and will produce negative results.
It is of little use for someone at a low level to acquire supernormal abilities,
save for trying to employ these to show off his or her abilities in front of
everyday people and hoping to become the stronger one among them. If this is the
case, it indicates precisely that the person’s xinxing is not high and that it is right not to give him or her
supernormal abilities. Some supernormal abilities can be used to commit
wrongdoing if they are given to people with poor xinxing. Because those people’s xinxing
are not steady there is no guarantee that they won’t do something bad.
On
the other hand, any supernormal abilities that can be demonstrated or performed
cannot change human society or alter normal social life. Real high-level
supernormal abilities are not allowed to be brought out for show, because the
impact and danger would be too great; for example, one would never perform the
pulling down of a large building. Great supernormal abilities are not allowed to
be used except by people with special missions, and neither can these abilities
be revealed; this is because high-level masters restrain them.
All
the same, some everyday people insist on having qigong masters perform, forcing them to display their supernormal
abilities. People with supernormal abilities are unwilling to use them for
performance, since they are forbidden to reveal them; displaying them would
impact the entire state of society. People who genuinely possess great virtue
are not allowed to use their supernormal abilities in public. Some qigong
masters feel awful during performances and want to cry afterward. Don’t force
them to perform! It is upsetting to them to reveal these things. A student
brought a magazine to me. I felt disgusted the moment I read it. It mentioned
that an international qigong
conference was to be held. People with supernormal abilities could participate
in a contest, and the conference was open to whoever had great supernormal
abilities. After I read it I felt upset for days. Supernormal abilities are not
something that can be publicly displayed for competition—demonstrating them in
public is regrettable. Everyday people focus on practical things in the mundane
world, but qigong masters need to have dignity.
What’s
the motive behind wanting supernormal abilities? Wanting them reflects a
practitioner’s realm of mind and pursuits. A person with impure pursuits and
an unstable mind is unlikely to have great supernormal abilities. This is
because before you are fully enlightened, what you perceive to be good or bad is
only based on the standards of this world. You can see neither the true nature
of things nor the karmic relationships among them. Fighting, cursing, and
mistreatment among people are inherently caused by karmic relationships. You can
only be more trouble than help if you can’t perceive them. The gratitude and
resentment, right and wrong of everyday people are governed by the laws of this
world; practitioners shouldn’t be concerned with these things. Before you
achieve full Enlightenment, what you see with your eyes might not necessarily be
the truth. When one person punches another, it might be that they are settling
their karmic debts. Your involvement might hamper the settlement of the debt.
Karma is a type of black substance that surrounds the human body. It has
physical existence in another dimension and can transform into sickness or
misfortune.
Supernormal
abilities exist in everyone, and the idea is that they need to be developed and
strengthened through continued cultivation. If, as a practitioner, a person only
pursues supernormal abilities, he is shortsighted and impure in mind. No matter
what he wants supernormal abilities for, his pursuit contains elements of
selfishness that will definitely hinder cultivation. Consequently, he will never
obtain supernormal abilities.
(3)
Handling Gong Potency
Some
practitioners haven’t practiced for very long, yet they want to treat
illnesses for others to see how effective they are. When those of you without
high gong potency extend your hand and try, you absorb into your own body
a great deal of black, unhealthy, filthy qi that exists in the patient’s body. Since you don’t have the
ability to resist unhealthy qi and
your body also lacks a protective shield, you form one shared field with the
patient; you can’t defend against unhealthy qi
without high gong potency. As a
result, you will experience a great deal of discomfort. If no one looks after
you, over the course of time you will accumulate illness throughout your body.
So someone who lacks high gong potency
shouldn’t treat illnesses for others. Only a person who has already developed
supernormal abilities and who possesses a certain level of gong potency can use qigong
to treat illness. Even though some people have developed supernormal abilities
and are able to treat illnesses, they are, when at a rather low level, in fact
using their accumulated gong potency—their
own energy—to treat the illnesses. Since gong
is both energy and an intelligent entity that isn’t easily accumulated, you
are actually depleting yourself of gong
when you emit it. Accompanying your release of gong, the gong column
above your head shortens and depletes. That is not worth it at all. So I don’t
endorse treating illness for others when your gong potency is not high. No matter how great the methods you used,
you would still consume your own energy.
All
kinds of supernormal abilities will emerge when a person’s gong potency reaches a certain level. You need to be very cautious
when using these supernormal abilities. For instance, a person has to use his
Third Eye once it has opened, as it will close if he never uses it. Yet he
shouldn’t look through it frequently. Too much energy will be discharged if he
looks through it too often. So does this mean one should never use it? Of course
not. If we were to never use it, then what would be the use of our practicing
cultivation? The question is when to use it. You can use it only when you have
cultivated to a certain stage and possess the ability to replenish yourself.
When a cultivator of Falun Gong reaches a certain stage, the Falun can
automatically transform and replenish however much gong he or she releases. The Falun automatically maintains a
practitioner’s gong potency level,
and his or her gong won’t decrease
for even one moment. This is a characteristic of Falun Gong. Not until that
point may supernormal abilities be used.
4. The Third Eye
(1) Opening the Third Eye
The
Third Eye’s main passage is located between the middle of the forehead and the
Shangen
point. The way everyday people see things with the naked eye works the same way
as a camera does: The size of the lens, or pupil, is adjusted according to the
distance of an object and the intensity of the light. Via the optic nerves,
images then form on the pineal gland, located at the back of the brain. The
supernormal ability of Penetrative Vision is simply the ability of the pineal
gland to look directly out through the Third Eye. An average person’s Third
Eye is closed, as his or her main passage is narrow and dark. There is no
quintessential qi inside, no
illumination. Some people cannot see, for their passages are blocked.
To
open the Third Eye, we first use either outside force or self-cultivation to
unblock the passage. The shape of the passage varies with each individual,
ranging from oval to round, rhombic to triangular. The better you cultivate, the
rounder the passage will become. Second, the master gives you an eye. If you
cultivate on your own then you have to cultivate it yourself. Third, you need to
have quintessential qi
at the location of your Third Eye.
We
usually see things with our two eyes, and it is exactly these two eyes that
block our channel to other dimensions. Since they function as a shield, we can
only see objects that exist in our physical dimension. Opening the Third Eye
allows you to see without using these two eyes. You can also cultivate to have a
True Eye after you reach a very high level. Then you can see with the True Eye
of The Third Eye, or with the True Eye at the Shangen point. According to the
Buddha School, every pore of the body is an eye—there are eyes all over the
body. According to the Dao School, every acupuncture point is an eye. The main
passage is nonetheless located at the Third Eye, and it has to be opened first.
In class, I plant in everyone things that can open the Third Eye. The results
vary owing to differences in people’s physical qualities. Some people see a
dark hole similar to a deep well. This means the passage of the Third Eye is
dark. Others see a white tunnel. If objects can be seen in front, the Third Eye
is about to open. Some see objects revolving, which are what Master
has planted to open the Third Eye. You will be able to see once the Third Eye is
drilled open. Some people can see a large eye through their Third Eye, and they
think it is the Buddha’s eye. It is actually their own eye. These are usually
people with relatively good inborn quality.
According
to our statistics, the Third Eye is opened for more than half of the attendees
each time we give a lecture series. A problem might arise after the Third Eye is
opened, wherein a person whose xinxing
isn’t high can easily use the Third Eye to do bad things. To prevent this
problem, I open your Third Eye directly to the level of Wisdom Eyesight—in
other words, to an advanced level that allows you to directly see scenes from
other dimensions and to see things that appear during cultivation, allowing you
to believe them. This will reinforce your confidence in cultivation. The xinxing
of people who have just started practicing have not yet reached the level of
supernormal people. They are thus inclined to do wrong once they possess
supernormal things. Let’s give a playful example: If you were to walk along
the street and come upon a lottery stand, you might be able to walk away with
the first prize. This won’t be allowed to happen—it’s just to illustrate
the point. Another reason is that we are opening the Third Eye for a large
number of people. Suppose every person’s Third Eye was opened at a lower
level: Just imagine if everyone could see through the human body or see objects
behind walls—could we still call this a human society? Human society would be
severely disrupted, so it is neither permissible nor achievable. Furthermore, it
wouldn’t do practitioners any good and would only foster their attachments. So
we won’t open the Third Eye for you at a low level. We will instead open it
directly at a high level.
(2)
The Third Eye’s Levels
The Third Eye has many different levels; at different levels it
sees different dimensions. According to Buddhism there are five levels: Flesh
Eyesight, Celestial Eyesight, Wisdom Eyesight, Law Eyesight, and Buddha
Eyesight. Each level is subdivided into upper, middle, and lower levels. Only
our material world can be observed when at or below the level of Celestial
Eyesight. Only at or above the level of Wisdom Eyesight will other dimensions be
observable. Those who have the supernormal ability of Penetrative Vision can see
things accurately, with clarity better than that of a CAT scan. But what they
can see is still within this physical world and doesn’t exceed the dimension
in which we exist; they aren’t considered to have reached an advanced level of
the Third Eye.
The
level of a person’s Third Eye is determined by the amount of his or her
quintessential qi, as well as the
width, brightness, and degree of blockage of the main passage. The internal,
quintessential qi is critical in
determining how thoroughly the Third Eye will be able to open. It is
particularly easy to open the Third Eye for children under the age of six. I
needn’t even bother using my hand, as it opens once I start talking. This is
because children have received little negative influence from our physical world
and they haven’t committed any wrongdoing. Their quintessential qi
is well preserved. The Third Eye of a child over the age of six becomes
increasingly difficult to open, owing to the increase of external influences as
they grow up. In particular, unsound education, being spoiled, and turning
immoral can all make the quintessential qi
dissipate. All of it will be gone after a certain point is reached. Those people
whose quintessential qi is completely
lost can gradually recover it through cultivation, but it takes a long period of
time and arduous effort. So the quintessential qi
is extremely precious.
I
don’t recommend that a person’s Third Eye be opened at the level of
Celestial Eyesight, because a practitioner with low gong
potency will lose more energy looking at objects than he accumulates through
cultivation. The Third Eye might once again close if too much of the essential
energy is lost. Once it closes it won’t be easy to open again. So I usually
open the Third Eye for people at the level of Wisdom Eyesight. No matter how
clear or unclear a cultivator’s vision is, he or she will be able to see
objects in other dimensions. Since people are affected by their innate
qualities, some see clearly, some see things intermittently, and others see
unclearly. But at a minimum, you will be able to see light. This will help a
cultivator progress toward high levels. Those who can’t see clearly will be
able to remedy this through cultivation.
People
who have less quintessential qi only
see images in black and white through the Third Eye. The Third Eye of a person
who has relatively more quintessential qi
will be able to see scenes in color and in clearer form. The more the
quintessential qi, the better the
clarity. But every individual is different. Some people are born with the Third
Eye open, while for others it might be tightly clogged. When the Third Eye is
opening, the image is similar to the blooming of a flower, opening layer after
layer. You will initially discover during the seated meditation that there is
illumination in the area of the Third Eye. At the beginning the illumination
isn’t so bright, while later it turns red. The Third Eye of some people is
tightly closed, so their initial physical reactions might be quite strong. These
people will feel the muscles around the primary passage and the Shangen point
tightening, as if they were being pressed and squeezed inward. Their temples and
foreheads will start to feel like they are swelling and aching. All of these are
symptoms of the Third Eye opening. A person whose Third Eye opens easily can
occasionally see certain things. During my classes, some people unwittingly see
my Law Bodies. They disappear when they intentionally try to look, as these
people are then actually using their physical eyes. When you see some things
with your eyes closed, try to remain in that state of seeing and you will
gradually see things more clearly. If you want to watch more closely, you will
actually switch to your own eyes and use the optic nerves. You will then be
unable to see anything.
The
dimensions perceived by the Third Eye differ in accordance with the level of a
person’s Third Eye. Some scientific research departments fail to understand
this principle, preventing some qigong
experiments from reaching their expected outcomes. Occasionally, some
experiments even reach opposite conclusions. For example, an institute designed
a method to test supernormal abilities. They asked qigong masters to see the contents of a sealed box. Because those
masters’ Third Eye levels are different, their answers are different. The
research staff then regarded the Third Eye as false and as a misleading concept.
Someone with a lower-level Third Eye will usually achieve better results in this
kind of experiment, because his Third Eye is opened at the level of the
Celestial Eyesight—a level suitable only for observing objects in this
physical dimension. So people who don’t understand the Third Eye think that
these people have the greatest supernormal abilities. All objects, organic or
inorganic, appear in different shapes and forms in different dimensions. For
example, as soon as a glass is manufactured, in a different dimension an
intelligent entity comes into existence. Moreover, prior to existing as this
entity it might have been something else. When the Third Eye is at its lowest
level, one will see the glass. At a high level one will see the entity that
exists in the other dimension. At an even higher level one will see the material
form prior to the existence of that intelligent entity.
(3)
Remote Viewing
After
opening the Third Eye, the supernormal ability of Remote Viewing emerges for
some people, and they are able to see objects thousands of miles away. Each
individual occupies dimensions
of his own. In those dimensions he is as big as a universe. Within a certain
particular dimension, he has a mirror in front of his forehead, though it is
invisible in our dimension. Everyone has this mirror, but the mirror of a
nonpractitioner faces inward. For practitioners, this mirror slowly turns over.
Once it turns over, the mirror can reflect what the practitioner wants to see.
In his particular dimension he is rather large. Since his body is fairly large,
so too is his mirror. Whatever the cultivator wants to see can be reflected onto
the mirror. Although the image has been captured, he still can’t see, as the
image needs to stay on the mirror for a second. The mirror turns over and allows
him to see the objects it reflects. Then it turns back, flipping back over
quickly, and flipping back and forth ceaselessly. Cinematic film moves at
twenty-four frames per second to produce continuous movement. The speed at which
the mirror flips is much faster than that, and so the images appear continuous
and clear. This is Remote Viewing—the principle of Remote Viewing is this
simple. This used to be very secret, yet I have revealed it in just a few lines.
(4)
Dimensions
From
our perspective, dimensions are quite complicated. Humankind knows only the
dimension in which humans currently exist, while other dimensions haven’t yet
been explored or detected. When it comes to other dimensions, we qigong masters have already seen dozens of levels of dimensions.
These, too, can be explained theoretically, though they remain unproven by
science. Even though some people don’t admit the existence of certain things,
they have actually reflected into our dimension. For example, there is a place
called the Bermuda Triangle (the Devil’s Triangle). Some ships and planes have
disappeared in that area, only to reemerge years later. No one can explain why,
as no one has gone beyond the confines of human thoughts and theories. In fact,
the Triangle is a gateway to another dimension. Unlike our regular doors that
have definite positions, it remains in an unpredictable state. The ship can
easily enter the other dimension if it passes through when the door happens to
be open. Humans cannot sense the differences between the dimensions, and they
enter into the other dimension instantly. The space-time difference between that
dimension and our dimension cannot be expressed in miles—a distance of
thousands of miles might be contained in one point here, that is, they might
exist in the same place and at the same time. The ship swings in for a moment
and comes back out again by accident. Yet decades have passed in this world,
since time is different in these two dimensions. There are also unitary worlds
existing in each dimension. There is a similarity here to our models of atomic
structures wherein one ball is connected to another by a string, involving many
balls and strings; it is very complex.
A
British pilot was carrying out a mission four years prior to World War II. In
the middle of his flight he ran into a heavy thunderstorm. By drawing on past
experience, he was able to find an abandoned airport. The moment the airport
appeared before his eyes, a completely different picture came into view: All of
a sudden it was sunny and cloudless, as if he had just emerged from another
world. The airplanes at the airport were colored in yellow, and people were busy
doing things on the ground. He thought this was so weird! No one acknowledged
him after he touched down; even the control tower didn’t contact him. The
pilot then decided to leave since the sky had cleared up. He flew again, and
when he was at the same distance at which he had seen the airport moments ago,
he again plunged into a thunderstorm. He eventually managed to get back. He
reported the situation and even wrote it down in the flight record. But his
superiors didn’t believe him. Four years later World War II broke out, and he
was transferred to that abandoned airport. He immediately recalled that it was
exactly the same scene he had seen four years before. All of us qigong
masters know how to explain it. He did in advance what he would do four years
later. Before the first action had begun, he had gone there and played his role
in advance. Things then returned to being in the right order.
5. Qigong Treatments and Hospital Treatments
Theoretically
speaking, qigong treatments are
completely different from the treatments given at hospitals. Western treatments
utilize methods of everyday people’s society. Despite having means such as
laboratory tests and X-ray examinations, they can only observe the sources of
illness in this dimension and they cannot see fundamental causes that exist in
other dimensions. So they fail to understand the cause of illness. Medication
can remove or drive away the origin of a patient’s illness (which is
considered a pathogen by Western doctors, and karma in qigong)
if he or she isn’t seriously ill. Medicine will be ineffective in the event
that the illness is serious, as the patient might be unable to bear increased
dosages. Not all illnesses are constrained by the laws of this world. Some
illnesses are quite serious and exceed the confines of this world, rendering
hospitals incapable of curing them.
Chinese
Medicine is the traditional medical science in our country. It is inseparable
from the supernormal abilities developed through cultivation of the human body.
Ancient people paid special attention to cultivation of the human body. The
Confucian School, the Dao School, the Buddha School—and even the students of
Confucianism—have all attached importance to meditation. Sitting in meditation
used to be considered a skill. Even though they didn’t perform exercises, over
the course of time they still developed their gong and supernormal abilities. Why was Chinese acupuncture able to
detect the human body’s meridians so clearly? Why aren’t the acupuncture
points connected horizontally? Why aren’t they crossed, and why are they
connected vertically? Why were they able to be mapped out with such accuracy?
Modern people with supernormal abilities can see with their own eyes the same
things that those Chinese doctors portrayed. This is because the famous ancient
Chinese doctors generally had supernormal abilities. In Chinese history, Li
Shizhen, Sun Simiao, Bian Que, and Hua Tuo
were all in fact qigong masters with
supernormal abilities. In being passed down to this day, Chinese Medicine has
lost its supernormal ability component and has only retained the treatment
techniques. In the past, Chinese doctors used their eyes (with supernormal
abilities) to diagnose illness. Later, they also developed the method of taking
pulses.
If supernormal abilities were added back into the Chinese methods of treatment,
one could say that Western Medicine wouldn’t be able to catch up with Chinese
Medicine for many years to come.
Qigong
treatments eliminate the root cause of illness. I regard illness as one type of
karma, and to treat an illness is to help diminish this karma. Some qigong masters treat illness by using the method of discharging and
supplementing qi to help patients
eliminate black qi. At a rather low
level these masters discharge black qi,
yet they don’t know the root cause of the black qi. This black qi will
return and the illness will relapse. The truth is that the black qi
is not the cause of the illness—the existence of black qi
only makes the patient feel uncomfortable. The root cause of the patient’s
illness is an intelligent entity that exists in another dimension. Many qigong masters don’t know this. Since that intelligent entity is
mighty, average people are not able touch it, nor would they dare to. Falun
Gong’s way of treatment focuses on and starts with that intelligent entity,
removing the root cause of the illness. Moreover, a shield is installed in that
area so that the illness will be unable to invade again.
Qigong
can heal illness but it can’t interfere with the conditions of human society.
It would interfere with the conditions of everyday people’s society if it were
applied on a large scale, and that is not allowed; its healing effects
wouldn’t be good either. As you may know, some people have opened qigong
diagnostic clinics, qigong hospitals,
and qigong rehabilitation centers.
Their treatments might have been quite effective before they opened these
businesses. Once they open a business to treat illnesses, the effectiveness
plummets. This means that people are prohibited from using supernatural methods
to fulfill the functions of everyday people’s society. Doing so certainly
reduces their effectiveness to a level as low as the methods of everyday
people’s society.
A
person can use supernormal abilities to observe the inside of a human body layer
by layer, similar to how medical cross sectioning is done. Soft tissues and any
other part of the body can be seen. Though the current CAT scan is able to see
clearly, the use of a machine is still required; it is really time consuming,
uses a great deal of film, and is quite slow and costly. It is not as convenient
or accurate as human supernormal abilities. By closing their eyes to do a quick
scan, qigong masters are able to see
any part of the patient directly and clearly. Isn’t this high tech? This is
even more advanced than what is considered high tech today. Yet this kind of
skill already existed in ancient China—it was the “high tech” of ancient
times. Hua Tuo discovered a tumor on Cao Cao’s
brain and wanted to perform surgery on him. Cao Cao had Hua Tuo arrested,
because he couldn’t believe it and mistook it as a way to harm him. Cao Cao
eventually died as a result of the brain tumor. Many great Chinese doctors in
history really possessed supernormal abilities. It is just that people in this
modern society zealously pursue practical things and have forgotten the ancient
traditions.
Our
high-level qigong cultivation should
reexamine traditional things, inherit and develop them through our practice, and
reuse them to benefit human society.
6. Buddha School Qigong and Buddhism
Many
people think of a matter as soon as we mention Buddha School qigong:
Since the goal of the Buddha School is to cultivate Buddhahood, they start to
relate it to the things of Buddhism. I hereby solemnly clarify that Falun Gong
is qigong of the Buddha School. It is
a righteous, great cultivation way and has nothing to do with Buddhism. Buddha
School qigong is Buddha School qigong,
while Buddhism is Buddhism. They take different paths, even though they have the
same goal in cultivation. They are different schools of practice with different
requirements. I mentioned the word “Buddha,” and I will mention it again
later when I teach the practice at higher levels. The word itself doesn’t have
any superstitious overtones. Some people can’t tolerate hearing the word
Buddha, and claim that we propagate superstition. It is not so. “Buddha”
began as a Sanskrit term that originated in India. It was translated into
Chinese according to its pronunciation and called Fo Tuo. People omitted the word
“Tuo” and kept the “Fo.” Translated into Chinese it means “Enlightened
One”—a person who is enlightened. (Refer to the Ci
Hai
dictionary.)
(1)
Buddha School Qigong
At
present, two types of Buddha School qigong
have been made public. One separated from Buddhism and has produced many
distinguished monks throughout its thousands of years of development. When its
practitioners have cultivated to quite an advanced level, high-level masters
will come to teach them something so that they will receive genuine instruction
from even higher levels. All of the things in Buddhism used to be passed down to
one individual at a time. Only when he was near the end of his life would a
distinguished monk pass these down to one disciple, who would cultivate
according to Buddhist doctrines, improving holistically. This type of qigong seemed closely connected to Buddhism. Monks were driven out
of the temples later, namely, during the time of the Great Cultural Revolution.
These exercises then spread to the general public where they developed in
number.
Another
type of qigong is also of the Buddha
School. Over the ages, this type has never been a part of Buddhism. It has
always been practiced quietly, either among the populace or deep in the
mountains. These kinds of practices have their uniqueness. They need to choose a
good disciple—someone with tremendous virtue who is truly capable of
cultivating to an advanced level. This kind of person appears in this world only
once in many, many years. These practices cannot be made public, as they require
rather high xinxing and their gong
develops rapidly. These sorts of practices are not few. The same applies to the
Dao School. Daoist qigong, while all
belonging to the Dao School, are further divided into Kunlung, Emei, Wudang,
etc. There are different subdivisions within each group, and the subdivisions
are quite different from one another. They cannot be mixed and practiced
together.
(2)
Buddhism
Buddhism
is a system of cultivation practice that Sakyamuni
enlightened to on his own in India more than two thousand years ago, and it is
based on his original cultivation practice. It can be summarized in three words:
precept, samadhi,
wisdom. Precepts are for the purpose of samadhi.
Buddhism does in fact have exercises though it doesn’t discuss the matter.
Buddhists are indeed performing exercises when they sit in meditation and enter
a state of tranquility. This is because energy from the universe will start to
gather around a person’s body when he calms down and settles his mind, and
this achieves the effect of performing qigong
exercises. The precepts in Buddhism are for abandoning all human desires and
discarding everything to which an everyday person is attached so that the monk
can reach a state of peacefulness and stillness, enabling him to enter samadhi.
A person continuously improves himself in samadhi,
until he eventually becomes enlightened, with his wisdom emerging. He will then
know the universe and see its truth.
Sakyamuni
did only three things daily when he was teaching: he taught Dharma
(primarily the Dharma of Arhat) to his disciples, carried a bowl to collect alms
(beg for food), and cultivated through sitting in meditation. After Sakyamuni
left this world, Brahmanism and Buddhism battled. These two religions later
merged into one, called Hinduism. Buddhism no longer exists in India today as a
result of this. Mahayana
Buddhism appeared through later developments and changes and was spread to inner
China, where it has become today’s Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism doesn’t
worship Sakyamuni as its sole founder—it is a multi-Buddha faith. It believes
in many Tathagatas,
such as Buddha Amitabha, Medicine Buddha, etc., and there are more precepts now,
while the goal of cultivation has become higher. Back in his time, Sakyamuni
taught the Dharma of Bodhisattva
to a few disciples. These teachings were later reorganized and have developed
into today’s Mahayana Buddhism, which is for cultivating to the realm of
Bodhisattva. The tradition of Theravada Buddhism has been retained to this day
in Southeast Asia, and ceremonies are performed using supernormal abilities. In
Buddhism’s course of evolution, one cultivation way branched off to the Tibet
region of our country and is called Tibetan Tantrism. Another cultivation way
spread to the Han area
via Xinjiang and was called Tang
Tantrism (this disappeared after Buddhism was suppressed during the years of
Huichang).
Another branch in India evolved into yoga.
No
exercises are taught in Buddhism and qigong
is not practiced. This is to preserve the traditional method of Buddhist
cultivation. It is also an important reason why Buddhism has lasted more than
two thousand years without waning. It has naturally maintained its own tradition
precisely because it hasn’t accepted into it anything foreign. In Buddhism
there are different ways to cultivate. Theravada Buddhism focuses on
self-salvation and self-cultivation; Mahayana Buddhism has evolved to offer
salvation to both self and others—salvation of all sentient beings.
7. Righteous Cultivation Ways and Evil Ways
(1)
The Side-Door Awkward Ways (Pangmen Zuodao)
The
Side-Door Awkward Ways are also called the Unconventional (Qimen)
Cultivation Ways. Various qigong
cultivation ways existed prior to the establishment of religions. There are many
practices outside of religions that have spread among the populace. Most of them
lack systematic doctrines and so have not become complete cultivation systems.
Nonetheless, the Unconventional Cultivation Ways have their own systematic,
complete, and unusually intense cultivation methods, and they, too, have been
spread among the populace. These practice systems are usually called the
Side-Door Awkward Ways. Why are they called this? Pangmen literally means
“side door”; and Zuodao means “awkward ways.” People consider both the
Buddha and Dao School cultivation ways to be straight ways, with all others
being side-door awkward ways or wicked cultivation ways. Actually, it isn’t
so. The Side-Door Awkward Ways have been practiced secretly throughout history,
being taught to one disciple at a time. They weren’t allowed to be revealed to
the public. Once made known, people would not understand them very well. Even
their practitioners hold that they are of neither the Buddha nor the Dao School.
The cultivation principles of the unconventional ways have strict xinxing
criteria. They cultivate according to the nature of the universe, advocating
doing kind deeds and watching one’s xinxing.
The highly accomplished masters in these practices all have unique skills, and
some of their unique techniques are powerful. I have met three highly
accomplished masters from the Unconventional Cultivation Ways who taught me some
things that cannot be found in either the Buddha or Dao School. These things
were each fairly difficult to practice during the process of cultivation, so the
gong obtained was unique. In contrast,
strict xinxing criteria are lacking
among some so-called Buddha and Dao School cultivation methods, and as a result
their practitioners cannot cultivate to an advanced level. So we should look at
each cultivation method objectively.
(2)
Martial Arts Qigong
Martial
arts qigong is born of a long history.
Having its own complete system of theories and cultivation methods, it has
formed an independent system. Yet strictly speaking, it only manifests
supernormal abilities that are generated by internal cultivation at the lowest
level. All of the supernormal abilities that appear in martial arts cultivation
also appear in internal cultivation. Martial arts cultivation also begins with
doing qi exercises. For instance, when
striking a piece of rock, in the beginning the martial arts practitioner needs
to swing his arms to move qi. Over
time, his qi will change in nature and
become an energy mass that appears to exist in the form of light. At this point
his gong will start to function. Gong
has intelligence because it is an evolved matter. It exists in another
dimension and is controlled by the thoughts coming from one’s brain. When
attacked, the martial arts practitioner doesn’t need to move qi;
gong will come merely with a thought.
Over the course of cultivation his gong
will continually be strengthened, with its particles becoming finer and its
energy growing greater. The skills of Iron Sand Palm and Cinnabar Palm will
appear. As we can see from movies, magazines, and television shows, the skills
of Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt have emerged in recent years. These
stem from the simultaneous practice of internal cultivation and martial arts
cultivation. They come from cultivating internally and externally at the same
time. To cultivate internally, a person needs to value virtue and cultivate his
or her xinxing. Explained from a
theoretical angle, when a person’s ability reaches a certain level, gong
will emit from the body’s interior to its exterior. It will become a
protective shield because of its high density. In terms of principles, the
biggest difference between the martial arts and our internal cultivation lies in
the fact that the martial arts are performed with vigorous movements and
practitioners do not enter into tranquility. Not being tranquil makes qi
flow underneath the skin and pass through the muscles instead of flowing into a
person’s dantian.
So they don’t cultivate life, and neither are they able to.
(3)
Reverse Cultivation and Gong Borrowing
Some
people have never practiced qigong.
Then suddenly they acquire gong
overnight and have quite strong energy, and they can even heal illnesses for
others. People call them qigong
masters and they, too, go about teaching others. Some of them, despite the fact
that they have never learned qigong or
have only learned a few of its movements, are teaching people things that they
have modified slightly. This kind of person is not qualified to be a qigong
master. He or she doesn’t have anything to pass on to others. What he or she
teaches certainly can’t be used to cultivate to a high level; the most it can
do is help get rid of sickness and improve health. How does this kind of gong
come about? Let’s first talk about reverse cultivation. The commonly known
phrase “reverse cultivation” pertains to those good people who have
extremely high xinxing. They are usually older, such as over fifty years of age.
There isn’t enough time for them to cultivate from the beginning, as it is not
easy to meet excellent masters who teach qigong
exercises that cultivate both mind and body. The moment this type of person
wants to cultivate, high-level masters will place a great amount of gong
onto this person according to his or her xinxing
foundation. This enables cultivation in reverse, from the top down, and this way
it is much faster. From another dimension, high-level masters perform the
transformation and continuously add gong to
the person from the outside of his or her body; this is particularly the case
when the person is giving treatments and forming an energy field. The gong
given by the masters flows as if through a pipeline. Some people don’t
even know where the gong comes from. This is reverse cultivation.
Another
type is called “gong borrowing,”
and this isn’t restricted in terms of age. A human being has an Assistant
Consciousness (fu yishi) along with a
Main Consciousness (zhu yishi), and it
is generally at a higher level than the Main Consciousness. The Assistant
Consciousnesses of some people have reached such high levels that they can
communicate with enlightened beings. When these kinds of people want to
cultivate, their Assistant Consciousnesses also want to improve their levels and
will immediately get in touch with those enlightened beings to borrow gong
from them. After the gong is
loaned this person will get it overnight. After obtaining the gong,
he or she will be able to treat people to ease their pains. The person will
usually employ the method of forming an energy field. He or she will also be
able to give energy to people individually and to teach some techniques.
People
like this usually start out being pretty good. Because they possess gong,
they become well known and acquire both fame and personal gain. Attachments to
renown and to personal gain come to occupy a substantial portion of their
thinking—more than cultivation does. From that point on their gong
starts to diminish, becoming smaller and smaller until finally it is all gone.
(4)
Cosmic Language
Some
people are suddenly able to speak a certain type of language. It sounds fairly
fluent when it is uttered, yet it’s not the language of any human society.
What’s it called? It is referred to as celestial language. This thing called
“cosmic language” is in fact merely the language of those entities that are
not so high. This phenomenon is occurring right now for quite a few qigong
practitioners around the country; some of them can even speak several different
languages. Of course, the languages of our humankind are also sophisticated and
there are more than a thousand varieties. Is cosmic language considered a
supernormal ability? I would say that it doesn’t count as one. It isn’t a
supernormal ability that comes from you, and neither is it a kind of ability
that’s given to you from the outside. Rather, it is manipulation by foreign
entities. These entities originate at a somewhat higher level—at least higher
than that of humankind. It is one of them who does the talking, as the person
who speaks cosmic language only serves as a medium. Most people do not even know
themselves what they are saying. Only those who have mind-reading abilities can
get a general sense of what the words mean. It is not a supernormal ability, but
many people who have spoken these languages feel superior and elated since they
think it is a supernormal ability. In fact, someone with a high-level Third Eye
can definitely observe that a living entity is speaking from diagonally above,
through the person’s mouth.
That
entity teaches the person to speak a cosmic language while passing on to him or
her some of its energy. Yet thereafter this person will be under its control, so
this is not a righteous cultivation way. Even though that entity is in a
slightly higher dimension, it is not cultivating a righteous way. It therefore
doesn’t know how to teach cultivators to stay healthy or heal illnesses.
Consequently, it utilizes this method of sending out energy through speech.
Because it is dispersed, this energy has little power. It is effective in
treating minor sicknesses but fails with serious diseases. Buddhism speaks of
how those above cannot cultivate since they lack suffering and discord;
moreover, they cannot temper themselves and are unable to improve their levels.
So they look for ways to help people gain better health and thereby elevate
themselves. This is what speaking cosmic language is all about. It is neither a
supernormal ability nor qigong.
(5)
Spirit Possession
The
most injurious type of spirit possession (futi)
is that by a low-level entity. This is caused by cultivating an evil way. It is
really harmful to people, and the consequences of people being possessed are
frightening. Not long after beginning to practice, some people become obsessed
with treating patients and becoming rich; they think of these things all the
time. These people might have originally been pretty decent or already had a
master looking after them. Nevertheless, things turn sour when they start to
contemplate giving treatments and getting rich. They then attract this type of
entity. Even though it’s not in our physical dimension it really exists.
This
kind of practitioner suddenly feels that the Third Eye has opened and that he or
she now has gong, but it is actually
that the possessing spirit has control of his or her brain. It reflects onto
this person’s brain the images that it sees, making him or her feel that the
Third Eye has opened. The person’s Third Eye has not in fact opened
whatsoever. Why does the possessing spirit or animal want to give this person gong?
Why does it want to help him or her? It’s because in our universe animals are
forbidden to cultivate. Animals are not allowed to obtain a righteous
cultivation way since they know nothing about xinxing
and can’t improve themselves. As a result, they want to attach themselves to
human bodies and acquire the human essence. There is also another rule in this
universe, namely: no loss, no gain. So they want to satisfy your desire for fame
and personal gain. They will make you rich and famous, but they will not help
you for nothing. They also want to gain something: your essence. You will have
nothing left by the time they leave you and you will have turned very weak or
become a vegetable. This is caused by your degenerate xinxing. One right mind will subdue a hundred evils. When you are
righteous you will not attract evil. In other words, be a noble practitioner,
turn away from all nonsense, and practice only a righteous cultivation way.
(6) A
Righteous Practice Can Become a Wicked Cultivation Way
Although the practice
systems some people learn come from righteous cultivation ways, people can
actually practice wicked ways inadvertently due to their inability to impose
strict self-requirements, to their failure to cultivate xinxing, and to their entertaining negative thoughts while
performing their exercises. For example, when a person is performing the
exercises there in either the standing stance or the seated meditation, his
thoughts are actually on money, becoming well known, personal gain, or “he’s
wronged me, and I’ll fix him after I acquire supernormal abilities.” Or he
is thinking of this or that supernormal ability, adding something very bad to
his practice and actually practicing a wicked way. This is quite dangerous since
it might attract some rather negative things, like low-level entities. Perhaps
the person doesn’t even know he has invited them. His attachment is strong; it
is unacceptable to purposefully practice cultivation to fulfill one’s desires.
He isn’t righteous, and even his master will be unable to protect him. So
practitioners must maintain their xinxing
strictly, keeping a righteous mind and craving nothing. Doing otherwise might
incur problems.
Han (hahn) area—Han
people comprise the largest ethnic group in China, and the “Han area” is
used to refer to the area that they occupy; that is, most central provinces
and regions of China (i.e., Tibet, etc.).
Huichang (hway-chahng)—Emperor
Wu Zong’s time of rule during the Tang Dynasty (841 -
846 A.D.).
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