Although the teachings of Falun Dafa contain some phrases similar to those used in Buddhism and Taoism, it is not a branch of either the Buddhist or Taoist religion, just as Taichi is not a branch of the Taoist religion and Hatha Yoga is not a branch of Hinduism.

A religion has a rigid organizational structure, a collection plate where donations are accepted at every service, and fundraising activities. Falun Dafa has just a light association or loose network of volunteers. There is no membership fee or registration. People of different backgrounds and skills naturally form a flexible, coordinating structure for group activities. However, all are regarded as students and everyone is equal, no matter how long they have practiced. In Zhuan Falun, Master Li made it very clear, "When you promote it, you should not seek fame or profit. You should serve others voluntarily." Otherwise, "what you promote is not Falun Dafa." Master Li does not allow any donations, fundraising activities, or money to be accumulated in the name of Falun Dafa. If a person is inspired to show Master Li's lectures, demonstrate the exercises, or print an information package such as this, then they find the money to pay for it themselves. These are spontaneous, individual actions rather than an organizational decision or requirement. The emphasis is on personal development, not organizing events.

There is no religious ritual or worship in this cultivation system. It does not convert people to blind faith. Instead, it explains that the universal law of Truth-Compassion-Tolerance (Zhen-Shan-Ren) has different manifestations, and therefore different requirements for each level. To reach higher levels, people must assimilate to the requirements of those different levels. Although practitioners respect Master Li Hongzhi very much, he does not want anyone to worship him. He has always told us that he simply teaches the Law (principles) of the universe and we should "take the Law as the teacher". For example, in Zhuan Falun he says: "There is another principle in our universe that if you want or pursue something, others will not stop you. Here we teach you to take the right way and explain the Law (principles) thoroughly to you at the same time. You will have to understand it on your own. It is your business whether you want to learn it or not. The master shows you the entrance, and it is up to yourself to practice cultivation or not. Namely, no one will intervene in which path you will take, what you want, and what you try to attain, except offer a word of kind advice."

Q2: Is Falun Gong related to Buddhism or Taoism?

A: Falun Gong is not related to Buddhism or Taoism. In addition, the Buddha school and Buddhism, the Tao School and Taoism are totally different concepts. Buddhism, which has less than 20 cultivation ways, is only a tiny bit in the Buddha school, which has thousands of cultivation ways. The same is true of the Tao School and Taoism. However there are terms from the Buddhist and Taoist schools in the teachings of Falun Gong. However, the terms in Falun Dafa teachings do not have exactly the same meaning as those used in Buddhism. Some terms in Buddhism of the Han region are Chinese vocabulary, and they are not exclusively terms from Buddhism.

Q3: What's the difference between Falun Gong and Taichi?

A: Tai Chi was originally a cultivation practice, which consisted of improving one's heart and mind nature (cultivation) as well as practising the Tai Chi movements. Over time, the cultivation aspect was lost and only the exercise movements remained. Falun Gong is a complete cultivation practice of the body, mind, and spirit. Practitioners of Falun Dafa cultivate their hearts in accordance with the principle of "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance" as explained in Zhuan Falun. Practitioners also do five sets of simple and gentle exercises, including a sitting meditation, to balance and improve the well being of their bodies and minds.

Q4: Does Falun Dafa have any political affiliation or intent?

A: Although there may be some professional politicians who practice Falun Dafa, the system itself has no affiliation to any political party or government. Practitioners are encouraged to conduct themselves with "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance" in all situations. The goal is to become enlightened to the truth of human life and to cultivate to higher levels. The focus is on an individual's self-examination and self-improvement rather than the development of an organization or a group.

Last years' peaceful demonstration by about 10,000 practitioners in Beijing was a perfect example of self-discipline and self-restraint - qualities developed through the cultivation practice. It took place because the police in the nearby city of Tianjin used force to drive practitioners away from the offices of a youth magazine when they were calmly asking that an article containing false information be corrected. A number of people were arrested without any legal reason. The spontaneous, peaceful, and voluntary gathering in Beijing was to ask for a less-restricted environment in which to safely practice the virtuous and beneficial cultivation system of their choice, and to request the release of those who were arrested. It was not a criticism of the Chinese government and there were no signs, slogans, or political intentions. It had nothing to do with the Tiananmen Square incident 10 years ago, nor with any political party.

Q5: Are practitioners forbidden to take medication?

A: As Falun Gong practitioners, we do not know of any instance in which Mr. Li Hongzhi has forbidden anyone from taking medication. What Master did was simply to explain the relationship between cultivation practice and taking medication. In fact, he states time and again in his books and during his lectures that if one feels ill, one should go to the hospital. Of course, we practitioners all know from our own experiences that by practicing the exercises of Falun Gong and improving our moral character, we become physically and spiritually very healthy. This is also the reason why it is said that with the millions of people practicing Falun Gong in China, the Chinese central and local governments, as well as businesses, have saved a tremendous amount of money on health care. Falun Gong can only benefit human society.

Q6: Why did China ban Falun Gong?

A: Its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi first introduced Falun Gong to the public in China, in 1992. The people who initially tried the practice not only found powerful healing effects, but also found answers to their deepest questions in life. As they continued to practice, their friends and family started to notice how they became healthier and better people overall. Thus, almost entirely by word-of-mouth, the numbers of enthusiasts just kept growing. Far and wide, it spread into over 30 countries and attracted people from all walks of life and all cultural backgrounds to learn and practice.

However, back in the land where it was introduced, the Chinese Communist Party deems all matters of the soul, spirit, or faith as superstitions because they lie outside of the Marxist ideologies of materialism and atheism. Three years ago, the Chinese government chose to ban Zhuan Falun, because of its "superstitious" content.

Despite their efforts against it however, the practice continued to gain in popularity. After an official investigation into the practice, the Chinese leadership was shocked to discover that by early 1999, an estimated 70 to 100 million people all over China were practicing Falun Dafa. Orders were immediately given to the police to start harassing practitioners, prevent them from practicing together, or threaten to lock people in jail if they didn't pay large sums of money. In one incident in Tianjin, police even took to beating and detaining practitioners who dared to come forward to express their views.

Practitioners around the country responded by asking their local government agencies to assist them - all to no avail. They were simply told that the orders had come from the central government. Thus, on April 25, about 10,000 people showed up outside the main government buildings in Beijing to present a request for a legal and non-hostile environment in which to practice. The gathering was peaceful, orderly, and lawful. After a few practitioners were able to meet with certain high-level government officials, everyone quietly went home.

What the Falun Dafa practitioners did not know at the time was that the Communist Party and the government were beginning to consider the practice a serious threat to their power. In July, the government branded Falun Gong a cult and outlawed the practice. Police started ransacking people's homes, confiscating books, and arresting hundreds of people whom they considered to be Falun Dafa "organizers". Since then, tens of thousands of practitioners have been arbitrarily detained and mistreated, some even tortured to death, simply because they are not willing to denounce their beliefs. Many of these people, ordinary citizens with ordinary jobs, are now awaiting trials while their access to lawyers is denied. Recently, the persecution escalated to such an extent that the Chinese government has denounced Falun Dafa as an "evil religion" and new laws were legislated to "punish without mercy" those who were labeled "cult". In addition to launching an intensive defamation campaign against the founder and force such propaganda into every community and workplace throughout the country, the Chinese government has also issued an arrest warrant and extradition request for Mr. Li, and also sent smear materials internationally.

For those of us in North America who practice Falun Dafa, the crackdown in China seems like a terrible misunderstanding. We look at the teachings of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance and we see nothing that any government wouldn't be overjoyed to have its citizens practice. The practice is peaceful and has no political agenda. We hope that people outside of China will come to understand why so many people in the world feel blessed to have found Falun Dafa as their true spiritual path.

Q7: How can I learn Falun Dafa?

A: All practice sites offer free instruction, and everyone is welcome. To find a site near your home, please visit http://www.falundafa.ca on the Internet. There are also instructional books and a video available from bookstores. All materials can also be downloaded for free from the Internet.

Attending the 9-day session of Master Li's video lectures is a good way to systematically learn Falun Dafa, about 2 hours every day including the 5 sets of exercise teaching. The local practitioners hold these 9-day seminars regularly.

Q8: Is this exercise suitable for seniors?

A: The exercise movements of Falun Dafa are smooth, gentle ,and easy to learn. They are good for people of all ages.

Q9: What does "Falun Dafa" mean?

A: "Fa" means the law and principles of the universe. "Lun" means wheel. So "Falun" can be translated as "The Law Wheel". The Falun emblem of Falun Dafa represents the Law Wheel. "Da" means great. So "Dafa" means the Great Law.

Q10: What does the Falun emblem represent?

Falun is a miniature of the universe. It has Yin-Yang from the Dao School and everything in the ten directions from the Buddha school are all reflected in this Falun. You can find a detailed explanation <here> or in Chapter 5 of Zhuan Falun.

Q11: What is the meaning of "Gong" in "Falun Gong"?

A: "Gong" is the abbreviation of "Qigong". Qigong, means "cultivation and practice". It originally came from the cultivation ways passed from great Qigong Masters to individual students or religious cultivators.

Q12: Are there any fees charged?

A: All Falun Gong activities are free of charge. Just as Master Li said, "When you promote it, you should not seek fame or profit. You should serve others voluntarily." The teaching of the exercises and 9-day video lectures are done voluntarily at all times.

Visit www.falundafa.ca for additional information, explanations and articles about Falun Dafa.

Why Is Jiang Zemin Persecuting Falun Dafa?
by Shiyu Zhou, Ph.D.

Historical, Social and Political Analysis of the Reasons Behind the
Persecution of Falun Gong in China

According to statements in the July 27, 1999, edition of The People's Daily and quotes from many officials, the conflict between Falun Gong and Communism is seen by Party leaders as a struggle between theism and atheism, superstition and science, and idealism and materialism. These dichotomies are in fact grossly inaccurate. Regardless, these ideological issues are not the true reasons for banning Falun Gong. Falun Gong does not talk about superstitions or idealism, and it is by no means against Communism. Were Falun Gong "against" communism or the Government, this would mean that millions of practitioners were "against" themselves: millions of practitioners were Chinese Communist Party members before the ban, and this includes many high-ranking officials. This whole matter has been thoroughly explained in practitioners' "Ten Thousand-Word letter" to the Central Government. We offer here several reasons behind the central authority's suppression of Falun Gong.

Historical Issues

Classifying Falun Gong as a "cult" was simply an excuse to try to eliminate it. Many relatives of senior officials in the Communist Party are Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Li conducted public teaching for several years, and the public has seen that Falun Gong has impacted society very positively. The Public Security Department has investigated Falun Gong for years. Members of the Department have clearly stated in their duty reports that they see no dangers or violations in Falun Gong. (see Attachment A6) Some have even decided to begin the practice upon learning through their investigations just how upstanding practitioners are. How could the Department and other offices not know that Falun Gong is an upright practice? How could they not know that Mr. Li has always taught people to be good citizens with higher morals? How could they forget that Mr. Li has repeatedly told practitioners not to interfere with national politics or to violate any laws? Officials' collective amnesia, it seems, is highly strategic.

The fundamental reason for the suppression of Falun Gong is that the Communist Party does not trust Falun Gong practitioners since they are such a large group. There is a historical precedent for fear of large groups in China, so perhaps one could imagine an awareness of history factoring in. Chinese, as a people, are very aware of their history. And these people need think back no further than the last few centuries to recall that two of Chinese history's bloodiest rebellions, the Boxer Rebellion and the Taiping Rebellion, each began with a charismatic religious figure. Traditional thinking, which posits that history repeats itself in predictable cycles, still holds sway in the minds of many Chinese. Many auspicious dates have come and passed in Falun Gong's brief history, and each such event has made the practice's detractors anxious. The past 100 years have been a bloody, unstable century for China, and ruthless competition for power (primarily internal, no less) has left many historically-conscious citizens skeptical of groups claiming benevolent intent.

Yet any knowledge of Falun Gong's principles and behavior should render such historical thinking irrelevant. If Falun Gong is examined outside of socio-historical contexts, one sees that this popular practice is quite unlike both its predecessors and kin. This can be said of not only its practitioners, but also of its teacher and his teachings. Falun Gong has, however, become guilty of one intolerable offense in Mainland China: as of early 1999, the number of Falun Gong practitioners happened to exceed the number of Communist Party members. It was estimated by a Government sponsored census that the number of Falun Gong practitioners was 70-100 million, while the Communist Party's membership totaled only 60 million. Falun Gong practitioners typically gather every day in the park for two or more hours to practice their qigong together. Meanwhile, a typical Party member might attend a total of one Party meeting, lasting maybe two hours, in an entire month; his or her membership might be a mere formality that affords certain social privileges. Were Falun Gong a political entity, some apprehensions by Chinese Government officials would be understandable. During its numerous investigations, China's Public Security Department found that many practitioners were both party members and government officials. As a result, the Chinese Communist Party believed that Falun Gong had been "taking people away" from them. Bound by historical thinking, officials could not imagine a group this size having anything but political aspirations.

Although the population practicing Falun Gong has become large, most practitioners are outstanding citizens with high moral standards. They form a strong force that upholds social stability, if any social influence exists. Falun Gong's teacher, Mr. Li Hongzhi, has been explicit that practitioners are not to involve Falun Gong in political matters whatsoever. Falun Gong is about benefiting others through an individual's self-cultivation practice, not through political means. Why should the Communist Party be against it? It is because they cannot believe that there are people in the world who would not interfere with politics or seek power. Despite Mr. Li's repeatedly explaining to the Government that Falun Gong will not interfere with politics now or in the future, the Government has tenaciously clung to the belief that if the practice is allowed to continue, it will form a strong force against the government.

Social Issues

In terms of China's current social predicament, the country is currently experiencing incredible changes in every aspect of society. Nothing short of a "crisis in values" is unfolding, as foreign values indigenous to capitalist markets and radically different societies pour into Chinese culture daily. Little is in place to check this influx of values and ideas. As the dying embers of deep-seated traditional culture--culture that even weathered the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), to some extent-- go out, all sorts of problems novel to China emerge. Discontent and dis-ease with current conditions are common to many. While such issues are far beyond the scope of this essay, suffice to say that political leadership in China is very uncertain over how to handle these things.

Falun Gong finds itself amidst some of these tensions, and certain self-seeking Chinese Communist Party officials have exploited this. Most notably, Falun Gong finds itself at the intersection of traditional Chinese cultivation arts (such as qigong and taiji) and modern Western science and biomedicine. For thousands of years, the Chinese have enjoyed traditional healing arts such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, and qigong. More importantly, these aspects of traditional culture provide deep understanding of human life, nature, the universe, and the relationships among them. During the Cultural Revolution, these arts were slapped with the labels of "superstition," "fraud," "backwards," "unscientific," and even "embarrassing," amongst others.

Although the Chinese Government has promoted these practices in the last two decades as a means to resolving a terribly-burdened health care system, these traditional arts have never fully recovered their nobility. Thus, when it serves certain persons' political purposes, those labels are once again hauled out and thrown around to incriminate others. This is easily accomplished as anything grounded in Western science (such as Western bio-medicine) is seen as "modern" and "progressive" in contemporary China. It should come as little surprise, then, that the Chinese media ran numerous stories in the last couple years declaiming Falun Gong as "superstitious" and wreaking of "feudalism." As many of its practitioners discontinue medical treatment (due to improved health, as discussed in Attachments A3-5), some people have suggested that Falun Gong is antagonistic to modern science and medicine. Ironically, at the same time, many hard-line Party members--some of whom are well-known scientists in China--continue to believe that Maoism and Marxist doctrine are "hard science," meaning akin to physics and chemistry. As among Falun Gong practitioners there are many accomplished scientists, such rhetoric has not gone unnoticed or unchallenged. So even science has become a politically-charged entity in China today. Many supposed "scientists" have allied themselves with those in political power and attacked Falun Gong for personal gain. We thus witness the political campaign against Falun Gong being heralded as a "scientific achievement."

While Chinese leaders like to describe 1999 as a year of "challenge and opportunity," the "challenge" segment is what has largely prevailed for the Government. Economic growth has come to a grinding halt, worrying many leaders. Majority of the Government's state owned enterprises are constantly losing money, and many now face bankruptcy. Unemployment is skyrocketing, while the gap between the rich and the poor has widened dramatically. Class tensions are emerging in a distinctly poignant, modern form, of which China has not seen the likes. Demonstrations by those who are unemployed take place across the country almost every day. As this develops into a nationwide problem, it grows ever more hard to control. All of this makes for novel, severe health care problems. Demoralization is perhaps the highest it has been in years. These matters lead into the issue of China's political situation.

Political Issues

Politically, today's China is focusing on economic and technological development. The political forum is set up for those who have expertise in the economy, technology, and management. Those who specialize in political propaganda and in fighting battles over ideology have lost their opportunities for political advancement. Yet many of these persons have had important roles in the history of the Communist Party. A stable, peaceful, and prosperous China, however, gives them very little chance to maintain the powerful positions they once enjoyed when political campaigning was the focus of the Party. To remain necessary components of the government, these people desperately need political unrest. Hence, they have in fact been working hard to create unrest. Falun Gong, they decided, was just what was needed.

These individuals began by having police officers harass Falun Gong practitioners at the local level. They next fabricated evidence to defame Falun Gong and its teacher, spreading negative publicity through government-run newspapers and television. Soon after, police were ordered to beat and arrest people who expressed their concerns to those newspaper editors, such as in the city of Tianjin incident. When practitioners went to the central government at Zhongnanhai to appeal for the release of those arrested (see article 2), they were channeled in a certain manner so as to create the appearance of assaulting the Chinese leadership compound. By the time of the Zhongnanhai incident, those self-seeking Party members had almost succeeded in creating a "crisis" to scare top Chinese officials into thinking they needed to call on these political experts for help. The peaceful resolution to the Zhongnanhai gathering (facilitated by Premier Zhu Ronji's kind intervention) disappointed these political plotters. To China's misfortune, however, President Jiang Zemin--who is also the Communist Party's General Secretary--was convinced that his power was threatened by this large group of people. Those who plotted all of this once again enjoy center stage of the Chinese political arena, driving the anti-Falun Gong campaign at break-neck speed. They also find themselves enjoying an opportunity to harm their political rivals. Clearly, Falun Gong has been misinterpreted in every possible way to serve political purposes in China.

One important thing to note is that self-interest has been laced with a most potent thing throughout this matter: fear. Recall that in an editorial in The People's Daily it was stated that the government believes Falun Gong is fighting with them for people, and that Falun Gong has penetrated into the Party and political institutions-- including key departments, attempting to develop a force against the Chinese Government. Wang Zhaoguo, Minister of the Chinese United Front Line, and Hu Jintao, Vice President of China, believe that the creation and alleged penetration of Falun Gong denotes a political struggle with the Communist Party for the its people.

Though often unassociated, a number of phenomena exist alongside Falun Gong that drive Party members' paranoia. Being the year of the 10th anniversary of the student Democratic movement in Tiananmen Square, political dissidents were more active than before in 1999 and tried to organize an oppositional political party. The ethnic groups in Xingjian as well as Tibetans are struggling for independence. To the east just across the Taiwan straight, Taiwan is also voicing its independent status. Instead of addressing larger issues, the Chinese leadership has chosen to demonstrate its intolerance of any independent expression. A show of strength has been opted for over a show of concern. This has failed to resolve any of these issues, instead inducing larger conflicts. But conflict, it turns out, is the medicine chosen by many Party officials to recover the nation's health and to vault personal standing.

Should anyone doubt that Party leaders are conscious and concerned by such things, he or she need look no further than to the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia and its aftermath. China's state-run media seized the mishap as an occasion for whipping-up a strong sense of national identity and cohesion. Conspiracy theories and the claim that America did this "intentionally" and "viciously" were fed to a non-discerning public. Chinese officials relished the opportunity to scapegoat America (which it equated with NATO, somehow) and spur Chinese nationalism-- something not aroused anytime too recently.

To solidify this connection between Party officials' anxiety and the crackdown on Falun Gong, one can recall that the same week Falun Gong was banned, President Jiang Zimen and other senior officials blasted Taiwan and its President Lee Teng-hui for its "separatist tactics." Calling Lee "an evil man" and "a traitor to all Chinese people," the Chinese propaganda machine did all it could to create a national spirit.

In the end, something Chinese was chosen as the grand scapegoat: Falun Gong. Every imaginable social, political and economic problem has been placed upon the back of the Falun Gong sacrificial lamb. In doing so, the Chinese Government has done all possible to make itself out as the hero, protecting the Chinese people from the immanent, dangerous presence within China--Falun Gong. In the name of "social order," the Government has engineered and executed a ruthless persecution of Falun Gong. Nothing could be more ironic, as Falun Gong was perhaps the best answer to some of China's deep social woes. In making the persecution of Falun Gong out to be a heroic, noble, necessary deed, the Party has manufactured every imaginable piece of "evidence" to justify its terrible actions. On the sly, the Government has also intensified its persecution of ethnic minorities, unofficial religious groups, and democracy advocates. Even the practice of other qigong schools is now outlawed in public places--a fact revealing that it is not Falun Gong that scares leaders, but anybody doing something out of their control.

All of this seems to reflect the Party's having lost its ability to deal with critical issues. The Party does not feel secure with the existence of any social group that could possibly exert wide-ranging social influence. They find such a presence--no matter how benign or even beneficial--intolerable. This is no acceptable way to deal with insecurities or larger, unaddressed social, political, and economic issues.

Visit www.faluninfo.net for invaluable information and up-to-date reports concerning the political situation in China.

Teaching The Fa
by Master Li Hongzhi

Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in 2003 (May 18, 2003 - Li Hongzhi)

(Long Applause) I just saw some of you in the audience at the last Fa conference. It seems like our Fa conferences are held more often around summertime. When Fa conferences are held by different regions, people there Li Hongzhi always invite me and hope I'll attend. Actually, every time I see you it's because I have things to say to you. Usually when different regions hold Fa conferences they all want Master to attend and say a few words. But, sometimes you haven't fully grasped the requirements I laid out for you in the previous lecture, and then if I say more it's likely to dilute your understanding from the previous lecture and the things you need to do. So I can't attend Fa conferences that often. Actually, today I don't have anything in particular to talk about, but I promised the Vancouver students a long time ago that I would come when they held a Fa conference, so I came this time. (Warm applause)

You've been working hard. I've seen what you've done clarifying the facts and going to the consulates and embassies to validate the Fa. At this Fa conference students have had some trouble with their meals and lodging. When I got here I saw you moving all about in the streets. But no matter how trying it is, your goal is clear: in difficult situations we are able to save sentient beings and to succeed in cultivating ourselves; in this cultivation process we're able to temper ourselves and become purer and purer and more and more able to meet higher standards, and meanwhile, this evil persecution has made you more and more rational and come to know better and better how to face and confront the evil drama and this persecution. So, no matter how agonizing it is or how hard it is, we're Dafa disciples, so we aren't going after anything of ordinary people, and you're clear about your ultimate goal: we want to achieve the Consummation of a cultivator. What we want to obtain is something ordinary people could never obtain. That's why for Dafa disciples it's significant, and a serious thing, to start from an ordinary person and be able to completely transcend ordinary people during this process, and on top of that, you're cultivating in the ordinary society, and you have to meet higher standards--standards that transcend human society--and accomplish things that all cultivators throughout history have wanted to but never could accomplish. So things like your validating the Fa and saving sentient beings encompass how you improve yourselves, how you eliminate your omissions, things you're still attached to, and all types of shortcomings. This way, no matter what forms from the ordinary society you use in validating the Fa, you're cultivating, no matter what you do you're improving, and no matter what you do you should do it with a cultivator's state and not from the base point of an ordinary person.

It's clear what our starting point is. The essence of what you are doing as a cultivator is improving yourself and cultivating yourself, and, during this persecution, exposing the evil, bringing the persecution to an end, and rejecting the old forces' arrangements. So a lot of the things you do look like what ordinary people do, but their very nature is different. The fundamental difference is that our ultimate goal and our starting point are different from theirs. We're only utilizing some ordinary means in the ordinary society. The ordinary society, too, is a level that the Fa has created for humankind, so at this level we validate the Fa by making use of the culture that the Fa created for ordinary people and the various forms in which it can exist. I don't think there's anything wrong with these things.

You know, good and evil coexist in human society. But Dafa cultivators act completely out of goodness, and this has a positive effect on humankind, on society, on people's thinking, behavior, and moral values, and on us cultivators. The spread of Dafa has in fact achieved a huge, positive effect--an extremely good effect--on the society, human beings, and cultivators themselves, and everything that's manifest has been positive. We're clear about this, and so are the ordinary people in society. Under the evil persecution, some people were used and controlled by evil beings back then, and they said things that weren't from their hearts, things that appeared to mean something but didn't really, and things that didn't come from their own thinking--that was caused by the evil's manipulation. Today when human beings say something about Dafa they have to be responsible to themselves. Before, people could say that those words weren't their own intentions, since people were controlled and deceived by foreign evil beings. But, when the circumstance is that the foreign beings have been cleared away and people say something, then that's truly people speaking on their own, and so they have to take responsibility for it.

I make a practice of compassion (cibei). I can disregard the bad things people have done to, or have said about, Dafa disciples and me during this persecution, as well as the things they've done to make the situation worse. Of course, that's not true for those who've caused great damage to Dafa, though. Those ones aren't savable. Yes, the Fa can save anything and everything--you've heard Master tell you that I can turn everything into the best thing, no matter how bad it is--I can do all that, the Great Law can do that, but some malicious people have committed such sins against themselves during this persecution that they no longer deserve to hear what Dafa disciples have to say and no longer deserve to be saved by Dafa, in other words, in this persecution they've already positioned themselves for their futures and lost the chance to be saved. So these people aren't included. I've said that no matter how bad a being had become throughout history, he'd still have a chance. Whether he's in the human dimension or another dimension of any level, as long as he hasn't sinned against Dafa during this persecution, then no matter how huge his sins were during the course of history in the ordinary society or in another dimension of any level, I can save him. And I've said this to you: I disregard the past wrongs of any being in history. That's because even the cosmos is no longer good enough, and beings can no longer be compared to beings of the stage of formation and stasis periods, so when everything is no longer good enough I don't want to compare and pick which ones are relatively better. I just want to save everyone, and as long as they don't sin against the Fa-rectification itself, I can save them. I've been holding fast to this principle while doing things. (Applause)

There are often students who ask me about those people who want to learn Dafa but who've acted as spies for the evil that persecutes Dafa, and who've persecuted the Fa-rectification. These people who've sinned against Dafa but are still among Dafa students, in terms of their knowing sides they don't want to leave Dafa, yet in terms of their human sides they've been driven by their human notions and human attachments and done some things that have harmed Dafa disciples and the Fa-rectification. So with these people, who I still call "students," the problems are really serious and grave. But it's not that they can't be rescued anymore, it's not that they can't be saved anymore. They're still different from other beings. Right now the Fa-rectification hasn't ended, so there's still a chance to validate the Fa. In other words, there's still a chance to make up for it. I look at a being comprehensively and look at his entire history. If somebody is truly a Dafa disciple, if he was truly a very good being in the past but did something wrong momentarily in this environment, then he's still different from an ordinary person who has sinned against Dafa. After they make up for the harm they did they can still make it, and if they do well, there will be greater mighty virtue awaiting them all the same. (Applause)

I've said before that in ordinary society, no matter what your position is or what your job is, and even if your job is spying--which is special work and with special tasks, and that's why it's called special-task personnel, right?--nonetheless, you're a being, so you shouldn't truly miss this extremely rare and precious opportunity just because you have a special job, you can't ruin the chance that beings have been waiting tens of thousands of years for just because of your line of work. That's how I look at beings. Of course, back when I was teaching the Fa the door to salvation was left wide open--I didn't choose you based on any social class, occupation, or status. I don't look at those things at all. It makes no difference whether you're rich or poor, what social class you're in, whether you're smart or not, whether you're well-educated, which ethnic group you belong to--I don't make any distinctions. I don't look at any of the distinctions that human beings draw, and I don't have any of them in mind. I treat everyone the same. That's how I do it. And that certainly includes those special agents, and those who even take on spy work in order to find out more about Dafa.

Of course, if you look back and think about it, you'll see that I, as your Master, treat sentient beings with the greatest mercy. So if despite all of this I still can't save you, then there have to be consequences in store for such people. You know, a lot of students want to see me, and a lot of ordinary people want to see me. When some people see me they get excited without knowing why, and when some people see me they feel especially warm and close. Some people get so excited they want to cry. That's because their knowing sides all know that whoever sees me, I will help him, (applause) and I can reduce the sins and karma he made throughout history. (Applause) So no matter what your job is or what you do, as long as you see me, I'll have you develop good (shan) thoughts, and as long as you see me I'll reduce your sins and your karma amidst your good thoughts. (Applause) In fact, everyone in the world has a knowing side, they're aware. Or to put it another way, it doesn't matter what you've done or what you do, I treat all of you this way. (Applause) Maybe this is the "greatest mercy" that people talk about. Of course, that's how it manifests among the beings at this level. When I treat people like this, when I treat the world's people like this, if under this kind of mercy and under this tolerance that completely surpasses how ordinary people treat beings, and still the world's people, human beings, are harming Dafa and letting down the Dafa disciples who are trying to save them, then Buddha Fa has its dignity, and when they still don't do well after such mercy there's absolutely no hope for their existence.

You know about SARS in China, well, back in the past the old forces decided to [use it] to eliminate eight million people in China. Instead of being repentant they're still hiding the facts there. Out of compassion for human beings, [Master] wants to give human beings more chances and doesn't want to have so many people die. But instead of being repentant, they're even using SARS to persecute Dafa disciples and they're covering up the facts. The people in power are ordinary people too, and they too are subject to divine punishment. Gods are warning the world's people, and yet [some] people still want to cover things up and prevent the world's people from learning their lessons. Then what they have in store for them is even worse punishment from the heavens! In other words, while I'm treating all beings with the greatest mercy, if some of you beings still can't come through, then I'll leave you alone, and there will of course be other ways to deal with you. To put it another way, Buddha Fa is merciful, but it also has the solemn nature of Gods, and people aren't allowed to just do whatever they want and not take Gods' mercy seriously. That's an act of blasphemy toward Gods.

When I taught the Fa last time I brought up how some students have made mistakes that they shouldn't have. Actually, as long as you're steadfast in studying the Fa and study it well , you correct yourself, and you conduct yourself well again, then you're still a Dafa disciple. Just do well next time, that's all, and don't dwell on it as if it were so grave. If in your mind you take it to be so grave it'll create another situation where you feel pressured by regret and worry, and then you will sink into the attachment and you won't be able to break out of it. The whole cultivation process of a Dafa disciple is a process of removing human attachments. No matter what it is you've experienced, as soon as you realize the problem just correct it immediately; if you fall, just get up and continue to do what a Dafa disciple should do. In that case the mistake you made will just be counted as a test you didn't handle well during your cultivation, you can try to get through it next time, and there will be more opportunities for you to pass the test again. That's all. Master can't count the [wrong] things you do during your cultivation as a big deal. But with those people who can't pull out of that situation or who repeat the mistakes, it's a different story, then. You can't develop new attachments because you've made a mistake.

Before when I taught the Fa I didn't use to put things too strongly, the reason being, I didn't want to create mental burdens for you or cause other attachments. And it's for this reason that I rarely teach the Fa to a student individually. Once I teach the Fa to a person and point out his shortcomings, just think about it, his mind will be really burdened since the words came from my mouth. That's why I rarely teach the Fa to somebody one-on-one. When I teach the Fa I talk about widely applicable things and speak in a broad sense. And when it comes to problems that are minor, that are off to the sides, or that are isolated and only apply to a few individuals, and when they don't interfere with Dafa students as a whole, then there's no need for me to bring them up. That's because during the cultivation process the students will see those things among themselves and they'll point them out to those people, they'll point out the shortcomings. And even if those people can't realize it right away, since they have attachments, they'll gradually come to realize it. Only when problems arise in the body at large or that have to do with Dafa's overall situation, or when there's a problem with the situation of your validating Dafa, only then do I talk about it. For example, right now in a few regions of Mainland China there are still people spreading fake [Dafa] scriptures, and some people are so attached that they're even memorizing them, and they don't just memorize them, they even go around promoting them among students. What's driving them to do that? They're doing that because the fake scriptures contain things they're attached to and things that fit with their human attachments. I don't think they're intentionally trying to damage the Fa. It's because they have attachments and have human thoughts that they're doing this, they've done things that the evil wants to see done, and they've interfered with Dafa disciples' validating the Fa.

I've actually attended Fa conferences in Canada several times now. (Applause) There are three main ones, and they made a pretty deep impression on you. The first time, as you know, was shortly before July 20 [of 1999]. The second time was when the suppression and persecution were really severe. That one was held in Ottawa and I went there. This time, it's when the evil is being completely eliminated on a large scale, and the Fa-rectification is moving at a torrid pace, eliminating the evil at a very fast speed and breaking through the human dimension. It's at this time that I'm here to meet with you. So these three Fa conferences in Canada are quite telling. (Long applause)

We should say that the Canadian students have done a great job, and this is reflected in a lot of different things. Your doing a good job of cooperating has been the key, and there haven't been many cases where you let personal attachments affect how you validate Dafa. And there haven't been too many cases among you where you insist on your own opinions to the point that you can't let go. There hasn't been much friction among the students. You've cooperated with each other fairly well, and that's how you've created such a good situation in terms of validating the Fa. And of course, Canada is a special place. The Canadian government and people have given a lot of support and sympathy to Dafa and the Dafa disciples, and we should thank the Canadian people and government for these things. (Warm applause)

So looking at these three Fa conferences and thinking back, we can see clearly the differences in the overall situation. I've met with the students in Canada three times, and the changes in the overall situation in between those three times have been big. You've all seen it. When the persecution first started the pressure was quite intense. When I taught the Fa in Canada before July 20, 1999, a lot of what I said was actually to hint at things to the world's people--I was telling the world's people something. Every person has a knowing side. When I teach the Fa I'm not just speaking to human beings, the layers upon layers of me's are speaking to beings at different levels, and that's because anything that happens at this human place isn't isolated--it's a reflection, at the lowest level, of cosmic changes taking place. It's just like what I've said before: truths are different from level to level. From a higher level the truths at lower levels seem wrong, but truths are truths at their own respective levels, and the states, the manifestations, and the standards for the same thing are different at different levels, with things more toward the Truth the higher they get. But overall the truths run down from the top to the bottom consistently, and when they manifest at different levels they're the truths of different levels. Beings at each level, then, have different states and different understandings of the truths. The lower it gets, the lower the requirements and the poorer the conduct of beings. When it gets to this lowest level of human beings, this is how beings behave, and it's close to the worst. The old forces made very specific arrangements for this evil persecution. I'm restraining the evil here, and those righteous, Fa-Guardian Gods are doing that, too. The old forces have their arrangements, but in fact the evil is being restrained, too. When the evil puts its evilness to work, they act like they are terribly domineering, but when it gets to the actual results they're very weak. Of course, when the wicked humans act on the evil's behalf, as long as the Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts don't have omissions and are strong, then the wicked people will become timid and they'll even be conquered by the righteous thoughts. That's how things are. Overall the evil hasn't been able to accomplish whatever it wants to, and that's because Gods have been controlling things after all. The old forces have their arrangements, but they're just trying to bring about the situation that they need, and the old forces haven't been able to do whatever they want at will either, the reason being, what I want to do and the righteous Gods' restraints on them prevent them from achieving what they set out to do.

The old cosmos has old truths. Any being, before he's rectified by the Fa, he can't see anything that's post Fa-rectification, and he can't see the true manifestation of the new Fa since he isn't worthy. When a being can truly see the manifestation of the new Fa and the new cosmos, then he's equivalent to a new being, and he'll naturally do things accordingly. They can't see those things because they are beings that belong to the cosmos of the past, and so they can't see the future that doesn't belong to the cosmos of the past. And this future isn't the things that were arranged during the historical period of the old cosmos, where there are fast and slow times and differences among different dimensions, and which are things the Gods of the old cosmos can see. It's about a different and new cosmos, one in which everything's been rearranged--be it the time, the dimensions, the beings, the mechanisms, or the Fa. It's not connected to anything of the old cosmos in any way, and the beings of the old cosmos can't see it. If they could they would surpass the abilities of all Gods. So they're going by the old Fa, following the order of the old cosmos, and doing what they want to do. A lot of things are indeed hard to change. Sometimes I ask them to do certain things and they think it's groundless, so they don't dare to do them. They're just beings of this time period, so they think that that is the right way to do things. When they don't do anything at all, that can be counted as behaving well.

Actually, the ones who've been interfering with the Fa-rectification are the gang of old forces. Relatively more beings in the gigantic cosmos haven't taken part in it, and their state is one of watching things. But, once the overall, immense current of Fa-rectification arrives, whether they've been observing it or taking part in it, they will all be resolved in the Fa-rectification; those who should be assimilated will be assimilated, those who should be benevolently resolved will be benevolently resolved, and with those who can't be assimilated or benevolently resolved, if their levels should be lowered their levels will be lowered, and those who've committed crimes and should be cast down will be cast down. I'd say it's not easy for a being to enter the future, it's no easy thing, and that's because the future doesn't belong to the beings of this cycle. If you look at it from the perspective of the old understandings, for beings of this cycle to enter the future, for them to enter the next cycle of cosmic bodies that don't belong to them, that's absolutely impossible. During this Fa-rectification [I] have been treating everything and all beings with the greatest mercy, and that's the reason [I] wanted to assimilate these beings and get them over there from this old cosmos, and that's why I set out to do Fa-rectification of the cosmos. If this weren't the case, there wouldn't be any opportunities at all for the beings of this cycle to go to the future. The future doesn't belong to them, it doesn't belong to these beings of the present. So if someone wants to go to the future he has to meet the requirements of the future.

Of course, for a being at the present time that's not achievable, and it's really hard for him to conform to it. But there's one point: my Fa is being spread, and layer upon layer of sentient beings all know it, and a lot of beings are learning it and reading it. There's Zhuan Falun at every level, the truths at each level are different, and the words inside appear different, and they're all the truth of the new cosmos at different levels. A lot of beings are reading it and assimilating themselves to it. The reason is, this is something that's never happened before even since extremely remote times, since the beginning of time in the cosmos, and it's something sentient beings never dared to think about, that is, being able to span such a large gap in history, since that history doesn't belong to any of the beings in the present cosmos. Everything in this history, and all beings in the cosmos that are living in this environment, and this history that provides for beings' existence in this environment, [will] truly enter the future that doesn't belong to this history, and it actually has nothing to do with them. It's unlike this old cosmos, where when the cosmic bodies at different levels become no longer good enough they get destroyed and then new ones are created. That process sounds the same as sentient beings' creation and destruction of new and old universes at different levels in the colossal firmament, but it's in fact completely different. Regardless of how the different cosmic bodies in the cosmos are destroyed and recreated, they're still the result of the one single thought of a higher being in this cosmos at a high level and his abilities. In other words, they're still a result of the old cosmos's standards and arrangements. That's because for an even larger being, the cosmic bodies beneath him are all part of his body, and when a certain cell is eliminated during the metabolic process, when the cell is recreated, it still carries his own mechanisms, his own characteristics, and the things of his own universe--everything is done by him. But when the entire cosmos is truly gone, it's just like this being has died, and later on, at a certain time, when a being is recreated, it has nothing to do with the being that died. What I'm talking about here isn't like what I said about how when the soul leaves the flesh body it's like taking off his clothes and changing into other clothes, it's not that type of connection, and it has no relationship to the past.

All of the Trinity of a being dissolves and ceases to exist, and no matter how high the being is, nothing's left. This concept, in terms of the end of this firmament, is an empty one for all beings of this cosmos, they're all baffled by it and nobody understands it; it's something beyond their comprehension. Even if they let their imaginations go that's still limited to what a being can think or know about in this cosmos, and it's within the extent of wisdom produced by the beings of this cycle. The Fa-rectification, as major as it is, means nothing to them. And what's more, the sentient beings are all taken by surprise when faced with all the things in Fa-rectification, and they don't know how to react. They all know that the truths I taught are good, but the old truths are there, and they were created during the degeneration and destruction periods by the old truths. That's why the Fa-rectification's requirement for all beings is that they don't do anything.

The most fortunate ones are those who haven't made a move during the Fa-rectification period--they've just been quietly watching things. Since I want to save them all, I'll make all these beings assimilate to and go over to the new cosmos. But the old forces saw that many beings had committed numerous sins in history, they thought that those beings shouldn't be saved and shouldn't be kept, and they felt certain that they're in control of my Fa-rectification, so they arranged for the weeding out of those beings during my Fa-rectification. So why do they, when it comes to the beings in this world, make those vicious policemen so cruel, violent, and fierce, and why do they make those low-level evil things do evil? Their goal is to eliminate certain people of the world and students that they don't think highly of. So they make both those evildoers and their victims commit huge sins. Those whose levels are a bit higher don't do these things directly. They think that since they're Gods, they are holy and pure and they don't want to stick their hands in a pile of garbage to directly stir things around, and that's because once they came here they'd fall down. So they successively control beings in the level that's immediately below theirs. The old forces at different levels are doings things that interfere with Fa-rectification at each level, and that's why when it gets to the human world the evil beings act more viciously. Never before has Fa-rectification been done. No matter how perilous the situation gets, the Fa-rectification remains an unprecedented opportunity for all sentient beings. The Fa has existed for a long time; I came with this almighty, this harmonizing and all-encompassing, this unprecedented, and this best Fa. (Warm applause)

But for Dafa disciples who came to validate the Fa and for beings in the greater cosmos, it's just a matter of making the Fa's salvation a concrete reality. In other words, this Fa was here long ago, and it's just a question of how sentient beings act according to this Fa, or as I put it, how they assimilate over--it just involves this process, that's all. I've said before that nobody can damage this Fa. It's not that I'm creating some new Fa while I'm doing things. The Fa has existed since a very long time ago. It's just a matter of how sentient beings are assimilated to the Fa, that's all. The more wisdom a being has the more highly he thinks of himself, but there are realities that even a being with a great deal of wisdom can't see at his level. Any thought he has toward the Fa-rectification affects him a great deal. One thought of his can make layer after layer of sentient beings sin against the Fa-rectification, and then he'd have sinned against the Fa-rectification. No matter how gigantic the beings are, they all face this issue, because no being of this cosmos belongs to the future cosmos, and no matter how much of the true situation they can see they still can't see what's ultimate. So even for the final, last beings of the cosmos this could be a huge catastrophe--as soon as an [improper] thought emerges, they can't escape the catastrophe. I'm using human words to describe things this way and calling it a catastrophe, because without Fa-rectification there wouldn't be a question of saving sentient beings and everything that's recreated would have nothing to do with the old cosmos. So this is in fact the greatest mercy toward the beings in the cosmos. (Applause)

You know, beings of different levels of the cosmos, different cosmic bodies, different firmaments, and different colossal firmaments are created by the single thought of a high-level God. Even as I was just saying this, there are some beings sitting up there and feeling quite pleased with themselves. They think that everything was created by one single thought of theirs. But those who are above them are laughing at them--"All of it was created by a single thought of mine." And those who are at even higher levels are thinking this way, too. This is because none of them know that there are even more gigantic Lords above them. But the one who truly sees how laughable they are is me. (Applause) This Fa-rectification is the biggest opportunity for them and the greatest mercy toward them, yet they all want to control all of this. They think that what they have in their control is the best and that they're helping me with Fa-rectification. They even forcefully push their best things on me. Think about it, when they push things on me, how much of an impediment, how much of an obstacle, are they making for me? And when you don't want their things they think that you're rejecting the best things, and so it's the same as your destroying this cosmos, it's the same as your destroying the future--that's how they see it. They only have that much wisdom so that's the extent of their understanding.

Almost all of the levels upon levels of beings within the old forces' system think and act this way, and that's what caused the obstructions in the Fa-rectification. When that one thought of theirs manifests at the cosmos's lowest level it brings about the worst results. The lower and worse the beings are, the worse and more wicked the things they do. That's in fact how this whole persecution came about. Actually, the levels upon levels of beings that I just talked about... just now I wasn't talking about the beings inside those immense cosmic bodies anymore--I was talking about those main bodies, Kings, bigger main bodies, and Kings of Kings of different, immense cosmic bodies. I was talking about those beings. Think about how many levels upon levels, countless, boundless, measureless Gods, Buddhas, Daos, and sentient beings there are in the firmament. There's no point in talking about them, as what they do, or what they're doing specifically, is all caused by what their main bodies do.

The cosmos is just so immense, so once Master talks about it, the talk will get very broad and high-level, because what I face now are all issues like these, and what I'm dealing with right now are all issues like these. And what's reflected in the world of ordinary people all comes from what beings at those high levels have done. I don't teach the Fa arbitrarily, I teach them, also, the Truth, and I teach specifically regarding these things. It sounds very high to those down below, but those of you sitting here are all Dafa disciples, so, after all, I'm not teaching something to ordinary people. The things I'm talking about today are in fact hard for ordinary people to understand. But people can sense my compassion, they can sense energy, and they can sense that it's good for them. Yet only Dafa disciples truly understand what I'm teaching. (Applause)

You haven't had lunch yet, so I don't really want to talk too long. (Long, enthusiastic applause asking Master to stay)

Actually, no matter how much I say, you still have to actually do cultivation--that is what's first and foremost. Don't underestimate your Fa conference--it's part of Dafa disciples' overall cultivation process. (Applause) So while you want to hear me teach even higher and about more things, and to go into more specifics, in fact, during cultivation you still have to make progress one step at a time. So before the Fa-rectification is over you should seize the time that's left and solidly do well in every single thing that a Dafa disciple should do. That's how you should proceed on this path toward the future and toward what's the most magnificent; you can't miss any single opportunity, or go awry with any step.

That's really hard even just trying your best to walk your path well. During cultivation you're in fact constantly stumbling and falling and then picking yourself up to keep on going. But this society that you're facing, which has been forged by this human science, this reality, is very enticing. So, when you're faced with this ordinary society, it's really hard to balance being a cultivator and being an everyday person, and it's hard to break out of all kinds of attachments. But no matter what, you're Dafa disciples, so just keep righteous thoughts in your minds and try your best to do well what you should do. You're cultivating while conforming to ordinary people to the maximum extent. You don't need to become monks or act like those people who've left the secular world behind. In fact, this is already the most convenient in terms of form. But when it comes to elevating your xinxing, there can be absolutely no compromise. Some people can detect it, and some might not be able to detect it, and you might not even detect that strongly your elevation and your improvement. But, when it comes to those things, it's absolutely strict. Whenever a part is fully cultivated it'll be immediately assimilated to the other side, and that's why on this side of yours you always feel as if you haven't improved much. The reason is, the changes at the surface are very small, whereas the changes at the core are huge. So in this state it's guaranteed that you can cultivate, guaranteed that you can improve, and guaranteed that in the cultivation process even when you slip and fall while you're not paying enough attention it won't result in your dropping in level. That's because the side that has been fully cultivated was separated. Once separated, the side that's been fully cultivated won't make mistakes when the human body does, and so it's not likely for it to drop in levels. This is in terms of normal cultivation. But as for those people who go to the opposite side at critical times or do things to persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples, it's a different matter. For cultivators, though, when it comes to raising the requirement on your xinxing and letting go of your attachments, there's absolutely no wiggle room, and the standard can absolutely not be lowered, because we need to be responsible to the future, and to the cosmos and the sentient beings of the future. Many Dafa disciples will achieve the status of gigantic beings in the future, and they will encompass many sentient beings, even boundless beings. So if your standard is lowered, then that level of the cosmos won't last long and that level of the firmament won't last long, so you have to meet the standard.

However, don't get anxious because Master said that. I've never forced you into anything. You can cultivate while conforming to the ordinary society as much as possible. But as a cultivator, you need to know how you should act. Try your best to do well, and try your best to measure up to the standard for a cultivator. I'm very much against your immediately getting anxious as soon as you hear Master say something, and once you get anxious you immediately go to extremes and stop doing anything, thinking "I'll do only Fa-rectification things." You can't do that, because the path Dafa disciples take today will be the cultivation path of people in the future.

You've seen the effect religion has on society when human morality is on the wane. Not only can it not save people, but it also corrupts people's righteous faith. As for clergymen, people that have left the secular world behind, and cultivators, ordinary people have placed their trust and faith in Gods on them, they've placed their hopes on these people. So when those people don't do well, it's not just about an individual not doing well. When a cultivation group or a religion doesn't walk an upright path, it's not just a matter of it itself not walking an upright path. It will cause the entire society to degenerate and it'll cause problems for large groups of people. And at the same time, these people's disbelief in Gods is the most pitiable and the saddest thing for sentient beings, for those sentient beings that believe in Gods. So in the future it's quite likely that there will be no such form as religion. Perhaps the textbooks that mankind studies in the future will have elements of Fa permeating them, and perhaps those who can do well, or do even better, in their activities in society will be the same as cultivating. Dafa disciples, when you recall everything that you're doing today, isn't it like that as well? Dafa doesn't have any tangible form in the world that makes it some kind of politics in society.

I'll have everything of the future go down the most righteous path. So, the people of the future will be blessed. This human society will remain in the future, so it's a blessing for the beings in the future, for the sentient beings at different levels in the future, because it's an opportunity, and it's a part of Dafa's harmonizing and perfecting beings. So in comparison, the human society of the future will have great changes and differences from today's human society. Haven't a lot of people said that the people of the future would be blessed? For the cultivators of the past, cultivating was hard. Many people who wanted to cultivate thought of a way: to suffer and cultivate through suffering. Cultivating through suffering can indeed reduce karma, because you're cultivating, after all, so you can elevate. But even when they gave it all they had, their levels were still limited, and most of them couldn't go beyond the Three Realms. The reason was, there wasn't Fa to guide their cultivation, and they didn't know the Fa's standards and requirements at different levels. And the beings at different levels had a hard time being responsible for them. It's not that Gods weren't merciful to them, it's the law of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition at work in the cosmos. Whenever somebody has a thought, it produces different elements that are from both the positive and the negative sides. When you have a thought of goodness, evil emerges as well, and when you have an evil thought, it too has an effect. That's why many cultivators have said that "both good and evil emerge out of one thought." But who really knows the truth behind those words? Gods can't act rashly. Saving people isn't a trivial thing. Why was it that when Jesus saved people and was doing such a huge good deed, the beings in the Heavens controlled things like that? And why'd they even have him crucified? It appeared that he was suffering for humans' sins, but why would a God have to suffer for mankind's sins? Why didn't higher Gods intervene? Why couldn't Gods directly reduce humans' sins? In the past, these were laws in the cosmos--everything was like that. From my perspective it's because the old cosmos's Fa lacks wisdom in this regard, so next time it won't be like this. In the future a lot of huge changes will take place, so for sentient beings it will be wonderful all around, and such wickedness won't exist.

But, even though relatively speaking the law of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition won't be absolute anymore in the future, it will still exist, and positive and negative beings will still exist. So when it comes to the worst, lowest level, even though it won't be as wicked as the lowest level before, the lowest level still won't be good. The people of the future will be blessed, but only compared to today's people. There will be things that produce karma, as well as suffering to eliminate mankind's karma, so there will be wars, plagues, and disasters. It'll definitely be that way. Otherwise, when mankind's sins became too much and they weren't eliminated and paid for through suffering, mankind would be annihilated. If mankind had no suffering it wouldn't know what happiness is; this human place can't possibly become heaven. Exactly because it has suffering, a person can cultivate here, and when he doesn't do well he can make karma. So human society will always be a special environment.

Mankind will be given the greatest blessing, that means the future mankind won't have standards as low as the present mankind, and that is the greatest mercy. (Applause) When everything's no longer so wicked the environment will be elevated, relatively speaking. The suffering won't be so low, and everything will be maintained at a foundation that has a higher standard than the current mankind, and where everything will be evaluated by the Fa at this level. So as for the future people, those who are able to step into the future are blessed. And why is that? It's because Dafa was spread here, this place was created for Dafa, the beings here made sacrifices, and they are credited for history's progression to this point today. So blessings will be given to the future beings and to the future mankind.

Of course, this isn't a simple thing. Everything in the cosmos correlates with each other, they are interconnected, and they complement and supplement each other, and there are other factors and reasons at work, too. So in other words, when such changes happen in the world, in fact the different dimensions and levels in the entire cosmos correspondingly elevate their realms, too. Every level ... when the standard at this place of the Three Realms has elevated, then think about it, you can't elevate to a level where you're together with Gods, so the places where Gods are have to elevate, too. And you can't have one level of Gods elevated to where another level of Gods is, either, so that level of Gods has to elevate, too. In other words, the standard at every level elevates. So in other words, the environment at every level will be better. Of course, to achieve these things, the firmament's mechanisms and such, and the Fa's wisdom and abilities have to reach that point, and that's how it can make the way beings exist and every facet of things become more wonderful.

What Dafa disciples are dealing with today is establishing the best beings of the future. And that's why for all of you, when it comes to xinxing requirements, or the standard that you as cultivators can achieve, you don't have any wiggle room--you must reach the standard.

The Fa requires you to conform as much as possible to this ordinary society's way of life, so for the sake of your being able to live here, you can't have people regarding you as some kind of strange or odd person. Even though a lot of people who've left the secular world are cultivating this, religion is in fact just another form of human society's current condition. So in this way the paths that you take are in fact establishing the foundation for future beings. All of this isn't about using you as an experiment, though. The Fa has existed for a long time; you're realizing it in action, it's just a process like this. The Fa-rectification is bound to succeed. You might have heard from various prophecies or people with abilities that mankind will meet with such and such a catastrophe. But nobody has dared to say that this Fa-rectification won't succeed, and that's because it will succeed beyond any doubt. The reason being, it doesn't matter whether beings can realize in action the Fa's requirements for them, Fa-rectification will certainly succeed. That's because if the human race couldn't make it through in validating the Fa, the Fa would create all beings anew--the Fa has whatever is lacking, because everything is readily available. What's called "mercy" is my intending to let the beings of the old era be assimilated and become part of the beings of the new era. That's what I want to do.

Over the course of history people have heard beings at different levels talking about such-and-such kinds of mercy, and even Gods at very high levels talk about mercy. But their ideas of mercy are limited to certain standards, and all of them are confined by their understandings and realms. This great mercy in Fa-rectification, however, no beings in the entire cosmos have ever come across it before. What's meant by "the Buddha's boundless grace"? (Warm applause) Of course, the beings of the future will see the Dafa disciples' saving of sentient beings. When you've succeeded in cultivation the beings of the future will know about your infinite Buddha's grace. But the people of the future won't know about me, only you can know about me, and that's because with sentient beings, they don't need to know--and actually they are not worthy to know--and it's enough for them to know you. Originally no one knew about me anyway, and in the future they still won't know. (Master laughs) (Warm applause)

Beings are complicated. The truth is, I've already realized in action the process of a human becoming a God. My flesh body is already governing the Falun Paradise, and in the future you'll see many me's of the past and, at that time, you might mistake them for me. In fact, the essence of the true me's main body, the true Main Me, is hard for beings to know. But I know everything about you. (Master laughs) (Long applause)

When I came, I went through the process of descending level by level. Gods at very high levels have a Trinity. At different levels there are different concepts and understandings of the Trinity. At very high levels where there are physical forms, Trinity is the composition of True Body, True Spirit, and Thought--that's the Trinity. That's how it is at very high levels. At even higher levels it's no longer the case, though--there, thought and body are one, there's no distinction. Now I'll just speak from the levels where Gods have forms, and the Trinity is of True Body, True Spirit, and Thought.

When I came down to the level that has physical forms, I began to create a True Body, and then I descended step by step into the colossal firmament. Each time, I had the True Body descend alone. In other words, the real me is the True Body. I've said to you all along that I am at the most surface level, and this true skin is me. That's because at any level I always created what's at the most surface level, I always created the True Body, so having arrived at this place of humans the True Body exists this time inside the flesh body. (Applause) Therefore, I left quite a few of my True Spirits at different levels and in the past history. They are all my True Spirits of the past at different levels. Over the ages, some of them thought that I wouldn't be able to return again, so they fashioned another body [at their levels], all of which have my exact appearance at those times. So what this means is, in the universes of the future you'll see the past of many me's. All of them can enter the new cosmos of the future after they are assimilated, because it's their mighty virtue and blessing to have been me. Each time I descended with the True Body, so each time when the body was about to descend, the True Spirit would not want me to descend, as they all knew that going down would entail a lot of hardship and would be no different from being destroyed. No matter how high a level a God comes from, in the eyes of Gods, when he eventually reaches this human place he has basically died. So as I descended level by level, from the outset on to the end I always made the True Body. But even though this True Body has gone through numerous different levels over the course of a long history, where did this skin ultimately come from, and who is it? No being can know or understand. This time, in the same fashion, I descended to the human world along with the human body, and have resided in the outermost surface of a human form. What's different is that the True Body is inside my flesh body, but no being can find out or see my ultimate origin. When just now I said that it would be hard for beings in the future to know about me, that's what I meant.

I'd say that what I talked about today is pretty high-level. (Applause) But all the same, as Dafa disciples, after you hear what you've heard, just take it easy and don't form some kind of attachment. Gradually, as you go through the cultivation process, you will come to know some of it, and some of you might come to know all of it after you eventually reach Consummation.

Speaking of Consummation, your Consummation doesn't happen suddenly in one fell swoop, like with those elixir (dan)-cultivators of the past, where it's blasted open in one shot--it's not like that. So how does a Dafa disciple reach Consummation? That side that you've fully cultivated knows everything--it's you. When this little bit of your most surface part gets over, it'll be as if you naturally wake up from a slumber. That's how it will be, and there's no tremor. (Applause)

During your cultivation, when you see different truths of the Fa from the books, those are only the little bit of understanding you get here on the human side. You know, the real Buddha truths can't be completely unfolded right before a cultivator who still has a surface human body, so you only have a general understanding on this side, while the side that's fully cultivated already has a complete understanding in that realm. So to put it another way, while you're cultivating, whatever level you're supposed to be at, in that realm of the cosmos, the side of you that's fully cultivated knows everything at each of the levels below you, and everything is completely before your eyes. This is true for the entire part of you that's been fully cultivated, all the way until the last part of you is fully cultivated, and you'll know everything as if it's very natural. Your surface will be like you're waking up from sleep--"Aha"--and you'll just go about doing whatever you're supposed to do. That's how it is. (Applause)

Your thinking at that time won't have this human way of thinking or structure, that is, the thought structure of your fully-cultivated part will have been shaped according to a God's best standard. That way, the way of thinking won't be a low-level way of thinking, but you'll know everything at lower levels. Actually, you know, be it Buddha Shakyamuni or some other God or Buddha, they know the thoughts of even cattle and horses, and they know the thoughts of even lower beings, they know it all, and fully, but they won't go inside there. They just know everything, that's all. Later on when you Dafa disciples finish your cultivation you'll see clearly everything that's below you, and you'll know everything. But your way of thinking won't be the same as theirs, you won't go inside there, and your thinking will be completely in your realm. So later on, when you reach Consummation, maybe it'll be like waking up from sleep, and you'll naturally come to know everything. That's because the part of you that's been fully cultivated has been over on the other side for a long time now--and time over there isn't the same as time in this dimension--that side of you has spent a long time there and is familiar with everything, so when the last little part of you here on this side gets over, it too will become aware of everything. (Applause)

I've told you before that when cultivators in the past became Enlightened they would explode their elixir, and when the elixir was exploded, the explosion occurred in dimensions of every level, so it would have a huge impact on the earth, there'd be landslides and tidal waves, there would be tremendous shaking. All of that would happen. Now there are so many Dafa disciples, and their cultivation levels are high. Wow!--it'd be too massive, wouldn't that bring enormous disasters to human society? So it won't happen that way. Everything will be really natural. So in terms of this Fa, back when I first started to do this undertaking I took everything into consideration. Everything in this Fa is the most encompassing and perfect, and the best.

Also, a lot of our students are concerned about many things, all kinds of stuff. In fact, once you think about those things your realm has dropped. Don't think about anything, and don't worry about anything. Master is compassionate, and he'll definitely arrange for you what's the best. (Applause) You don't need to think, "That's Master being merciful to us," because it's what you've achieved through cultivation, and it results from your own mighty virtue. That's why Master does it for you.

That's all I'll say. (Warm applause)

Those who haven't done well: hurry up and get diligent. We'll resume our Fa conference. Take every step well. The better the times get, I'm going to tell you, the fewer the predestined opportunities, so you should try your best to do well the things Dafa disciples should do. But you can't go to extremes, you can't go to any extreme. Once you go to an extreme, you've damaged the path I arranged for you and Fa's requirements for you. You should do the things you should do in a normal way. If tomorrow is Consummation, today you still won't know it, and suppose you're thinking about opening a business, then just go ahead and do it. But I'll harmonize everything for you. Don't think about anything! Just do whatever you're supposed to do. (Warm applause)

I'll end by wishing our Vancouver Fa Conference success. Thank you all. (Long applause)

Editor's note: The translation is subject to further improvement so as to be closer to the original text. Last updated: July 11, 2003.

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Teaching The Fa by Master Li Hongzhi

Why Is Jiang Zemin Persecuting Falun Dafa?
by Shiyu Zhou, Ph.D.

Teaching The Fa
by Master Li Hongzhi