Hongzhi Li
November 29, 2003 ~ Atlanta
Hello, everyone! (Students: Hello, Master!) There are some Fa conferences that I do attend, while some others I might not. You all know that Dafa disciples have now become more mature. In validating the Fa, and on this path of gods, you all know what to do. At such a time, it may be that the less I speak, the more it benefits you all. And why do I say that? Because this period of time is precisely given to each of you as an opportunity to temper yourselves, this period of time is precisely given to you as an opportunity to establish your mighty virtue. So I can’t always have you do things without thinking them over on your own, and I can’t have you not blaze your own path while validating your ultimate rank. If you are always led by Master, if I still tell you what to do when it comes to specific things in validating the Fa, that doesn’t work. Once Dafa disciples reach Consummation, their ultimate ranks and levels won’t be low. In other words, the responsibilities that you will have for future beings are immense. Then if that’s the case, if you don’t possess that kind of mighty virtue, haven’t blazed your own path, and don’t know what to do when you need to do things independently, that won’t do. So I have deliberately given you this period of time, so that you can have opportunities to temper yourselves and become mature.
In fact, I’ve been quietly observing and watching. Since you’re all in the midst of cultivation, you still have human attachments. You have human attachments, so you’re able to cultivate; you have human attachments, so they will show themselves. Then, while doing anything that has to do with validating the Fa, including doing things as a group and doing things on your own, you’ll think for yourselves and try to come up with ways to solve tough problems. And when you are thinking things over, whether you use human notions or the righteous thoughts of a cultivator is going to determine the different results you get. The same holds true for when you work together to do things. And when you put your heads together to figure something out, this is the case, too, and you might even get into arguments over certain issues. This is due, of course, to the human attachments you have, but there is also something positive about it. When you argue you can see your attachments and your shortcomings. If you can put the Fa first, let go of your self, and deal with your problems with righteous thoughts, you will be able to reach a decision quickly and do things well in validating the Fa. And actually, compared to the past few years, things are quite good now. You’ve all truly matured. I don’t want to say more about this today. I mainly want to talk about clarifying the truth.
As soon as the subject of clarifying the truth comes up, a lot of practitioners think, “When we clarify the truth, our goal is to expose the evil, suppress it, and bare it to the light of day so that people all over the world can see it for what it is, and then the evil will have nowhere to hide.” This is what you need to do, but that’s not what is most important. The most important goal in clarifying the truth is to save all beings.
Every Dafa disciple will shoulder immense responsibilities in the future. There are so many beings that need you to save them—there are so many lives that need you to save them. During this period of time, you yourselves need to harmonize and consummate everything that’s needed for your ultimate rank and countless beings. Your mighty virtue and everything of gods are within it. That’s why I often say that in validating the Fa, you should do well the three things Dafa disciples need to do, and everything is encompassed in them. So I say that the most important goal for you in clarifying the truth is to save even more beings in the process. This is what’s foremost, and this is the real purpose of clarifying the truth.
During this persecution, no matter how the old forces have arranged things, no matter how viciously the evil people in the world have acted, no matter how frantically the evil beings in every dimension have persecuted Dafa disciples and how many of the world’s people they’ve poisoned, have you thought about something: can they damage Dafa? Not a chance. And you’ve seen that after experiencing the most evil persecution in history, which has lasted four years, other than Dafa disciples tempering themselves and becoming more mature, more clearheaded, and more composed during the persecution—you’ve become more and more rational, your righteous thoughts have become stronger and stronger, and the moment when you will return to your positions is getting closer—other than that, what else is there? Isn’t that all there is to it? Haven’t those Dafa disciples who were killed by persecution reached Consummation? It’s true that during the persecution a portion [of our students] stopped cultivating—if they aren’t good enough they will be sifted out, and what remains will be gold.
Of course, once a being studies my Dafa I will take care of him and treat him as a Dafa disciple, as a student. If he truly can’t enter [this practice] himself, then that’s his own business. So everybody should be clear on this point. Whether it’s the whole persecution or all those arrangements the old forces made, in reality, I took those things into consideration when I planned my Fa-rectification long ago. They can’t damage the Fa. I don’t acknowledge the persecution. That’s for sure. Are they allowed to control and even beat to death a being that has listened to the Fa and cultivated in my Dafa? They will definitely have to pay for it in the future. And of course there are other factors at work. When it comes to those who genuinely do well, they truly don’t dare to touch them. When it comes to those who oppose the old forces’ arrangements and who have very strong righteous thoughts, they can’t touch them. In other words, during this period of time, no matter how bad the persecution is, if the Dafa disciples’ minds are very upright, they have very strong righteous thoughts, and understand everything clearheadedly and calmly, a lot of losses will be averted.
You need to be clear that a Dafa disciple’s cultivation is about stepping out of humanness; it is to step out of the old colossal firmament that is restrained by all kinds of factors that result from endless, countless, innumerable beings in this old cosmos; it is to gain a new life, emerging from an environment that is at the last of the last stage of the formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction process of the colossal firmament. Who can step out of all of this? To escape everything and be able to truly enter the future is indeed very hard. As a matter of fact, the difficulties you’ve run into cultivating amidst the persecution are manifestations here among humans. But in reality, in other dimensions that the world’s people can’t see and that are beyond this environment of ordinary people, things are even more intense. It is the shocking and soul-stirring process of immense disintegration and reintegration. The entire cosmos’s beings are watching this affair, and countless, measureless gods are also watching. Encompassed in all of these changes are the factors of Dafa disciples validating the Fa. What are displayed in the human world are the three things that you’re doing at this time. As for the behavior of the evil, it is [acting] in an irrational, crazed state before its disintegration, and it provides Dafa disciples with the conditions to reach Consummation.
Clarifying the truth during the gigantic changes has already become the major way of saving all beings and the world’s people, so in doing this, the wisdom that Dafa has given you and the enormous capability that the Fa has provided you with are manifesting. Your clarifying the truth inevitably initiates a sort of chain reaction. Once a person knows the truth, he realizes, “Oh, so that’s how it is. Dafa is so great, after all!” Some people who’ve learned the truth may think about taking up cultivation, some may be quite sympathetic, and others might offer support in the form of concrete actions. These responses that came about through clarifying the truth spread from person to person, heart to heart. The evil factors are losing their habitat. Dafa and the righteous factors are covering and enriching everything, and at the same time, in terms of the persecution, this will bring about changes in society and on every front, and the wicked people will thus have no audience and the evil beings nothing to exploit. That’s the inevitable effect. Things look ordinary and uneventful when you clarify the truth, but the effect is huge.
In fact, you’ve all seen that in the course of Dafa disciples clarifying the truth, the people of the world have been changing. It’s completely different now from back when the persecution started on July 20 of ’99. And it’s not just that the people of the world are becoming clearheaded, other living beings and material factors are going through these changes too. In other words, the situation is totally different. Of course, it’s not that the evil has stopped persecuting, but that those factors the old forces arranged, in being destroyed, have become less and less, and the evil no longer has much strength. But even without that much strength, as long as it still exists it’s still very evil, very bad. But the evil no longer has that much strength and it doesn’t have the environmental factors that it needs, so it can no longer control that many of the world’s people or other beings. And then when the world’s people and all other lives aren’t controlled by the evil, it’s much easier at that point for you to clarify the truth. If you do it well, then the people of the world and all beings will wake up. And once the beings wake up, the evil has no audience at all and it really can’t do things rampantly. People will oppose it and isolate it, and the evil won’t be able to do whatever it wants, since nobody will listen to it. That’s what the current trend is; it is the change that’s come about in the course of saving all beings.
Actually, I used to tell you about how in the past a cultivator couldn’t care less about what the world’s people said about him. If somebody said he was good or he was bad, it was [to him just] something humans said, not gods. In fact, there have been a lot of people in history who the world’s people said were bad, and it’s even been put that way in textbooks and historical accounts, but it’s possible they became gods. And there are those who the world’s people exalted as role models but who went to Hell after death. That’s because when people talk about good and bad it’s all based on human interests. Human principles are reversed: when people think something is good, it’s not necessarily truly good, and when people think something is bad, it’s not necessarily truly bad. In other words, cultivators didn’t heed what people said. But today’s Fa-rectification is different, and whether someone says Dafa and Dafa disciples are good or bad determines that person’s future. The current campaign of persecution—the persecution of Dafa disciples, a suppression brought on by evil—is interfering with me and the Fa-rectification itself, so it’s different from with cultivation in the past. It is absolutely a sin to persecute Dafa disciples, and everyone involved will pay for it—none of the lives that participated in it can escape.
The cosmos is going through Fa-rectification, so think about it everybody, during the Fa-rectification the entire cosmos, from the microscopic level to the surface, is constantly making breakthroughs. No matter how big the enormous cosmic body is, no matter how many lives are in it, no matter whether it is a life or not, no matter if it has intention or not, no matter if it has an existence or not—nothing can escape, because everything in the future will be completely renewed. It’s even more the case for the human race here in this world and all the lives at the surface—they have no way of escaping. The Fa-rectification also encompasses all of the higher beings, and right now no god dares to say that this Fa-rectification has nothing to do with him. Of course, right now nobody dares to say that. Nobody can escape from it. So during the Fa-rectification, there must be a complete reckoning for what each life has done. It’s not that if some life did something bad it will be destroyed and that’s the end of it. That wouldn’t work. It still has to pay, while undergoing complete destruction, for all of the bad things it did. I treat all beings with the greatest mercy. No matter how great a sin or how big a mistake any of the lives in history committed, I could overlook their faults and sins, and I could remove their sins. The prerequisite is of course that during Fa-rectification you can’t interfere with it; I would save you even if you didn’t do a single thing. But once a being interferes with Fa-rectification what it faces is elimination. And those who’ve committed the most egregious sins have to pay for everything they’ve done while being eliminated. However much was done, that’s how much has to be paid for; however big the things it did, that’s how much it has to pay for. So this time, when it comes to the evil beings that interfere with Fa-rectification, no matter how wicked they are, what they face is a terrifying end that’s never been seen before in the cosmos. And this includes the old forces themselves. Even though they thought they were making a contribution for Dafa’s sake, in reality they were looking at things based on their own concepts. They never truly looked at themselves or used Fa-rectification itself to evaluate themselves, or used this Fa to evaluate themselves. But since the future is this Fa, and the beings of the future are created by this Fa, what other than this Fa could be used to evaluate things?
So when it comes to the matter of truth-clarification, since it’s so important, you should do it even more calmly and level-headedly, and you should recognize more clearheadedly the different kinds of opportunities, ways of handling things, and approaches that we encounter while clarifying the truth. It’s something you all need to pay attention to. You know that when I disseminate the Fa I don’t pay attention to what group in society a person belongs to or his social status, and I don’t differentiate between rich and poor, the various professions, or a person’s status at his job. I don’t look at anything except a person’s heart. You should do the same when you clarify the truth. Don’t think about him being some elite figure and create an extra mental obstacle for yourself, as if you’re there to ask for his help. What’s actually happening is that you’re saving him, and you’re giving him a chance to choose his future. That’s for sure. So you should consider saving the world’s people as the primary objective of clarifying the truth.
Everything that Dafa disciples are doing today and everything in society you encounter, I can tell you, you are saving all beings. So no matter what kind of person you meet, what strata of society he’s from, or what profession he’s in, don’t think that you’re just going to him to explain the truth merely because evil is persecuting Dafa disciples. I’ll tell you, saving all beings is first and foremost, and clarifying the truth is the way to save people. When people understand the facts and find out how wicked the persecution is, people will naturally know what to do. And if afterwards you ask him to lend support and do something about it, that’s him choosing a future. So with those people who’ve been deceived in the persecution, all the more so, how could you not give them a chance? If you don’t tell them the facts they will lose their futures forever.
Also, with those people that you run into by chance, who you run into in daily life, and the people you run into at work, you should all clarify the truth to them. Even when in your daily life you pass by people so quickly that you don’t have a chance to talk to them, you should still leave them with your compassion and kindness. Don’t lose those who should be saved, especially those with predestined connections. Actually, a lot of Dafa disciples say when they’re clarifying the truth, “I’m going to go clarify the truth now,” as if at that moment they’re going to clarify the truth, but they don’t clarify the truth normally. Saving beings should permeate every single aspect of your daily lives at this time. If you can all understand and really see its importance, I think you’ll probably save more beings. Now the world’s people are gradually becoming more clearheaded, and the impact of clarifying the truth right now is even greater. The audience those evil beings have is getting smaller and smaller, so you must understand this issue clearheadedly.
There is a small number of students who are privately becoming like buddies and pals—“we do things together, we’re a little group”—and they often talk about a bunch of useless things, wasting large amounts of time. Right now every minute and every second is crucial. If you miss out during this period of time, you miss out on everything. History won’t recur. The history of the cosmos and the Three Realms have gone through so many, long, long years—what have all the beings been waiting for? What are they all here for? For exactly these few years! Yet there are [Dafa] students who are squandering their lives during these few years, not seizing the time. And yet you are shouldering such huge responsibilities for all beings and for history!
Yes, some students aren’t clearheaded enough and feel that obtaining the Fa was quite a coincidence. [They wonder,] “Do I have such a huge historic responsibility? Am I able to take it on?” In reality there is no need to even ask that, I’ve already spelled it out quite clearly in the Fa. Not everyone can cultivate in this Dafa that I’m imparting today. Why is it that so many people can’t enter? Of course, there are a lot of new students who are now gradually coming in, and that’s due to your clarifying the truth. It’s like a master key, unlocking that old-force factor that seals the world’s people off and prevents them from learning the Fa. Only your clarifying the truth can do this. To put it another way, not everyone can obtain it. With things that manifest in the human realm, it is hard to tell what is true and false; the true state of the cosmos isn’t allowed to show itself; and the special states of Dafa disciples that set them apart from the world’s people cannot be completely displayed. After all, it’s cultivation in the maze—it’s about cultivating in that kind of state and breaking free from it. Don’t underestimate yourself. Every Dafa disciple, as long as he has cultivated according to this Fa, should do the things Dafa disciples are supposed to do.
Actually, I’ve said that for an ordinary person who has done something good for Dafa during this period, at this critical time, it’s possible for even that person to reach Consummation as a god, let alone you, who are cultivating in the Dafa, who are doing what Dafa disciples should do, and doing all of it under tough conditions. You can’t see much of a difference on the surface, but it does manifest in other dimensions—that is precisely the difference between humans and gods. The changes are gigantic. This place of humans is enshrouded in delusion, and the real state of things and what’s here in this human place are totally different. Only those Dafa disciples who fall behind in Fa study will display a lack of diligence and feel dejected during this period of time, even to the extent that they don’t know how precious this time is and don’t seize the time to do what Dafa disciples should do.
Even now, in fact, there are some students who are doing very poorly with Fa study. Being able to study the Fa well is the fundamental guarantee that you can head towards Consummation, it’s the fundamental guarantee that you can emerge from here. All beings were forged by this Fa, as are your futures. As for the cosmos’s future beings, because many, many lives have been weeded out during the Fa-rectification, there are many places in the cosmos that are empty. But they won’t remain empty forever. Dafa will create from the Fa all of the lives, along with various factors and forms of matter that are needed by those levels of cosmic bodies. And Dafa is forging all of the new lives that are needed. The old lives may renew themselves only after assimilating to this Fa, and in this way enter the future. All lives are encompassed by this.
Actually right now the overall Fa-rectification is coming to the surface more and more. The last factors that remain can’t be called lives anymore, they can’t be called anything, there is no language to express what they are and no concept to describe them, but everything is in this final process of Fa-rectification. Actually, if we were to use the concepts of “the cosmos” and “beyond the cosmos” to describe it, Fa-rectification already fits the concept of “beyond the cosmos.” Meaning, Fa-rectification is now working on those factors that allow the firmament to exist, and even the factors in the factors.
That being said, right now you still can’t feel it, but from the current situation of Dafa disciples’ Fa-validation you can see that the situation has changed. The evil can’t be sustained anymore, and that’s because the evil lives and factors have been destroyed to the point of very little being left, and there is no comparison with how things were on July 20 of ’99. I’ve described to you what it was like back then: evil beings from other dimensions attached to each blade of grass and each tree. As you walked down the street tree branches would whip you in the face, the grass would trip you, and the air was filled with evil. It’s not that all of that really turned evil, it was the effect of bad lives and factors that were pushed down into the Three Realms during Fa-rectification. Everywhere, things were saturated with evil factors. They attached themselves to everything, doing the worst things in the Three Realms and among humans. If this Fa-rectification wasn’t done in two parts and instead I did it in one step, then the wave of persecution would have been global, just like the European prophet said: in 1999 the King of Terror would descend from the skies, and people the world over would feel the frenzy of the persecution. This time when the evil arrived, other countries around the world and other nations didn’t experience the evilness of the persecution against Falun Gong that began in ’99, and that’s because this was to be done in two parts; having other nations or more of the world’s people cultivate Dafa is something left for the next step. And you’ve seen that today it is Fa-rectification Period Dafa Disciples’ cultivation, and things aren’t directed at more people around the world. That’s why the kind of persecution that took place against Dafa disciples in China hasn’t happened in other countries, and as a result other nations haven’t experienced evil of that magnitude. But because the evil factors were just so, so many back then, for Dafa students, no matter what country the student was in, he or she would feel mental pressure.
Right now the situation is no longer like that. The overall Fa-rectification is destroying evil factors in mass quantities, and Dafa disciples have clarified the truth while validating the Fa, along with this sending righteous thoughts to continually cleanse themselves and clear out the evil in other dimensions, as well as all the other things you’ve done validating the Fa. All of that is destroying those evil beings and factors that the old forces arranged, and it has had a huge effect. When a Dafa disciple’s righteous thoughts are strong his existence in the world has a positive effect. So take a look, everybody—isn’t it true that the amount of evil factors left now is tiny? It’s nowhere close to the situation of July 20 in ’99.
However, even though those evil factors aren’t as many, the remaining ones are still pretty wicked. I always told you in the past: the closer it is to the surface the less power it has, but the closer it is to the surface the more evil it is. So it’s making up for its weaker power by being more evil on the surface, and the evil still appears quite wicked. But you’ve seen that the environment has already changed. The evil can only be sustained in those places directly controlled by that evil ringleader—those places where hopeless, evil people are still doing evil. Right now they can’t even be sustained at the surface of Mainland China’s society; the evil’s suppression is being carried out covertly, and they’re afraid to let the world’s people see it. Actually, all of the righteous forces are destroying it, and the evil is scared. They don’t dare to do things out in the open, and they’re carrying out the suppression by sneaking around. They’re afraid more of the world’s people will learn of the evil things they’ve done, and those things can’t stand the light of day. They won’t even let cadres—even high-ranking cadres in the Central Government—know about it. They’re even lying and covering up the persecution internally. But it’s only those few wicked, worst dregs of society that are making wicked people below them carry out the evil persecution. They’re doing their utmost to cover up the despicable means they’ve used in the persecution, and they’re even making false reports to the Central Government’s cadres. They’re using lies to sustain the evil persecution. The evil has now been destroyed in massive amounts, and it looks like the evil ones can no longer run wild. Back when the evil was rampant, there were countless rotten ghosts propping it up so that it could run wild, and even when others knew the truth of things they didn’t dare to speak out. Around July 20 of ’99, when that evil ringleader was stomping around making a ruckus to get its way, nobody dared make a sound. At that time the evil factors supporting it were just so numerous, and it wanted to suppress [Falun Gong]. The situation is now different from back then. All of the factors arranged by the old forces are being cleared away and becoming less and less numerous, and the current environment appearing in the human realm is different. It doesn’t matter how frenzied the evil people get, it’s all over for them.
But in this period you’ve all seen something, and that is, how many lives have sinned against Dafa (and that’s not including those who’ve committed the worst, most wicked sins). Once they understand the truth, is that the end of it? It’s not that simple. But, when you have somebody understand things by clarifying the truth, that is giving him a chance. If he truly has an upright thought, it gives him a chance to atone for his sins. A person has to pay for whatever he has done—that’s a law of the cosmos, and all beings are subject to it. When the persecution first started, how many people had to pitch in to bring about that evil situation back then? If nobody played such a role, and nobody did or said anything, could that evil environment back then have been created? Whether they were in China or abroad, as long as they played such a role in that process, pushed the persecution forward, or actively contributed in words or deeds, they have to pay for it. No life can escape, unless he has made up for the losses he caused Dafa and Dafa disciples.
The gods of the entire cosmos are staring, wide-eyed. Boundless, countless gods are watching this tiny little Earth, watching intently every life’s every thought. They’re afraid even to blink, as they don’t want to miss an instant or let a person’s single thought slip by. At this time, I talk about these things to tell you to calmly, level-headedly, and more clearly understand what you’re currently doing. No matter what you’re doing, Dafa disciples must make validating the Fa the number one priority.
But, you have to clarify the truth rationally and in line with people’s logic and ways of thinking. If you talk about it in a strange, otherworldly way, not at all based on people’s logic and way of thinking, and not considering whether people can accept it or not, then you’re doing harm and the result is opposite what was intended. Make sure you do it rationally and clearheadedly. When you clarify the truth to people you have to consider their level of acceptance. You’ll be able to see and observe this, so you have to do well clarifying the truth. Don’t just go to talk for the sake of formality. Whenever you talk to someone you need to have him understand. Of course, there are those that absolutely can’t be saved, since they’ve gone all the way over to the opposite side. That kind of person no longer has anything righteous, and when you talk to him he can’t accept it since whenever he accepts a little bit, a little bit of him has to be destroyed—whenever he accepts a little bit, a little bit of him is destroyed. If he completely accepts it, then he’s completely destroyed, because he is evil. So there are those that can’t be saved, but that’s an extremely small minority, ultimately.
There are also some people who, even if you want to save them, like I said earlier, even if you give those people a chance and they understand, they still have to repay their debts. That’s how it works. That’s speaking from the Fa’s principles. But you shouldn’t worry about those things, since as Dafa disciples you cultivate Shan, and you have to be compassionate to all beings. As for how those lives should pay off those debts, naturally there is the Fa to determine that. Whether or not they should remain is determined by the Fa’s standards. So as Dafa disciples, just do your best to save them, that’s all.
Why should you save them? I’ve said before that the beings in today’s world are different from the lives in history, and they’re different from the people in the past. When any life arrives in this world and enters this world of delusion, it’s truly terrifying. For a god, you know, just a moment ago when you saw him he was a magnificent god, but once he enters this world, enters a human body, and that brain is washed clean, that’s really scary, and now he can’t distinguish things; so based on his actions you can’t tell the origin of his life, and you can’t see the essential difference between him and his life in the past.
That is what I wanted to talk about, actually—to just talk with you about the subject of clarifying the truth. You still want to talk with me about some things, so I think I’ll use the time that follows to answer some questions for you. If you have a question you can write it down on a slip of paper. (Applause) Let’s not take too long since in the experience sharing conference there are still people who need to give their speeches.
Student: Beijing students send greetings to Master (master: I’m going to skip reading this part). When the Fa-rectification ends, or in other words, right before we reach Consummation, will I be able to see you? If that doesn’t happen it will be my eternal regret. I don’t know if I should think this way. Will my wish come true?
Master: Aren’t you seeing me right here and now? (Everyone laughs) You want to see my True Image. (Teacher laughs) Cultivate yourself well. Every Dafa disciple will be able to see it as long as he can reach Consummation. (Applause) Dafa disciples not only have the kind of predestined relationship that you have today, one that countless beings don’t have, but in fact, I have prepared for you a being’s eternal and everlasting glory in the future. (Applause)
Student: Dafa disciples in Wuhan city, Hubei province, miss you and send greetings to Teacher.
Master: Thank you! (Applause)
Student: Some people say that Falun Gong is good, but they aren’t willing to help practitioners, for example, when we try to place our newspapers [in those places], or when they don’t announce Dafa’s name during activities. If these people aren’t able to change, how will they end up?
Master: Actually, some people aren’t clear about Dafa at this time. And that’s especially so for those who’ve been too deeply deceived during this persecution that’s so evil. If Dafa disciples aren’t able to untie the knots in those people’s minds when they clarify the truth, it’s possible they are still in the process of coming to understand Dafa, and for the time being they can’t be judged conclusively. At this time it can’t be said that they are good and it can’t be said that they are bad. It’s possible you haven’t done enough in clarifying the truth.
Student: How should we understand “The great disclosure of the truth will leave the world in amazement”?
Master: As a matter of fact, I used a gods’ word, “amazement.” Think about the immense changes of the entire cosmos, everyone. Just here among humans, in the next stage a lot of evil people will be weeded out, and the number who will be weeded out is large and terrifying. At the beginning people will still feel shocked, while by the end they will be numb to it. What kind of state will a person be in when he sees dead people strewn everywhere on the street? The things that people don’t believe in and historically have taken to be “superstition” will all unfold. People understand this material world through modern scientific concepts. When they discover that’s not how it is at all, what will they think? Once the things that people don’t believe in all appear, when they’re faced with huge changes in this so-called material dimension, what kind of state are they going to be in? People will see that it turns out gods really do exist. “Whoa! It turns out Dafa disciples are all gods! It turns out everything Dafa disciples have been saying is true!” At the beginning they will still have those kinds of thoughts, and then, while enduring suffering to pay for their sins, people will gradually become as if they don’t have any thoughts. It will truly be “leaving the world in amazement.”
Student: I want to write a historical chronicle of Falun Dafa and record all kinds of feats that have been accomplished since Master began to spread the Fa.
Master: I think it’d be remarkable if Dafa disciples could accomplish something like that. You may do it, but the effort will take a lot of time and energy. The Dafa disciples’ three things are all major ones. Balance your time well.
Student: Please advise me as to whether I can write at a slightly higher level about righteous thoughts and righteous actions? Would it transcend Dafa?
Master: No matter how high a level you write at, you can’t transcend Dafa, (everyone laughs) because it is just too enormous. The things that you can know are only what can be shown in the ordinary human society and those things that our Dafa disciples have done while using human actions to validate the Fa. There shouldn’t be any problems with using those. After it is completed you can solicit feedback from other people, and that way certain things will be done even better.
Student: I used to write martial arts fiction that had to do with cultivation. Is it OK to use the form of martial arts fiction to expound higher principles? How can I do a more intricate and detailed job in terms of artistic expression so that people of the world will accept correct cultivation concepts without realizing it?
Master: I think if you want to write a historical chronicle, that would be something more serious. Writing fiction is fine, but if you turn this whole matter of Dafa into a fictional novel, it seems like the weight that genre carries isn’t all that appropriate. I think that with a historical chronicle it wouldn’t hurt to cover more specific details and put more into bringing characters to life. With a fictional work, if it focuses on a certain disciple, a certain region, or a certain event—just pick a subject and a setting, that’s fine.
Student: I would like to send greetings to Master on behalf of Dafa disciples in Mainland China.
Master: Thank you! (Applause)
Student: Secret agents use the gaps that we Dafa disciples have in Internet security to persecute us. But a portion of overseas Dafa disciples and those who are in positions of responsibility don’t pay much attention to it, which has caused interference and damage to Fa-validating tasks and Dafa disciples. Master, please give us some guidance.
Master: I think everybody should pay attention to this point. Even though we don’t have anything to hide, we can’t let the secret agents interfere.
Speaking of secret agents, this occupation, which in the eyes of gods is the dirtiest human profession, causes people to become mentally twisted after leading lives that can’t bear to see the light of day and that consist of doing things in a shadowy, secretive manner for long periods of time. It’s actually a very tough life. And don’t think they are all that capable. Not too long ago, a Taiwanese practitioner went to Shanghai and was arrested. Those secret agents in the State Security Bureau saw his fear and insisted on making him a secret agent. We all know those tactics were filthy and shameless, and only evil places are able to do things that way. Actually, I knew about their set of tricks a long time ago. Before they do this they first get to know you well. They even get to know what you like and dislike when it comes to food, clothing, living quarters, and transportation. And it includes getting to know the subject’s relatives and friends well. Then they set a trap for you and arrest you. At the very first meeting they scare and threaten you, making you feel as if you are about to be shot dead. Then they take advantage of your mental state of being afraid and talk to you. If you don’t want to talk, they will share with you the things they gathered a long time ago. During the conversation you feel as if they know everything already, and it seems like they even know things only a very small number of people know. Under the influence of the attachment of fear, you strongly feel as if nobody around you is dependable, and you develop this erroneous notion that everyone is a secret agent, that nobody is trustworthy, and that you could be murdered at any time if you don’t comply with the evil’s demands. Actually it is your attachment of fear being taken advantage of. It’s a ploy, and it is a set of methods that are used exclusively by spies. Of course, right now nobody in a democratic country dares to do things that way. Only an evil regime would dare to use that kind of evil method to violate people’s human rights. In a democratic country that person would have been brought to a courtroom by now.
Don’t be afraid of them making trouble. You shouldn’t be overly concerned with every little thing, but you should all keep alert. You need to think about whether the evil can do harm to what you plan to do. You need to think about this. We don’t have anything to hide, we don’t have anything we’re afraid of letting the world know, and we haven’t done anything illegal. But as for the evil, we shouldn’t give them any opportunity to do evil things. When it comes to the evil, the things Dafa disciples plan to do must not be made known to the evil. So, many times you all really must pay attention to this matter. We can’t let the evil people move first and do bad things before you have a chance to do something. That causes trouble and makes it harder for you to clarify the truth and bring salvation to people. So you must take these things seriously.
Student: Five hundred thousand Hong Kong residents took to the streets to protest Article 23. But some of those people still don’t know the true situation with Falun Gong. Is it true they won’t be saved just for opposing Article 23 and that they need us to clarify the truth to them in more depth?
Master: That evil Article 23 legislation, which has been rejected by all of Hong Kong’s people, was from the beginning aimed at Hong Kong Dafa disciples and meant to persecute them. And it was aimed at Hong Kong’s people so as to persecute them, too. So many people in Hong Kong stood up to oppose it. No matter what kind of perspective or what kind of motives they had at the time, when it was all said and done they were able to play a positive role in this matter. I think that with Hong Kong’s residents, you could say they’ve chosen a very good future for themselves, and in terms of their attitude towards Dafa they already have a very good start. Many people knew Falun Gong well, and they were precisely against it [the legislation] for that reason. They laid a very good foundation for being saved in the future. As for those who are still unclear about Falun Gong and the reality of it being persecuted, you should clarify the truth in more depth, that’s all.
Student: When inviting some big companies to participate in the Gala, if we don’t clarify the truth and just invite them to celebrate the New Year with the Chinese people, it isn’t enough, is it?
Master: Of course it isn’t enough. Everything that Dafa disciples are doing today is for the sake of saving people. Otherwise what are you doing it for? Clarifying the truth in an upright and open manner are the very things Dafa disciples should do. I’m also telling you that all beings in today’s world came for the sake of the Fa. If you want a being to clearly understand this point, you should go and clarify the truth to him. It is a master key, the key that can unlock that thing all beings have had sealed off for a long time and been awaiting for ages. (Applause)
Actually, I’m thinking that with everything you, the Dafa disciples, are doing today, you aren’t doing them for Dafa, and you aren’t doing them for me, your master, either. You are doing them for yourselves. You are harmonizing your own worlds and establishing your own mighty virtue. You are collecting and saving beings that you need. You are all doing things for you, yourselves. From my perspective, as your master, I certainly have to tell you to do these things, because I want to harmonize everything of yours and I want to lead you to success. Only when you need things in certain regards do I tell you to go and do them.
Also, from the perspective of cultivating goodness and compassion, you should do these things. I’m just giving an example here. It doesn’t stop at the Gala. It applies to all kinds of other things that you encounter and need to do. It applies to all those things. Saving all beings is what’s most important. You shouldn’t think [you are doing things] in order to add more programs to the Gala, and even less so are these things done to bring people some momentary happiness. I am asking you to save all beings. (Applause) If you’re able to stage a high-quality gala that’s filled with Dafa’s positive energy, that in and of itself can have the effect of saving all beings. Wouldn’t you be only too happy to do it? Isn’t it an opportunity? (Applause)
Student: Some practitioners respect Dafa from the bottom of their hearts. They also are very diligent when clarifying the truth. But they just can’t meet the standard when it comes to their own individual cultivation and they make mistakes frequently. They are bothered by it too.
Master: That’s apt to happen. The reason is, you all understand the broader principles of the Fa, but when it comes to individual issues, those factors of ordinary people that remain on an individual basis will in fact lead to attachments, and can manifest themselves. It might seem quite inconsistent but it actually isn’t inconsistent, and when attachments get too big, bad cultivation states are going to emerge. When big problems arise you must pay attention to them. That’s the most dangerous.
Having said that, another thing occurred to me, and that is, you shouldn’t look at things in absolute terms. And that’s especially true when it comes to those crooked principles that the evil in China propagates. For example, they spread, “if you want others to do well, you have to do well yourself first.” Think about it everybody, is that saying right? Many people hold on to that saying and use it to hide their own mistakes that they don’t want to correct. And that’s especially so for those who have problems—they take it as the truth and won’t let go. I can tell you, though, that this is absolutely wrong. Can’t a person who isn’t perfect tell you to do well? Can’t a person who’s made mistakes tell others to do well? What kind of logic is that? How many people have thought this over carefully?
As you know, Jesus said that all human beings have sins. So just because you have sins, you shouldn’t tell your own children to behave well? Because you have sins, you shouldn’t tell others not to commit crimes? That’s definitely a ridiculous theory, isn’t it? In reality, who among humans hasn’t made a mistake? As soon as a person is born he creates karma. Everyone has made mistakes. Just because you have made mistakes it doesn’t mean you can’t tell others to do well. By the same token, just because someone has made mistakes, it doesn’t mean that he can’t tell you to do well. It depends on if what he says is right or wrong. That’s how gods look at things. And in fact, that’s how humans should look at things, too. That’s the right principle.
The evil regime’s propaganda has twisted that principle into this: if you want others to behave well, you have to behave well yourself. It’s a very evil saying. On the surface it looks like, “Oh, it’s true. That saying makes a lot of sense.” But it doesn’t make one bit of sense, and it can only play a negative role. Who can behave so well? Where can you find a perfect human being? Even with a cultivator who has reached the last step in his cultivation and not yet completely shed his human body, he still has sins and karma, and he still has attachments. But, when he reaches that step in cultivation he has far surpassed ordinary human beings. If we go by that saying, nobody can tell anybody else to behave well. Wouldn’t society be done for?
Dafa disciples have attachments, ordinary human attachments that they have yet to eliminate by cultivating, and they have areas in which they fall short. But that doesn’t mean a Dafa disciple is completely no good, it doesn’t mean this being isn’t up to par, and it doesn’t mean this Dafa disciple hasn’t cultivated himself well. In many, many areas he has cultivated very well. He makes mistakes because he still has attachments that need to be revealed so that he can realize his own shortcomings, and that’s why they manifest. It’s only possible to cultivate them when they show themselves. If things stay hidden and aren’t displayed it’s rather hard to remove them with cultivation, and if even he himself doesn’t realize they exist, then it’s really hard to cultivate.
Student: Master, please talk about how the media outlets operated by Dafa disciples should clarify the truth, especially the future outlook for cooperation in clarifying the truth inside Mainland China.
Master: Our current situation is basically like this: out of considerations for safety, conditions aren’t yet ripe for Dafa disciples in Mainland China to set up media outlets; but they do distribute flyers and VCDs, and there are a lot of things they’ve done quite well. As for outside of Mainland China, the media outlets operated by Dafa disciples need to help the Chinese people see the true picture of the persecution as much as possible, they need to help all Chinese people see the truth—they must help all the Chinese people see the truth! (Applause) You need to save them. You need to help Chinese people see what kinds of things Chinese people have done during the persecution and what terrifying consequences await the Chinese people if it continues.
Student: I could never completely eliminate my own attachments. I’m really worried about this, but I’m never able to do well.
Master: Study the Fa more, study the Fa more. (Teacher laughs) There’s no magic pill. “Let’s take a pill and the attachments will go away.” (Everyone laughs) Actually, Dafa’s mighty power is even more effective than some cure-all magic pill. Of course, you’re all busy right now and have to do all kinds of things, there are a lot of things to do, and there are household chores, jobs, and other responsibilities to attend to. But you have to always cultivate yourself, so you still need to study the Fa.
Student: On this holiday, please accept all Dafa disciples’ respect and gratitude. We will definitely do well and make Master happier and less worried.
Master: Thank you! (Applause) Dafa disciples are all still being persecuted. You want me to be happy, but I can’t be. How many Dafa disciples are being persecuted in those evil labor camps in China at this very moment! But I do appreciate your goodwill.
Student: I’ve been thinking about the following: is it OK for those Dafa disciples who are well-known in society, for example the contact people of certain regions or disciples who’ve written many articles to clarify the truth about Dafa, to talk about their own thoughts, understandings, and analysis of certain issues in the human world, for example the issue of the [Chinese] territory, as members of society while participating in local activities, Chinese community activities, and activities of the “Bring Jiang to Justice Coalition”? What’s the best way to do it so as to avoid misunderstandings from ordinary people?
Master: For Dafa disciples, cultivating and validating the Fa today are first and foremost. Dafa disciples must validate the Fa. For you, clarifying the truth and saving all beings are first and foremost.
In society certain democracy activists, and this includes some individuals who experienced [the massacre on] June 4th, have been constantly assaulting the evil, brutal regime. They too promote things like human rights and freedom of belief, and their sharp criticism along those lines has had a positive effect in terms of exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. So from this perspective, they share common ground with us on this point. So then some of our practitioners want to speak from those angles, too. Actually, you need to remain level-headed and calmly analyze whether the thing you’re doing has anything to do with Dafa and validating the Fa. If the answer is yes, you should go ahead and do it. If the answer is no, you shouldn’t. You should never lose your way.
Do you know about your master? This cosmos is so immense. There are countless and immeasurable beings and countless and immeasurable cosmic bodies. So many beings are capable of dramatically affecting the human world with just one thought! There are so many beings, so many factors of the old forces and old beings, all of whom want to control this Fa-rectification and interfere with this Fa-rectification. None of them can change me. The path I’ve walked is straight. (Applause) They aren’t able to interfere with me in any way. They can exhaust their ways and nothing will work. Here among humans there are all kinds of things that interfere, but none of that has any effect.
Isn’t there a saying among people that, “You have your thousand brilliant ideas, but I have my own way”? In other words, Dafa disciples need to realize what they’re doing. [You] must keep clearheaded about whether something is related to validating the Fa or not. We expose evil for the sake of saving all beings. As long as it has to do with the things Dafa disciples are doing today, you should go ahead and do it. And if it doesn’t, you shouldn’t. If a person goes in the wrong direction doing things and develops attachments as a result, those things will hurt the practitioner. If a task has to do with Dafa, and has to do with your validating the Fa or saving beings, then you should go ahead with it. In that case, the more you do the more wide-open the road becomes. That’s the case for sure. You absolutely must not get mixed up in the political struggles of ordinary people.
Student: Dafa disciples in Singapore and Malaysia send greetings to Master.
Master: Thank you! (Applause)
Student: When I have a lot of thought karma, can I send righteous thoughts at any given time and place?
Master: Do it based on your own situation. Some thoughts that you develop are actually interference, which can be eliminated by sending righteous thoughts. Some are the product of your own attachments, and some are concepts that you’ve formed in the human world; those things can’t be eliminated by sending righteous thoughts just once. So they surface from time to time, and it seems that after you send righteous thoughts they still appear. That kind of thing happens. But it’s not that you haven’t done anything and it’s not that what you did was not effective. It’s just that each time only a portion of it can be eliminated. Those things that were arranged by the old forces have been divided into countless, countless portions by the factors of lives that come from higher levels. So, each time you send righteous thoughts you are only able to eliminate one or two portions, but more still remain.
It’s not limited just to this. Within the Three Realms they have done many bad things and made arrangements for many things that they wanted. What’s more, many of those things have become warped. During the passage of such a long period of time, even the so-called gods of the old forces who originally did those things cannot resolve them. If there were no Fa-rectification they couldn’t be resolved. There are a lot of things in the cosmos like that, and it’s hard to resolve them without the arrival of the whole immense force of Fa-rectification. But as for thought karma, it can be completely eliminated through sending righteous thoughts.
Student: How should we deal with truth-clarification pamphlets that contain photos and stories of former practitioners who have “enlightened” along a wicked path?
Master: They “enlightened” along a wicked path because of coercion during the persecution. When they are released they will come to their senses after some time. But it’s a different matter for those who have caused irreparable harm to Dafa and Dafa disciples.
Student: Recently new students have come to do the exercises. How should we guide them to study the Fa and encourage them to attend our group Fa study?
Master: It’s fine to encourage them to join group exercises and group Fa study. But don’t be overly anxious and tell new students to immediately do Dafa disciples’ things, since many of the new students belong to the next group. But at this time there are some who’ve gradually entered and belong to this group. Owing to the effect of your clarifying the truth, that lock has already been opened, and the future cultivators have begun to emerge. Both situations exist.
Student: In our media work we have published many reports that expose the wicked CCP’s attempts to fake domestic peace and prosperity and that expose its evil nature. But revered Master, please let us know the relationship between these reports and directly saving all beings and validating Dafa.
Master: The truth is, its goal in faking peace and prosperity nowadays is to cover up the substance of its persecution of Falun Gong, giving people the false impression that there is no persecution going on. Behind the scenes they are carrying out the largest, worst, filthiest, and most evil persecution in history. You can directly expose this. As for other facets of it, you need to see if they’re related to validating the Fa. If they are, go ahead and do it. When Dafa disciples outside Mainland China use the media to expose the evil’s nature, they’re doing that to help the world’s people see more clearly its evil nature throughout history. Some practitioners have been continually exposing the tricks the evil uses to fake peace and prosperity in order to cover up its crimes, exposing the evil and dirty things it has done behind the scenes.
Student: When clarifying the truth to the Chinese people on a large scale, in order to communicate more easily with ordinary people, we make use of things that align with their interests that inevitably have deviated factors, since everything of humankind has deviated. But, everything that Dafa disciples do will be left for the future. How do we reconcile these two things?
Master: When you are wisely clarifying the truth to save all beings, there is no such problem—what’s left for the future people is the spirit of Dafa disciples rectifying the Fa and their path of returning to what is right. No matter what approach you take to clarify the truth, the goal is to have the world’s people truly understand this persecution. Freedom of belief and human rights being trampled on are things people can understand. As for referencing some examples, that too is done to save people. When you make use of the different aspects of humankind’s deviated culture today to clarify the truth, you have to be careful, because you don’t know what this person is attached to. Perhaps what you use is exactly what he’s attached to, and yet you can’t spend a lot of effort thoroughly explaining what he’s attached to, so it may have a bad effect. Try your best not to get involved with ordinary people’s other issues.
Speaking from another angle, this is how everything of human beings is now—everything has deviated. And not only have things deviated, there is also a great deal of demon nature. Everything of human society has degenerated. If it weren’t for Fa-rectification human history wouldn’t have made it this far. So many catastrophes in the cosmos have been avoided because of it. What did people invent the atomic bomb for? Everything on Earth is the result of gods’ making human beings do things, and everything has a purpose. Even though those things have passed, nothing of humankind exists by chance. When it comes to those things that aren’t related to Fa-rectification, try not to discuss them when you clarify the truth. Also, don’t talk about the truth at too high a level—the effect isn’t good. Nothing of humankind is good anymore, that’s the reality.
Student: Do new disciples who have just begun cultivation have the power to intimidate the evil when they clarify the truth?
Master: Yes. That’s because while I clean out the evil factors as a whole, all dimensions of humankind and of the colossal firmament, and all dimensions in the Three Realms, are saturated with Dafa’s factors. And I’m not just talking about the new cosmos. When a being plays a positive role, Dafa’s factors will empower him, and that being will have good fortune in return from then on. Don’t we already know of many cases of this? In other words, when a new student clarifies the truth, the factors of Dafa, Master’s Law-bodies, and those righteous gods who fully cooperate will all help him and play positive roles. That’s for sure. But the pre-requisite is that the new student has to do it himself first.
Student: During this urgent time in Fa-rectification, how do I balance Fa-rectification things and guiding children to cultivate?
Master: It’s up to you to handle these specific things well.
Student: How should we understand conforming to the way of ordinary people?
Master: In your daily life, just try your best to conform to the way of ordinary people while cultivating. Dafa cultivation has no precepts, so in your daily life you basically keep the same ways as ordinary people as much as possible. On the surface, you basically conform to the way of ordinary human society. That’s how it is, and at the same time you’re a cultivator. I’ve already talked about this many, many times; in a lot of lectures I’ve talked about how to do things.
Student: Many people haven’t heard about Dafa or the facts about the persecution, nor have they participated in the persecution. Master, please enlighten us on the need for clarifying the truth to them.
Master: Some people haven’t heard about Dafa, nor have they heard about the persecution, but clarifying the truth to them is still very important. People in this world have been sealed off for an extended period of time, and it has caused these beings to not understand for the time being this event which they’ve been waiting for over ages of reincarnations. When you clarify the truth to them you’re not just telling them about this event that’s been unfolding in this world, you are also telling them about Dafa and what Dafa is, and doing so will unlock the predestined opportunity they were sealed off from but had been waiting for, and it will help them realize that what they’ve been waiting for has arrived.
Student: I haven’t done well for a while. If I start doing well now, will there still be enough time?
Master: As long as the Fa-rectification hasn’t entered the human world you still have a chance. Whether you’ll have enough time is up to you yourselves. Some people seize the time well, some don’t. Some people have made huge mistakes and yet they don’t want to pay for them, and they’re still like they were before, leisurely spending their time. In that case, then it’s hard to say. So, as long as this thing hasn’t ended there is still a chance.
Student: Recently, many students who have shouldered a lot of work have felt very tired. Their energy level and state aren’t as good as before. How do they break through it?
Master: This has to be addressed from two angles. First, the students have been working hard, truly hard, and they’ve volunteered to shoulder a lot. So perhaps we could find more people to help out, or think of a way to solve the problem. That’s one point. Another is, a lot of our Dafa disciples are indeed quite tired, but on the other hand, they haven’t taken Fa study and cultivation seriously. They’ve done lots and lots of things, but they haven’t cultivated themselves, and so they will feel fatigue, feel tired, and feel that it’s hard. Actually, I’ve always told you that doing cultivation doesn’t compromise your Dafa work, for sure. That’s because doing the exercises is the most effective way to get rid of fatigue, it’s the best way to quickly make your body recover.
Student: Does Dafa have ways to resurrect all the beings that were weeded out by the old forces and have them return alive to the new cosmos?
Master: Beings that have been weeded out by the old forces…This question gets big if I talk about it. If the old forces hadn’t interfered I could have eliminated the sins and karma of all beings, no matter how much they sinned throughout history. Among the vast beings, the complicated gratitude and resentment harbored toward one another throughout history, no matter which level they are at, even the jumbled, deep resentment and intricate relationships that are interwoven and crisscrossing from top to bottom—I could balance all of them. I can do everything and anything. In other words, I could save all the beings in the cosmos. But the old forces insisted on weeding out a bunch.
Of course, I still have ways that the old forces cannot imagine. When beings have been totally destroyed and have disappeared without a trace, and even when they’ve been turned into other creatures or plants and later gone through various changes over the long course of time, I can still locate them and bring them back. Since I can transcend the utmost microcosm of all beings, I can find them. (Applause) I can even bring back beings’ original matter and factors that would never exist again, bring back the factors that originally made up their beings, and bring back all the factors that made them up, in the way they were, and I can eliminate the part, the process, and the history in which a being sinned against Dafa—I can have a being re-born as if he’d never gone through that part of history. I can do anything, but I don’t do things casually. I need to look at the cause. Master has to consider things for the sake of the future cosmos, the wonderfulness of the future, and the beings of the future. (Applause)
Student: Did the old forces have a contract with Master that specifically restricts Master’s Fa-rectification? If they did, all contracts should be abolished, and everything should follow the arrangement of the Lord Buddha.
Master: I can tell you, the fact is that the old forces managed to do many things in history by taking advantage of my split bodies reincarnating among ordinary people. When I was reincarnating lifetime after lifetime in this world, they took advantage of the opportunities and manipulated things. Since during those times [I] wasn’t spreading the Fa, and was entirely in the state of a human being doing things to fulfill human things, they forcefully added in some of the things they wanted. Those things weren’t at all what I wanted to do, yet they happened in this world. There were a lot of such things in each period. As my split bodies reincarnated in the world, they would come and influence things. That’s why they shift the blame to me for a lot of things that happened in history. They would say, “You did all that.” Of course I can’t accept that. History has been so long, and over this long passage of time they constantly did those things. Those things got too complicated and could no longer be resolved, so they would have to wait to be resolved in Fa-rectification. That’s why once I started Fa-rectification, they realized that it wasn’t at all what they wanted, so the old forces started to resist, and its manifestation became more and more pronounced.
During the ten-plus years of spreading the Fa, what you’ve seen is just the interference at the surface, while in fact, in other dimensions it’s incredibly shocking and evil to the extreme. Of course, for you, Dafa disciples, these things have nothing to do with your personal cultivation. Cultivating, improving, and getting rid of your attachments are what you need to attend to. Their interfering with me is geared towards the process and the future of history. With the old-force beings, in order to save them I constantly explained the Fa’s truths to them. Some listened, and some knew those things were wrong but were unable to resolve them because those things had already taken place in history; the specific things they planned had deviated, which made it even less possible for them to resolve things.
Many people are reflecting on the issue I just discussed (Master smiles). What I said was just about some major events in history itself, and it doesn’t involve Dafa disciples.
Student: When we do Dafa work we need to study the Fa, but there is work that just needs to be done, too. During Fa study there are often phone calls coming in, and I feel torn. If I only take care of myself and study the Fa, is that being selfish?
Master: I think when you study the Fa you should just study the Fa, and no one should interfere. That’s because if you don’t cultivate yourself well, you won’t have mighty virtue in anything you do. If you called an ordinary person over and gave him something or gave him some money and asked him to do Dafa work, would he do it? He would, but then that would be an ordinary person doing Dafa work, wouldn’t it? But what would be the point of that? What would be the ultimate goal of that? So Dafa disciples need to cultivate themselves well, and validate Dafa while establishing their mighty virtue. That is what Dafa disciples do, and you know how to do it and how you can do it well.
But the condition is, it has to be when there aren’t major things at hand and it won’t cause major problems for others—then it’s right to set everything else aside and study the Fa. For example, to avoid interference while you study the Fa, you can switch your phone to “voice mail” mode. (People laugh)
Student: With truth-clarification there is a lot we should do, and no matter what we do we can never cover everything. I can’t finish the things I’m supposed to do. What should I do about this?
Master: I think you all realize now that time is pressing. There are a lot of things that need to be done. Just do your best to arrange your time well. Everyone is doing these things. Work together with each other and coordinate your efforts, and maybe you can get things done faster.
Student: All disciples from World Falun Dafa Radio send greetings to Master.
Master: Thank you. (Applause)
Student: Often we get requests from disciples to record Master’s new articles so they can use them for Fa study. Since it doesn’t contain Master’s voice, would you please tell us if it could still achieve the effect of listening to the Fa?
Master: In the past, when my taped lectures on the Fa were being translated, I talked about this and indicated that it would be fine as long as Master’s voice is there. Yet my writings don’t have my voice to go with them. I think that during this special period of Dafa disciples validating the Fa it’s fine to do it this way, but the humans of the future can’t do so.
I’ve made many things easy for Dafa disciples as they validate the Fa. There are a lot of things that actually can’t be done in cultivation but that I have allowed you to do under special circumstances. And that includes some of the approaches you use to clarify the truth. Since they are done to save all beings, you’re doing it like that, and it’s not wrong. If they were associated with personal cultivation, though, many of them wouldn’t be allowed and couldn’t be done.
Student: I obtained the Fa after July 20th. Recently I met with a big ordeal. I can’t tell whether it’s a test given by Esteemed Master, or caused by my own attachments. I feel unworthy of Esteemed Master’s merciful and arduous salvation.
Master: For sure some things in cultivation can’t be figured out very quickly. Many attachments or causes can’t be detected so quickly, and that’s why you might feel it’s hard sometimes. But from a different angle, if a cultivator could figure everything out right away and pass whatever tests instantly, wouldn’t that be too easy? (Laughing) It would be a little too easy. I’m referring to personal cultivation.
Of course, in some cases what’s at work is the old forces interfering. They imposed certain things that the disciples should not have to overcome at all, and even problems that are very hard to resolve, and what’s more, those things and problems have the effect of interfering with this historic process of validating the Fa and saving all beings—there have indeed been things like that. So what should Dafa disciples do then? I think you should try your best to do well, study the Fa a lot, and do more of what a Dafa disciple should do. A lot of things will be settled effortlessly if you walk an upright path and do things well. You can’t solve a problem for the sake of solving that problem, as that might easily generate new attachments.
Student: How do we handle things well when clarifying the truth from the angles of ancient Chinese science, culture, and history?
Master: There are a lot of things from history that you can draw upon, and you can cite facts from various fields of study. That should be fine, but it has to be done in an appropriate way. If the examples you use aren’t appropriate then they won’t be convincing. [It should be done] just right.
Student: My brother and I are English writers. We’d like to know whether we could select certain people from history as examples of traditional work. Shakespeare had quite an influence, as did the ancient Greek writers. Can we write in styles similar to theirs? Are we setting our standards too high by doing so?
Master: You’re setting it too low. (People laugh) You are Dafa disciples, and there has never been anyone like you. You are what all other beings want to be but can’t. You are creating new styles for the beings of the future—isn’t that something “high”? You may draw on the positive aspects of some historical figures, but I think Dafa disciples still need to walk their own path, right? Only then is it pioneering something. (Applause)
Student: May I ask that Master talk again about the stance of non-involvement Dafa disciples assume with politics, for example, putting that chief wretch on trial?
Master: That evil being is the primary culprit in the persecution of Dafa disciples. Our suing it isn’t getting involved in politics. It has persecuted so many Dafa disciples to death, shouldn’t it pay for it? Shouldn’t we expose it? Shouldn’t this evil persecution be stopped?
All beings in the Three Realms came for the Fa and were created for the Fa. In other words, this includes all forms in the Three Realms, including all the various forms that exist in human society, among which, of course, are today’s laws, as well as the other forms belonging to mankind. Since all these were created by the Fa, why can’t they be used by Dafa in validating the Fa? They can. But we choose those that are upright and good, and serve a positive role. We’re using them selectively. That’s looking at it from a broader perspective.
Looking at it more narrowly, we haven’t gotten involved in politics. Whether mankind is good or bad, and what kind of social system the Chinese people choose, those are all human affairs. My Dafa disciples and I have never said what kind of system or way of life should be adopted. For instance, many democracy activists advocate for a democratic society, and I’ve never let Dafa disciples get involved in that. Dafa disciples only aim at exposing the persecution. We’re only trying to stop the persecution. Shouldn’t that be done? When your family members have been killed by persecution, wouldn’t you reason things out with [those perpetrators]? But when you reason with them they say you’ve involved yourself in politics—is that reasonable? No, it’s not!
Since the day I, Li Hongzhi, started teaching this Dafa, neither my students nor I have gotten involved in politics. We have no interest at all in it. But our Dafa is beneficial to society. It’s beneficial to all people and nations that are under different social systems—no matter what social system you’re in. Only that most irrational, most evil, most stupid thing in the whole world and of all time would do something this dumb, persecuting the kindest group of people who are the most beneficial to society. That’s because in their eyes there is nothing but power, and they couldn’t care less about whether something benefits the people. Whenever anything happens in society they immediately think about whether it threatens their power. What a tiring way to live, and what a tiring way to sustain that power! They’ve done evil for that reason. I’d say it’s about time their power was over. (Applause)
While you clarify the truth some people who’ve been deceived by the propaganda’s lies say that you’re involved in politics. They only say that because they’ve been poisoned by the evil. We’ll explain things to them, and help them see things clearly and become aware. Otherwise those people will sever their future. Of course, what a person chooses is his own business.
Student: Recently there have been isolated cases in which the lives of Dafa disciples were taken away by the old forces in the form of the sickness demon. Please tell us, could they achieve Consummation?
Master: I’ve talked about this issue many times, and a number of our students have in fact come to understand what it’s all about. From the perspective of cultivation, for a person to rise above ordinary people, he has to get rid of all human attachments, and that’s how the old forces took advantage of this and arranged all those things. For instance, they arranged for certain students to appear sick at certain times, and for certain students to depart first at a certain time. The old forces arranged it so that some people of their own choosing would come in [to Dafa]. Those people seem to be cultivating Dafa, and some even appear very diligent, but in fact they came in under the old forces’ arrangements to enable those things to happen when the time came. It was the old forces’ intention all along to weed out those beings. So, they made them commit sins by doing things that would interfere with Dafa—that’s the role they wanted them to play. Of course, they only did that with the beings they’d selected for elimination. Among my Dafa disciples there are some who were used and deceived by them in the past. For example, [they might have said,] “For you to reach Consummation, you will have to do such and such at this or that time.” There are cases like that. That’s why the true and fake ones are mixed together, and it’s difficult to tell right away which ones have come to stir up trouble and which ones are Dafa disciples.
But, I don’t look at any of that. Whether you are arranged by the old forces or a Dafa disciple who was deceived by the old forces, once you’ve read my Fa and become my disciple, you are a Dafa disciple, and you don’t acknowledge any of the arrangements the old forces made. Then I will be responsible for you. However, the occurrence of those things has indeed interfered some with Dafa disciples. Those students all knew not to acknowledge the old forces’ arrangements, but they had no way of escaping them. I save such beings as well. (Applause) Of course, as for deceived Dafa disciples, there is no doubt about it, Consummation is for sure. But with those who truly played a bad role and were irrational, it’s a different story.
Actually, during this time period the majority, including both people arranged by the old forces and deceived Dafa disciples, have done quite well, and they haven’t caused additional losses for Dafa. And their family members have done pretty well in different respects.
In fact, out of those killed by the persecution in Mainland China, many were Dafa disciples deceived by them, while some were arranged by them; they all agreed to it at some point in history, and that is why it’s hard to handle. Also, while being persecuted, they weren’t clearheaded or rational, and didn’t remember that they were Dafa disciples, nor could they remember Master, as if it were all just human beings persecuting other human beings. Plus, they were arranged that way by the old forces back in history, so they couldn’t reject it. You tell me, how do you handle that? So, a lot of things aren’t as easy as you’d imagine. Cultivation is a serious thing, and the Fa-rectification is by no means something trivial.
Student: The Chinese consulates threaten and entice overseas Chinese groups with the promises of profit and gains. They take advantage of overseas Chinese people’s patriotic sentiment to incite hatred against Falun Gong. What should we do?
Master: Clarifying the truth is the master key. They win people over with money and incentives, which are all ordinary people’s things, and they only last temporarily. Yet what you give them are things that have to do with their eternal existence, and the beings on Earth all exist for this event. Don’t undervalue what you’re doing. When you’ve really clarified the truth to the world’s people in-depth, it will be different. If that still doesn’t work, then it’s a matter of people choosing their future.
In the time between when I asked you to clarify the truth and today, although this passage of history hasn’t been long, the changes are already tremendous. When I asked you to clarify the truth at the beginning, there were still many factors obstructing things. Now there are still some, but they have become very few. So in other words, as you clarify the truth, there are fewer and fewer interfering factors, and there are more and more factors that allow the world’s people to understand what is going on. Before, your truth-clarification didn’t have good results sometimes. That was foreign, evil factors interfering. Now it’s different. Since you’re compassionate, let’s think of ways to save the world’s people, and have more people know the truth.
All the things Dafa disciples do are magnificent, and very important. As you clarify the truth, the words you speak and the energy you emit have the effect of intimidating and eliminating the evil. You are crucial in determining whether the beings in this world stay or get eliminated. If your words are pure and righteous they will really go right into the innermost part of people’s thoughts, and instantly make people understand.
Student: When we were making cartoons for truth-clarification we found that there were bad factors behind some of the 3D cartoon software. Some students felt unwell after using them for a while. Should we stop using such software?
Master: It’s true some things are bad. Actually, when you use something you’re selecting those beings and saving them. Some of what’s contained in there will be benevolently resolved, and some will be weeded out, or changed and replaced. From a different perspective, your using it is being compassionate toward it. Some deviated things need to be rectified or weeded out, and that’s the same as saving a life. But some things are extremely bad, so you need to use them selectively.
Student: Only after having cultivated this long have I realized what my fundamental attachment is, which is the attachment to myself.
Master: Yes. To put it plainly, that’s the fundamental factor of beings of the past. In the past, when it came to this, you all had it, and many people really couldn’t realize it. With all of you improving as a whole, it isn’t that pronounced anymore.
Student: When we were validating Dafa before, although things were done to validate Dafa, looking at them today they were done on a selfish, self-validating basis. Our question is: why did we become aware of this so late?
Master: Validating the Fa is also cultivation. The cultivation process is one of continually recognizing your own shortcomings and then disposing of them. It’s only that the earlier a lot of fundamental attachments are recognized the better. Recognizing them is, in itself, improvement. Being able to eliminate them, or overcome them, weaken them, and in the end completely eliminate them—that process is one of continually improving yourself, and it’s the fundamental transformation of a being.
Student: I’m the Assistant in a region in Australia. I haven’t been diligent enough in Fa study, and have attachments to reputation and gain. I’ve been interfered with. I feel regretful, and fear that this may have a negative impact on Dafa. As a Fa-rectification disciple, I need to improve. Esteemed Master, should our region select a disciple who studies the Fa better to be the Assistant?
Master: Being able to recognize it is itself a big improvement. That’s how cultivation is—when you constantly recognize your shortcomings you are improving yourselves, but how to strengthen your resolve is the most crucial thing for you to walk well the path that’s ahead of you.
In passing I’ll talk about something. In Mainland China, before the persecution happened, there were indeed a lot of students who practiced Falun Gong with different mentalities. They saw others doing it so they did it, too. “It can heal people, so I’ll practice it too.” Basically they didn’t study the Fa attentively, so even less did they have a solemn understanding of cultivation, and you couldn’t see their righteous thoughts. They were like that for a long time and in some cases it even dragged on for years. Many students liked to look at others, “Oh, he got healed by practicing. So I’ll practice then.” “He didn’t get healed. So I won’t do it anymore.” What’s even scarier is that a lot of people would look at the Assistant, and do whatever the Assistant did. When the Assistant did well, they would too. When the Assistant did poorly, they would follow suit. I ask every Dafa disciple to do well in walking his own path independently in cultivation, to establish his own mighty virtue, and to have himself truly reach Consummation and become a King who presides over his own domain. How could you not walk your own path, not study the Fa well, and not establish your own righteous thoughts?
Actually, when I select people to be Assistants I don’t go by whose level is highest. In my eyes the beings are the same. I don’t see beings as you being better than him or him being better than her. I only look at whether the person has the experience and enthusiasm of working for a group. That’s the only thought I have. I don’t have thoughts like, “This person is able to cultivate himself well and is better than others, so I’ll make him the Assistant.” From the start of an ordinary person’s cultivation until Consummation is achieved, how he cultivates himself in the process and whether he can achieve Consummation all depend on whether he is up to the task.
In fact, many regular Dafa disciples who are quiet and you don’t hear much from have cultivated very well. Some have built an excellent foundation, some have excellent bases, and some are great in every regard. But if you ask them to do administrative work they might not be able to do it. So, I select those students who are able to pull things together, do things, and who are willing to put in for others, and have them be Assistants. I’ve talked about these things a number of times. But, some Dafa disciples’ Assistants have performed truly well while some have performed a bit poorly. At the outset of the persecution there were Assistants who compromised with the evil since they hadn’t studied the Fa for a long time, and that had an awful effect. So when some of those students who had all along been watching and following how others did things saw the Assistant do that, they would think, “Oh no, how come he can’t handle it anymore? Since he stopped practicing, I will too.” It’s precisely those attachments that I want to eliminate from our students. I want students to cultivate themselves and bring out their own righteous thoughts. I don’t want the goal of your cultivation to be helping the head of the practice site, an Assistant, or the head of an Association to cultivate. What everybody has to cultivate is himself.
During the persecution many of these students have matured, become clearheaded, and grown rational. They finally understand, after such painful lessons! In fact, I talked about it many times in the past, but they just wouldn’t take seriously cultivating themselves. There are no role models in cultivation. You can’t watch how others cultivate, and you can’t just fix your eyes on others—“If you do well, I’ll do well. If you don’t do well, then I’ll forget about it, too”—having no independent thoughts of your own at all. Tell me, when it comes to those students, how am I supposed to guide your cultivation? Are you the one cultivating? You’re always foggy headed, and your words aren’t genuine. In cultivation you can’t watch others, you can only cultivate solidly on your own. How do you cultivate? Just study the Fa a lot, and don’t watch others. If you want to watch gods, that’s okay of course, but gods don’t cultivate here. So, those who are cultivating here are all human beings. Only with this human body can you cultivate yourself out of here. As long as you haven’t gotten rid of all human things you’re still a cultivator. Only when everything on the surface has finally transformed will you be completely separated from human beings. But while cultivating you should have clear awareness, cultivate away your deficiencies, restrain your shortcomings, and eliminate your shortcomings. You must have a sense of constantly climbing up. That’s cultivating.
Student: After Master taught the Fa on creating fine art, some disciples went to learn the basic skills of drawing and painting. Does this affect their truth-clarification work?
Master: It does. I’ll tell you, the basic skills of painting and drawing are not something that can be trained and learned in one or two years. Many people began their training at a young age, and it takes a long time. All those highly accomplished painters have honed their skill for over ten years or even decades. You might say, “I want to paint a painting now, I want to paint a work of art,” but we can’t exhibit yours! (People laugh) What I talked about was mainly for those Dafa disciples who had acquired the basic skills of painting or drawing and those who are accomplished in that discipline; in other words, those who are specialized and accomplished in that area. My words were directed at them, telling them to change those notions of theirs that have been influenced by modern ideas, and to have them present upright things to humankind. If you try to learn [those skills] now it won’t work, because that’s not something that can be accomplished in a short time. And besides, I want them to present a high level of artistry. Be it sculptures or paintings, mastering the basic skills is one of the most basic issues. Creating a work of art is a painter’s biggest challenge, it’s really hard. Depicting what’s taking place in the subjects’ minds and their expressions through painting or sculpture, really bringing them to life, is not something that’s achieved just by mastering the basic skills. Upright, true art is a major skill passed down to human beings by gods!
Student: How can we help more students step forward and do the Fa-rectification work well together?
Master: Just do it with a lot of care and thought, like when you clarify the truth.
Student: What are the three souls and seven spirits, and how are they related to cultivation?
Master: Those are human things, and it’s better that I don’t talk about them right now. Of course, I’ve talked about some things regarding mankind to small groups in isolated situations, and that didn’t impact mankind. In the next phase, when human affairs are involved, I’ll talk about things within the Three Realms, including mankind’s true history, the purpose of the Three Realms’ existence, the roots of the ethnic groups and the origin of the human race and life, the true factors that compose the human body, and why everything in the world exists.
The master soul (zhu yuanshen) and subordinate soul (fu yuanshen) that I’ve told you about before were discussed while I was imparting the Great Law. As for truly discussing the Fa of mankind within the Three Realms, I haven’t done that yet. So, all those things are to be discussed in the future. Since it’s divided into two stages—Fa-rectification and the Fa’s rectification of the human world—the future stage is to handle the human place here, and [I will] comprehensively explain the Three Realms, mankind, the relationship between the planets and earth and between life and the human body, the reason for each stage of development in human society—which is mankind’s true history—gods creating human beings, and so on. All human affairs will be discussed, and everything that human beings don’t believe in will manifest.
Student: Is there any overlap between the old Fa-principles and the new Fa-principles?
Master: They’re very different, and there is no overlap on fundamental issues. The basis before was self-serving, whereas everything forged by Dafa is not attached to self. When it comes to some specific issues the understanding is the same. The concrete manifestations of good and evil are basically the same. But many things have undergone some changes, and life will be more wonderful in the future.
Student: Can we charge for the newspaper run by our students?
Master: Of course you can. If a lot of people read the newspapers you run, you can try it out by charging for a portion of them first. Actually, the newspaper you’ve created has already truly become the groundwork for the largest Chinese newspaper in the world. (Applause) It’s available even in small towns in the U.S.—I’ve seen it even in tiny towns. That’s something that other Chinese newspapers cannot cover or reach. You’re sure to keep improving it, and when the conditions are ripe it can gradually enter a positive cycle.
Student: As a media form for clarifying the truth, how can a radio station do better in assisting and coordinating with the overall Fa-rectification situation and play a better role informing people of the facts?
Master: It’s the same as the other media forms created by Dafa disciples. Learn from each other, draw from each other’s strengths and supplement the weaknesses, and you can all do well. At the very least you can share news information and a lot of other resources, and that is something other media don’t have. You can give it a try. So to have people know the truth, expose the evil’s persecution, and save more beings, try to make the radio station known to more people—even the Chinese people in Mainland China. That would be great.
Student: My husband doesn’t cultivate. He has attended many Fa conferences and has done some things for Dafa, but he did bad things. He wanted to correct himself, but there was a force that tormented him mentally and he could no longer stay at home. We divorced. Does someone like this still have hope of being saved?
Master: During this persecution, I can tell you that strictly speaking, a lot of Chinese people have sinned against Dafa. So if you don’t save them as you clarify the truth, they really have no hope of salvation. When you clarify the truth, aren’t you giving them a chance? Aren’t you saving them? Of course, many of those people were your family before. Give it a try. If they really prove to be hopeless, then it’s different, and in that case you won’t need to ask me—you’ll know whether he is savable.
Student: When we write scripts for a film, should we just write a script about the true situation, or use an everyday person’s approach through mixing in some content that clarifies the truth? Which is better?
Master: You’re just talking about different angles. Both ways are fine. But no matter which form you use to write it, you are a Dafa disciple, so you know how to validate Dafa and you are able to handle it well. So I’d say however you write it is fine.
Student: Is it appropriate to teach modern science on our TV station?
Master: I’ll tell you that when Master discusses science, actually I’m not negating it. It is a product of the cosmos. Actually, I treasure everything that is forged by beings over a drawn-out period of time, so long as it’s not by nature damaging to the cosmos and it helps the cosmos flourish. The course of life is not simple. I was only saying that science is unsuitable for mankind. Haven’t its deficiencies now been exposed?
You’ve seen how under the influence of science human beings believe in gods less and less. And yet human beings were created by gods. Not only were they created by gods, the purpose of creating human beings was to allow lives that come from high levels to be saved when Fa-rectification takes place. What’s more, mankind will become a level that is truly indispensable to the future cosmos, and will thus be connected to the overall cosmos. It has such a huge purpose, and there is such a grand background, and yet this science thing is damaging human beings’ basic proper thoughts.
When beings use science on a large scale, it indeed has a very bad effect in the cosmos. The cosmos is a cycling entity, and all factors of matter are cycling. In the process of being eliminated, the beings that have sinned rid themselves of those sins. They are eliminated, eliminated, and eliminated, until in that elimination process they are reduced to only dead matter with no life whatsoever, and then they will gradually rise one level after another and be utilized. The cosmos is a cycling entity, and if a substance is warped that will be a bad situation. The warped substance will be absorbed by lower-level beings, the high-level beings can’t go to the low levels to resolve it, and when the substance that can’t be resolved by lower-level beings is used again, it sublimates during the cycling, and after the initial warpedness sublimates, higher-level beings can’t completely resolve it, either. As it sublimates it can’t be completely resolved at any of the levels, and when this happens to numerous substances it causes a large part of the cosmos to become warped.
You know, most of the steel and iron seen today are composites of many different metals. When they are re-smelted you cannot again make the metal pure, and no technology can completely separate them anymore. You know, once chemical fertilizers are applied to soil, you can’t grow anything out of that soil if you stop chemically fertilizing it; it won’t grow anything anymore. The seeds that were chemically fertilized require the chemical fertilization each time around. The warped seeds can’t sustain themselves without chemical fertilization. The chemical fertilizers are, as you know, composites of various chemicals.
There are many ways in which substances cycle. I’ll just talk about the simplest way in which substances cycle: the substances of plants, animals, and the human body are all composed of particles, and there are gaps among particles. When you magnify and look at the gaps, you’ll see that the gaps are huge. From those gaps smells are emitted, and those smells themselves, from the vantage point of a microcosmic level, are in fact fields that are composed of particles as well, so all animals and plants are emitting microcosmic substances. Those things are continually used by the level above them, and when all kinds of factors that compose water, air, and substances—which are needed in composing human beings and other living organisms—have warped due to the initial pollution, then what’s used by the dimension one level above is now fundamentally warped.
I’ve told you before that because of alien science and technology, one layer of the human body, one of the human body’s layers of particles, has been placed fully under the control of aliens. It consists entirely of alien planets’ elements, including numbers, mechanical structures, electronic components, and so on. It consists of that stuff. And those things are continually creating a warped effect. The large-scale modern industries brought about by science have impacted many low-level dimensions in the cosmos. In my Fa-rectification I’ve found that quite a large layer of the cosmos has been contaminated by those things. And those warped things have had a considerably large resisting effect in the Fa-rectification.
Think about it, those things are warped, and yet they’ve elevated to such microcosmic levels, so if gods then absorb them, wouldn’t those gods become warped too? And wouldn’t the gods’ worlds become warped? That’s what has happened, in fact. Think about how horrifying that is! That’s why I said that those things aren’t suitable for mankind and can only be used by beings within appropriate, extremely small parameters and in an orderly fashion.
I’ll tell you, the air has become so polluted that no one can restore it back to the degree of purity it had before. We don’t need to go too far back: it can’t even be compared to the air one thousand years ago. Human beings have warped too, and they have grown used to it. And water has been so contaminated that there is no way to purify it to the purest degree, since water cycles, as well.
I’ve told you before that water is water, and seawater is a different substance and not the same substance as freshwater. Freshwater can be extracted from seawater, and it’s the same as how metal can be extracted from rocks. It’s extracted. Freshwater usually flows to a lower point, and when it flows still lower it becomes the ocean, as the ocean is certainly lower than land. So it flows into the ocean. But after it flows into the ocean, the freshwater doesn’t disperse. Particles of water are smaller than the particles of the substances in seawater, so the water flows through those particles and flows away, it works like the network of energy channels in the human body, and so the water then circulates back. That’s why some rivers continually flow for tens of thousands of years or hundreds of thousands of years. Some people say that rivers flow due to the flow of underground water and due to ice melting. But as you can see, how could those rivers be so huge? And they’ve been flowing robustly for tens of thousands of years. For instance, the Yangtze River and the major rivers in the U.S. are so large, how much water is needed to sustain them endlessly? Some say that water comes from ice-capped mountains, but some rivers don’t originate from ice-capped mountains whatsoever. The reality is, water cycles. After it flows away—its cyclical process is also its purification process—it is purified and it returns. But the pollution of water has become far too severe, and what pollutes it are not normal factors of human substances, but rather, modern science’s industries, which were brought over by aliens. So it can’t be purified to that degree anymore, and that’s why we say that after it has warped nothing can purify it.
Some people erect dams to block major rivers or minor ones in order to generate electricity and change and accommodate people’s electricity usage, and resolve energy problems. Actually, it’s as if they are cleaving the body of the river right in the middle, just as if it were done to a human being or another life, because rivers are lives, too—isn’t every object alive? If you sawed off a person at his waist, what would that do to him? Since a river is so large and since its time is different from that of human beings, you can’t see its changes right away, but it is dying, dying slowly. Its dying process is longer than that of humans, taking decades or even more than a hundred years. Don’t people push for changing and re-creating mountains and rivers, and changing and remaking nature? To change and remake nature is to damage nature, and to change and re-create mountains and rivers is to damage mountains and rivers. There is an underlying order to everything that gods create. Gods view heaven and earth differently from how human beings do, and they’ve arranged the equilibrium of all things very well. Human beings should only utilize things in a friendly way and not damage them. Many of mankind’s natural disasters were caused by the fundamental damage science has done. In its effort to “develop” science mankind has excessively and wantonly harnessed energy and resources, and everything is being damaged.
You know, during the last century industry was flourishing in Europe and the U.S., especially the steel and chemical industries, and at that time the resultant pollution was quite severe. But the Europeans and Americans realized this in time and improved their protection of nature and ecology, and a few decades later the environment there really did improve. That’s why you can see that the water in U.S. rivers is so clear, and the lakes are no longer polluted. Human beings' waking up can really have this effect, but still it’s very hard to achieve the previous degree of purity. Haven’t today’s scientists also realized the harm science has done to mankind? But that’s merely what people can see and perceive with their eyes.
Did you know this? Science’s development in the microcosmic realm is even more terrifying. In its study of the more microcosmic particles, it makes the more microcosmic particles undergo fission, which causes the microcosmic particles to have continuous, chain-reaction fissions, which explode and split nonstop. The scientists have become aware of this and now they’re afraid of it. If the explosions continue on like that, it won’t take long before the entire earth disintegrates and is gone. At present none of the scientists who did those things are able to stop this type of explosion, and the fission and disintegration keeps on going. Those Chinese folks who knit sweaters know what this constant unraveling is like, with one link after another. And what science has brought upon mankind doesn’t stop at that—isn’t it terrifying?
Mankind thinks computers are great—they make things so easy! I’m not against computers, and I’m not against science. What I’m saying is that they’re not suitable for mankind. Other beings can use it within a certain limited scope, since it is a product of the cosmos. Nowadays some people are so dim-witted that without computers they don’t know how to do simple arithmetic, and without computers they don’t know how to think things over—they rely solely on what’s stored in computers. And when you reason with them they won’t listen—“Let me see what the computer says.” When you explain things to them they refuse to listen. Mankind is heavily dependent on computers now and can’t do without them. What’s more, with the commands that computers send out, whatever they say goes, and all the users have to obey the computers. Some people follow what computers say so closely. Aren’t computers controlling people? If computers develop further, people’s dependency will grow greater, and computers’ commanding nature will become stronger. That will be the day when human beings really are controlled by computers. If robots are one day made almost flawlessly and are just like the human body, and when robots are able to make robots, mankind will be destroyed; they will ceaselessly make robots that will eliminate human beings. This sounds horrifying, and if it weren’t for Fa-rectification, which has curbed the unbridled development of man’s science, we would have already reached that point today. You can see how nowadays when a lot of government staff handle a person’s affairs, they don’t listen to him and just go by whatever the computer says. That’s how bad it has gotten. Isn’t that horrifying? They go by computers—human beings have to go by computers and the information stored in computers, since they’re supposed to be accurate. But human beings are complex, dynamic, and ever-changing; their thinking changes too. And human beings are unstable and changing between being kind and wicked, good and bad. Also, the things in the human world aren’t stable, and human beings aren’t some static substance that can be summarized with a conclusion. These are the negative things science has brought upon mankind.
Of course, nowadays that’s what everybody is learning, so if you don’t teach it what else are you going to teach? So there is nothing you can do about it. That’s what you have to do during this period of history, and it’s not considered wrong, since the rectification of all things is what’s to be done in the future.
Student: Some Filipinos would like to translate Zhuan Falun into Filipino. If someone is going through the book and reading it but hasn’t become a cultivator, can he help to translate it?
Master: He can help to translate it, but Dafa disciples need to take the leading role. That’s because everyday people can’t understand the Fa, that’s for sure, so you really have to be careful about this.
Student: We have been working hard on clarifying the truth to everyday people, and we have been clarifying to them why this persecution of Dafa is the most evil in history. We tell them that this persecution is worldwide and is a persecution of humanity, kindness, and conscience, and that it’s not limited to killing people physically. Could Master please give us more guidance on this?
Master: That’s true. What they’re damaging is the last bit of conscience that’s left after the degeneration of mankind’s morality. And it’s not limited to just those things [you mentioned]. If this Fa couldn’t save people, mankind would have no hope.
Student: Clarifying the truth is crucial for solving all problems, and we need to do it comprehensively and in depth, so we plan to set up museum(s) that document the facts of the genocide that has befallen Falun Gong students, helping government officials, those who invest in China, students, and media to understand the truth in depth, thereby saving beings on a broad scale.
Master: That’s an excellent idea. Those places can display exhibits that chronicle Dafa disciples being persecuted and their validating the Fa, and serve as a place to save beings and clarify the truth.
Student: Compassion arises after emotion is removed. So how is mighty virtue cultivated?
Master: You walk this path of Fa-rectification well, you manage to overcome your limitations in cultivation, you let go of your attachments, you save all beings with righteous thoughts in your mind, and you handle everything you face with righteous thoughts—that is mighty virtue. (Applause)
Student: In the Fa-rectification process I did pretty well at the beginning, but later on I didn’t do well and my righteous thoughts faded.
Master: Then do things well. You live in ordinary society, so all kinds of practical temptations in society appeal to the attachments you haven’t eliminated in cultivation. When you can’t handle them well problems will come up. Now that you’ve recognized it, just do things well again.
Student: During truth-clarification, some people ask, “Why would Dafa disciples bear so much torture and refuse to give in?” It’s not easy to answer this question at the level of everyday people. How can we answer this question better?
Master: You can ask him back, “Why didn’t the Christians change their faith even though they were persecuted for over three hundred years?” Actually, answering this question for everyday people isn’t a big deal really. Haven’t there been a lot of people in Chinese history who preferred death over giving in? Actually [the question comes up] because the morality of today’s people is no longer up to par, and they don’t even understand the essence of being human. There were many people in ancient China who would rather die than go back on one promise, so why is this matter so hard for today’s people to understand? It’s because today’s people have warped. You can give them some examples to explain it from different angles. It’s okay to talk about it.
Student: There are some Chinese people overseas who basically understand the truth about the persecution in China, and they’ve expressed their sympathy and their condemnation of the evil, but they don’t believe in Dafa or that Master can save people, and instead, they even say some things that are disrespectful of Master.
Master: Then don’t talk to them about how Master saves people. You can just stop at talking about the persecution. Don’t talk about things at such high levels. If people ask about it and they can understand, then you can talk to them about it, but don’t talk at a high level.
People can’t understand cultivators, and you can’t explain things clearly in a few words, so the result will be the opposite of what was intended. Don’t talk at a high level. If in one shot you want to tell him all the Fa-principles you have understood while cultivating, you will scare him. You have come to this stage of understanding only after so many years of cultivation, and you want him to instantly reach a level as high as yours? How could that be possible? Even for you, you cultivated up step by step, so you can imagine what it’s like for him, an everyday person listening to the truth. And what’s more, he’s somebody who was poisoned. So really make sure you don’t rush things.
Student: There is an adult class teaching the Chinese language to Westerners at our Minghui School. We want to use Zhuan Falun as our textbook for teaching Chinese, and we’re not sure if that’s appropriate since we can’t explain [the Fa to them]. Thank you, revered Master.
Master: You can teach them using Falun Gong. In the beginning you can use Falun Gong. I’ve talked about how to discuss things. You can discuss them based on your understanding and say, “This is just my understanding.” Or you can say, “This is how much I understand right now, but it has many more, higher inner meanings, and what I say isn’t absolute.” You can say those things and talk with the students.
Actually, a lot of people are studying the revised edition of Falun Gong, and you don’t need to explain things. The person will understand if you just read it to him, because the Fa is at work. If there are isolated cases where they don’t understand certain words per se, and you want to explain those words, you need to add, “That’s how it’s understood based on the modern language’s grammar, but there are other meanings in Dafa.” There won’t be any problem if you explain it that way. As for learning the vocabulary, just explain the Chinese characters themselves [and it should work out].
Student: How can we have kids participate better in clarifying the truth? Are the people who’ll obtain the Fa in the next stage doing so during or after the Fa-rectification of the human world?
Master: The people who’ll attain the Fa in the next stage are already beginning to come. That’s actually something for the next step, when the Fa rectifies the human world. But now they’re already coming, because it’s so close, and when Dafa disciples have a really good effect clarifying the truth, the cultivators of the future will come. Kids can clarify the truth based on the circumstances. They shouldn’t be held to the same standards as adults.
Student: Some disciples have realized that it’s also important to clarify the truth in the economic sphere, because right now the evil…
Master: Yes, I thought of this long ago. Of the people in the world, there are a lot of heads of big corporations, and I can tell you, they had a wish in their previous lives to make money to use for Dafa. They’ve now become lost, and not only have they not used it for Dafa, they’re using it for evil.
This time the old forces won’t let those people come and attain the Fa, and that’s because they think: if you had too much money the persecution wouldn’t exist; if you had a few extremely rich people supporting you behind the scenes, could that evil in China keep being so evil? It doesn’t want the Chinese people to know the truth, and what if you made a few satellites and sent them up there, and broadcasted into China non-stop? The old forces’ obstruction has indeed ruined some people, and some people have committed grave sins.
You can do what you mentioned, just do the best you can. Sometimes it’s not that easy to get through to those people.
Student: When there are disagreements over the coordination and harmonization of the whole body, should we always look for our own problems first no matter what?
Master: When there’s a heated disagreement, think about whether or not you have an attachment. If everyone kept righteous thoughts the coordination would definitely be harmonious, and any problem would be resolved quickly. When you’re having a heated disagreement and nobody is willing to give ground, you need to remember to look at yourself. Some students believe that the argument is for Dafa’s sake after all, and they use this to cover up their attachments. When doing things for Dafa, your competitiveness, desire to show off, clinging to your own emotions, feeling like your reputation is being challenged, and other attachments might be mixed in.
Student: For those who have never heard of Falun Gong, is there a need to mention the persecution in China?
Master: Of course you should, because sooner or later he will hear about it.
Student: Master, you’ve said before that when we cooperate well and do things together we’re powerful. Is it correct to say that Dafa disciples as a whole haven’t shown cohesiveness?
Master: The whole body of Dafa isn’t cohesive? That’s not accurate. It’s wrong to say that. Nobody can damage the Fa, in fact. No living being, with the exception of myself, nor any life or god knows my Fa. And with the exception of a few gods at the beginning who saw the form of an extremely small part of this Fa, no life in this entire cosmos really knows Dafa’s true manifestation. The Falun that you can see is the manifestation on the gong-side, but as for the Falun that truly stabilizes the Fa, other than myself no being can see it. And it is boundlessly powerful. (Applause)
This Fa is found in everything in the new cosmos, and everything is permeated with Zhen-Shan-Ren. As for how well Dafa disciples cooperate with each other, that’s a matter of understanding of Dafa and personal cultivation. The Fa is complete, it’s something that nobody can touch or see, and no life can budge it. While bringing with me Dafa and everything that was created by it, I am advancing quickly and forcefully, advancing towards the entire cosmos, towards the most microcosmic, towards the greatest gods, and towards everything there is, continually advancing towards the most surface, the lowest level and the world. Nobody can block it, it’s an unstoppable force. (Applause) I am working on everything in the cosmos with tremendous speed and force.
Student: Your disciple has sinned, but I wish to atone for my fault by doing good. May I?
Master: Yes, you may.
Student: Guangzhou Dafa disciples, Changchun, Beijing, Hubei, Tianjin, Australia, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, Shandong, Yantai, Xingtai, Handan, Jilin city, Zhanjiang city of Guangdong, Lanzhou, students in England, the whole body of Dafa disciples in Toronto, the whole body of young Minghui School disciples, Kansas, Pingxiang city of Jiangxi, Shanghai, Kai’an, Dafa disciples in Japan, disciples in New Hampshire, Dafa disciples in Fengcheng city of Liaoning, Guangxi, the whole body of Dafa disciples in Scotland, Shihezi in Xinjiang, North America’s Dafa disciples, Yichang Dafa disciples, Dafa disciples in Vancouver of Canada, Weifang, Mudanjiang, Dafa disciples of Mt. Emei, the whole body of Hengyang Dafa disciples, Shanxi, and Dafa disciples of Russia all send their regards to Master.
Master: Thank you all. (Applause)
Student: Recently in our activities, we often interview ordinary people and various political parties and groups. Since they show support for Dafa, this is going to lead a lot of people to think we have political inclinations.
Master: What I think is, it’s not a problem no matter what political party it is that supports us, because they’re people first of all, they’re beings to be saved, and you don’t need to worry about what people with bad motives are going to say. What Dafa aims at is people’s hearts, we don’t aim at organizations, and it’s fine for anybody to support Dafa. Whoever plays a positive role in regards to Dafa, that’s good, for he is choosing his future. (Applause) We don’t have political goals, and we don’t look at organizations per se. We only look at people’s hearts.
Student: In the process of making phone calls, [we’ve found that] the Mainland has a small number of veteran students who seem to harbor some fears of persecution, and they don’t want to say anything or they change the topic. And there is one veteran student that came to the U.S., who, owing to his attachments to reputation and gain, of late appears to have quit cultivation and often gets together with ordinary people of his own initiative, and very seldom does he participate in Dafa activities. I’d like to ask Master, can these people still cultivate?
Master: Whether to cultivate or not is up to the person himself, it’s all up to the person to decide for himself. If a person wants to cultivate then he can cultivate, and if he doesn’t want to cultivate then he doesn’t. You can only offer him some good advice. I have taught this Fa to him, and I can save him when he cultivates, but whether or not he wants to be saved, that’s something a person decides for himself. I’d never force anybody, and Dafa disciples wouldn’t force anybody either. What I’m doing stems completely from compassion, and it’s totally for the good of all beings.
Originally I didn’t want to speak for so long today, but all the same I’ve spoken as long as I have. (Long applause) There is a lot, in fact, that I don’t need to state in detail. Dafa disciples are all fairly mature now, and there is a lot you understand. Sometimes when I see the articles you’ve written I’m really in admiration, and I feel proud of you. I feel that the Dafa disciples truly have matured, and you really are able to grasp the Fa I’ve taught, to really grasp it at a deep level. This understanding is based on the Fa’s truths and it arises out of righteous thoughts. When clarifying the truth now a lot of Dafa disciples are doing a really great job and doing it solidly. They’re doing things quietly, with resolute righteous thoughts and rationality, and they are not afraid of hardship. Everything of the Dafa disciples’ futures is born of your doing the three things, especially clarifying the truth. When I see everything you’re doing I am thinking: truly amazing, you’ve truly, truly matured.
At present I don’t say anything or say very little for a reason. It’s to let you truly walk your own paths in validating the Fa, to let you correctly realize everything of your own and your mighty virtue. In fact the most important thing I’ve talked about today is the matter of saving all beings. I’ve centered on this topic, and I want you to become even clearer on it. There are a lot of things you know how to handle, and if I were to speak further in too much detail I’d be depriving you of your opportunities to create the future, of your opportunities to walk your own paths, so oftentimes I don’t want to talk more and I’m just quietly watching you. I know that you’ve really become more and more mature.
And the same goes for the Dafa disciples in Mainland China. Amidst the persecution they’ve become more and more strong, rational, and clearheaded—and this point is the most important one, clearheaded—they know how to handle things, and it’s not just that they know how to handle things: with a lot of things they’ve done a great job. Disciples who do true cultivation must validate the Fa, and a huge number of disciples have done a great job all along. The reports that come out [from China] are the rather dramatic instances of persecution. The reality is that there are many who’ve done extremely well, only they don’t say anything themselves, and they’re just quietly doing things. There are a lot of extraordinary things. A lot of Dafa disciples have done extraordinarily well. Later on everybody will realize this.
So, seeing these things I really feel gratified (applause), I feel that my Dafa disciples haven’t let me down. Before when I used to speak, I’d say that I didn’t do things in vain. But now I can’t put it that way, because now it’s not just a matter of not doing things in vain: I feel that the Dafa disciples have truly matured amidst the tempering, that they are truly validating the Fa, and that they are truly walking the final leg of the path to godhood. (Roaring applause)
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