Teaching the Fa during the 2003 Lantern Festival

(Li Hongzhi, February 15, 2003)

 

(Long applause) Everyone have a seat.

It's been another long time since last seeing you. It seems that for this Fa conference many people knew that I would come – everyone is quite well-informed, and you're getting more and more powerful in your cultivation. (Applause) Today I'll first talk to you about the state of Fa-rectification, as well as my situation, and then talk a little bit about some issues that have occurred among practitioners during the course of Fa-rectification and in the course of cultivation.

In different settings and from different angles, I have talked about that immense force of the Fa-rectification of the entire cosmos. Today I'll once again explain to you the form of Fa-rectification from another angle. As you know, this cosmos is quite enormous – so big that it cannot be measured – the measurement [that I am talking about here] is not by human ways but by those of gods. In the past I've said that among the countless sentient beings, nobody can really find out how many molecules the earth is made up of, yet every particle is a life. Then how many celestial bodies are there in the cosmos – there are so many that it's incalculable. As for how big a celestial body is, when you stretch your imagination infinitely, it's still nothing but within the particle realm of a small celestial body. In the enormous cosmos, it's not only that the lives are incalculable, its levels are also incalculable – it's also incalculable for gods. These are what even kings and lords at very high levels understand. So in the latter stages of teaching the Fa, I no longer talked about how big the cosmos was, because it was totally impossible to express it using human language anymore. But the higher level you go, the more enormous are those enormous beings and dimensions – they become so enormous that it's indescribable – the volume of one life above surpasses that of all of the cosmoses underneath it, that's how big it is. Regarding this matter of Fa-rectification, twenty percent of the old cosmos's beings participated and arranged everything that they wanted during Fa-rectification, and at every different level there is a batch of beings who have directly participated in this Fa-rectification. They never could have imagined that their participation is precisely the true demonic obstacle for this Fa-rectification. Their participation has created a huge obstacle for the entire Fa-rectification, and it has led to the destruction of an incalculable number of sentient beings. "Isn't Master merciful, just forgive them and it'll be fine." The old forces are just playing such games with my grand mercy. The Fa is merciful to sentient beings, but it is also solemn and dignified at the same time. The Fa also has standards, and for sentient beings it is immutable and indestructible, and it can't be casually manipulated. I can be merciful to sentient beings; however, when a particular being truly violates things to such an extent, the Fa is there to judge – further mercifulness would be out of line, would be equivalent to self-destruction, and thus this type of being is marked for being weeded out.

During the Fa-rectification, the number of sentient beings in the cosmos that have been weeded out due to the old forces' participation is incalculable. Then in their specific way of participation, taking the way that they feel is most able to achieve their goals, also their most typical way – it is having all of the enormous, gigantic celestial bodies stick a foot into the cosmos's lowest level, the Three Realms. This is only an analogy. It's to say that they all have a part that's been pressed into the Three Realms. Think about it everyone, for such enormous celestial bodies and gigantic beings, if they were to enter the Three Realms, what kind of state would this render for the Three Realms? Today's mankind has degenerated to the point where it can't be compared to past history. Even the divine beings on the earth have felt tremendous pressure. I've checked with them about this kind of change, and they said, we thought that this was caused by our cultivation state. So even the divine beings on the earth are no longer divine because these gigantic beings are a kind of restraint upon everything at this lowest level of the cosmos. Then after they came down, they caused unimaginable harm in regard to the deviation of beings and matter within the Three Realms. If it weren't for the Fa's rectifying the human world that thoroughly readjusts it at the very end, then this place would be completely getting out of hand, nobody would be able to do anything, and it would already be unsalvageable.

The way that they often use is that they take the enormous celestial bodies and countless firmaments, and compress them together, squeezing them into the Three Realms. For the enormous beings, the higher its level, the bigger its volume – but its particles, the elements composing it are more minute, that's to say more microscopic. Then such enormous beings – they're all squeezed and pushed together – think about it everyone, what would it be like in this lowest level of the universe? It formed a powerful screen. In reality the cosmos's Fa-rectification is a matter of a wave of the hand. It's just that in the process of this wave of the hand, the differences felt by the beings in the cosmos's many dimensions are very big. Inside the boundless, incalculable dimensions are each dimension's own time – the differences among the times are so big and there are so many times, this is also boundless and incalculable – so this caused the gigantic differences among the times of different dimensions. In this wave of the hand, some places are nearly in step; in some places decades, centuries, millennia, or tens of thousands of years have already passed; in some places many hundreds of millions of years have passed, even millions of millions of years, boundless and incalculable amounts of time. As for where humans are, it's not so much, only a matter of more than a decade. That's also to say, it was time that caused this type of differences.

Think about it everyone, because this difference among different dimensions and times exists, then for those enormous celestial bodies that were pressed into the Three Realms – even though they've entered this place of humans, they're compressed. Understanding it from notions formed by humans' way of thinking, overall the volume shrank, but that doesn't mean its internal structure has changed. If its internal structure didn't change, then think about it everyone – when entering into it, one will see that it has such a gigantic dimension. When I started doing things in the Fa-rectification, I did things outside of the Three Realms, going around the inside of the Three Realms. Why did I avoid it? If I did this inside the Three Realms, then to say it using humans' words, the Three Realms would become the cosmos's Fa rectification's focal point, nuclear fusion, the place where the most microscopic particles split, the main battlefield of Fa rectification – the massive changes in gigantic beings and cosmic bodies would all happen here. Think about it everyone, the Three Realms would be destroyed to the point where nothing is left and nothing is there. This is why it was necessary to go around the Three Realms.

I started the Fa-rectification from outside the Three Realms, going up all the way – not going along one line but in all directions – expanding outwardly at a microscopic and macroscopic level simultaneously, going upward as well as going downward, because getting more microscopic and macroscopic is the same concept. Wherever it goes, it's all being done in a manner that transcends all concepts of time. Looking from above at this type of enormous speed of expansion and gigantic pounding, even when gods see this they feel utterly shocked like they've never been before. Wherever it goes, all of the celestial bodies are crumbling and re-forming – most of them are benevolently resolved, and some are weeded out. Recently you've seen the discoveries in astronomy by the United States – the phenomena of different galaxies and celestial bodies re-forming, these are scenes of re-formation in the realm that can be observed by humans. Currently mankind doesn't know yet that even though the differences in time among dimensions are very big, in reality they are contained within an overall time, and it's just due to the different time zones that were marked by the gaps among dimensions. In reality it's happening at the same time. Everything is happening in this astounding manner. The explosion of gigantic amounts of energy, the re-formation – that type of re-formation process is the most macroscopic and microscopic: the wonder of its minuteness, the intricateness of its infinitesimal nature, the gigantic scale of its complexity, the enormity of the firmament, even the gigantic gods marvel at it. Even so, the current of Fa-rectification is completed very quickly, it's done an instant – everything is done, and done perfectly. However, this part that was pressed into the Three Realms is one associated entity with what is above, they're connected together – the space within their gigantic mass is quite expansive. I've said in the past, for an enormous being, to go from what makes up its surface to where it's most microscopic, or the distance inside its own body – this is something that can't be covered by an enormous god over its lifetime. The life of a god is so long, that's how gigantic this is. But, in Fa-rectification it's done in an instant, it's very fast. Then within the Three Realms, in light of human notions, they've been compressed down to such an indescribably narrow and small degree, but its time, dimension, and structure are all the same as above. When passing through a gigantic layer up above, it happens correspondingly down below – that very thin layer has been passed through using the same amount of time. So many firmaments and celestial bodies have been pressed into the Three Realms, and the number of beings that have entered the Three Realms along with it is incalculable. So, it can be seen that the Fa-rectification at the cosmos's upper and microscopic portions are progressing furiously along ever so rapidly, so much so that an analogy can be used at that conceptual level: it's faster than that of an exploding laser at that level. I'm using the words that people can understand as the fastest to describe it. Up above, celestial bodies that are enormous without peer have been rectified by the Fa, but right here, in this place of humans, it's as if a thin layer of skin has been peeled away. Do you understand the meaning of my words?

So why is it that during Fa-rectification inside the Three Realms the breakthroughs to the surface are this slow? This is the reason. When Fa-rectification returns to the human world, all of the cosmic elements and beings at the cosmoses above have all been completely taken care of, it's in sync and finished at the same time. When Fa-rectification is completed up above, the breakthrough will occur here in our Three Realms. I'm again speaking from a different angle, that's to say clearly to you why when Fa-rectification began I didn't do it inside the Three Realms. Some practitioners are thinking, Master doesn't acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, then why doesn't Master destroy the old forces in an instant? Master can do it, no matter how big the task is Master can still do it, but have you thought about this? If I transfer Fa-rectification's enormous, gigantic energy back over here in the Three Realms to do things, then it'd be like using an atomic bomb on a mosquito – it's not used right. If I bring the enormous energy back over, it'd be like establishing a battlefield here in the Three Realms, even though they've entered into the Three Realms, their gigantic mass is still up there – what was pressed in was only a portion, so when I disintegrate and re-form them, the associated bigger masses will continuously replenish into here; as I continuously disintegrate them, they will continuously press into here – other celestial bodies will also do this, and like a relay the celestial bodies being pressed in will continuously come here. Then think about it everyone, when countless gigantic celestial bodies and beings are all continuously coming here, then this place would become like a place for all particles to be split, becoming the cosmos's biggest focal point. My force, also an enormous mass, for such a big force to be used on this point, even with strength it can't be used right, and it would drag on for a very long time. Even if in the end all of them could be broken through and when everything was completed, think about it everyone – this place of humans, these Three Realms, there would be nothing left, after this gigantic pounding nothing would ever exist again. This is one of the reasons why I didn't do it here directly. Then why don't I directly deal with situations within the Three Realms immediately and in a special way? This is because when I'm about to destroy them, they will continually come to obstruct things, and the abovementioned scenario will occur just the same. So if no major problems arise within the Three Realms then things cannot be done at this location – Fa-rectification is done comprehensively based on the entire body – it can't be that only this aspect of humans is emphasized while it is being done, if for this reason the salvation of all of the colossal firmament bodies' final elements is delayed, then it would be even more terrifying.

But, you've heard this before in the past, and Master has told you also, for this matter of the overall Fa-rectification I'd also left a great deal of gong here among everyday people. As for ensuring the practitioners' cultivation and validating the Fa, it's not a problem and definitely can be handled. However, there's another question – then why can the old forces manipulate things? This is because all of the beings pressed into the Three Realms are old forces. They've formed a screen – whenever I want to do out-of-the-ordinary things, they'd gather together to obstruct it. If I insist on doing it, then they'd concentrate all of their strength to block it.

In the past when I was at China's Oriental Health Expo, in order to allow more people to know Dafa, I once personally cured illnesses for people. Some people's karma was very great, and when I was curing their illnesses, the old forces would not allow me to cure them. The way that the old forces used to obstruct me was to arrange countless, innumerable gods in an instant to block this person's spot where the root of the illness was, and they'd become very small. Sometimes the Dafa disciples would frequently see a very bright, golden star flash before their eyes, and that would be them. They became very small, but the density was quite massive – in a swarm they bunched together tightly, blocking the spot where the root of the illness was. In reality they can't obstruct me, as I could grab them and throw them down, and I could also strike them down. In Fa-rectification, there's a principle – however I want to deal with it, it's always righteous. You should remember these words Master is saying: However I want to deal with things is always righteous, and those who are dealt with are always wrong. (Applause) This is because it is a choice of the cosmos, a choice of the future. But I, for the sake of curing illnesses for an everyday person, struck down these gods, then after I struck them down with my hand, immediately their attainment status would be cut down, and they would be struck down. But, in order to safeguard that old Law of the cosmos—they can't see the Law of the new cosmos—they stubbornly blocked that spot, and after I removed a group of them, another group would come, continuously replenishing their force. Master didn't have the heart to do it – I couldn't destroy so many gods only to show mercy to an everyday person, even though they don't understand this matter of Fa-rectification.

The reason I talked about this matter was to tell you, in Fa-rectification, there are many things that do not turn out quite according to one's wishes– it's the combined effort of old forces at low levels and high levels, and they are using their enormous density to cause obstruction. I've just said that I can break it apart, and if I wanted to break it apart, I would have to bring back enormous amounts of energy to completely clear them out, but they would also accumulate gigantic amounts of all of the matter in the cosmos here, and it would cause problems that would be very difficult to resolve immediately. Of course, if during this Fa-rectification practitioners act righteously, then these problems won't exist. When the gong and energy that I left at this side of the cosmos and within the Three Realms do things, and if practitioners don't act righteously, the old forces resist, and the situation of obstruction appears. So I tell practitioners to behave righteously and not to allow them to latch on to some principle – once they jump on some major excuse, they will destroy you. Especially now at the very end, they're going through their death struggles. When they can't latch onto some principle, then they don't dare persecute you, because then they'd also be acting in violation of the principles – they also understand this, so it doesn't require me to eliminate them, as the old cosmos's Law would be eliminating them, because they're old beings who hold absolutely safeguarding that old Law as what is the most fundamental.

So at this point, I'll talk about another issue, about Master's situation. I just told you that those final elements of the cosmos's celestial bodies, when I went around the Three Realms, they took advantage of the opportunity and entered. So, even between my surface body, and my divine body and the enormous gong on the other side, these gigantic, great numbers of beings who have not been rectified by the Fa created a barrier. This type of barrier is not like the concept of our putting an object in between some things to separate them – it's not like that – it comes from all of the microscopic levels, it looks as if it's integrated into all of the gaps, but they have their own levels and realms, and yet not mixed in with particles lower than their level. But, because the distance between particles is dependent on the existence of dimensions and time, and at the moment when those highest-level, great numbers of enormous celestial bodies entered the space between all particles within Three Realms, their original spatial distance and length of time changed – the time and space were increased by countless multiples – so they formed a screen of gigantic disparities made up of faraway space and protracted time, and this resulted in old forces' being able to do the things that they wanted to do under the protection of this type of screen of disparity.

Let me tell you, they interfere with people and their thinking – and not just externally, they can pass through the human body. While high-level elements restrain the surface of a human body, those gods of the old forces can be protected and pass through everyday people's bodies. Speaking from another perspective, looking at the surface of our human bodies with human eyes, the human form and the structure of skin and flesh are very refined; yet when looking at the human body with large, high magnification microscopes, it's discovered that a person's particles and the body that is made up of these particles are as coarse as sand, and there are many gaps. If people had the technology to magnify things even more, the gaps would become shockingly big. Looking at it from a more microscopic context, these gaps between particles are almost as big as the spatial distance between molecules and planets. Given such a big distance, isn't it quite natural for beings and matter made up of even more microscopic particles to pass through freely? So sometimes, in an instant it will bore into a person's surface – on the surface it looks like this person, and at a microscopic level it's this person, but added in the middle there is another being.

At this point let me tell you, this problem doesn't exist for you, and I've totally sealed off for you the parts that have been completely cultivated. If a Dafa disciple acts righteously, then nothing dares to enter the surface parts that have not been completely cultivated yet – for one thing old beings don't dare to undermine the old cosmos's Law, and another thing is that you have Master and guardian gods of the Fa; but if the attachments of your surface human side are not let go of, then Master and the guardian gods of the Fa are put into a difficult situation. If the righteous thoughts are strong, then Master and the guardian gods of the Fa can do anything for you.

My situation is not something that ordinary beings can imagine. During Fa-rectification Master has gathered the lives of all of the cosmos's sentient beings and various elements into his body. One is for the safety of the Fa-rectification – all of the sentient beings' lives are here with me, so nobody can do something that creates a threat to the cosmos; two is not to allow any being or various cosmic elements to escape Fa-rectification; three is to protect their lives during Fa-rectification. So all over Master's body are the cosmos's beings at various levels, of different sizes, and of different types and varieties, and the images of Daos, Gods and Buddhas – people are also included, some big and some small – but they cannot interfere with Master or exert any influence, as it was I who gathered the sentient beings' lives. Some can be seen by human eyes, and practitioners' Third Eyes can see them too – this is something that I hadn't talked about before. Some practitioners, if they have xinxing problems, will imagine things wildly after seeing these things.

I've said that as you cultivate in different situations, cultivation states at different levels and in different states will be created. Those with their Third Eyes closed are to enlighten based on the Fa, and those with their Third Eyes open will encounter situations where false illusions will appear to cause interference. In order to test those practitioners who can see, those highest-level, final old forces who haven't been rectified by the Fa would in the past direct low-level old forces to do bad things in the increased disparities in space and time. Their doing this during Fa-rectification is committing sins, severely shaking Dafa disciples' righteous belief and righteous thoughts.

But you should always remember one thing: no matter who is interfering, it's all temporary, all illusions, all not main bodies, all just like air flowing through. There are various types of material elements and beings everywhere in space, too many to count – they're present whether or not they have forms, they are just beings in microscopic dimensions and different dimensions. Before the Fa-rectification is completed, the microscopic gods of the cosmos are all simultaneously existing in their own dimensions – whatever thoughts about it staying here or not staying here are just a concept. Those naturally existing elements, formless or otherwise, have no influence on you whatsoever, nobody can manipulate Dafa disciples with righteous thoughts and righteous actions.

Let me also tell you, the old forces' enormous high-level beings and elements seemingly have created a separation on my surface, but they can never separate my most microscopic existence, because no being can surpass me. (Applause) That's something that they will never be able to see, and that's something that sentient beings in the cosmos will never be able to see – only I myself can control that. This is also to say that the phenomena I discussed above created a misconception for people and created some misunderstandings, and today I've told you what it's really like.

Let me tell you that the me that you are looking at with your naked human eyes—the most surface me—is the real me, Li Hongzhi. What you see at the other side is my Buddha Body. The me at the most surface right now that you see is the Main Body of me, Li Hongzhi. (Applause) Why? That's because in order to do this thing, to save all sentient beings, I came to the lowest level. (Applause) So no matter what you have seen, may that be my Law Body, my Gong Body or any part of my body at higher levels, do not develop any attachments. All these exist with this surface me being the Main Body. My human skin on the most surface is the Main Body. (Applause) But because Master is among ordinary people, in order to be able to survive here, I have to conform to the principles of human beings in this world. Otherwise, people would find me quite weird. Old forces want to rig some things on me, and they keep doing bad things. In order to not affect Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts, with the exception of gathering the lives of all the sentient beings in the cosmos here with me, I don't employ any external elements. All the fake me's in the cosmos were purposefully created by the old forces. It is sinful to do things that way, regardless of whether the intention was to create a positive or negative effect. I think that I have thoroughly explained this issue to you.

Even though I've come here, no one can see how microscopic I ultimately am. They can only see the part that consists of the most surface molecules of the human body. Every object, everything in the universe, comes into its surface being from different microscopic particles layers after layers. Gods can see all these, uncover their roots, and find out their origins. Like a road, it extends little by little [until it reaches the origin]. Where did I come from then? I came from the inside and from the outside. I came from nothing and formed into something. I appeared at the pinnacle of the colossal firmament, and from there I descended into the most surface of the Three Realms step by step. No being knows who I am.

There was one situation in the past. On the matter of my Fa-rectification, the old forces have played many tricks and done many things. Not only did they make those arrangements, they also wanted to have those enormous beings in the cosmos who aren't involved see what they do. So they tried their best to be slick. They used some of my substances or some gong, and, under their influence, created Master's images, images of a Buddha. I didn't tell you this before because I wanted to avoid creating confusion for you. There was another reason, namely their intention was not to cause damage. Using their own words, they wanted to help me do things by playing a positive role. These are the two parts arranged by the old forces. One part is to play a negative role. The other is to play a positive role. Some of them would enter students' bodies to do certain things. There have been an isolated few such cases. So some who could see this would say, "Wow, you are Master!" They then treated him as Master. But it was not arranged by me. Strictly speaking, that's not me. Neither do I acknowledge them either as they were arranged by the old forces. This thing in itself is a manifestation of a degenerate cosmos. Once people have seen that, it would cause mistaken beliefs in students' righteous thoughts, seriously damaging students' righteous faith and righteous thoughts. When that happens, they have to be destroyed. At present, they have all been knocked down to hell. In raising this issue today, I am also telling everyone: a few students of ours, absolutely be sure that you don't fall down because of this. It is not a joke. Some people already have one foot stepping on nothing—they are already a bit irrational. There are just an isolated few cases, [you] must pay attention to this.

I just talked a little bit about my situation. There is one more issue. Recently, an isolated few students have displayed some incorrect states. This problem is also very serious. It is also caused by many reasons. One primary reason is that since your levels have improved and Master has talked about the Attainment Status that you would achieve, you are getting bolder, and feel that you are stronger—I can only describe it with low-level words of human beings because there is no appropriate language to describe it. So some people brought it up that we don't need to respect Master anymore, and all we need to do is to go by the Fa and take the Fa as the Teacher.

Of course, I told you to take the Fa as the Teacher—that is not wrong. But the purpose of my telling you to take the Fa as the Teacher is not this. What is it then? As you know, I have 100 million Dafa disciples. If my Main Body was to personally tell every disciple how to cultivate and was to look after you, the problems every one of you encountered in your cultivation would be put to me directly, and the transformation of your gong, the consummation of your paradises, the elimination of karma, and each and every thing was done by this Main Body of mine, think about it everyone, that would be impossible to accomplish, as it can't be done before the Fa rectifies the human world and clears away the final obstacles. Yet so many students aren't able to see me, how do they cultivate? The Fa is there. That's why I told you to take the Fa as the Teacher. That was the fundamental purpose. I've also told you how powerful this Fa is. I have melted my immense abilities into this Fa. So this Fa can do anything for you. (Pause, applause) There are also other students [who talk about me] in the same way that I talked about my own situation earlier. An isolated few students don't have a clear understanding and disrespect Master because of it. They started to dare to talk about how big the Fa is, and how I, the Master, am such and such. That Fa has created countless kings and lords of the enormous colossal firmaments, and it is the guarantee for the existence of all beings and various elements in the cosmos, including the tiny you. Of course, I am not saying that as students you can't talk [about those things]. [But] in your words, I have seen your attachments and the horrible direction that you are heading toward. In addition, what you have seen is just so low and certain things are not at all what you think. Many are false appearances resulting from thoughts being unrighteous.

I have just said that there are immeasurable and endless levels in the cosmos. But under the effect of the highest level, the immeasurable and endless levels underneath it—all the way down to the human level— all have manifestations at different levels. Think about it, everyone, how complex and vast the manifestations can be. The manifestations at any level are principles of that level, and are displays of principles of that level. But none of the scenes that you see at any given level is what is the most fundamental.

I made many students see the display of certain phenomena in Fa-rectification at different levels. It is for the sake of improving your confidence in Fa-rectification, allowing you to study the Fa well, improving your confidence in cultivating diligently, and improving your confidence in clarifying the facts and sending forth righteous thoughts. You need to absolutely make certain that you don't regard the phenomena that you've seen at the very low levels, the lowest several levels out of the innumerable and endless levels, as the fundamental situation of the cosmos's Fa-rectification, because everything of the Fa-rectification has its different, concrete manifestation at every level.

Do you know that just on the issue of cultivation alone, it is so complex at the lower levels of the cosmos and it becomes simple at the higher levels? There is no longer any concept of cultivation but only that of elimination of karma. At the next higher levels, all troubles are to pave the way for ascending to heavens. At the next higher levels, eliminating karma, enduring hardships, cultivation, concepts like these no longer exist, and there is only making a choice! At high levels of the cosmos, there is just such a principle. Whoever is considered to be worthy will be chosen. That is the principle. "Cultivation? We have not made any arrangement for cultivation. What cultivation? We just intend to wash it clean, wash it clean all the way up, step by step." It is just washing it clean! Yet when manifested in different levels, it becomes paving the way, having troubles, enduring hardships, eliminating karma, cultivation and so on, cultivating this way or practicing that way.

As I am talking about this issue, I've also disclosed a major principle. As a matter of a fact, in this cosmos, it's not important whether the sentient beings know who I am or not. But one has to be clear about one thing. That is, I am rectifying the Fa, no matter who I am, I am rectifying the Fa. I once told the old forces, "It is fine that you don't know who I am, and it's fine that you don't believe who I am. These are not sins on your part. But where I go — using your concept, I am also cultivating —what I will achieve, these are what you do know. Turn around and take a look at what you've done. Haven't you been committing sins?" In addition, at even higher levels, the concept of wanting to forge something no longer exists. There is just the choice that the cosmos has made. Everything that I have been doing during the present Fa-rectification and everything that I want, to put it in plain terms, are the choices that the future cosmos are making and what the future cosmos needs. (Applause) For beings from the old cosmos, including all living elements, on the matter of Fa-rectification and in the face of the choices that I have made, harmonizing it according to my choices and bringing forth your best approaches not to change what I want but to harmonize it according to what I have said, this is the biggest benevolent thought for any being in the cosmos. (Applause) But the old forces aren't doing it this way. They are treating their choices as what is the most fundamental and everything that I do as harmonizing what they want. Everything is turned upside down. I don't want to impose too harsh of a sentence on them. At this moment, I don't want to name what kind of crimes they have committed. But it is absolutely wrong, and it is absolutely not allowed to be that way.

I addressed one issue in all the Fa that I have just talked about. As your Master, from my perspective, whether you respect me or not, this is something that I don't mind at all. In the early days, as I was offering you salvation, many people were cursing me. Some were cursing me even while they were listening to the lectures. I don't mind. I just want to successfully bring you salvation. (Applause) In other words, how you treat Master, Master doesn't take it to heart at all. I won't be moved by any elements in the cosmos at any level. [But] there is one problem. That is if you don't respect Master, according to the cosmos's principles, it is wrong. Then the old forces would take advantage of the gap and destroy you. They would have found the biggest excuse to destroy you, because they have witnessed the entire process of my saving you.

Today's human race, if not for Fa-rectification, would have been destroyed a long time ago. Humankind's standard for the human mind is at a lower level than that of hell. It is because of Fa-rectification that I have paid back all the sins committed by all sentient beings in the Three Realms. (Applause) Then, think about it everyone, just take our students alone, what I did originally was the same as scooping you up from hell. (Applause) I really bore for you the sins that you have committed over hundreds and thousands of years. It does not just stop here. Because of it, I will also offer you salvation and turn you into Gods. During this process, I have spared no trouble for your sake. At the same time, because you will become Gods at such high levels, I have to give you honors of Gods at such high levels and all the good fortunes that you need to possess at such high levels. (Applause) Since the beginning of time, not a single God had dared to do this, and such a thing had never occurred.

Even though the old forces are trying to manipulate this matter and do things according to their wishes, do you know that all beings from the old forces esteem me completely?! (Applause) Even though they created some obstacles for the Fa-rectification, they have never done anything bad that directly targets me, because they do respect me. (Applause and more applause) Therefore, for those students of ours who were temporarily confused and whose state of mind is unrighteous, think about it, once you become disrespectful of me, the old forces will do ruthless things to you, as they think that this person is so bad. Of course, they absolutely won't destroy you right away. They will guide you and make you see more and more false appearances, make your minds become less and less righteous, demonically transform your heart toward Master, and lead you onto an evil path, resulting in you committing such big sins.

Do you know what principle I go by during Fa-rectification? I don't count any sins that the sentient beings have committed in history against them. (Applause) The only thing that is looked at during this Fa-rectification is sentient beings' attitudes toward the Fa-rectification. (Applause) I have left all the gates wide open. I once told you that if I didn't even look at the attitude toward Fa-rectification, the new Fa and the new cosmos would not exist. Therefore the attitude toward Fa-rectification is the most crucial. Once you make a mistake in this aspect, when the old forces do destroy you, even I will have nothing to say.

When you're disrespectful of your Master, do you know what I think? I don't mind it at all. Do you now know who I am? You only know the human image that I display. What's displayed to you over on the other side is also just the image within the cosmos. In the future you won't know fundamentally who I am. No being in the cosmos will ever know who I am fundamentally. Whether you treat me nicely or not, I don't mind it at all. But the old forces will destroy you through this tribulation. Be sure to be careful on this !

Having discussed this much, I'll also talk a little about what I told you to do during the Fa-rectification. As you've seen, you are clarifying the facts, sending righteous thoughts, and individually cultivating yourselves—these three things are the three most important things for Dafa disciples to do at present. Clarifying the facts, speaking from the surface principles at the human level, is exposing the evil persecution. Sending righteous thoughts is eliminating those unsalvageable, filthiest beings' persecution of Dafa disciples. From the perspective of principles at a higher level, the true intention of clarifying the facts is to save sentient beings and to prevent humankind from being weeded out. The old forces use the evil beings to do evil things toward Dafa disciples in order to, one, create tests and, two, have me eliminate this garbage from the cosmos. Dafa disciples sending righteous thoughts is fundamentally opposing the old forces' arrangement and eliminating the evil's persecution. Let me tell everyone that everything you've done is in fact done for yourselves. Not a single thing is done for me. At the same time, I also would like to tell you that from the day you started cultivation to today, everything that I have told you and asked you to do, none of them is for others. Your cultivation can benefit humankind and the human society. Cultivation can enable Dafa disciples to be more mature toward one another and can enable Dafa disciples to reduce the pressure and the losses during the evil persecution. All these are just by-products. Everything that you've done, its real purpose is for you to achieve success. In the future, take a look back. Right now you don't need to say how great I am, or how I, this master of yours, am. In the future, when you take a look back, [you will see that] everything that I have done was to create things for you. (Applause)

Do what you are supposed to do well. The predestined relationships are hard to come by. Cherish all this, there won't be a next time. Any attachment that you develop will ruin you halfway through! Don't think of any attachment and don't become attached to anything, you should just do what you as Dafa disciples are supposed to do. Everything that is the most beautiful, the greatest, and the most magnificent awaits you! (Applause)

Today, I will just say this much in the morning. If I don't leave, I want to answer some questions for you in the afternoon. (Long applause)

I will just say this much. Thank you. (Applause)

# # #

 

Teacher: Now that I think about it, it seems like I haven't sat down at a Fa Conference to answer questions for you after July 20 of 1999, right? (Warm applause) (Reply: "Right.") Then today I'll use this time specifically to answer questions for you. (Applause) Things that you haven't been able to resolve for long periods of time in your personal cultivation, in the process of validating Dafa, or in the things that you've encountered--you can bring up all of them. The time is still limited, so not everybody's can be answered, but Master will answer them as much as possible. (Applause)

Question: Hello Master. On behalf of the entire group of Shenyang Dafa disciples we pass on greetings to Master.

Teacher: Thank you. (Applause) I know all about the situation of practitioners in China.

Question: Dafa disciples from Chengdu pass on their greetings to Master.

Teacher: Thank you. (Applause)

Question: Beijing Dafa disciples send their greetings to Master. (Applause) Please allow me to represent Shanghai Dafa disciples to pass on their greetings to Master.

Teacher: Thank you. (Applause) Let's just forgo the greetings, since I've read all of those greetings to Master on the Minghui website. (Applause)

Question: In our work we often have the opportunity to interact with some high-level officials in the Chinese government. How can we clarify the truth to them better?

Teacher: Actually, as for the specifics of how to do things, you've done them already, and in your actions you've all done very well. Whether things are done well or not is up to the Dafa disciples, and as for what a worldly person chooses, that's up to him. But in saving sentient beings, no matter what you do, still there will be a group of beings that can't be saved. In clarifying the truth, making calls to China, and on the Internet, you will run into people that can't be saved at all. But don't be affected at all by it, and save as many as possible of those who can be saved.

In clarifying the truth, don't pay any attention to the other person's social status, and don't have some sort of concept--first and foremost they're people, and they all have a chance to choose their own futures. No matter what his occupation, first and foremost he needs to have a future, and that's the most important thing for any person. In clarifying the truth, when you hit upon a person's fundamental issues, and at the same time he feels that Dafa disciples are truly saving him, then I think the side of him that's clear about things will show itself.

Chinese people who are living abroad have countless ties with Mainland China, as their relatives and friends are all in China, and there are a lot of people who travel back and forth often. When they see the situation with Dafa around the world they'll talk about it when they're in China, talk about it with their family and friends--they're a form of one-on-one media. Regardless of how much they understand about Dafa, whether they're able to comprehend it or not, they'll go back and tell people about the situation. And with those government officials in particular, don't look at the person's official position. Back when Master was disseminating this Dafa, I too only looked at the person and didn't look at the person's social status, didn't look at the way any group is organized, and didn't look at whether they had good jobs--I didn't look at anything but the person's mind. You shouldn't regard him as some "high-level official," as you're saving his life. That's only a job at this place of ordinary people. Today they're being allowed to do this, so they're officials, and tomorrow if they're not allowed to do it then they'll be nothing at all. So in offering people salvation and saving people, those things aren't looked at.

Question: Why did the old forces in the cosmos arrange two entirely different social systems in this world?

Teacher: This is a really big thing to discuss. I will just briefly talk about it from one angle. You know that the Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago was very powerful. Actually, when any people are dominating in the world, that's an honor Gods give them. However, if they then turn around and persecute Gods, then Gods will take back that honor and severely punish them. The old forces in history wanted to leave behind a testimony for the righteous Fa of the future, they also wanted the Christians at that time to eliminate their karma amidst the tribulations, to establish the mighty virtue of Gods, and to leave behind that legacy, so they chose a person named Nero to be the king of Rome. He undermined people's morality, did many stupid and bad things, and committed a most evil deed in persecuting Christians. And so the powerful, flourishing Roman Empire declined from that point on.

The old forces believe that that Nero wasn't enough for Dafa disciples in today's Fa-rectification, so they had to find an even more wicked, stupid, and shameless villain, and at the same time create something before Dafa's wide spreading in the world, something for Dafa in the future, and that thing, it would have to be capable of being used to that degree, so that thing was the _**** Party. They created it, and had to, through a process in history, allow it to accumulate experience in ruling with an iron fist, and allow it to develop all kinds of strong-arm tactics in an effort to sustain itself amidst constant crises. It was made to abolish belief in Gods on the basis of atheism, because the people of the world who believed in Gods could never have reached the desired state, where people fear no Gods or the authority of heaven, where man fights against heaven, the earth, and his fellow human beings. That process went on for almost 100 years, and they had already considered how to put an end to it when they were working on it, so how it began definitely wasn't glorious either. Actually we all know that the Paris Commune of 1871 was a gang of scoundrels in society rebelling.

It's not that I'm badmouthing the _**** Party, and that's because they too talked about themselves as the "scoundrel proletariat." I remember that during the Cultural Revolution when they had political studies, there was this issue discussed, where people talked about whether the conflict with those "scoundrels" of society was one with enemies or one within the people. When discussing this, some people would say that the issue with those scoundrels could be elevated to the level of a conflict with an enemy, and others disagreed. The reason for the disagreement was that they said the Paris Commune of 1871 was an uprising of scoundrels, and that it was the ancestor of our _**** Party. This isn't a joke, as they really acknowledged the "scoundrel proletariat," but now they think it doesn't sound so good, so they took out the word "scoundrel" and just say "proletariat."

It's against the cosmos, or to put it another way, the two types of elements in the cosmos, positive and negative, are all against it. In fact, this cosmos is composed of the two types of elements of life, the positive and the negative, so that's to say that even the cosmos is against it. So, the Buddhas, Daos, Gods, and Demons of the cosmos all want to get rid of it, so it constantly faces the possibility of being surrounded layer after layer and eliminated. But, its very emergence was not a simple matter, and to allow it to sustain itself for nearly 100 years was not a simple matter either. That's because the cosmos's old forces would have it ready for today's Dafa after tempering it into maturity, and also because no political power in the human world could do such things. But, why was such a long time needed? I've said that it needed to be tempered to that degree, so it needed to undergo a process, and that process was dangerous for it because the entire cosmos is against it. The beings on the earth correspond to the beings in the heavens, after all, so from the earth to the heavens, the beings of the entire cosmos pose a threat to it. So the old forces then had to think of ways to sustain it. The phenomena at the ordinary human level can reflect the phenomena in the heavens. The old forces in the heavens were directly controlling things, and the people on the earth were also quite important and couldn't be annihilated on the surface, so it was allowed to achieve a military balance, and at the same time form a large bloc.

In normal societies, people and governments are living a normal way of life that's been given to humans by Gods of the cosmos. So in order to eliminate this element, the Party, the cosmos's many Gods caused the normal nations on earth to become strong militarily. But that strengthening posed a threat to it, so the old forces made it strong, too. So that's why the arms race appeared in the last century's decade of the 60's--human beings were in the Cold War crisis, competing with each other militarily, developing the military industry on a large scale, and researching and producing cutting-edge weapons. The old forces' goal was to stop it from being demolished or to lose its capacity before being used, so it had to be sustained no matter what and had to go through that process in history, and at the same time within the crises it was made to be more authoritarian. It's really been hard for it to survive for as long as it has. But it wasn't allowed for it to be too powerful when the time came to put it to use; way back when, its coalition was very large.

Now I'm not deliberately criticizing that Party--I'm talking about just how exactly this cosmos was set up. We don't get involved in politics, but I know about everything, and of course, I only talk about the reasons behind it when you have persecuted the Dafa disciples. Let me say more about the question that was just raised. So when it was time to put it to use, it couldn't be that large. All the people in the world were to be saved, so if there were so many countries that had that system, how could the people in those places be saved? The old forces then caused normal societies' economies to decline steeply, at the same time dismantling that enormous system that had been laboriously sustained for a century. That form of dismantling wouldn't cause retaliation or conflict--it was a steady, smooth dismantling. It only left behind that place, China, because Dafa was to be spread there--that party had been tempered to a satisfactory state and was meant to be used there, so that was the only place where it was left, whereas it had collapsed everywhere else. That's why in our time, 100 years after its appearance, all of a sudden it collapsed--something the world's people couldn't have imagined. Gods control absolutely everything of the human race, and humans have never been in control of their fate--it's all been controlled from above. Then China looks very isolated, so a few little ones are left, like North Korea and the like, who can't do anything on a large scale in terms of economic or military capacity, but do serve as companions, giving it a little bit of hope of survival.

So you've seen this, in the last few decades the United States has been very powerful militarily, and economically too, and the U.S. always gets involved in handling a lot of matters, such as the violation of human rights, the violation of religious freedom, and so on, and maintaining a certain amount of justice in the international community. These aren't things that people can explain clearly. The gang of scoundrels that persecute Dafa disciples says that the U.S. is the international police. Actually, the U.S. really is the international police, as arranged by the old forces. China is the stage for carrying out this historic play, and the countries all over the world are the audience as well as the actors. But, order in this society does need to be enforced by somebody--it can't be allowed to go unchecked. In the past the principles of this place had it that the victor governs the country, the world is conquered with military force, and the strong are heroes. That's the opposite of the principles of the cosmos. But the reason you can do that is because Gods allow you to do it--if you can do it well, Gods will give you glory and allow you to be strong and prosperous. That was man's law in the past. If the entire human race becomes peaceful, the U.S. will resign from that historic role of its own accord. What I've talked about is the old forces' arrangement for this affair, that's where it came from.

Question: Recently there's been some difficulty and confusion in my relationship (audience laughs), and I've experienced a lot of hardship in this regard.

Teacher: I can answer you this way. As long as you exist in this social environment of ordinary people, whether you're a human, a rock, a plant, or an animal, you're all immersed in emotion, and even the gaps between particles are immersed in emotion. So it's not possible for an ordinary person to escape from emotion. It can only be done through cultivation. But as for the form our cultivation today takes, I've already told you what kind of cultivation form it is: By having that little bit of ordinary people's stuff left there, you can validate the Fa right now. Without that little bit of ordinary people's stuff, I'm telling you, you wouldn't be able to validate the Fa here, not to mention the issue of saving sentient beings. It's impossible to have Gods here rectifying the Fa, to have Gods come to save sentient beings--the gap is too great. There's no way Gods could take humans to be that important. Only by being among humans can you take the beings here as something important, and it's only because you still have human things left at the surface that you can do that.

You know that human beings are one level of the cosmos, and a level that can't be omitted, so it must be saved and the Fa must be right. So when you have that bit of human stuff you're able to do Dafa work and cultivate. But, if you don't pay enough attention it will interfere with you--that's where that comes from. Recently I read a few articles written by practitioners, and one was by somebody who's homeless and wandering about. He was talking about how his wife is a Dafa disciple and how wonderful she is, but in those words I saw his emotions. And there was another person who talked about how wonderful her husband was, and I saw emotion there, too. I'm not saying that you did something wrong. Some ordinary people read those articles, too, and during Fa-rectification they're effective when ordinary people read them, so I can't say that that's not good. In fact, that's just caused by that little bit of human stuff you still have.

But I think that as cultivators you shouldn't be affected like that by emotion. Yet you might think, "If I really cultivate well in this regard, if I'm really not affected by emotion, I'll be just like a big rock." No, it's not like that at all--cultivators are compassionate, and if you look at sentient beings when your righteous thoughts are really strong, then think about it, will that kind of thing still happen? Of course, sometimes you say that you've tried hard but still can't do it. Then with that effort you put in, were you trying to solve only that specific problem? Did the state of your cultivation really get to that point? Of course, I'm not just talking about the practitioner who submitted the question. No matter what, as cultivators you need to deal with it in the right way or else the old forces will make trouble for you. Except for newer students, from July 20 of 1999 on, Master hasn't created any personal cultivation tests for you, and that's because overall your personal cultivation has changed in every respect so that it's in the direction of saving sentient beings and validating Dafa. (Applause)

Question: Are all of the people that we meet in clarifying the truth people who have predestined relationships with us? Are they sentient beings in our worlds?

Teacher: My Law Bodies will arrange it like that, and the old forces will arrange it like that. Of course, maybe you're very resourceful in clarifying the truth, and you're able to touch more people's hearts with the way that you clarify the truth, so perhaps you'll be asked to save sentient beings that don't have a direct relationship with you. With compassion, you'll have ways to change them. That kind of situation is possible. That also means that when it comes to saving sentient beings, there's no separation of responsibilities into those that are mine versus those that aren't. You can't distinguish them. That'd be having thoughts of differentiating, and that's not the compassion of a Great Enlightened Being. It's not like how it is with ordinary people, where I'll be especially good to the people in my family and it's different for outsiders. How could that work? Compassion... Compassion... It's not a human emotion.

Question: Sichuan Province Dafa disciples and their families send their greetings to Master.

Teacher: Thank you. (Applause)

Question: Dafa disciples being persecuted in jails, forced labor camps, detention centers, and mental hospitals in various places in Sichuan send their greetings to Master.

Teacher: Thank you. (Applause) I'm fully aware of the situation in Sichuan, too. Master is very much aware.

Question: In the face of the old forces' persecution, cohesion among Dafa disciples is very important. How can we quickly improve as a whole?

Teacher: You know, I never talk about the word "solidarity," and that's because that's about ordinary people forcing something, it's a form. What cultivators talk about is improvement in xinxing, fundamental improvement. A cultivator should know all that needs to be done, and if he doesn't do well, I'd say that's because he hasn't studied the Fa well, right? What to do and what not to do, aren't we all clear on our own? In fact we should be clear. But, every location has contact persons, and there are Dafa Associations and Assistance Centers, so in other words overall there's a need for coordination. So the kind of state where whenever someone thinks about what we should do now or what needs to be done tomorrow and everyone just immediately knows, right now we still can't get to that point, so we had to have people step forward to do the coordination and communication, to do those types of things. Right now, whether Dafa disciples are validating the Fa as a group or clarifying the truth as individuals, all of those are what Dafa requires. As long as Fa-rectification requires it, you should do it well, and there's no room for negotiation. And don't get conceited because of your roles, and don't think you're different from others. You're each a particle. And in my eyes nobody is better than anyone else, since I scooped all of you up at the same time. (Applause) Some are more capable when it comes to one thing, others with another--you definitely shouldn't let your thoughts run wild based on that. You say that you have such great abilities and so on and so forth, but that was all bestowed upon you by the Fa! Actually, it wouldn't work if you failed to attain that level of abilities. Fa-rectification required your wisdom to reach that point, so you definitely shouldn't think that you're so capable. Some practitioners want me to check out their abilities and skills. But actually, what I think is, all of that was given by me, so there's no need to look. (Audience laughs, applauds)

Question: Sometimes I really feel so perplexed. Emotion (qing) is truly so hard to let go of during cultivation, and it's as if ever since the beginning of my cultivation, every test is a test of emotion, as if the most difficult test in life is the test of emotion.

Teacher: I guess you all heard it clearly, right? You've treated emotion as a test, and that's because you haven't let it go, so you constantly have to pass it. (Audience laughs) But I'm not forcing you all to let it go today, I'm just pointing this out to you clearly. I'm not saying you can do it right away. When I tell you what's going on, you should just study the Fa more. When the righteous thoughts get stronger and stronger, when you truly have compassion toward sentient beings, then there won't be any more emotion to trouble you, and none of your family members that you have an issue of emotion with will again say that you're heartless towards them, and there won't be any more conflicts because of the issue of emotion. You can talk all you want about it, but it still comes down to you needing to improve.

I can sense the state of your thinking--"It's hard, really hard." But didn't you wait those thousands of years just for today?! Could your future Consummation compare with this little bit that you're enduring today?! (Applause) Well, sometimes I think, if today I wasn't here to save you and was one of you, I have to say, it'd be so easy for me to let go of those little things! (Applause) It's probably just because Master sees through all of it that I say this, hah hah. (Teacher laughs)

Question: Because of attachments, I've been in a poor state for a long time. I want to do Dafa work well, yet I'm afraid that my poor state will affect other practitioners. Should I set the work aside and really put a lot into cultivating myself for a period of time?

Teacher: It won't affect anything if you study the Fa while you do Dafa work. Master doesn't have any objection to that. Also, those of you here, whether you're a student or you have a job, none of you can neglect the role that you play in the ordinary people's society. You all have to do well in everything that you should do, and at the same time it makes things easier in your work of validating Dafa and clarifying the truth. Otherwise, if you can't even be financially stable, if on a daily basis you have to worry about shelter and food, if the most basic needs of life can't be assured, how can you have extra energy to validate the Fa? Isn't that interference? Don't make unnecessary troubles for yourself, and don't just follow along without much thought. If you have a better source of income and want to change your way of living, I'm not against it. What I'm saying is, if all of you go and stop working that's just totally unacceptable.

Do you know how important this form of cultivation of today's Dafa disciples is? In the time to come, here at this place of humans, a human becoming a God will no longer be a myth. Previously in this place of humans, when people talked about cultivation of this or cultivation of that, it was all just cultivating the assistant spirit--humans weren't cultivating at all. In the future, the future that you're forging, you'll have left behind in this place the path for humans to become Gods! Everything you're doing today is the actual practice that will be used as examples in the future, [including the aspect] of being able to cultivate while doing ordinary people's work. If you go to extremes you'll wreck this path, so you cannot go to extremes. You should just openly and nobly do well in what you should do in society, and then cultivate. Then you'll definitely be able to meet the standard that cultivators should meet, the standard for Consummation, because this is the path that the people of the future will take.

The human society of the future is one without religion, and everyone will be a part of society, people will be participating in everything of that society, and perhaps the Fa-truths at this level of human beings and their inner meanings at higher levels will be integrated throughout the textbooks that students study. So in this Fa-rectification it's being made possible for man to become Gods. It's not a change at this level of human beings--it involves a systematic harmonizing and perfecting of the entire cosmic system, it's the harmonizing and perfecting of the Fa. This type of event where people persecute Gods who are here to save people won't exist again. Situations like Jesus being crucified will absolutely never be allowed to happen again. So how we walk the path of cultivation well in this place of ordinary people has become of utmost importance.

Question: How can Dafa disciples do our part as a whole during Fa-rectification?

Teacher: Cooperate and coordinate with each other. When doing things as a group, by yourself, or as a few people together, you need to cooperate and coordinate well. With the Fa here you won't really make mistakes, because you've been tempered to maturity and should know what to do. In the most recent period, I haven't intervened in anything you've done, but I have been observing all of the various problems you have brought to my attention. That's because I can't let you rely on me forever, and I can't deprive you of all your chances to establish your own mighty virtue. You have to walk your own path, and it's okay to trip and fall, you know how to pick yourselves up, and you know how to treasure everything that you do, and do everything afterwards even better. So I won't lead you by the hand anymore. As much as possible I try to have you reflect on things more, and that means giving you opportunities, giving you opportunities to walk the path yourselves. I'll speak up when problems arise at the level of the whole body, but as for a lot of specific things, I'm not going to speak up anymore under normal circumstances.

Question: When sending righteous thoughts, does the hand's posture affect the outcome?

Teacher: Well in principle, as long as you're rational and clearheaded, making hand gestures or not won't affect anything. But, it's apparent from your hand gestures whether you've entered into tranquility or not, or if you've fallen into a foggy state. (Teacher laughs) So when you send righteous thoughts you have to be alert. And what's that state like? It's very pleasant, as if everything is still and quiet and the whole body is enveloped by energy.

Question: During this special period of Fa-rectification, some disciples in the United States have lost their jobs due to the economy...

Teacher: That's the old forces' doing. You should always remember this: I don't acknowledge any of the interference that's occurring among Dafa disciples today; all of the things that shouldn't happen are the old forces' arrangements. They see your personal cultivation as the first priority. Of course, personal Consummation is the first priority, since there's nothing more to talk about if you can't reach Consummation. But today's Dafa disciples are doing something different from the cultivation ways in every other period in history, and that's because you are shouldering a greater responsibility that surpasses your personal Consummation. Saving sentient beings and validating the Fa, these far surpass your personal cultivation, they're even greater things. And that's something that the old forces can't handle correctly, and they're interfering with you. Negate them, and face all of it with the right thoughts!

Question: For a period of time while validating the Fa, I was able to remain steadfast and continue down my path when encountering a lot of tribulations and tests. After leaving China, especially over the past few months, the thought karma has been very severe. Within it there's even elements of being disrespectful to Master, having me give up cultivation, and so on.

Teacher: I think that as long as you study the Fa more, your righteous thoughts will be strong. For some practitioners, sometimes you've really gotten caught up in doing things to clarify the truth and have overlooked Fa-study. The things of Dafa disciples surpass personal cultivation, such as our currently validating the Fa, clarifying the truth, and saving sentient beings, but all of these are actually based on a foundation of personal Consummation, so if you can't reach personal Consummation then everything else is out of the question. Validating the Fa isn't something ordinary people do; only Dafa disciples are worthy of doing it. So now study and study the Fa more, study the Fa more. Also, whatever we do, we have to do it in an upright way, to really do it like a cultivator. Don't let the old forces take advantage of any gaps. When they take advantage of your gaps they'll do those kinds of things [you mentioned].

Did you know this? When the high-level old forces arranged this tribulation, the ultimate reason was to clean out in one shot those not-so-good beings of the cosmos while doing so-called "tempering" of Dafa disciples during this period, while at the same time cleaning out the universe. That's what the old forces arranged to be done. They've made what they want their first priority, instead of making my objective of the Fa-rectification the number one need. So when you encounter those difficulties, do more checking on your own part, do things in a more upright way, and don't let the old forces take advantage of any gaps. Those wicked beings that are being controlled by the old forces have already seen their impending doom, so it's like they're in chaos, and they act desperately like cornered rats--they'll do anything, no matter how bad. Pay attention to these things and don't let them take advantage of any gaps.

Question: Disciples from Weifang City of Shandong Province pass on their greetings to Master!

Teacher: Thank you. (Applause)

Question: A Falun Gong practitioner who was forcibly brainwashed still wants to cultivate, but he says that Master no longer looks after him now. Master, will you still look after him?

Teacher: He's thinking that way because he feels that he's let Master down and has let Dafa down and those thoughts have formed new attachments. And having done what he did, he's still thinking about things with a human mind and is still not clearheaded--that's why he said that. This affair hasn't ended, so aren't what you do well and don't do well before it ends part of the cultivation process? Yes! You know, in the past it was hard to cultivate the Dao. When facing a test, as soon as someone had one sub-par thought, he would lose the chance forever to cultivate the Dao, and that was for sure. The old forces think that's how I look at it too. "Okay, now that we've forced him to write some kind of document, you, Li Hongzhi, you can't keep him now since he betrayed you. You've done so much to save him, yet he betrayed you. You definitely can't keep him. And what's to be done if he can't be kept? Eliminate him."

That's how the old forces think, and that's how they've arranged things. But I haven't done things that way--I will save him. He didn't do well today, but aren't you old forces still persecuting people? I'll have him do things over tomorrow, and definitely have him do them well! (Applause) Hasn't what's happened proven that Dafa disciples have become more and more rational, become more and more clearheaded, and done better and better? Aren't they more and more determined?! (Applause) When you ultimately really do become determined, then all of what you did in the past can only be the cultivation process playing out. That's really how it is. Master is handling this matter with the greatest compassion. (Applause)

But there are some people who really have let me down, and in reality it was all caused by that thinking. You've seen this in the news on Clearwisdom that's sent to us from China: Some people did things in an open and upright way, without fear, and so they weren't persecuted; and when they were sent to forced labor camps, the evil in other dimensions couldn't take it and had to let them out. Some people have all kinds of fears and their human thoughts are many, so they're persecuted severely. Even when they've been persecuted to the brink of death, they still can't break out of human attachments, and the Fa-guardian Gods are anxious about it but can't do anything. Those who've departed while holding onto their attachments of fear, will I have you Consummate, or not? The truth is, those are all displays of human attachments. Of course, it's easy to talk about that here and now, but it's not easy in that type of evil situation. That's the path of a human walking towards Godhood--that's why it's hard!

Question: I'm a practitioner from Korea, and I often run into quarrels and conflicts during Fa-rectification activities and in cooperating with fellow practitioners. For sure it's because I have attachments. What should I do?

Teacher: It's not like that just in Korea, because conflicts unfold in other areas too, and those problems used to happen among Mainland Chinese practitioners as well. If each person thinks that he has some skills, they all think that they're capable, each of them thinks that he's right, and they refuse to give ground, then actually, at that point there are problems with those people who won't give ground. What they're thinking is, "This idea of mine can serve the Fa better," and they never think, "I'm showing off." But the old forces will latch on to his not giving ground and constantly strengthen it--"You're right, you're right, what you're doing is exactly right!" So at that time he's not clearheaded. Truly think about yourself rationally and then think about other people's ideas, and I think things will be done well then. Why is it that at those times nobody looks at themselves? Don't worry about losing the chance to implement your own ideas, and even less should you be unwilling to admit that others' are better.

Now a God, he doesn't look at whether your idea was adopted. At those times he looks at whether your attachment was let go of. If you let it go, and your idea wasn't implemented--with regard to that matter you were able to let it go, and were even able to help do it better--then you improved, and you were able to raise your level. What's cultivation? That is cultivation. If you insist on holding your ground and emphasizing your own ideas, then while it may look like it's for the Fa, in fact it's being irrational, and you have not truly thought about it deeply or considered things from all angles more. But of course it won't do if [you don't speak up even when you see others] really not considering problems fully and bringing losses to Dafa, and it really won't do if you spot attachments and impure thoughts. So you need to become more mature in the Fa.

I talked about this while teaching the Fa in Philadelphia, so whenever you run into it, students can read that again. Since this issue is so prominent, be on your guard whenever it comes up. Of course, when you're arguing there's always ample reason, the environment and setting are different each time, and the specific circumstances are different. As for how to deal with it specifically, it still goes back to your doing well in cultivation.

Question: Is it true that the old forces are controlling Europe especially severely?

Teacher: The way I see it, they're only controlling China severely. (Audience laughs) It's just like back around July 20 of 1999, when the heavens were crumbling, and level after level was brimming with evil--it's just that people couldn't see it, and every dimensional layer was saturated with all of the evil that the old forces had prepared for Dafa. I've told you before that I'd do this in two steps –the Fa-rectification and the Fa's rectifying of the human world--and if I combined them and did it in one step, then the entire world would launch an attack against Dafa disciples. Of course, doing it in one shot would mean more Dafa disciples, and there would be three and a half billion Dafa disciples. I split it into two steps: The first group consists of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, and the second group consists of those during the Fa's rectification of the human world. In the beginning when the evil came, at once it blotted out the sky and covered up the earth, but it couldn't exert itself outside of China. So they would rally those wicked things against all of the existing Dafa disciples, and it was really terrifying for you back then. So to lessen the pressure and the persecution of Dafa disciples, I separated Dafa disciples and those things. I had those evil things come at me, and eliminated them quickly and on a large scale at the same time, so back then there was a lot of harm done to my surface material body. Later on I'd almost cleaned out all of those things, it took a year to do it, and otherwise my Dafa disciples really couldn't have borne it. I blocked all of it. In fact, what the Dafa disciples endured couldn't compare to the enormous number of those things and how wicked they were. (Applause) Didn't Nostradamus say several hundred years ago that a great King of Terror would come from the sky in July of 1999? If all of it had been done in one shot, it would've been a huge tribulation on a global scale, and everyone would have known that it arrived. So the old forces were actually happy that I did it in two steps, since that way the people outside of China couldn't detect it. So during the persecution the evil spread huge, outrageous lies, but the world's people were just numb to it.

Question: What special significance is there for the process of spreading the Fa and Fa-rectification here in the United States?

Teacher: I've never said that there was some special significance. I can choose to go anywhere, and it's right that I chose to stay in the United States. In the beginning the old forces arranged for me to go to France, and it was even mentioned in prophecies. For various reasons, though, I came to the U.S. But it's not that I have some special preference for the U.S. Let me tell you, every person in the entire world was at one point part of my family (applause), including the worst people, or else they'd have no chance to be a human being during this time. What happened in history is what they have gone through and what they chose for themselves. The most despicable are the old forces. They dare to massacre my people at will since they don't belong to them. What's held in Master's heart are all the people there are. (Applause)

Question: Master said at one point that there are still some people with strong predestined relationships who haven't obtained the Fa. May I ask revered Master what the situation is now?

Teacher: It's hard to tell based on the current situation. Why do I tell you to save them? You don't know how many relatives from the past you have in this world. Do your best to save them!

Question: How many more people with predestined relationships are there?

Teacher: I can tell you, without a predestined relationship, you can't be a human being in this world today--not a single person without a predestined relationship could be in this world. (Applause) It's just that in the course of history they arranged different roles for themselves. Your being able to become Dafa disciples, that's what you arranged for yourselves in history. And those who were weeded out for persecuting Dafa, that too is what they arranged for themselves in history. When a being has deviated, keeps on doing bad things, becomes that bad, and gradually progresses to that point, that's actually a choice.

Question: What's the relationship among: Negating the old forces' arrangements and removing attachments, continually improving through cultivation, and not giving the old forces gaps to take advantage of?

Teacher: When you're able to walk a righteous path, that means your righteous thoughts are strong, you're doing things according to Dafa's requirements, and you're doing things according to Master's requirements, then you are negating the old forces, and you are walking your path in a righteous way. Those rotten ghosts that are intent on disrupting the Fa really like it when you're in disarray, as the old forces' whole goal is to have all this end up according to their arrangements. I'll tell you, when all that you're doing today is in line with what I have taught you to do, then that's not letting them take advantage of your gaps and not letting them find excuses to persecute you. I don't acknowledge the persecution that's going on in China today, and the old forces are becoming more and more fearful because of that. It's because they know I absolutely can't acknowledge it. They're now facing this with great fear and trepidation. The high-level beings of the old forces have already been destroyed in the Fa-rectification, yet those who were separated inside the Three Realms in the early days still can't for the time being see the true situation--that their highest levels have been destroyed--and that's the state of affairs.

Question: Ever since the Fa-rectification period began, my state has been up and down, and I haven't been able to let go of my pursuit of comfort all this time, so I'm quite distressed.

Teacher: Master can help you, but only as long as you know to strive to improve. (Applause)

Question: When the Fa rectifies the human world, the vast majority of Dafa disciples will return to their rightful places and Consummate. So who will help Master in Fa-rectification during the latter ten years?

Teacher: As for this, (Teacher laughs) you're still thinking with a human mentality. While you've been spreading the Fa, a lot of people have obtained the Fa, but they can't understand the Fa deeply since once they understood the Fa they'd become Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. There's a line drawn there, so those old forces don't dare let them obtain the Fa. I didn't push this any further, since I needed to focus on the matter of the overall Fa-rectification and on resolving things in the Fa-rectification, plus, they'll still have chances in the future. But these things that you're doing won't be in vain, they're all magnificent and terrific, and that's because you've established a foundation for the cultivators of the future, you've chosen the cultivators of the future. So that's been done very well.

When clarifying the truth, have you discovered the following problem? They can accept everything when you talk about people being persecuted. Talk about freedom of belief getting trampled, the violation of human rights, and so on, and they can accept it all, but as soon as you talk about the Fa principles they're blocked off. You're probably all aware of that. The reason that happens is, when somebody can follow you in understanding things based on the Fa principles, he's already obtained the Fa and he's about to cultivate, so when it comes to his obtaining the Fa the old forces will definitely block it. It's a test for him. If he really wants to obtain it, and no matter what he still wants to obtain it, then he can obtain it. So in other words, right now there really is a very big obstacle for people who want to come and be one of the Dafa disciples. There are special ones that can enter, though. If they can give up everything then they can enter, but otherwise they can't enter right now. But for him to learn the exercises during the period when Dafa is being persecuted, even though he hasn't joined the ranks of Fa-rectification Dafa disciples, he's already laid the foundation for his future cultivation. That's how it is. (Applause)

Question: When Gods and Buddhas are all majestically displayed, and people are all cultivating after seeing the truth, will it still count as cultivation?

Teacher: Your clarifying the truth is selecting the cultivators of the future, so whether someone is able to learn it now is extremely important. For the rest of the people, it's not that they'll be cleaned out if they can't cultivate, for humankind will become an important level of the cosmos and be part of what Dafa will encompass. So there will still be people on this earth in the future. Of course, only those who are bad and completely unacceptable will be weeded out.

Question: Shijiazhuang and Beijing disciples pass on their greetings to Master!

Teacher: Thank you!

Question: What does "Looking with a smile, at the Gods being foolish" mean?

Teacher: You know what those old forces did? At the beginning they were making fun of me, especially the ones at low levels. Now they don't dare to laugh, because they've seen all of the truth, and they're clear on everything. So I'm smiling at their foolishness. (Audience laughs)

Question: How should we understand the fact that Zhuan Falun is to be left for the future, and other lectures are all explaining Zhuan Falun, and that we should cultivate strictly according to Zhuan Falun?

Teacher: You should indeed cultivate strictly according to Zhuan Falun, and other books can be read as reference, they're all Fa. The people of the future won't have as much mighty virtue as today's Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, because they won't go through a tribulation like the one today's Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples are facing, and there are historic reasons too of course. So the Fa's manifestation won't be as grand as today's. There are endless Buddhas, Daos and Gods behind every word of Zhuan Falun. Maybe in the future it won't manifest like that. That doesn't mean the Fa won't be good anymore, just that not as much will be shown. Dafa disciples, I won't set a ceiling for you, as you're now in the midst of establishing mighty virtue. (Teacher laughs) (Applause)

Question: Not acknowledging the old forces is very important, so could we ask revered Master to talk about how to do well in this? Thank you.

Teacher: Well, what I just talked about was all about these things. Don't acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, and negate this entire persecution they arranged. They want to have the Dafa disciples become mature through this persecution--that's the aspect of it that has unfolded before people's eyes. The aspect of it that hasn't shown itself is that if everything they want to do succeeded, then that'd be something the future couldn't acknowledge. What's manifest here on this human side is very simple. The side of you that has completed cultivation knows what's going on, and I don't acknowledge any of the old forces' arrangements or this current persecution.

Let's take an extremely microcosmic, enormous being in the cosmos, one that no Gods can know, it saw that the cosmic celestial bodies would head towards disintegration during a certain period, and because of a being's one instinctive thought of not wanting to head towards destruction, it set in motion the layers and layers of firmaments as well as the layers and layers of cosmic bodies inside those layers and layers of firmaments, all the way down to the layers and layers of universes inside the multitude of cosmic bodies and layers and layers of beings inside the multitude of universes, and it caused the gigantic Gods in the various firmaments to arrange ways to save themselves. From top to bottom there were more Gods participating at level after level, making even more detailed arrangements, all the way down to the Three Realms. Because that one thought came from an extremely high level, the cosmos's sentient beings all thought it was the Will of Heaven, and that there was no question they'd meet with complete success, rescuing this grand firmament and cosmic body from destruction. Because of the meticulousness of the arrangements made by the Gods at many levels of cosmic bodies, the arrangements looked so perfect that they excited the multitude of Gods, gave their confidence a big boost and made them believe that they finally had a chance to be saved. At the time, twenty percent of the Gods out of the levels upon levels of beings participated in the affair, and that's how the old forces came about.

The sentient beings don't want to be destroyed, and that's only natural. But the layers upon layers of beings are all contained within the grand firmament, and over the long course of history everything had been progressing toward the end according to the Fa's law of the process of formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction, and no being or element could escape it. For sentient beings, when everything disintegrates and there are no conditions for life to exist, then not a single thing can exist. That's much more terrifying than the re-formation of the cosmos's cosmic bodies. The Fa's law of formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction created all of the elements, matter, and life in the old cosmos, and at the same time established the Fa's law that everything would degenerate. That's the deterioration from within of all of the elements that make up the cosmos, manifesting itself among the beings as the degeneration of the standard of thoughts and conduct, and once they decline to a certain point they're unsalvageable, and from there they head towards the final stage of destruction. The old forces pushed to the very limit the Gods' power and wisdom in arranging what they thought to be the most perfect future, and got so excited that they completely forgot about a key point: That is, when the cosmos progresses to the stage of degeneration, all of the sentient beings and elements in the cosmos are, without exception, in the process of degeneration--the beings, the ways of thinking, the elements, and standards are all impure--and the point at which the standards and everything of beings became no good was arrived at gradually over the gigantic course of history. The Fa's laws and standards have, over the long course of history, all lost their original magnificence and righteous purity, and so the sentient beings are even more powerless to detect this type of change. That's because those Gods who are at very high levels never cared about the conduct of the beings below them, much less did they heed my warnings during Fa-rectification. In other words, when the cosmos has reached that point, no matter how good those ideas are that the beings in the cosmos come up with to save themselves, that's still the conduct of beings in the stage of degeneration and destruction, and fall short of the standard during "formation-stasis" at the cosmos's beginning and middle stages; and that falls even shorter of the standard of the new cosmos, which is countless times higher than that of the old cosmos. So none of the things the multitude of Gods have done are acknowledged by any of what's outside of the cosmos. During Fa-rectification I traversed all of the firmaments and saw that those ultimate arrangements of theirs all have omissions and can't be made complete or harmonized. During Fa-rectification I also traversed every final part of what's related to the old forces, yet I discovered that the enormous being who had the one thought that led to gigantic disruptions of the true Fa-rectification is not the final being, and there are lots and lots of elements that are higher than it. There, all of the old forces' arrangements were suddenly gone--all of their arrangements were without foundation, they couldn't resolve anything, and they disappeared without a conclusion. Yet all of those arrangements by the old forces formed true disruptions and demonic obstacles to the Fa-rectification, and they've become enormous tribulations in Fa-rectification. In Fa-rectification it misled all of the Lords, Kings, and sentient beings, and the pressure during Fa-rectification also came from the direct manipulation by all of those sentient beings and old forces. When all of this came to pass, when the sentient beings saw all of this, suddenly it was like they couldn't think. They saw that what I had said originally and my warnings during Fa-rectification were all true, and they were shocked and speechless--they immediately realized that the sentient beings had all committed crimes against Fa-rectification. They had always thought of me as doing cultivation, or even that they were bringing me along as a cultivator. I think that at this point they'll never dare to think like that again.

This tribulation that the old forces arranged in the human world, on the surface it's being responsible to cultivators, to Fa-rectification, and to me, but in reality the goal of what they arranged was being responsible to what they wanted to do, and all of this that they arranged is not at all what the new cosmos of the future would want, and at the same time it has done a huge amount of damage to the true Fa-rectification. A great deal of what I'd wanted was forcibly destroyed by them. History has passed, and what was lost is hard to recover. How could they possibly bear the responsibility for all of that?!

Now as practitioners, if in this tribulation you can manage not to acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, then you can make it through. And those who haven't done well, the bottom line is, aren't you acknowledging the old forces' arrangements? Once you acknowledge them isn't it like you're one of them? Because you haven't done well amidst the persecution it's caused instability among the practitioners and aggravated the persecution, so aren't you, too, adding fuel to the fire and helping the evil? Negate them, completely negate everything of the old forces!

Question: Why do the old forces dare to kill Dafa disciples in the persecution?

Teacher: There are two situations here. One is that in the past the old forces felt that a type of mentality arose among Dafa disciples, which is, once you cultivate in Dafa you think it's like having insurance, and there's nothing to be afraid of, there's no sickness or death, this or that won't happen, and everybody just has good fortune. But, once that mentality arises there's going to be trouble. The old forces will do what they want to do, and once you unknowingly acknowledge their arrangements they'll have excuses to control you and create various types of danger for you. Of course, Dafa disciples won't die like ordinary people, and even for those who've departed ahead of their time what awaits them is the very best--that's for sure. (Applause) So during this period, what they do is take a few away first. Of course, among those who've died, there's also what they'd arranged in previous lives. What's their goal? To have you see that studying Dafa isn't like having some kind of insurance and that you still need to do well, and that not doing well is a problem. So they're doing that kind of thing, and it's because they see personal cultivation as more important than validating the Fa. Also, they're doing these things in this time during Fa-rectification when Dafa disciples are urgently needed in saving sentient beings--aren't they causing serious trouble? How many beings can a Dafa disciple save while he's in this world, right? Isn't that doing something bad?

The old forces will interfere with practitioners from time to time, but think about how important saving sentient beings is! Why do they have to cause all that interference. Don't acknowledge it! Since none of them are worthy of participating, what I wanted was for none of the sentient beings to interfere, for them all to wait there, and I would have gone forward rectifying things, and the worst beings, however bad they might be, and no matter what kind of mistakes they'd made in history, all of them could have reached Consummation while just staying put. Wouldn't that have been great?! (Applause) Of course, that wouldn't have been done without principle, as I would have been transforming everything that a Dafa disciple owed into benevolent returns for sentient beings, and everyone would have been given the best compensation. If he couldn't do it, then Master would help him do it. When the cosmos isn't up to standard it's because all of the sentient beings aren't up to standard, and I would have helped all sentient beings do it, I would have helped you do it and I would have helped him do it. Then wouldn't everything have been benevolently resolved? (Applause) With all of the beings being no good and no longer clean, I would have helped all of you do it. So wouldn't that have been fair? You see the logic of it, right? But they insisted on doing things their way. Of course, even in that kind of situation there would still inevitably have been reactions from beings that were affected in Fa-rectification, and trouble and interference would have emerged out of it. That's natural, and from it some suffering and trouble would have been created for me in Fa-rectification, and that's natural, too. That, I could accept and acknowledge. But doing these things systematically has severely interfered with Fa-rectification, and it's something that I can't acknowledge. That's how everything relates.

Speaking from another angle, my disciples, when the old forces are able to do what they want to do, isn't that because you've silently consented to what they want to do? When they tell you to go you go, when they tell you to write something you write it, when they tell you to do something you just do it, and when they arrest and sentence you, you just helplessly, silently consent to it. Of course, that's caused by your having attachments inside and not being able to let go of them, but the more you can't let go, the more severely you're persecuted, since the wicked beings that are controlling and ruining Dafa disciples can see your attachments and what you're attached to. In contrast, those disciples who've let go of life and death aren't afraid of anything, and the evil beings are in fear of them. But the reason they can let go is that they've cultivated well.

Question: I really want my family and friends to cultivate in Dafa, but the Fa-rectification is in the final stages, so will you arrange for them to return to the heavens with us? Or is it that they'll cultivate in Dafa when the Fa rectifies the human world?

Teacher: I really can't tell you anything about that. For one thing, that's something that can't be told, and secondly, you have attachments. Some people say, "Once I've Consummated, what if I have this or that to take care of?" Do you know how Gods look at that student when those words are said? (Audience laughs) And you still want to Consummate? But you know what? Those who have thoughts of Consummation in their minds can't reach Consummation, not to mention those who want to reach Consummation but can't let go of attachments to things like emotion and wealth. Pursue nothing and gain naturally! All the things that Dafa disciples are doing today are in fact the responsibilities that have been bestowed upon you by history. Just do what you should do openly and with dignity, and everything will be covered. (Applause) As long as you're thinking about wanting to Consummate you won't be able to Consummate... And then you're saying, "How can I leave when I have this thing that I haven't taken care of, that thing that still has to be taken care of..." which means you don't want to leave yet. Just look at how many human thoughts and attachments are bound up in those words.

Question: Poetry is a form of human culture. Why has Master chosen to use this special form, poetry, to teach us and to use as a part of the Fa?

Teacher: These things from Chinese culture, as with the things of the world's other cultures, were retained for people to obtain the Fa. As for my using a particular part of the culture, that's a personal choice of mine--there wasn't any special thinking, I just used it as I wished. I sometimes use classical Chinese to write some things, and sometimes I'll use poetry, rhymes, or literary couplets, and there are also times when I use vernacular prose, which is currently the prevalent form of writing. The fact is, I prefer to write with classical forms, as they can express things really clearly and thoroughly. But of course, what students study nowadays is the vernacular, and they couldn't understand things if I wrote that way, so I just use it less or don't use it at all. The old forces have pushed today's human race to this point. They've actually created huge difficulties for the cosmos's Fa-rectification and the future. The Fa that I'm teaching to you integrates things from science, and that's not the culture of human beings, so what will become of it if it's left for the future? You know, why do I always want to use those old classical Chinese sayings to teach? Because they don't have that stuff in them. But things are just this way now, and people can only understand these principles within this kind of culture, so I can only teach in this way. As for things later on, we'll just have to wait until the future to consider them.

Question: You've said that everything of today's human society was brought about by Dafa disciples' thoughts. I often find that my own attachments have caused things to turn out even worse. May I ask Master how to break free from this?

Teacher: It's not a big deal if you haven't done well. Just do things well next time and try to find out where the problem was. There's a prominent phenomenon in you folks' cultivation, which is, after you haven't done something well, you're only overwhelmed with regret, and you don't do it over. If you regret it too much then that's another attachment. Once you've done something wrong, seen where it was wrong, and recognized it, then do it well next time, do it over. If you trip and fall, and just keep lying there instead of getting up, (audience laughs) then that's no good.

Question: After hearing Master's teaching of the Fa in the morning, I felt very sad inside. I want to ask Master, did you teach us those Fa-truths ahead of their occurrence?

Teacher: No, that's not how it is. Right now there are a lot of things that I don't intervene in, because you have to walk your own paths well yourselves. That's the case for everybody. It's what you will leave behind after you reach Consummation in the future, and also a chance for you to establish mighty virtue. What you do well is everything that you've validated and enlightened to. Put that part in order and remove the unwanted dregs, and the essence that remains is the path to your success. As for the truths of Fa that I taught this morning, actually, I only teach them when as a group there are about to be deviations. If they were just isolated phenomena that didn't have much bearing, I wouldn't mention them, and practitioners would quickly handle it well. Even with that matter I talked about in the morning, I know that in the end you'll understand it well, but the losses would have been terrible and I would lose a few Dafa disciples. So I wanted to talk about it. (Applause)

Question: Revered Master, practitioners use the Internet to exchange understandings and experiences. Is that format good or bad?

Teacher: I think that's not a problem outside of Mainland China, but don't talk about the specifics of what you're doing to validate the Fa. If it's in Mainland China, it's best that you give priority to your safety and don't allow the old forces to take advantage of gaps. This isn't a matter of being afraid or not, it's about not letting the evil take advantage of any gaps.

Question: If our thoughts are very pure and righteous, then the old forces have no way to interfere. So if there's interference, does it reflect our cultivation state?

Teacher: When interference comes up it's usually caused by those old forces. Then when we do everything righteously, should we expect there to be no interference? That can only reduce a lot of the losses, because your gaps would be taken advantage of due to the fact that you yourselves still do have undetectable elements, and the old forces insist on forcing in what they want to do. At the same time, there are some students, especially the third group of students, who still have a certain amount of karma, and so they'll use these things to exploit the gaps. But all the same, Master doesn't acknowledge them. And you shouldn't acknowledge them either. Do things well in an upright and dignified way, negate them, and strengthen your righteous thoughts some. "I'm Li Hongzhi's disciple, I don't want other arrangements or acknowledge them"--then they won't dare to do that. So it can all be resolved. When you can really do that, not just saying it but putting it into action, Master will definitely stand up for you. What's more, there are lots of Fa guardians around Master, there are lots of Buddhas, Daos, and Gods, and there are even greater beings, and they will all participate, because forced persecution that's not acknowledged is a crime, and the cosmos's old laws don't allow it either--irrational persecution absolutely is not allowed, and the old forces don't dare to do it if that is the situation. So you should do things as righteously as you can.

Someone might think, "Now that I've done things righteously and done them well, there can't be any more tribulations at all from now on." Maybe that thought of yours will lead them to create tribulations for you, since the old forces believe that's another form of acknowledging them. "Ah, he wants it not to exist, and he wants to be carefree. That doesn't work. That thought of his needs to be removed." Then isn't that having your gaps exploited? Actually, as long as you can maintain a very upright state of mind in your daily life, you should be fine for the most part.

Question: After Fa-rectification will we still know Master?

Teacher: Master has an independent system. You are all beings within the cosmos, and no matter how big the enormous cosmos is, Master isn't within it. I'm not a part of all of this, yet I have an independent system of my own, I don't need anything in this cosmos and I don't need to put anything in it, I have an independent, self-sustaining system of my own. Then in other words, no being in the cosmos can see me, and no being can know me. In reality I'm formless, and to any internal or external element I don't exist, it'd be the same as nonexistence, yet I'm able to display my image at any cosmic level, which is the elevation at different levels of this image that you can see today. It's like that here among humans, of course, and in the future it may be very young--my innate body is very young. Speaking in human terms, at every level there's an image that has elevated based on this foundation, it all looks like me, it's just that it seems like the more microcosmic the elements that form it, the bigger its volume. Of course, I can also compress each level into one body and become bigger or smaller simultaneously, and I can also split the body infinitely. That's the general idea. (Applause)

Question: After Fa-rectification and when the disciples have Consummated, will there still be opportunities to improve?

Teacher: You've brought up the time after Fa-rectification when all of the disciples have Consummated--will there still be opportunities to improve? Actually, I've talked about all of this. Your Attainment Status is validated and enlightened to during cultivation, or in other words, whatever Attainment Status you can achieve is obtained through the process of cultivating. You want to ask, "When I'm in the heavens, can I keep on cultivating and improving?" There are elements and mechanisms for that purpose, but to improve just a little bit is a considerably long and gigantic project. It's not as easy as it is on Earth. But nobody dares to come to Earth, as after coming here you might not run into a God or Buddha coming to this world to save people. After coming down, that mind of yours will be wiped clean, and you'll know nothing--there's a chance you'll even be against cultivation. So nobody dares to come.

Question: For Dafa disciples as a whole, what are some of the most fundamental areas and shortcomings that need improvement?

Teacher: For Dafa disciples as a whole, in the process of validating the Fa, when you work together in concert, the Fa power is great. Whether you're doing things as a group or doing things individually, what you're doing is the same kind of thing, and that's what we mean by one entity. You're all clarifying the truth, sending righteous thoughts, and studying the Fa, so the specifics of the things you're doing are different but the division of roles is orderly, together there's a form, and separated there are particles. When you as an entity have some problems come up Master will definitely talk about them, and when there's not an obvious problem Master won't say anything. So when it doesn't affect the situation of the whole entity I don't say anything.

Question: Respected and beloved Master, please save me. I have great sins, so I have a mentally retarded son.

Teacher: Master will definitely save all the sentient beings in this world. (Applause) I will use different forms of salvation during different time periods and in different ways.

Question: My thoughts weren't very righteous in my dreams, and I'm afraid that I may have harmed a being.

Teacher: Don't worry, a dream is just a dream, a dream isn't cultivation, and it won't necessarily be like what you imagined. As long as you can complete cultivation, Master will think of ways to perfectly resolve all of the mistakes you've made. (Applause) Don't think about those things. If you think about them too much it'll become an attachment, and you won't be able to cultivate.

Question: May I ask revered Master, during Fa-rectification, is there an issue of balancing the importance and the urgency of things when we do them, and how should we handle this the right way?

Teacher: Well, that's about specific matters. And specific things, they're all part of your establishing your mighty virtue, and they're part of the paths you have to walk, and what you do on your own. Of course, you need to weigh the importance and the urgency, and prioritize things on your own. If you don't prioritize well, then it could affect what you need to do since, let me tell you, all of what you do is for yourself. Being able to prioritize things well is remarkable in its own right, and it will result in your walking the path the right way, and that's mighty virtue. It's hard for me to talk to you about the specifics. Master can't deprive you of the opportunity to consummate your own paths.

Question: I often blame myself for not being able to cultivate a heart of compassion, and I feel discouraged and apathetic, especially about those friends and acquaintances around me that refuse Dafa materials.

Teacher: I can tell you, we're cultivators, so you need to treat all of the sentient beings around you as compassionately as you can. Perhaps some people's predestined opportunities haven't matured yet. Perhaps some people have been poisoned really deeply but can still be saved. Of course, there are also some who can't be saved, but the vast majority can be. Right now you can't tell them apart. I think that you absolutely shouldn't be discouraged or apathetic. Do this compassionately no matter who it is, and with a compassion that can melt steel you'll be able to do it well. (Applause)

Question: A lot of countries are being fooled right now by the facade of China's economy, and this has become a major obstacle to our clarifying the truth to the governments of various countries and to the business community. We hope revered Master can give us some direction in this area.

Teacher: Yes, the Chinese government has expended one quarter of the country's and people's financial resources to persecute Falun Gong. If it weren't capable economically, would it be able to persecute Falun Gong? Would the people in that society listen to its commands? Would a person do something against his conscience just because someone told him to? It is all because it's being propped up by money. And why is it that in the international community so many media outlets and governments are all so quiet on this, and why are they able to look the other way in the face of this catastrophe? They have a lot of vested interest and a lot to gain wrapped up in this.

During this evil persecution, everything in China, whether it is advancement in the government or the financial returns of enterprises, it's all tied to Falun Gong. And this includes students' entrance exams and academic records at graduation, everything has to be tied to Falun Gong. In order to persecute Falun Gong, a great deal of funding is being allocated to public security, political law, the judiciary, foreign affairs, the wicked 610 Office, and security special agents. And in order to deceive people, a great deal has been invested in various propaganda machines, in radio, television, newspapers, art and literature, cultural events, and even in blockading television, radio, and computer networks. And great numbers of agents were sent out into the international community to persecute Falun Gong. But those people would take the money with them abroad and then, as soon as the money was deposited into their personal accounts, they'd right away start immigration procedures--"In normal times, if I wanted to leave they wouldn't let me, but now I'm given money to do that... It's really great. But how could I go and commit crimes in such a society? I better leave myself a back door." The tricks used in the persecution are the stupidest, but they're not shy about spending the people's money that was earned with sweat and blood to turn around and persecute the people, and the amount they've spent is pretty huge.

It looks like as long as the Falun Gong issue isn't resolved, that society really won't have any hope for change and nothing can be stabilized, since it's entirely focused on Falun Gong and doesn't have time to worry about anything else. It's all existing for the sake of Falun Gong. That set of worthless machinery is running entirely because of Falun Gong--what else can it do?

This is all made possible by foreign investment, and the old forces did it. They're just using money to prop up the evil. During this period when the evil is persecuting Dafa you're investing money there. It's about those people with a lot of money who are choosing their futures, knowingly throwing away their money. In this persecution, investing your money there is the same as supporting the evil's persecution, and you've committed a sin. If there weren't any persecution of Dafa over in China it wouldn't matter how much money you invested. On the surface people don't know, but people all have a side that's aware. You really can't say that you didn't know.

Question: If those in charge of the Assistance Centers or Falun Dafa Associations can't keep up with the progress of Fa-rectification and aren't able to hear out criticism...

Teacher: Is that the situation with our Assistance Centers and Falun Dafa Associations? You need to look, hands-on-heart, deeply within yourselves, and listen to practitioners' suggestions with the right attitude. But if we look at the other side of it, isn't it true that practitioners are lacking something in the way they've been looking at things? If you were in that role, how would you end up doing? This isn't criticism, let's just set things aside and take a look--do they really have problems, or is it that our own way of considering problems isn't comprehensive. Or if they really do have big problems, then since they're the persons responsible for Assistance Centers, there's an issue to consider here. Their responsibilities are even greater, since if a Dafa disciple is weeded out because of their mistakes I think that sin is just so enormous. Of course, it won't be that severe, as there's still Master watching over things. But you're all cultivating, and no matter what, you can't take your own shortcomings, attachments, and things that you can't let go of to Consummation. So no matter what you're doing, you have to think of Dafa first and foremost, and not place too much importance on your own things.

So I'll also note in passing that in reality, those people who are in charge at various locations are cultivators too, and you shouldn't regard them as Master or hold them to such high standards. It's easy to make mistakes with certain things, so just share your thoughts with each other when that happens and discuss a little. When you truly look at things from the perspective of being responsible to the Fa and truly have a heart that can melt steel, I just don't believe that things can't be handled well. And don't insist that another practitioner is no good based on some rigid concept you have--I, your Master, believe that he's fine. And don't think that it's hard to communicate. Neither side has lived up to "great compassion" when doing things. If you can truly embody great compassion, I think those things that aren't right will definitely be rectified.

Question: Are our efforts to clarify the truth to overseas Chinese very much lacking? Especially in the western U.S. there are a lot of Chinese organizations, and lots of Chinese people from Mainland China. Is their being able to be overseas part of their predestined relationship?

Teacher: You could say that about the predestined relationship, but as for those who have a positive effect and those who have a negative effect, there are both, and that's just how the old forces arranged it. I don't acknowledge that at all. A minute ago I said that everyone in the world was part of my family. Don't acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, and do as much as possible to clarify the truth. Whether it be the western U.S. or the eastern U.S., we should do it as best we can. But Master isn't suggesting that you put everything else aside, it wouldn't work if you disregarded everything else. Instead, just manage your time well, and do the best you can to save people. Another thing is, that Chinese person you saved, he'll go and tell others too, so it's giving him a chance to gain some merit. In this persecution people have committed sins, and they've had a hand in helping along this persecution and fuelled the evil's fury, so they will be given chances to redeem their sins. After they discover the truth they'll talk about it everywhere, and that would be redeeming their sins, so you should do your best.

Question: When elections were held in our district, there were people who went to help a few congressional candidates that supported Dafa. But some people thought we shouldn't get ourselves involved in politics, and that we shouldn't rely on ordinary people to do things for Dafa. Is that understanding correct?

Teacher: It's correct in principle, but for this specific matter you should look at it this way. If you say Dafa disciples can't get involved in ordinary society's politics, I wouldn't say that's 100% correct. What I told you was that Dafa doesn't get involved in politics. And a lot of our Dafa disciples work in politics, that's their job. So if there's a government election, should you take part in it? If you take part in it and cast your vote, well then you've gotten involved in politics. A Dafa disciple cultivating in the ordinary society means that you try your best to cultivate while conforming to the ordinary society, and then there won't be a problem. You, too, are a member of the ordinary society. And the existence of the ordinary society is necessary for Dafa, for the cosmos, and for sentient beings. We can only help maintain it and can't disrupt it. When you're supposed to vote, just go vote, that's not a problem. If you say that a certain Congressman is your personal friend, and you'd like to help him do something, then of course there might be things that involve elections and you'd be doing volunteer work--that doesn't matter. But our Dafa as a whole doesn't get involved in politics, and we can't do anything political in the name of Dafa. For Dafa disciples, validating the Fa should be the priority, though.

The last time there was an election in Taiwan, I had a veteran practitioner call the person in charge of the Taiwan Dafa Association and make it clear to the public that Dafa Associations take no stance on elections. If an individual practitioner wants to support someone, that's his personal business and it doesn't represent Dafa. There were Dafa disciples supporting both of the parties. The Falun Dafa Association has no political opinion regarding any party's election, and it doesn't get involved. As individual practitioners you can support whomever you'd like. That's how it works.

Question: Recently there's been a lot of pressure while doing Fa-rectification work. It feels like an invisible pressure. I don't know if this feeling is related to the overall Fa-rectification situation.

Teacher: I think that the old forces that haven't been rectified by the Fa have indeed felt the pressure becoming greater and greater, and the closer it gets to the end, the more pressure there is on the side that it works on. So sometimes this creates a complicated situation for us, and that's all it is. Just send more righteous thoughts to drive away the interference, and don't see it as something significant. In fact right now I see something very clearly, and you see it clearly too, and that is, nobody can damage Dafa. All hopes of damaging it are in vain, and nobody could touch it even if I, Li Hongzhi, weren't around. Each of you is like an Assistant, each of you is a particle of Dafa, each of you is immersed in and being tempered in the Fa, and each of you knows what to do. The Dafa disciples in Mainland China have already verified, in their actions and without the benefit of Master's presence, that Dafa is indestructible. As long as you do what Dafa disciples should do, everything can be resolved.

Question: Master has told us that we should have immense tolerance, but occasionally I'll still get hung up on little things.

Teacher: Then just make a change. You should exhibit compassion and tolerance, and consider others more, and here among human beings it will become a habit for you. I don't like it when you blame yourselves, it's completely pointless. I'll just repeat what I said: If you've fallen don't just lie there, get up right away!

Question: If somebody identifies with Zhen, Shan, Ren, but not Falun Gong, what will be the final outcome for him?

Teacher: Actually, let me tell you, you shouldn't give too much weight to what ordinary people say, because lots of ordinary people aren't rational. Human beings, you know, are affected by many concepts in the ordinary society, and they're constantly forming different concepts, which severely affect their original nature and true thoughts. So the things some people say seem right but are actually wrong, are insincere, or are poorly thought-out. Don't think that ordinary people are as rational as you are. Lots and lots of people are pretty irrational right now, and actually, you were like that too at the beginning. (Audience laughs) You only became more rational after you matured and bad things were removed. When an ordinary person comes to understand things, or decides whether something is good or bad, it's done at a very shallow level. Even what he says to his family and to people who've done a lot for him seems right but is actually wrong, it's insincere, he doesn't make good on promises, and he avoids responsibility for any consequences. So don't think it's significant. If you want to save him then you need to help him become rational.

Question: In order to conform to the way of ordinary people while clarifying the truth