Hongzhi Li
July 22, 2006 ~ Washington, D.C.

(Enthusiastic applause)

Greetings, everyone! (Disciples say, “Greetings, Master!”)

Quite a lot of people have come to this Fa conference. Students from many regions have come. One conference hall can’t hold everyone, so several conference halls have been set up. Having cultivated as Dafa disciples up through today, you have become increasingly clear on what this Dafa is that you cultivate, clearer on the responsibilities of Dafa disciples, and clearer on the importance of everything that Dafa disciples are doing today. And that is why you have grown ever more mature and done better and better as you go about saving beings, go about individual cultivation, and go about validating Dafa as Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples. This can be seen well in the changes taking place in the overall state of things.

So as to the overall state of things at present, it is completely different now from back when the evil persecution began. The evil’s persecution of Falun Gong has not managed to topple Falun Gong, but instead, they themselves have been toppled. (Applause) This is not simply persecution against a group of people in ordinary human society, nor is it simply persecution against a group of cultivators. This is a showdown between good and evil in the universe, and it is a showdown between beings who have been impacted during the Fa-rectification process and who are selfish, who do things for the sake of themselves, and who have become deviant, and the Fa-rectification itself. I said a long time ago that Fa-rectification would definitely succeed and that nobody could stop it. (Applause) This isn’t some simple cultivation matter, nor is it a simple matter having to do with the group of kind-hearted citizens that here in human society is Falun Gong. Rather, this is a microcosm of the universe’s Fa-rectification as reflected in human society, and human society is the focal point of all that is happening in the universe. From what is transpiring in ordinary human society we can see the overall state of the entire universe’s Fa-rectification. Even though it’s not a grand and spectacular display, something far-reaching and soul-stirring—as it is in the universe—it is the manifestation of the showdown between good and evil condensed down into human society, and one can see the interference that warped beings have caused during the Fa-rectification process.

There’s something I said before, which was, “If the heavens want to have something change, nobody can stop it.” (Applause) Then how about that puny wicked party? What does it amount to? If Dafa disciples’ cultivation were to end today, if just this many people were to be saved—if the number of the world’s people to be saved were just this many—and everything were to end at this point, it would take less than a day for the evil party to disintegrate. (Applause) That’s because the purpose of its existence, the reason history created it in the first place, and the process of sustaining it all have been for the sake of Dafa disciples validating the Fa today. That is what the old forces arranged. When it’s no longer of any use, why would it be kept? It is nothing in the universe. Only the cultivation of Dafa disciples and the saving of sentient beings are concrete and real. Only the elevation of Dafa disciples’ levels and only the mighty virtue that Dafa disciples have been establishing during this process are eternal. They are for the future. What significance do other things have, then? None whatsoever. Anyone or anything that has had an interfering effect during this period will be disintegrated and completely destroyed as they pay their debts.

Of course, everything that Dafa disciples display during the process of cultivating and validating the Fa can only be considered a manifestation while in a state of cultivation. During that process there are sure to be those who do well and those who do a little worse, those who aren’t solid and become unsteady, and of course there are also those who are very steadfast and good. All of these are manifestations in that process, and that’s just how cultivation goes. These are different from the xinxing tests focused on the individual that were found in the cultivation formats of the past. You all know about those past formats of cultivation. Whatever the case, the tests of xinxing they met with as they cultivated all dealt with issues of the individual. Now things are different. The Fa is immense, and the main purpose is the Fa-rectification of the universe. What is demonstrated as Dafa disciples do their cultivation is completely different from that of past cultivations, where the goal was one’s own consummation.

I said long ago that the cultivation Dafa disciples do takes the format of cultivation that conforms to ordinary human society to the maximum extent; one cultivates while conforming to the way of ordinary people to the maximum extent. Then the type of cultivation that conforms to the way of ordinary human society entails that type of cultivation state. The state of cultivation is different from any cultivation method or state in history. If you tried to use any other cultivation method or cultivation way as a reference you wouldn’t find a match, for this has never existed before. Never has there been something as huge as Fa-rectification, nor has there ever been something that forges such a large group of beings and at such a high Attainment Status. Also, the most crucial thing is that no person has ever succeeded in cultivation; those that did succeed were all subordinate souls. Never in history has a human being become a divine being, so [what we’re doing] doesn’t fit any format of cultivation of the past. In this cultivation environment and during the cultivation process of Dafa disciples, there are instances where you do cooperate well and ones where you don’t, and sometimes you encounter a steady stream of conflicts and tensions. There are also instances in which Dafa disciples are able to resolve problems while improving together and yet waves of conflicts and such keep arising. Sometimes the manifestations are intense, sometimes they are mild, and sometimes after a period of time in cultivation things repeat themselves and new conflicts and tensions surface, even to the point where they are more severe than before. Some people then think: “Goodness… We cultivate round and round, and yet these conflicts and things are still this intense? Why are there still conflicts after all that cultivating? We cultivate and cultivate, so why does it seem we’re not even as good as before? After so much cultivating, why is it that we can’t see any improvement?” Many people have thoughts like that. Actually, that’s the wrong conclusion to draw, and it reflects a complete lack of understanding of the form that Dafa disciples’ cultivation takes.

I set forth that Dafa disciples are to cultivate in ordinary human society, and while this opened up the most convenient way—[enabling people to] to achieve divinity or Buddhahood through cultivation without leaving the secular world—as you know, the different things that come about when ordinary-society type attachments collide with one another, and the state that people are in amidst the realities of society as morality declines and falls apart, pose enormous challenges. And it doesn’t stop at that. In gods’ eyes, this place is dangerous and filthy, and karma is everywhere. The karma that people carry on their bodies is so much that it drips off of them even as they walk down the street. And then there is the wicked demon of feelings (qing) and the rotten spirits that pervade the human world. All of these things are matter at the lowest level that has warped. Then a setting like this, in terms of cultivation, poses not just a test of whether you can improve here, but furthermore would seriously contaminate the part of you that had been successfully cultivated upon your improvement. That would be something utterly unavoidable. Could a person cultivate that way? You would keep on cultivating, and keep getting contaminated, keep cultivating, keep getting contaminated, on and on. Could you succeed cultivating in that way? You couldn’t. So I took this into consideration when I was determining this form of cultivation. Thus, during the cultivation process, as soon as a cultivator has successfully cultivated a part, with his realm being elevated and him passing some test, that part is immediately partitioned off in a manner unconstrained by time. (Applause). [That part] no longer has any contact with the human world, and it is partitioned off by a huge amount of space and time. For example, it might be partitioned off to a time millions or tens of millions of years later. Could you contaminate him, then? He’s beyond reach. He might be mere inches away, but the enormous time and spatial differences result in this dimension not being able to interfere one bit with the part of the Dafa disciple that has been successfully cultivated. I am just illustrating the idea—it’s partitioned off. So as parts are continually being fully cultivated, they are continually partitioned off. As parts continue to be fully cultivated, they are continually partitioned off; the part that hasn’t been fully cultivated, meanwhile, constantly undergoes cultivation until the point where nothing remains and everything has been successfully cultivated. That is the cultivation path you are to take.

Then as you go through that process, think about it: isn’t the part of you that shows itself in ordinary human society—a part that hasn’t been successfully cultivated—that of a human being cultivating? Since it is a human being cultivating, he has human thoughts and behavior. Since it’s a human being cultivating, he has all kinds of bad human thoughts that have either formed over time or are caused by new contamination from society. Then as a cultivator, [you may be thinking,] “What counts as cultivating?” Well, doing the things that Dafa disciples are supposed to do, such as things that validate the Fa and that save sentient beings, among others, is one’s duty-bound responsibility and a part of establishing mighty virtue. But being able to improve yourself is the most crucial. That is because if you don’t improve yourself, you won’t be able to do any of those things well. So when you are strict with yourself, discover your shortcomings, and constantly get rid of them, then you are cultivating. If while you are going through a test you come to understand something, and become clear on it, and handle things well, then you will have elevated. The elevated part is partitioned off, and with more elevation, there is more partitioning. Meanwhile what’s left is once again the part that hasn’t been fully cultivated; since it’s the part that hasn’t yet been fully cultivated, that part is still in the human world. Think about it, then: wouldn’t it look as if this person is always cultivating—and doing so fruitlessly—and not making any marked improvements? Why is it that he can’t display his divine side? When a person has cultivated well you can only see, looking at the surface, that the person is quite diligent. Being diligent means that he is able to watch his words and actions closely every moment, pay close attention to his thoughts, and is able to be strict with himself, and is usually able to conduct himself strictly. That describes someone who is diligent in cultivation. As long as a person is still cultivating, his divine side can’t come over, and you won’t see the true display of a god in human society. Cultivating in such a way ensures that the side that has been fully cultivated won’t be contaminated, it ensures that the person can keep cultivating while not seeing the truth in this delusory setting, and it ensures that Dafa disciples will be able to validate an even higher Attainment Status. At the same time, it also ensures that during this period the human world isn’t impacted and altered by the divine side. When a human being persistently forges ahead like this, is able to cultivate tirelessly in this persecutory and harsh environment, and is able to be diligent, even managing to save sentient beings and do even better, isn’t that magnificent?

This is what the Dafa disciples are facing today, and it is a form of cultivation brought about by interference from the old forces and company. So during your cultivation process, as long as the side of you that has been fully cultivated goes over and is partitioned off, everything that you haven’t fully cultivated will still manifest. Human attachments will still show themselves, just as will bad elements. When tensions or conflicts emerge it can’t be said that Dafa disciples haven’t cultivated well, nor can this and that be said about that particular group of cultivators, and it can’t be said that the individuals involved aren’t diligent. You can never see the side that has been fully cultivated. That side has become divine, and only the side that hasn’t been fully cultivated shows itself. But those people are truly cultivating. They are not only cultivating, they have already established their own immense Attainment Status and gigantic changes in their entire bodies, with many parts of their bodies having been cultivated into gods. Can ordinary people compare to these Dafa disciples? No, they can’t.

If we look for a moment at just the situations where these conflicts and things arise, they are still different from those that occur in ordinary human society. The conflicts and tensions that Dafa disciples encounter are solely for the sake of cultivation and the sake of validating the Fa. Even though human attachments, the attachment of showing off, the attachments of the individual, and the elements of human beings that want to validate themselves are involved, [Dafa disciples] know about these and once they are discovered, they will fix them. That is completely different from ordinary people. So there will be problems between Dafa disciples, and, moreover, such things play an additional role. Namely, once the conflict or tension surfaces, it will affect other people. Once others take notice of it, the conflict or tension will intensify, which will then make the cultivators involved take notice of it. If [a cultivator] can look within when going through that, he will be able to find his shortcomings. If the conflict or tension were not brought to the surface or didn’t appear, you wouldn’t be able to discover your attachments and identify them. When all is calm and smooth, can you cultivate yourself?

There are many religious groups today who say: “Oh, look at how good things are with us here. Everyone is very caring and loving towards one another.” What are they loving, though? (Audience laughs) They love attachments, love happiness in the mortal world, and love maintaining that human pleasantness among people. Is that cultivation? It’s not! Absolutely not. That’s only a shield used to protect human attachments. I do hope that the problems between Dafa disciples [dwindle]—the fewer the better. But when things of that nature are as few as possible, it is because an environment and a state have been created by your being able to search inside and be alert when these tensions arise. That’s my wish, and it would be best if everyone could achieve it. What happens if people can’t achieve it? Even if they can’t achieve it, it’s still cultivation. It’s just that they haven’t been diligent enough in this state that is our cultivation environment; they are still cultivating, though. This is precisely the state of the cultivation environment that Dafa disciples have at the current stage. Let me tell all of you again: when conflicts or tensions take place, there is nothing to be afraid of—just cultivate and do well. Even for those in mainland China who haven’t done well or haven’t done well enough, or who have even done very bad things, before this affair ends those things are still manifestations in personal cultivation. But time waits for no one, and there are fewer and fewer opportunities.

As a human being cultivates into a god, during this heart-wrenching, agonizing process of removing attachments—think about it everyone—what kinds of things might he be capable of exhibiting? It might be that he is capable of anything. But once he realizes it, he can correct it. And why can he do that? It’s not done for the sake of being a good ordinary person, but rather, to cultivate to Consummation. (Applause) That is sacred, and that is walking the path toward godhood. It’s different from what happens in any disagreement ordinary people might have. The form it takes won’t be any different, but the starting point and the goal will be different, and even the things that people do and the states of mind people are in throughout the process won’t be exactly the same. So you must recognize this. Since today I’m going into greater depth about the format and state of cultivation and spelling things out, when you cooperate with each other [from now on] you shouldn’t have the attachment of putting up your guard against others anymore. (Applause) Whether it be your blaming each other, using human attachments to push each other away, or all kinds of states—I can tell you, all of those are new attachments that appeared due to your not understanding the format of [Dafa] cultivation. Isn’t that the case? Yes, it is! So, don’t develop a new attachment as a result of not understanding the state of cultivation. That attachment would itself be a giant impediment to progress in your cultivation, so you need to get rid of it, too.

A lot of conflicts and tensions come about as practitioners cultivate. When there are many many attachments that can’t be let go, your [cultivation] environment won’t be good. If the opposite is true, then it will be excellent. If you don’t search inward when certain problems and conflicts surface, they will intensify, and it happens because of your own attachments. Some become more and more intense, and they’re in fact caused by the person’s not having cultivated well. It continues until [the conflict] can’t be resolved and that person is confused and bothered by the state he finds himself in. What’s to be done, then? [They decide,] “Let’s go find Master.” Every time things get out of hand, people go looking for Master. It’s always because they can’t overcome it, or don’t want to overcome it, that they go looking for Master. Is it that you’re trying to help Master cultivate? (Master chuckles) (Audience laughs) Or is it you who are cultivating? (Applause)

Cultivation is about cultivating one’s self. No matter what kind of state emerges, you need to take a hard look at yourself. I can tell you, if an ordinary person is able to look at himself whenever he encounters problems, he will become what ordinary people call a sage. When a Dafa disciple has a hard time with something and needs to think things over, he should look for things starting with himself and do things in line with the environment needed by Dafa disciples and the Fa-rectification. When a problem occurs, it is because that person is stubbornly going against the Fa principles. Go and find where the problem lies, let go of that stubbornness, and sort things out. When you encounter something, the best approach is not to charge forward and contend with others, push your way to the front, and rush forward to chase down the solution. Let go of your attachment, take a step back, and then resolve it. (Applause) If whenever something happens you instantly jump into who’s right, whose problem it is, and how you have done, then while on the surface it looks like you are resolving the conflict or tension, in reality that’s not the case at all. On the surface it looks plenty rational, but in reality that’s not rational at all. You haven’t taken a step back and fully cast off your attachment, and then thought the issue over. Only after a person calmly and peacefully withdraws from a conflict and then looks at it can he truly resolve it.

If you can conduct yourself in that manner with whatever you encounter, at a minimum you will find a way to resolve the problem. Otherwise how could you resolve it? When a person charges forward and is contentious, the more he wants to resolve it, the less he is able to. In that scenario you still haven’t in fact let go of that attachment and you are pushing your way to the front, and you insist on figuring out who’s right and who’s wrong; even though you’ve made mistakes, you insist on figuring out others’ mistakes. When that’s the approach, you won’t be able to resolve the problem. Many things end up like that. And when the problem can’t be resolved, you want to go find Master. There are often reasons why I don’t want to meet with practitioners, though in fact I really like being with you. (Applause) You have seen what the people in today’s society have become. I don’t want to even lay eyes upon their dirty thoughts and behavior. I’d rather interact with Dafa disciples. But as soon as I meet with you, you bring up a lot of questions (audience laughs), and you thrust upon me many things that you are supposed to work on as you cultivate. So I am left with no choice, and I thus don’t dare to meet with you.

If all of you are able to search inward, many problems will be resolved, there won’t be so many tensions, and in turn there won’t be such intense things flaring up. Even though Master has said that, it’s human beings cultivating, after all. Even though Dafa disciples have journeyed so far and cultivated to where they are today, it is still human beings cultivating, after all. The good sides are divine and have been partitioned off, so human attachments still show. It gets to the point where some practitioners ask me: “Master, I’ve cultivated for such a long time. Why are those bad thoughts of mine still so strong? Why is it that I still can’t expel them?” That’s true. As long as you haven’t finished your cultivation, you are in the midst of the contamination [I described]. As long as you haven’t completed cultivation and your old elements haven’t been completely removed, those elements will manifest. Only when they are gone will there be no more problems. Even though I’ve said that, nobody should turn lax, thinking: “Oh, so that’s how it is. In that case I don’t have anything to worry about. (Audience laughs) If it emerges, so be it. I won’t trouble myself with it anymore.” That wouldn’t do! Cultivation is first and foremost. I just said that if you aren’t able to suppress it, if you can’t look inward and search within yourself when you encounter tensions or conflicts, if you can’t change yourself and remove human attachments, then you won’t have parts that are fully cultivated and that become divine, and what you do can’t be called cultivating. So you need to constantly cultivate the part of you that hasn’t been fully cultivated, such that it achieves divinity and is fully cultivated, and you must be strict with yourself—only then is it cultivation. Otherwise, what’s the point of cultivation?

You know, many religions have reached the Age of Law’s End. It’s not that people truly want to act the way they do; it owes to people having become confused and foggy-headed. People take actively doing things to be cultivation, and they take preserving religious formats to be cultivation. Actually, gods don’t place any importance on those things. They consider only the improvement of people’s minds important, for that is true improvement. The environment [created by the religious formats] is merely meant to provide cultivators or those who believe in Buddha or God a setting in which to improve together, and it’s so that people can learn from one another. It’s just like Dafa disciples getting together to hold Fa conferences, getting together to study the Fa and share experiences, and doing the exercises together. Dafa disciples spend relatively little time in such a setting, and yet those are the only opportunities you have to discuss things and learn from each other. More opportunities [for interaction] and more time are spent in ordinary society, and the tensions and conflicts you encounter mainly come up in ordinary society. That’s exactly the form your cultivation [takes]. It can’t be said that you haven’t cultivated well, then, nor that Dafa disciples are not diligent. There are going to be conflicts and problems between people. What’s important is how you handle them.

I just now discussed this topic with you one step further. Actually, all of the Fa that I’ve taught is from the one volume of Fa. Take a close look at Zhuan Falun, and [you will see that] all the Fa that I have taught after the book’s publication is an explanation of Zhuan Falun. If you don’t believe it, you should go and look. Cultivating according to Zhuan Falun will lead you to success in cultivation. (Applause)

Let me take this opportunity to mention something. When Dafa disciples do things together, you should really cooperate well with each other. The changes in the overall state of things have been large. You have seen that many things still face obstacles, but once all of those obstacles are done away with, this affair will end. The current state of things owes precisely to those things not having been cleared away yet, to there still being many people who are lost because of the lies, and to there still being many who are unwilling to learn the truth. But this state is constantly melting away, much like ice does. Once it has all melted away, this environment will no longer exist. Those who want to cultivate and improve will have no setting in which to do so. Those who want to save sentient beings will find that human beings all understand things, and so there will be no need to do that. In other words, once it truly reaches that point, there will be nothing left to do. So it’s exactly because right now there are many things that need to be done and many people are still not aware [of what’s really going on] that we have the situation we are seeing today and there is a need for you to do things. And the changes to this state are in turn inseparable from everything that Dafa disciples are contributing as they clarify the truth and save sentient beings. Of course, the effect of the Fa-rectification’s situation is part of it too, but if the Dafa disciples don’t all clarify the truth to individual people, or clarify the truth to society, then as for the process of ordinary people’s minds being transformed at the surface level, that’s not something gods will do for them on an individual basis. So things that involve the surface level of human beings have to be done by Dafa disciples.

People with predestined relationships and those who can be saved can be made to—made to by Master’s Law Bodies, righteous gods, or the immense field that Dafa has formed in the world—appear right before you in any of a range of settings, providing them with a chance to learn the truth. But you have to carry it out, and it doesn’t work if you’re not out there doing things. Even though the overall state of affairs has undergone huge changes, the pressure [of what lies] before you hasn’t lessened. Saving people right now is an urgent matter; there are still many people who haven’t seen the truth. What holds true for how ordinary people are is the same for how the various governments will behave: regardless of whether they have correct understandings or not, and regardless of what kinds of thoughts they have, when presented with the facts they will be convinced and they must look at things righteously. Whether it is cultivation or saving sentient beings—the target is the person’s mind, not some entity. Things haven’t been set, with a certain nationality being designated to be kept or some other to be discarded. That’s definitely not the case. It doesn’t matter what country a person is from or which corner of the world he lives in, [our efforts] target only the person’s mind, not some entity.

Many of our Dafa disciples have seen true scenes from the future; those aren’t false. Step by step, with the changes that come over time, those things are drawing ever closer. So, as Dafa disciples you should do well what you are supposed to do. Don’t worry about what’s going to transpire in the future, it’s enough if you know inside what you should do, carrying the Fa in your mind, doing whatever needs to be done, and doing whatever you wish to do, as long as Dafa needs it. (Applause) Don’t go to extremes with anything; do things rationally and with a clear head. That is the mighty virtue of a Dafa disciple. Whoever manages to remain steady while following this ordinary-society cultivation format, that person is truly doing what’s best in this format of cultivation. If with this format someone exhibits behavior that is out of line with this format and at odds with it, then perhaps that person hasn’t done well enough. Since Dafa disciples’ cultivation is conducted with a format like this, this format is able to forge Dafa disciples, and it can create incredibly high future Attainment Statuses. Departing from this format or not conforming to it will obstruct your cultivation; those things are actually the product of attachments.

I have said these things and talked about these issues with you today because at present there are many things that haven’t been done well enough, and there are a lot of prominent problems. There have been states that are less than satisfactory as you work together, and so Master has addressed these things. Today I mainly came to see you all. The Fa conference is a good opportunity for you to discuss and to learn from one another. Master won’t talk any further. I’ll conclude here. Thank you! (Enthusiastic applause)

I am so happy seeing you. (Applause) Every time I see you, [I can tell that] there has been a striking change in the larger situation and the overall state of affairs. It’s the same every time, so I would say that the environment Dafa disciples have can temper people. As a Dafa disciple in this society, no matter what kind of setting or corner of society you find yourself in, you are playing a positive role. Regardless of whether you are clarifying the truth and validating the Fa or doing things not so directly connected to Dafa, you are nonetheless saving sentient beings and are playing huge roles (applause), and that is because your righteous thoughts and compassionate field are having a positive effect. I hope that you will do even better in the time ahead. (Applause) Everything that Dafa disciples have achieved will soon be revealed. Thank you! (Long applause)

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