Lecture Two

Issue of the Celestial Eye
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        Many qigong masters have mentioned something about the Celestial Eye. However, the Law differs in manifestations from dimension to dimension. A cultivator of a particular attainment level can only see the scenes on that level. He cannot see or believe the truth beyond that level. Therefore, he only believes what he has seen on his own level. When he has not gone up to such a high level of cultivation, he would think those things do not exist and are incredible. This is determined by his attainment level, and therefore his mentality will not be able to ascend. That is to say, about the issue of the Celestial Eye, some people talk this way, others that way. As a result, they have talked it into a mess, and nobody has given it a clear explanation. As a matter of fact, this Celestial Eye cannot be explained clearly on the low level. As a top secret in the past, the structure of the Celestial Eye has never been revealed to ordinary people, and nobody has ever mentioned it. Here, we are not going to dwell on that theory of the past but explain it with modern science in the most simple and plain modern language, presenting its fundamental issues.

        What we call the Celestial Eye actually lies in the area from a place a little above the point between the eyebrows to the pineal body, which is the main channel of the Celestial Eye. There are numerous eyes in the human body. The Tao School says that each qiao (aperture), which is called an acupoint in traditional Chinese medicine, is an eye. The Buddha School claims that every pore is an eye. Therefore, some can read with the ear. Others can see with the hand or the back of the head. Still others can see with the foot or the belly.

        To talk about the Celestial Eye, at first, we are going to say a few words about our physical eyes. Now some people believe that the physical eyes can see any substance or any object in this world of ours. Therefore, they fall into a rigid notion, believing that what is seen through the eyes is true and real, and they do not believe what they cannot see. People of this sort have been thought to have a poor awakening quality. Some people do not understand why they have such a poor awakening quality. It sounds quite reasonable that not seeing is not believing. However, to look at the issue on a slightly higher level, you will find this unreasonable. Every timespace is composed of matter. Of course, the material structure differs and the various manifestations of living beings differ from timespace to timespace.

        I would like to give you an example: Buddhism presents the idea that all the phenomena of human society are illusions (maya), and not solid. How can they be illusory? Those objects are so real and tangible. How can you say that they are false? In fact, the existing form of an object is different from its manifestations, but our eyes have the capacity to stabilize the object in our physical space into the state we have now seen. Actually, it is not in such a state, not even in this space of ours. For example, what does the human body look like under a microscope? You will find the whole body is made up of loose and moving molecules, which are like grains of sand, small and roundish, with electrons moving around the atomic nuclei. The whole body is wriggling and moving. And the surface of the body is not smooth or regular. Any object in the universe, steel, iron or stone, is all the same, as the molecular composition in it is in motion and the whole formation is invisible to you. It is actually unstable. This table is also wriggling, but our eyes cannot see the truth. They can only give us a delusion.

        It is not that we are unable to see something microscopic. It is not that man does not have this ability. In fact, man is endowed by nature with such an ability and is able to see things microscopic. It is just because of the eyes we have in this physical space that we have a false impression, and therefore we cannot see them. So, it is believed in the world of cultivation that people who do not believe what they cannot see have a poor quality of comprehension because they are misled by ordinary people's wrong views and are lost among ordinary people. This is a view which has been taught in the religions, and we actually find there is some truth in it.

        The eyes have no other great abilities except that they can stabilize the things we have in the physical space into such a state. When one sees something, the image of the object does not form in the eyes directly. The eyes, which are like a camera lens, only serve as a tool. When taking a picture at a distance, the camera lens becomes longer. Our eyes also have such a function. When one looks in the dark, his pupils become larger. When taking a picture in the dark, the aperture of the camera has to become larger as well; otherwise, with insufficient exposure, the photo will turn out to be black. When one comes to a very bright place, his pupils become smaller rapidly; otherwise, dazzled by the strong light, he cannot see clearly. Using the same principle, the aperture of the camera also has to be made smaller. Therefore, as a tool, it can only take in the image of an object. When we actually look at something, a person or the existing form of an object, it is in the brain that the image of it is formed. In other words, we see through the eye and the image it receives is conveyed through the optic nerve to the pineal body which is located in the back half of the brain and appears in that region. That is to say, it is the pineal body of the brain that actually reflects the image and sees an object. Modern medical science also has come to realize this.

        The opening of the Celestial Eye we refer to means opening a passage between the eyebrows so that the pineal body can directly look out by avoiding the use of the optic nerves. This is what we call opening the Celestial Eye. Some may think: but this is unrealistic. After all, our eyes can serve as a tool and take in the image of an object. How can we do without them? Modern medical dissection has already discovered that the front half of the pineal body has the whole structure of an eye. As it lies in the skull, it is postulated to be a vestigial eye. Our cultivation world has some reservations about whether it is a vestigial eye or not. But at least modern medicine has realized that there is an eye in the centre of the human brain. We open the passage straight to that point. So it just tallies with what modern medicine has discovered. This eye, unlike the naked eyes, will not create illusions. It can see the reality of things and the essence of matter. Therefore, a person with his Celestial Eye on a very high plane can see through our space into another timespace and perceive the scenes an ordinary person cannot see. A person with his Celestial Eye on the low plane may have a penetrative sight, which can penetrate a wall or see through a human body. So the Celestial Eye has such a function.

        The Buddha School presents Five Types of Eye Sight: the Flesh Eye Sight, the Celestial Eye Sight, the Wisdom Eye Sight, the Law Eye Sight, and the Buddha Eye Sight. These are the five major planes of the Celestial Eye. Each plane is subdivided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower. The Tao School says there are 9 times 9, eighty-one levels of the Law Eye. Now we are opening your Celestial Eyes, but not below the plane of the Celestial Eye Sight. Why? Though you are sitting here ready for cultivation, you just start practising as ordinary people and still have a lot of ordinary people's attachments. If I open your Celestial Eyes to below the plane of the Celestial Eye Sight, you will possess the supernatural powers as called by ordinary people and can see through a wall or into a human body. If we spread this supernormal capability on such a large scale and open your Celestial Eyes to such a plane, it would seriously affect the society of ordinary people and disrupt its normal state: the state secrets would have no way to be kept; it would be all the same to you whether other people wear clothes or not; you could see a person in the room when you are out of it; walking along a street, you would stop before a lottery and pick out the first prize ticket. Such things will not be allowed to happen! Just imagine, is it a human society if its members all possess the Celestial Eye Sight? Anything that seriously disturbs human society is absolutely not allowed to exist. If I really opened your Celestial Eye to such a plane, you might become a qigong master instantly. Some of you wished to be a qigong master in the past. Now with the sudden opening of your Celestial Eyes, you will be able and ready to treat diseases in others. By so doing, aren't I leading you astray?

        Then, what plane am I to open your Celestial Eyes to? I am going to open them straight to the plane of the Wisdom Eye Sight. If I open them to a higher plane, your Xinxing () is not high enough; should I open it to a lower plane, it would seriously disturb the normal state of society. So I open them to the plane of the Wisdom Eye Sight, and you are able to see the scenes existing in other spaces though you cannot see through a wall or into a human body. What advantage does it have? It can build up your confidence in cultivation. When you have clearly seen what ordinary people cannot see, you will believe that it really exists. Now I am going to open your Celestial Eyes to this plane no matter whether you can see clearly or not, as it will be good for your cultivation. A true cultivator of the Great Law who is strict with himself in the improvement of his Xinxing will achieve the same effect by just reading this book.

        What is the thing that determines the plane of one's Celestial Eye? It is not that you can see everything after your Celestial Eye is opened. No, it is not so. It also involves the division of its planes. What does the plane of one's Celestial Eye depend on? It depends on three factors. The first factor is that one's Celestial Eye must have a field from inside to outside. We call this field the vital essence (). What is its function? Just like the screen of a television, if there is no fluorescent material on it, it is no more than a light bulb which only gives light, but shows no picture when you turn on the television. It is the fluorescent material that makes it possible for the images to appear on the screen. Of course, this is not an apt example, because we see the images directly, while the television shows them through the fluorescent screen. It roughly illustrates what I mean. This bit of vital energy is extremely valuable. It is composed of the more essential things refined from the substance, De ( virtues). The existing vital essence varies from person to person. Only two in ten thousand people may be found to be on the same plane.

        The plane of one's Celestial Eye is the direct manifestation of the Law of our universe. As something supernormal, it is closely connected with one's Xinxing. A person of low Xinxing stays on a low level. As his Xinxing is poor, he has lost much of his vital essence. If one possesses very high Xinxing and cares little about fame, wealth, conflicts among the people, personal interests, and seven emotions and six carnal desires, his vital essence may be well preserved, and he can see quite clearly when his Celestial Eye is opened. A child under six will have a very clear vision when his Celestial Eye is opened, and it is very easy to open it. A word is enough to have it opened.

        In the powerful current and gigantic dye vat of ordinary human society, what people believe to be right is actually often wrong. Who does not want to live a good life? To live a good life, you may infringe upon the interests of other people, which may whet your selfish desires, you may profit at other people's expense and bully and harm others. To gain personal interests, you may compete among ordinary people. Doesn't it go against the cosmic qualities? Therefore, what people believe right is not necessarily right. When educating a small child, the adult is likely to tell him that "You should try to become wily" so that the child can get a foothold in the society of ordinary people in the future. In the view of our universe, however, it is wrong to be wily, as we should follow the natural course and care little about personal interests. Why should he become so wily? Because he wants to gain personal interests. "If someone bullies you, just let his teacher or his parents know", "When you see money on the ground, you should pick it up and put it into your pocket". The child is educated in such a way. When he grows up, he will receive more and more such teachings and he gradually will become more and more selfish in the society of ordinary people. He will gain advantage by unfair means and thus lose his De (virtues).

        This substance De, when lost, will be transferred to another person instead of disappearing. However, the vital essence will disappear. If one has been wily and crafty from childhood up till now, has a strong desire for personal interests, and puts profit-making before anything else, he will not normally see clearly when his Celestial Eye is opened. This, however, does not mean that he will never have a clear vision. Why? Because we cultivate so that we can return to the origin and go back to the truth. With continuous cultivation, there will be continuous compensation for the lost vital essence. Therefore, we lay stress on Xinxing, on the improvement as a whole, and on the ascension as a whole. When one has improved his Xinxing, he will also find himself improved in other respects. If one cannot improve his Xinxing, his vital essence around his Celestial Eye will not be compensated. This is how the principle works.

        Now let's come to the second factor. If a practitioner has good inborn qualities, he can get his Celestial Eye opened through his own cultivation. But he may get frightened the moment his Celestial Eye opens. Why? Because one usually cultivates in the hour of Zi at night when all is quiet. He is practising when he suddenly sees a large eye just before him, which gives him a start. He is so frightened that he does not dare to practise any more. How frightening it is! Such a large eye is looking at him, now closing, now opening. It is so real and vivid. So some people call it a demon's eye and others call it a Buddha's eye, etc.. In fact, it is one's own eye. However, cultivation is one's own business, while the evolution of cultivation energy is done by one's master. The whole process of the evolution of cultivation energy for a cultivator is very complex in other spaces. All the cultivator's bodies, not only the one in another space but also those in all the spaces are changing. Can you do it yourself? No, you can't. All these are arranged by the master. It is the master who is doing this. Therefore, we have the saying that cultivation is one's own business, while the evolution of cultivation energy is done by one's master. You only have such a wish or thought, and it is your master who has actually done the job.

        Some people have got their Celestial Eyes opened through their own cultivation. We say it is your own eye, but you yourself are not able to evolve it. Some people have masters. When your master finds that your Celestial Eye is open, he will evolve an eye for you. This eye is called True Eye. Of course, there are some people who have no master, but they have a passing-by master. The Buddha School says: Buddha is present everywhere. There are so many Buddhas that you can find them everywhere. Others say: There are deities three feet above one's head. It means there are such a great number of them. The passing-by master will evolve an eye for you when he finds that you are well cultivated with your Celestial Eye open but are short of an eye. This eye can be counted as a result of your own cultivation, because, to offer salvation to people, a passing-by master will have no prerequisites and care nothing for the cost, reward and fame. He is far nobler than an exemplary person of ordinary people. He does so entirely out of compassion.

        When your Celestial Eye is open, you will find yourself in such a state: The light dazzles you. You feel it dazzling your eyes. In fact, it does not dazzle your eyes, but dazzles your pineal body. You feel as if the light were dazzling your eyes. That is because you have not got the Eye. When you are provided with the Eye, you will no longer feel the light dazzling you. Some of you can feel or see this Eye. As it has the same nature as that of the universe, it is quite innocent and curious. It looks inward to see if your Celestial Eye is open, or if it is able to see. It is looking inward at you when your Celestial Eye is opened. It will give you a start when you suddenly see it looking at you. In fact, it is your own Eye. In future you will see things with this Eye. Without this Eye, you can see nothing at all even when your Celestial Eye is open.

        The third factor involves one's breakthrough of his attainment level which reveals the difference from space to space. This is exactly what determines one's attainment level in cultivation. One sees not only through the main channel of the Celestial Eye but also through plenty of subchannels. The Buddha School says that every pore in the human body is an eye; The Tao School says that every aperture of the human body is an eye, that is to say, every acupoint is an eye. Of course, what they say still refers to the one way the Law evolves in the human body. So any part of the body has the ability to see.

        The attainment level we refer to is different from this. There are several main subchannels in the eyebrows, upper eyelids, lower left eyelid and the area between the eyebrows besides the main channel. They determine the breakthrough of one's attainment level. Of course, if an ordinary practitioner can see through them, the level this person has broken through is already quite high. Some people can also see with their physical eyes, because they have perfected their eyes in cultivation, thus their eyes also possess the forms various supernormal capabilities take. However, if one does not use this eye properly, when he can see this object, but can not see that one, this will not do. Therefore, some people usually use one of the eyes to see things in another space, and the other one to see things in this world. There is no subchannel below this eye (the right eye), as it has something immediate to do with the Law. People tend to use the right eye when they do bad things. Therefore, there is no subchannel below the right eye. Those are some of the main subchannels which develop in the Cultivation of Shi Jian Fa.

        When one has reached an extremely high level beyond the cultivation of the In-Triple-World-Law, he will develop an eye like a compound eye which is so large that it covers the upper part of his face with countless small eyes in it. Some great enlightened beings in a very high dimension have developed so many eyes that they cover the whole face. All the eyes can see through the large eye, and they can see whatever they want to and they are able to see all the dimensions at a single glance. Now zoologists and entomologists have done some research on flies. A fly has a large eye. Through a microscope, you can see that it is composed of countless small eyes, so it is called a compound eye. One will not acquire such an eye until he has reached an extremely high dimension, a dimension much higher than that of a Tathagata. But ordinary people cannot see its existence, nor can practitioners on an ordinary level. They can only see he is the same as an ordinary person, as this eye exists in another space. Here I have talked about the breakthrough of one's attainment level, the question of being able to break through all the spaces.

        I have basically revealed the structure of the Celestial Eye. It would be a quicker and easier way to open your Celestial Eyes by external force. When I am talking about the Celestial Eye, each of you will feel that the muscle of the forehead becomes tight as if the muscles had gathered there, drilling inwards. Is that so? Yes. As long as you have come here really to get down to learning Falun Dafa, you will have such a sensation. You will feel a strong power pushing the muscles inward. We have released the energy specially for you to open your Celestial Eyes with. Meanwhile, I have also released Falun to mend them. When I am talking about the Celestial Eye I am opening it only for those who cultivate Falun Dafa. But this does not mean that everybody will get a clear vision or even will be able to see. This has something to do with you yourself. Never mind. It does not matter if you are unable to see. Take your time to cultivate yourself. As you raise your level continuously, you will be able to see gradually, and a dim vision will by and by become a clear one. As long as you cultivate yourself and you are determined to do so, you will regain what you have lost.

        It is quite difficult for one to open his Celestial Eye himself. Now I am going to say something about a few ways for one to open the Celestial Eye by himself. For example, when sitting in cultivation, a practitioner may observe his forehead and the Celestial Eye. He may find nothing but darkness in his forehead. After a long while, he will feel his forehead gradually turning white. After another period of cultivation, he will find his forehead gradually becoming bright. Then it will turn red. By then, it will begin to bloom, just like a bud opening its petals instantly as is shown in a film or on television with such a scene. That red colour is flat at the beginning when it suddenly becomes protuberant in the centre and keep on blooming. It is impossible for you to make the blossom thoroughly open even in ten years or so, because your Celestial Eye is entirely blocked.

        Some people's Celestial Eye is not blocked. It has a channel. However, as they do not cultivate, there is no energy. When they cultivate, there will suddenly appear a black disc before their eyes. With a long time of practice, the disc will gradually turn white, then become brighter and brighter until it is getting more and more dazzling. One may say: I have seen the sun, I have seen the moon. In reality, he has seen neither the sun nor the moon. What has he seen, then? He has seen the channel of this Celestial Eye. Some people have made rapid progress and can see immediately after they have been provided with the Eye. But others would find it very difficult. They would run outward along the channel which is like a tunnel or a well during practice, or even in sleep they would feel themselves running outward. Some feel they are urging a horse on; some feel they are flying; some feel they are running; some feel as if they were rushing out in a car. But they feel that they can never rush out of it, as it is very difficult for them to open their Celestial Eyes on their own. The Tao School regards the human body as a microcosm. If it is a small universe, just imagine, then it would be more than one hundred and eighty thousand Li from the forehead to the pineal body. Therefore, they feel as if they were always rushing outwards but would never rush out of it.

        It is quite reasonable for the Tao School to regard the human body as a microcosm. It does not mean that the composition and structure of the human body is very similar to that of the universe. It does not refer to the existing form of the human body in this physical space of ours. What state is the physical body in below the plane of cells according to modern science? There is various molecular composition. Smaller than molecules are atoms, protons, nuclei, electrons and quarks. The smallest particles which have been studied are neutrinos. Then, what is the smallest particle in its true sense? It is extremely difficult to find it. Sakyamuni once said in his later years, "It is so vast that it is boundless; it is so tiny that it is indivisible". What did he mean? The universe is so vast that one with the status of Tathagata is unable to see its boundary; it is so tiny that one in the status of Tathagata cannot see its smallest particle. This is what he meant by saying "It is so vast that it is boundless; it is so tiny that it is indivisible".

        Sakyamuni also put forward the three-thousand-chiliocosmos theory. He said that in the Milky Way galaxy of our universe there were three thousand planets on which living beings with material bodies like human beings exist. He also said there were such three thousand chiliocosmos in a grain of sand. A grain of sand is like a universe and there are such beings of intelligence as us living in it. There are also such planets, mountains and rivers in it. It sounds rather fantastic! If this is true, just think about it, isn't there sand in the sand mentioned? Aren't there three thousand chiliocosmos in each grain of the sand there? Then, isn't there sand in each of those three thousand chiliocosmos? And aren't there three thousand chiliocosmos in each grain of the sand there again? Therefore, in the status of Tathagata one cannot see its bottom.

        The same is true of human molecular cells. People ask how large the universe is. I tell you that this universe has its boundary. However, in the eyes of one in the status of Tathagata it is boundless and unlimited. But the inside of the human body from molecules to micro-particles is as large as this universe. It sounds like a tall story. When a person or a life is made, his specially given composition of life and his nature have been already formed in the extremely microcosmic state. Therefore, it is far beyond our contemporary scientific research. Compared with those living beings on the high intelligent planets in the whole universe, the standard of our human science and technology is quite low. We are even unable to break through the other spaces which occupy the same space at the same time. However, flying saucers from other planets come and go directly in another space in which there are different concepts of spacetime. Therefore, they come and go so quickly and mysteriously that the human mind finds it difficult to accept it as a fact.

        I mentioned such a question when I talked about the Celestial Eye. While you are running outward in the channel, you will feel that it is endless. Someone may see another scene. He would feel that he is running not along a tunnel but along an endless broad road on either side of which there are mountains, rivers, and cities. He just keeps running outward. It may sound fantastic. I still remember a qigong master's words. He said that in a pore in the human body there was a city in which the trains and cars were running. Other people were much surprised at his words and were incredulous. As you know, a substance is composed of molecules, atoms, and protons in its microcosmic state. In the end, you may keep investigating downward like this. If you can see a plane, not a dot, in each dimension, that is, if you can see the plane of molecules, or that of atoms, or that of protons, or that of nuclei, you will see the existing forms of different spaces. Any object, including the human body, coexists with and is open into the spatial planes of the cosmic space at the same time. When contemporary physics studies the particles of matter, it only studies a single particle by analyzing and fissioning it. It studies its component parts after its nuclear fission. If we had such an instrument through which we could see the whole manifestation of all atomic composition or molecular composition existing in this plane, if we could see this picture, we would break through this space and see the true existence of other spaces. The human body corresponds to the space outside it. It has such a form of existence.

        Other different states will appear when one tries to open his Celestial Eye himself. We have dwelled on some relatively general phenomena. Some can see their Celestial Eyes turning. A practitioner of Taoist qigong often sees something turning in his Celestial Eye. When the Taiji disc breaks with a snap, he will see the images. But that does not mean that he has Taiji in his brain. In fact, at the very beginning his master planted in him a set of things, one of which was Taiji. The master sealed his Celestial Eye. When it is time for his Celestial Eye to open, the Taiji disc will split open. So it is something specially arranged by the master, not something innate in his brain.

        Some people are after the opening of the Celestial Eye. But, the more they practise, the more difficult they will find it to open. What is the reason? They have no idea themselves. The main reason is that the Celestial Eye is not to be pursued. The more you pursue it, the more you cannot get it. Your Celestial Eye will not open when you desire to have it. Instead, something neither black nor white will flow out of it and cover your Celestial Eye. After a long time, it will form a great field. The more it flows out, the more it accumulates. The more difficult you find it to open your Celestial Eye, the more you will pursue it and the more it will flow out. As a result, it will surround your whole body. To make things worse, it can be very thick and form a great field. Even if your Celestial Eye is really open, you cannot see anything, because you have been sealed by such an attachment. Only when you think no more of it and give up this attachment completely, can it disappear gradually. But it will take you a very long period of painstaking cultivation to get rid of it, which, however, is not necessary at all. Some people do not know this. When their master warns them against pursuing the Celestial Eye, against seeking after it, they just would not believe, would not stop thinking about it. As a result, it runs counter to their desires.