Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference

(Li Hongzhi ~ October 16, 2014)

      (Master enters the hall. All disciples stand and enthusiastically applaud.)

     Good morning! Please be seated. Many people from different regions have come to this Fa conference, including some from mainland China. Many people came out of there earlier, a few years back, and over the last two years more Dafa disciples have gradually come out of China. Master hopes that you can, sooner rather than later, turn around your way of thinking and come to have the same way of thinking as do people in the rest of the world.

     Over the last several decades, the gradual and at times imperceptible indoctrination and influence of the evil CCP’s Party culture has made the Chinese people’s disposition warped, including that of some Dafa disciples, making them think about things in extreme ways—to the point that their thinking is completely different from that of people abroad or of people in ancient, traditional China. Mainland China has well over a billion people, and through gradual indoctrination their minds have become deviant without their knowing it. They think that everyone is the same, that there’s nothing unusual [about their thinking], and that that’s just how people are. But that is not true! Sometimes when a media outlet utilizes you or when a project lets you participate, your ways of thinking, those extreme ways of doing things that come from Party culture, your lying, and your halfhearted way of working really exasperate [others]. If you interact with Americans or people from free countries around the world, they will find you odd. Master has experienced this personally. Some time ago Master came here from China as well, but at the time I immediately sensed this issue and saw the difference in people. Sometimes when practitioners outside China are hesitant to accept you, or are hesitant to include you in their projects, it’s not because you have problems, but rather, the issue is that it’s really just impossible to work with you.

     After a person’s thinking has been shaped by Party-culture indoctrination, his actions, which include how he writes, are full of Party culture. Sometimes I think, well, the Epoch Times, Minghui.org, and other websites all need manpower, and we have people from mainland China who are in their prime and have advanced degrees. But if those media were to really bring you on board, they would become Chinese Party-culture media. That [deviant way of thinking] isn’t caused by their nationality or culture, but by the vile Party’s distorting of people’s thinking. So you need to interact more with people outside of China, get to know them more, and quickly turn around your thinking. Otherwise, even if you are young you won’t be able to contribute much. What’s more, your state of mind is also different. When you do things you are always guarding yourselves, and you talk in a very veiled and evasive manner, giving others the impression that you are shifty. You are evasive about everything, but love to inquire about everything. How could others communicate with you, then? And how could people interact with you and work with you? That’s why many Dafa disciples outside of China think that people like you are spies. That’s the impression they get.

     Dafa disciples are supposed to be open and broadminded, so what is there to fear? You are in America now. Here the vile CCP is considered a terrible menace, something monstrous, and that’s what people everywhere think. This is not its turf. So what is there to fear, then? It is the wicked CCP that’s afraid. If you tell people you are a member of the wicked CCP, they won’t process a green card for you, right? That’s a well-known fact. No country welcomes and accepts the evil CCP. I wanted to briefly mention these things after seeing so many Dafa disciples who have come from China.

     I’ve been saying all along that, yes, during the last ten-plus years, with all those trials and hardships, things have appeared quite chaotic. Dafa disciples have been persecuted by the wicked Party, with it arresting people everywhere, creating terror, and oppressing and attacking people, making quite a mess. But do you realize that there is an arrangement behind the chaos? And the thoughts and each and every move of every practitioner, of every person in the world, are being watched very closely and seen clearly. There is order to the “chaos,” and it was arranged.

     You’ve learned about the structure of the universe. I have told you about the concept of dimensions going from particles to planets. But actually, there is more to it. There are vertical ones, horizontal ones… even in a space as little as the tip of one’s pinky finger there are countless billions of worlds, and they are [filled with] gods. There are so many beings and gods throughout the entire cosmos, and they are densely packed without any gaps, all staring at you and watching closely the thoughts of everyone on earth, for this affair on earth impacts the entire cosmic body. Dafa disciples’ every single thought, the direction of the overall situation, and the success or failure of the Fa-rectification are determining whether or not the cosmos can remain. That’s how enormous this affair is. Things appear to be disorderly, but they are, in fact, orderly; things play out in chaotic ways, but things are detailed for each person.

     I do not recognize this persecution, of course. I wanted to resolve things with a completely benevolent approach. Neither the old forces nor any life in the old cosmos can do that, however, and nor do they know how to; they only know how to do things that one way. That is what they did to Jesus back in his time, and it’s what they did back in Shakyamuni’s day as well. And the same held true for the earlier holy figures—be it Socrates, Moses, or others—it was the same approach in all cases. They only know how to do things that one way. Those holy figures all came to lay the cultural groundwork for man to understand the divine. And I’ve just been referring to what has happened in the past five thousand years. How many five-thousand-year periods have there been in the history of these one hundred million years? Twenty thousand. In every period there were divine beings who came down and who played a part in establishing a culture for mankind. They continued to set right the civilizations that developed in their respective periods, and continued to establish how man should think and act. It is only now, when it has reached modern times, that mankind has ultimately become what it is.

     Things have been arranged for such a long time and this is such a major event, so things are really well-ordered! If I told you that even every step you take as you walk, and that even how big your stride is, were arranged, you might not believe it. But even the number of times you would scream while being persecuted and how many blows you would be dealt were arranged by them. Of course, the presence or absence of strong righteous thoughts in a cultivator can change these things, but not by much. They know your state of mind very well and even how much you can bear. So how could things be disorderly? [This affair] determines whether countless beings, beings throughout the cosmos, can be saved in the Fa-rectification. So think about it: could there be things that aren’t well-ordered? If you could see things for what they are, you would discover that, in your cultivation, whatever setting you are in, whatever social class you’re a part of, whatever status you have, whatever “coincidental” things you have done, or whatever your “luck” may be—all of this which is part of your path—was brought about by your vow, and nothing is by chance.

     For a Dafa disciple, cultivation is first and foremost, and only when you have cultivated well can it be said that the path you’ve journeyed has been righteous. In this persecution, you might have hatred toward the wicked CCP, and some of you might even be willing to risk everything to fight with the CCP. But it’s not worth it. You don’t realize that the wicked Party is just a rod that was arranged by the old forces. You were once magnificent gods, and the old forces are using that rod to beat your attachments out of you. They want to do things that way, to beat out of you the thoughts that you shouldn’t have and beat away your sins and karma. Although Master doesn’t recognize their approach, they have done what they’ve done, after all. As I just mentioned, these beings of the cosmos don’t know how to handle things and only know this approach, and this is what caused the persecution.

     Nothing is by chance. Don’t be misled by how chaotic things seem, as they are not chaotic in the least. Things manifest in a variety of ways, targeting a variety of attachments, and as things add up, on the whole they give the impression that things are chaotic. Though they seem chaotic, they are not at all. The evil has been making one ruckus after another and has used all sorts of evil means, with different happenings being aimed at different cultivators. And seen together, those ferocious, wicked police officers seem just vile, but things are not chaotic in the least—controlling them from behind are those gods, which I call the old forces. Unfortunately, this is the route things have ultimately taken. As long as a Dafa disciple has sufficient righteous thoughts—I’ll put it this way—if a Dafa disciple’s righteous thoughts are sufficient, you can break through the situation.

     Some people might understand things in this way: my righteous thoughts were very strong at the time, so why was I persecuted so severely? Indeed, [what each person experiences] certainly won’t be like a manufactured product, where each item comes out of the mold the same. That’s because in the long course of everyone’s existences, different people have developed different attachments; over the course of history people have unknowingly incurred various debts; and the level of each person’s xinxing and his attachments are different; so, as a result, people’s paths differ and what they have to endure as well as how they are doing are different as well. Even the wicked police officers’ attitudes toward people during this persecution have differed.

     Don’t think that, with the persecution, things have changed. You might think that back at the beginning we had our hearts set only on cultivation, but then the wicked Party forbade us from cultivating and persecuted Dafa, so we started fighting with them. That’s not the case. I have never said anything about fighting with the wicked CCP. It’s not worthy. It’s merely that I don’t recognize the things that the old forces arranged. In the future I will certainly turn these things around, but for the time being, this is how the general situation is.

     Just think about what a long, drawn-out process each cultivator has gone through over the course of his or her history on Earth. And the principles in the human world are reversed: what seems good to you is bad when viewed from the other side. What smells good to you is considered foul over there. Everything is reversed. In this situation, cultivation is indeed hard, and it’s even harder to maintain righteous thoughts. But it is precisely because things are this way that your human attachments can show themselves. Those who do well will progress in a positive direction, while those who do poorly, or who don’t look within, will go in the opposite direction. I’m not just talking about cultivators—the same applies for everyday people.

     It has been this way throughout the course of human history. If you are unable to look at things properly, if you are unable to regard yourself as a cultivator and look inside, you will really have no way to cultivate. And that’s all the more so during this persecution, yet instead of developing righteous thoughts, you have allowed a great deal of hatred to build up. The wicked CCP is indeed villainous, and in the near future it will surely be eliminated. But do you know what a bad person is and what a good person is? If your mind is filled with hatred and malice, think about it, everyone: what kind of a being would one be? And it will show in your conduct and even in your looks, and people will see evil in you. I’m not saying that some Dafa disciples have cultivated poorly. The part of them that has been fully cultivated is separated away. For as long as you have human things left here on this human side, you will have bad things and bad thoughts, and the closer things are to the surface level, the worse they appear to be. The reason Master teaches the Fa to you is to tell you about these things and help you understand.

     Nothing has changed. Master is still the same Master he was at the beginning, and the Fa of the universe will never change. (Enthusiastic applause) It’s just that during this persecution, during this so-called “test,” some people have gotten rid of their attachments while others have not, and some have actually increased their attachments. This is how they have acted during this so-called “test.” It is you who are changing; it is Dafa disciples who are changing. And if you are not changing in the positive direction, you are changing in the negative direction, for sure.

     Looking at the current situation, things as a whole have changed a great deal. Historically, those who wishfully claimed that their rule would be everlasting never accomplished that, and nor did those who said theirs would be an ironclad, enduring nation. Dynasties and reigns have come and gone, one after another, and the tide of the Red Regime is about to recede as well. (Applause) No one can change the course of history, since it was arranged by gods. Whoever tries to go against the tides of history will make a fool of himself; there have been plenty of examples of this throughout the ages. No one can salvage the wicked CCP. Now meanwhile, for Dafa disciples, the easier your environment becomes, the more you should pay attention to your own cultivation. That’s because it will be easier for those attachments of yours that you cannot detect to act up, and you are more likely to let your attachments grow. You must be sure to keep up your guard. No matter what the situation, you must be mindful of cultivating yourself. If you can keep going with that same heart you had at the beginning all the way to the end, you will undoubtedly succeed. (Enthusiastic applause)

     Think about it: isn’t it you yourselves who are changing? The trials and hardships that Dafa disciples have journeyed through are, from the human perspective, a heroic tale; and from the divine perspective, the journey is a process of true gold being tempered and forged in a furnace. Great waves sift the sands in cultivation. All of this will be passed down in history, and it might be passed down forever and ever. (Applause) Once this affair is over, however Dafa disciples did during this period of time [will be as it is], and there won’t be a second chance, for the evil will no longer exist. The evil beings have gradually been eliminated to the point that they are powerless, so there won’t be another opportunity for them to test you again or for you to go through that process all over again. However you did will probably be set. Fortunately, this affair hasn’t yet ended. As a Dafa disciple, no matter what setting you are in, you should do well, do even better, and quickly eliminate your shortcomings and the things you shouldn’t have.

     It’s fine for you to be in any occupation, to have a high position, or to be in any social class—the entire human society is the setting for your cultivation! And I don’t mean this in a figurative sense. Do you realize that the arrangements have been in place for millions and millions of years? The lesser cultivation ways have only known about cultivating in the temples or mountains. They have no idea that all of humanity is a setting that was designed for Dafa disciples. You can cultivate anywhere; it’s just a matter of how you handle things.

     The political instability and the changes that are now happening, or that may lie ahead, might really draw your attention. But I think that since you, as Dafa disciples, have come through the harsh tests of the last ten-plus years, you should be able to see things for what they are. The things that happen in the human world are natural changes that occur in the human world. And I know, of course, that all of those things are due to gods’ systematic arrangements. That is how it works. Don’t get involved in human political affairs, and don’t let yourself get stirred up by ordinary people. In recent years many democracy activists and political organizations have given us support, and [some of] you have in turn participated in their activities. But you need to stay aware that you are a cultivator and that we don’t get involved in political things. There are bigger, enormous things in store for you to do.

     The recent events in Hong Kong have had a big impact, and many people are watching closely. The media can provide factual coverage of the events, run editorials, and expose the wicked Party that has persecuted Dafa disciples. The Epoch Times’ honest and accurate reporting on mainland China, on Hong Kong’s current affairs, and on other international events has earned the paper quite a reputation and an improved standing. It’s fine for a media company to report and comment on the news, but as individuals we cannot just do whatever we want to. You are cultivators, so you should pay attention to cultivating yourselves and not to political conflicts. That is absolute; it’s something that will never change. If we don’t stay on the right course, if we veer off course just ever so slightly, humankind will be done for, all hope for mankind will be lost, and the same will hold true for the cosmos. The beings throughout the cosmos, and even humankind, are closely watching to see whether Dafa disciples stay on the right course.

     Let me talk about something specific. Dafa disciples have launched one Dafa project after another, and some disciples are doing business out in the ordinary world and want to make contributions to Dafa, yet I must remind you that your accounting books and records need to be clear and clean. The reason is, with whatever you do, it will be the human side of a Dafa disciple that’s seen doing it, and when human beings do things, human attachments act up. When you loosen standards for yourself and do things as you please, gods don’t look at the matter the way you do. If the financial activities of a Dafa project are not solidly managed, and if someone’s motives are really not right, then the sins will be enormous, because what you did is not just a personal stain, but is undermining the way of Dafa disciples.

     There have been such lessons, and the gods now look at some people differently than the rest, but those people don’t realize it, are still not alert to it, and are still getting carried away. I have to tell you: in any project run by Dafa disciples where money is involved, you must establish a strong accounting system, and not violate any applicable laws. Handle it the same way ordinary companies do. You must! You absolutely must not take a crooked path! If it weren’t for this persecution, I absolutely would not allow you to go about launching those projects.

     If you want to set up a company or start a project, even if you think of it as just a Dafa disciples’ project, you have to establish a strong accounting system before you start! Otherwise, don’t do it! You need to have a rigorous system for managing things! Once Master has brought up something, it has to be adhered to. It might just be a matter of time before the old forces hurt you. So I have to tell all of you that you must handle things well.

     Another issue is, some Dafa disciples aren’t doing the appropriate things after leaving mainland China. Why am I always bringing this up? Because the number of practitioners who have left China has exceeded the number of practitioners originally living abroad. After leaving there, some people got themselves asylum as a Falun Gong practitioner, but then they went on to focus on enjoying their personal lives and now they don’t participate in any efforts to save people. Saving people is a Dafa disciple’s responsibility, and you absolutely cannot shirk it! When the old forces really find you unacceptable, you are in danger! That’s because your life, your being, came here for this. Some Dafa disciples did poorly while they were in China and didn’t cultivate well in the first place, and after going abroad they still have so many human attachments! When they’re together they cause conflicts and complicate things. They still have so many human attachments, and some haven’t stepped forward in the least to do what Dafa disciples are supposed to. Yet if you don’t work on saving people, you are not a Dafa disciple. That is a Dafa disciple’s responsibility.

     Despite my saying all this, no one is going to force you to comply. Cultivation is a person’s own affair. If you decide to stop cultivating, that’s fine. And as for what the old forces will do with you, that’s up to them. Some people weren’t able to bear what they experienced in the persecution and wished for a more stable life, and now that they’re abroad, they have found themselves a quiet place and started to enjoy a life of comfort and ease. It’s okay to let your wounded heart heal, but you need to do the things that Dafa disciples are supposed to, as time waits for no one.

     Looking at how the situation as a whole has been changing, we can see that before the wicked CCP disintegrates or announces an end to the persecution of Falun Gong, its machinery will continue to run; its gears of all sizes are still turning, and instances of persecution are still happening in different regions. Some people who were involved in the persecution have come to understand things and have stopped, and even seem to be quite positive now. This state of affairs is a reflection of larger changes overall. It is not because the wicked CCP has sent out an order to stop persecuting Falun Gong. It hasn’t done that, so its machinery is still operating. What is happening is reflected in people’s attitudes toward Dafa disciples, and [these positive changes] have occurred quite often, in many regions. In some cases police officers from the 6-10 Office who had viciously persecuted Dafa disciples even came to visit practitioners, and said, “We’ll let you be,” and expressed how sorry they were. But I can tell you that this isn’t a policy, but rather, a personal act. Maybe it was prompted by their having righteous thoughts, or maybe it stemmed from cunning thinking—fearing that after this campaign [against Falun Gong] is over, people will seek revenge against them.

     In any case, things overall are changing. But regardless of the changes, you are a cultivator. Didn’t I say at the beginning of the persecution that just by staying unmoved you would be able to handle all situations? Some people thought it meant that they should sit still at home and not come out. The situation overall is changing. The terrifying situation of the persecution can really hit upon human attachments, while a favorable situation can spur human attachments. If one’s heart and mind are easily affected by external changes, then, for a cultivator, the impact is serious!

     Many students might still have questions, and they have come such a long way. Master can only discuss things in general terms. I’ll now set aside some time for you, and you can pass up question slips. (Enthusiastic applause) But I’d suggest that, since you’re Dafa disciples, let’s not write questions like, “My family is experiencing such-and-such difficulties,” or “Why is my body going through karma-elimination.” If you ask me, I will just tell you one thing: it is because you are a cultivator that you experienced that, and since you are a cultivator, those things—whether they seem positive or negative—are all good. (Enthusiastic applause) That’s because they were put in place for you so that you can improve yourself on your cultivation path.

       Okay, you can pass up your slips now. (Enthusiastic applause) (Master sits down)

    Disciple: Recently, many practitioners in our area submitted accounts of their persecution to the [regime’s] “Discipline Inspection Groups” in order to use an ordinary people’s format to proactively work against the persecution. We’ve also realized that we should have widespread lawsuits against the demon tyrant Jiang in mainland China. Are these things that we Dafa disciples need to try to get going?

     Master: As a Dafa disciple, if you think something will help expose the persecution and save the people of the world, then go ahead and do it. Yet if you are doing it completely out of a human desire for revenge, then you can’t do it. And you should be mindful of your safety when you submit materials that take a stand against the persecution to some organization of the wicked CCP, as those organizations exist to serve the wicked Party.

     Disciple: Many fellow cultivators are now making use of everyday people’s laws to work against the persecution and save all beings, but we keep having the feeling that we are unable to combat the persecution on a fundamental level. (Master says, “Why don’t you stand up against the persecution? Even Master doesn’t acknowledge it.”) If we could do a better job of playing the main role, work well with the lawyers who have a true sense of justice, and achieve real results...

     Master: Yes, when you do things to work against the persecution, you are in fact clarifying the facts to people and saving sentient beings. Why is it that the wicked CCP wants to change people’s thinking? Why does the regime destroy traditional culture? Why does it indoctrinate people with its evil ideas? This has never happened before with any regime in history, and no religion has ever done things to this extent—even wicked religions and cults pale in comparison. If you look at it carefully, isn’t this a demon that destroys humankind? It’s not a true demon of the cosmos, though. It’s neither a demon of the cosmos, nor a normal being. It is a mutation. This mutation specifically aims to destroy the way of thinking that humankind has developed from ancient times to today and that enables people to obtain and understand the Fa. What is “atheism”? That in itself is extremely evil. Human beings were created by gods, and even the cosmos was created by gods. [The evil CCP] is telling you to betray gods, and thereby have the gods abandon you.

     Disciple: Coordinators in mainland China have been persecuted one batch after another. Many coordinators managed to get out of the evil’s dark dens with their righteous thoughts, but passed away from illness karma later on. This has disrupted the continuity of the coordination work in many regions and prevented people from truly forming a unified whole. I think if we form a system of coordination by way of our different projects...

     Master: While I think that when Dafa disciples come up with ways of doing things their starting point is good, if under these evil circumstances you try to contact people, it will be extremely unsafe, and will bring danger to the practitioners in those regions. You need to consider it from this perspective. In fact, since you all have the Fa, regardless of whether those Dafa disciples are in touch with others, as long as they know Dafa’s current state of affairs, if they are able to get online and break through the Internet blockade, they will be able to keep up with the current state of affairs, because gods are watching over things.

     Of course, if you can do things in a coordinated manner, that’s even better, but you must take safety into consideration. At the very least, currently you can’t do things on a large scale, and you can’t collect name lists of practitioners in different regions on a large scale! Whoever does that is committing a bad deed.

     “Some coordinators passed away from illness karma”… I’ve never said that the coordinators have cultivated especially well. I have never said that coordinators have cultivated the best among our Dafa disciples. There are many people who are little known or little noticed who have actually cultivated quite well. Coordinators were initially assigned the task because they had the heart to put a lot of thought into matters involving the group. Of course, many of the coordinators have cultivated very well, and it’s not a small number, but [in terms of cultivation] I don’t classify them differently just because they’re coordinators. There are things that the coordinators need to work on in their self-cultivation, just like everyone else; otherwise they would be divine beings. As long as someone is human, he needs to cultivate. Coordinators do display human attachments just like everyone else, and they may have very strong attachments or have different sorts of karmic debts from history. The path of every being is very complex, and so are the situations he encounters. At critical moments, when you are at a crossroads of whether you will be able to make it through, if you do poorly you will lose your life, but if you do well you will break through.

     Disciple: In 2009, Master mentioned that Shen Yun would return to China. Several years have passed, and most practitioners think it’s not possible for Shen Yun to return to China until the evil Party disintegrates. (Audience laughs)

     Master: Shen Yun will definitely perform in China. (Enthusiastic applause) [When that will happen] depends on how the Fa-rectification progresses and the overall timing of the Fa-rectification.

     Disciple: The incident of a Dafa disciple being abducted has gained the attention of the international community, and the Canadian Consulate sent a representative to the court to observe the trial proceedings, but our media have not been covering it on a regular basis.

     Master: Speaking of this, in comparison to everyday people’s media, the media outlets run by Dafa disciples do still lag behind in terms of their basic infrastructure and level of professionalism. That’s for sure. But in terms of the overall effort to clarify the truth in the Fa-rectification, they have had a major impact. I’ve always hoped to see your media become more and more standard, however. But currently, you don’t have that many people with the expertise. You just have these Dafa disciples. Only when you make it through under such difficult circumstances will the old forces think you have mighty virtue. Everything is so challenging. If you had an abundance of skilled and talented people and it were so easy to get things done, they would think that you hadn’t earned mighty virtue. And that is precisely what the old forces want to do. That is how they look at things and how they do things.

     Of course, in terms of your media, there’s something I’d like to say in passing: sometimes you don’t report on certain important news about Dafa disciples. You need to be clear on what you are doing. In the past, there weren’t so many Dafa disciples who had come out of mainland China, but our media outlets followed very closely what was happening with Dafa disciples overall. Do you know what you are doing? You have to know whose media you are. Nowadays, you have somewhat lost sight of what you’re supposed to do, and are not reporting on important news about Dafa disciples. I’ve brought this up many times now, but you haven’t treated it as something important, and are even basing your approach to the media work on your personal feelings. As a Dafa disciple, whether in your personal cultivation you’ve cultivated well or poorly is one thing, but if you don’t handle these significant things well, these Dafa disciples’ things, in the future the old forces will go after you to settle the score in a big way. You absolutely must pay attention to this. Don’t think, “Since I’m in this position, I can make all the decisions now.” Your responsibilities are likewise tremendous, and if you handle things poorly the problem will also be tremendous. It’s not acceptable if your motives are off by even just a bit.

     As I mentioned earlier, there are countless beings in the cosmos. I have told you that I am doing Fa-rectification from the middle of the cosmic body and progressing toward both sides. The reason Fa-rectification hasn’t yet reached humankind is that so far I haven’t reached all the way to the end. I am progressing in both directions; on this side I haven’t gotten to the surface and on that side I haven’t yet reached the very top. The cosmic body is so enormous that it is unfathomable even to gods. There are so many lives that it’s simply impossible to measure or imagine. Sometimes even I am shocked by it. So many beings are watching you intently. Your every single thought and every single action are being watched by countless beings! What I am saying is that a person’s every thought is seen by countless gods! None of them are going to intervene, but all of them are watching, and ultimately they will assess how you, as a being, measure up.

   Disciple: The central authorities of the wicked Party in China claim to be implementing “information openness.” Dafa disciples have demanded that the organizations in different regions that brainwash people publicly disclose information about the legal basis for establishing these organizations, the names and positions of the people who have participated in the persecution, and the sources of the funds used in the persecution. Is it appropriate to expose the persecution through this method?

     Master: If you feel you should do it, then go ahead. In any case, Dafa disciples’ purpose is to clarify the truth and save people. These things are up to you to decide. Master is watching the overall situation and preventing problems from occurring. In terms of your personal cultivation, my Law Bodies are watching over things and I don’t directly get involved in specific matters. [Otherwise], if your human attachments came out strongly, you might even start a conflict with me. (Everyone laughs) But you really need to walk that cultivation path of yours yourself; only then does it count. If I told you how to walk it, then your cultivation journey wouldn’t count. That is why with some people who always want to ask Master—when they’re doing some little thing they want to ask Master about it—sometimes I furrow my brow, and sometimes I don’t really respond to them. They might think, “Why is Master treating me this way?” But if I really did give you the answer I would be dismantling your cultivation path! If even one step of it is missing, that will not do! So I cannot dismantle it. (Master laughs)

   Disciple: San Francisco is a well-known tourist city with many tourists from mainland China, and Chinatown is an important location in the city for clarifying the truth. There are hundreds of practitioners in San Francisco, but many practitioners don’t consider it important to clarify the truth in Chinatown and at tourist sites. So for a long time now there has been a very limited number of practitioners clarifying the truth at tourist sites and in Chinatown. Oftentimes there’s only one person at a site.

     Master: Did you all hear that? I truly hope that more Dafa disciples can be there and save more people. What have you been doing? Especially for those who haven’t done well, what have you been doing since coming here?

     Disciple: The children of some Dafa disciples in China have grown up and are adults now. Does our cultivation state still affect them?

    Master: It can most certainly affect them. Some Dafa disciples’ children didn’t really have any notions when they were young, and they did the exercises along with the adults and behaved pretty well. Since they were young kids, their Third Eyes could see some scenes and it was helpful to you too. But once they grew up, they developed their own notions and became strongly influenced by society; if you are too lenient with them, they will just follow the trends. Don’t we have some Dafa disciples’ children who have conducted themselves really poorly? In some cases they are even worse than everyday people’s children.

     Disciple: Quite a few practitioners have come to our area from mainland China in recent years. But many of them have disappeared after gaining legal status and rarely participate in the work to save people. Even though before today’s Fa conference Master had already taught Fa about this, they still failed to realize [their problem]. Some of them have forgotten their responsibility as Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples.

     Master: Yes indeed. This has happened in various countries, and there have always been people like this in recent years: when I teach the Fa, they show up, but you don’t see them for a whole year, and you have no idea what they have been doing. Whenever I teach the Fa, they come. But my Fa is not something you can just casually listen to. Those are secrets of Heaven, so after hearing them, if you don’t do what Dafa disciples do, aren’t you eavesdropping on secrets of Heaven?! Would the old forces let non-cultivators learn secrets of Heaven? Isn’t that dangerous?

     Disciple: Recently many practitioners from mainland China have used fake names around fellow practitioners.

     Master: Right, now that you’re abroad what are you still afraid of? You’re still unable to act in an open and upright way, but gods are watching your every thought and action. In a relaxed setting you are still like this? If you’ve gotten used to being afraid all the time, if you’ve developed this tendency, then hurry up and correct it. If you keep holding on to that state of mind, then that’s a problem. Isn’t that an attachment? And it will be impossible for others to work with you. If no one knows who you are, won’t people think you’re a spy?

     Disciple: In our area, people are unwilling to share their thoughts after our weekly group Fa study. Over time, a formless barrier has developed, making it hard for us to form one body. The number of people who participate in our weekly sharing on Shen Yun is small as well. All along, our local area has done poorly in selling Shen Yun tickets, and many of the people in charge seem to have become numb, not knowing how to change the situation.

    Master: The people in charge do play a crucial role in terms of whether the [cultivation] states in a region are good or not. When a person has so many everyday people’s attachments, and is afraid of all kinds of things, the more they fear, the more troubles will come. With you being a person in charge, Master has entrusted these practitioners to you, yet you don’t feel as though you are somehow responsible for whether they cultivate well or poorly? Yes, you are. I find that the cultivation states in some regions seem very lax. If you are at an everyday people’s company or are working at some job and you do things this way, then it’s considered just doing a halfhearted job. Can Dafa disciples just do a halfhearted job? What a serious matter this is. But, of course, as I’ve said, people’s cultivation states differ, and the extent to which each person understands the Fa and people’s cultivation levels differ. So the differences are quite large as they play out. Regardless, you have made it through such an arduous journey in the last ten-plus years, yet you fail to treasure it.

     But despite my saying this, if you just won’t treasure it, there is nothing that can be done. When an average or an inferior person hears the Dao, that is just how he or she is. However, the many Dafa disciples and also Master are in fact waiting expectantly for you to come to realize these things, to truly lessen your human attachments, and to really be able to understand things from a Fa perspective. But even with my saying this and even with us waiting expectantly, if you really don’t cultivate solidly, if you really don’t want to take it seriously, then something has to be done.

     Actually, isn’t it the case that the Dafa disciples who have done well, the Dafa disciples who have made it through this persecution, did so because they have studied the Fa well and solidly? It is very hard for those who cultivate halfheartedly to walk this path well.

     Disciple: I came here from China only a year ago. I work in the media but I feel like I can’t keep up with things physically or energetically. Should I get acclimated to Western society for a while before working for the media?

     Master: No one has said anything like that. If you are physically unwell and you are not in a good state even in a Dafa environment, then I don’t think things will necessarily be any better if you are among everyday people. Perhaps you’re too busy. There are some situations in the media that Dafa disciples have established where some people are serving in too many roles. There are situations where people have no time to eat or sleep. But of course, there are not that many of these situations. If that’s not the case, then you should put more effort into your cultivation.

     When many of you are going through a test—be it what you call a test of “illness karma” or some other trouble—you can’t identify what your attachment is, and you can’t figure out what exactly the cause is, then let me tell you about something: Dafa disciples absolutely cannot fall short of the standard. When you are about to pass a test, when you’ve almost gotten through it, but there’s one attachment that you haven’t removed, then it will prevent you from meeting the standard and passing the test. If you cultivate well, you will be able to pass it, right? But you simply cannot pass it and so you remain there. That thing may not be something big, though—that attachment is not big, it’s quite small. But because you just cannot perceive it, you are unable to pass the test and you keep staying at the same spot. This is not to say that you have cultivated poorly. You just haven’t thought the matter over seriously and haven’t come to realize that that thing is not in line with cultivation! And if something is not in line with the state of a cultivator or with what a cultivator should have, then it’s a problem! (Enthusiastic applause)

    Disciple: Greetings, Master! Could you please give us more details about the monetary issue that you mentioned earlier? How should cultivators who are businesspeople handle things?

     Master: What I talked about doesn’t apply to businesspeople. That’s your personal work. If you are the owner, as long as you do things as a cultivator would, don’t defraud others, and do business normally, there’s no problem. I talked about this long ago. It’s your own money (Master laughs), so whether you leave it at home or put it in the bank is your own business. What I was referring to are Dafa disciples’ projects.

   With many Dafa disciples’ projects, you’re launching them as Dafa disciples’ projects, but the management of your funds is a mess. And I’m talking about the majority of them. It’s become a problem. And in this case the old forces will look to make trouble. Some of you have already had these kinds of problems occur, but you still haven’t come to your senses and still don’t take it seriously. I’m going to watch and see how you are going to get through that.

    Disciple: Some people think that [practitioners] shouldn’t all get out of mainland China and should instead stay there to save people. Some others think that our venerated Master has never been against our running to other countries, so it’s fine. (Everyone laughs) Then there are fellow practitioners who have said that so many people are thinking about running to other countries, and that this is a strong attachment.

     Master: As far as whether to be in China or abroad is concerned, it’s true that Master has not advised practitioners one way or the other. And why not? It’s because every person has arrangements made for him and because every person’s path is different. So I can’t say directly whether it’s okay or not. But as a Dafa disciple, shouldn’t you use the Fa to judge things?

    When Shen Yun was trying to make use of certain people in the past, we encountered a scenario like this—but it wasn’t always like this—for instance, we wanted someone, but he or she just wasn’t able to come, and no matter what we tried, there would always be something disrupting it and preventing the person from coming. In principle, since it is about saving people and Master is personally leading the effort, it should be something quite important, but things still didn’t work out. Later, [we] found that the person hadn’t yet saved the people that he was supposed to save. He hadn’t done the things that he is supposed to do in his life, and there were things he had agreed to do but hadn’t done, so he couldn’t come. He had to fulfill those things before he could come. We saw that this issue was involved.

     Disciple: I don’t have an academic degree because I went to Beijing to stand up for the Fa during the persecution. If I find time to study now, can I meet Fei Tian’s admissions standards?

     Master: No academic degree… It’s true that many Dafa disciples have been forced to quit their studies. This persecution has been very evil for young people as well. There have been many cases of young Dafa disciples being denied schooling. That is how the evil has done things. If you’re young and want to find time to study, there’s nothing wrong with that. But you should also participate in Dafa projects and do some things, and at the same time make good use of your time to study. There’s nothing wrong with that.

    To be admitted to Fei Tian, you need to meet the requirements. Fei Tian is a specialized school, a school of the arts, so it only admits people with talent in the arts. It’s not a regular school. In the future, however, Fei Tian will establish a school in society. Fei Tian College is preparing to establish a school in society. It will be a school that will offer other, multiple areas of study. It will be established in society and will recruit students from society, not just from among Dafa disciples. It is already being worked on. (Applause)

      Disciple: Do personal businesses fall within the scope of the issue you mentioned?

   Master: No, personal businesses don’t fall within that scope. With a personal business, you have to manage it well anyhow; you have to manage it well no matter what. (Master laughs) Otherwise, wouldn’t it flop? (Everyone laughs)

     Disciple: There is a practitioner who has cultivated for over ten years but who still applies for government welfare on the grounds of illness. We don’t know how to share our thoughts with this practitioner, because he has been free of illness since he started cultivating, and he works in construction on the mountain and is actually quite able. (Everyone laughs)

     Master: When there are human attachments, they are going to play out in one way or another, whether it be with regard to one thing or another, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that this practitioner has cultivated poorly. In terms of human attachments, it is quite possible that the person has an attachment in some regard. Perhaps he is thinking that [with this welfare] he won’t have to work and can thus do more Dafa things, so why not take it. But no matter what, we cultivators should still take the upstanding approach.

     Disciple: At the sight of the people in the world whose values are in ruins or who have absolutely no moral grounding, it is very hard to have compassion. Is it the case that, as disciples, we should disregard what people are like and just focus on saving them?

     Master: Yes! How people behave outwardly under different circumstances can really vary a great deal. I now find that mainland Chinese people’s morality and character have slid down really quickly. It’s been over ten years since I left China, and I’ve been observing the changes in mainland Chinese, because that is directly related to both the Fa-rectification and salvation. I’ve found that people are changing so quickly! But when I observe them carefully, I find that they actually still have kindness in them. It’s just that their thinking has become so twisted; it has become twisted by the wicked CCP at an escalating rate. Regardless, whether they can be saved depends on their having good thoughts. No matter how mainland Chinese have been polluted, below the surface there is a film-like layer separating things, and once that is lifted, then the person beneath is revealed, with morality and character like the people there in the sixties. I will lift and remove that thing in the future. (Enthusiastic applause)

     Disciple: I’m often feeling dispirited and unmotivated. One reason is that I feel a bit foggy about the meaning of life after Consummation, and another is that I feel there’s not much time left, and no matter how hard I try I’ll never be able to make up for what I lost by not being diligent. After a lot of Fa study, it gets better, but I haven’t been able to get to the point where I’m “cultivating with the heart I once had.” Master, would you please advise a disciple like me who has failed to live up to your expectations?

   Master: If a person doesn’t have righteous thoughts even about gods or Consummation, it must be from long-term interference with his mind by some evil things, karma being one of them. Under normal circumstances, if you want to know what the beings in the heavens are like, well, at this point you will in fact be using human thinking to contemplate how gods are, and you won’t be able to figure it out. So it will be very hard to bring about righteous thoughts with that approach. But, somewhere deep in their minds, every one of our Dafa disciples and also the people of the world have memories of coming to the earth to seek Dafa; Dafa disciples have come to assist Master in Fa-rectification. Sometimes I observe that, in a lot of situations, the way some Dafa disciples act is really worrisome. But when it really comes to matters of Dafa disciples’ principles, you can truly see that, “Ah, this is a Dafa disciple.”

    When a person’s human attachments are strong, you won’t be able to see his righteous side; only when their righteous thoughts are strong will you feel that Dafa disciples are different. That is why you often cannot see clearly other practitioners’ states. Human attachments won’t necessarily show themselves in the same way. So they can make you feel powerless, down, or make you lethargic and lazy; this thing tries to keep you from being energetic. Let me tell you that a lot of those bad, microscopic beings cover you and your thinking like dust, but they’re actually nothing, and when you send righteous thoughts you can eliminate those rotten things. A lot of people just go through the motions when they send righteous thoughts. If you don’t clean up those things in your body, your cultivation will be affected. But those things can be eliminated with one thought. When your righteous thoughts are not strong enough, when your righteous thoughts can’t come forth, they won’t work.

     I am getting more and more stern with the old forces that persecute Dafa disciples. The old forces have started to realize how big the sin is, so they don’t dare to persecute so wildly anymore, and they don’t even dare to direct those different gods or regular beings to directly persecute Dafa disciples anymore. They are now controlling bugs and other messed up, trivial, low, and rotten things that will surely be weeded out, and are having them persecute Dafa disciples. They are now so weak in comparison. But many Dafa disciples just have weak righteous thoughts and act as though they are powerless [to change things]. Sometimes in your cultivation you are unable to pass a test or identify your attachments, and that’s because you have not taken some little problem(s) seriously. But actually, no matter how small a problem is, it’s unacceptable if you can’t meet the standard. As time goes by, the person will become dispirited, and they will amplify this feeling. The karma elimination that is manifesting right now is also caused by these low, rotten things.

     You must take sending righteous thoughts seriously. All of you should send righteous thoughts and clear them out. (Enthusiastic applause) Moreover, the old forces’ arrangements have come to this point in time; they’re very weak, but very wicked. You need to take it seriously. Actually, if you think about it, back when the persecution was very vicious, you were all full of vigor and were ready to do well with whatever Master asked of you. Have you forgotten the drive you had a few years back? At that time you were highly energetic, and you came through despite the enormous pressure. Do you know how great the pressure was? But now you have instead become lax. Not being diligent can really prevent you from having strong enough righteous thoughts. The closer things have gotten to the present, the more powerless those bad things have actually become, and yet now you are feeling as though you can’t do much to change things.

     Of course, having said that, your human side has nevertheless also reached a place where its abilities at the surface are weak. (Master laughs) As things progress to the most surface part of human beings, your power appears to be weaker than before. But if you have strong righteous thoughts, you can still summon the same amount of power, and that is why all the more so you need to place importance on sending righteous thoughts. I was saying earlier that everything follows certain laws; things look disorderly but are actually well ordered. If you could maintain the drive you had before, the evil would now disappear in a moment, although maybe the old forces would not let that happen, and wouldn’t arrange things that way.

      Disciple: How can we bring literature back to a traditional and correct form?

     Master: I’ve actually been thinking about the question you raised. That’s something that the pieces created for Shen Yun’s program aim to do as well. When people talk about bringing back traditional culture, it’s easy to say, but what is traditional culture? How do you bring it back? What are the standards? And just what approaches should be used?

     At the start of the Republic of China, that is, around the end of the Qing Dynasty and when the Republic was beginning, literature was written in a semi-vernacular, semi-classical style. Later on the writing style became more vernacular, but was still a bit literary. Still later, when it became completely vernacular, one could see that the traditional things had disappeared. The interpretation of Chinese terms had changed as well, and now the interpretations of Chinese terms found in the modern language are even more modern, and their meanings are no longer what they originally were. So if we’re to get into it, these are not simple matters. To fully achieve [what you described] is quite difficult for today’s people to do. But I’ve said jokingly to others that I do have ways to do it. (Applause)

     The evil ideas that the wicked CCP has indoctrinated people with are considered normal now in the minds of mainland Chinese. Some young people have been indoctrinated in that way since birth, so to them that warped, evil culture is natural, and when they see what’s normal they instead find it ridiculous or can’t understand it. How could you change them, then? They have never seriously, systematically studied Chinese history and culture, and they have learned Chinese history in only a rough sense and with an approach that’s critical [of tradition]. Yet even gods commend the glorious five-thousand-year history of Chinese civilization! But after the arrival of the evil, demonic CCP, the culture was ruined, and cultural remains were destroyed by the wicked Party. The campaign to “destroy the Four Olds” was a tragedy like never before in the history of humankind! Even now they are still indoctrinating students with the idea that ancient China was backward, that none of the emperors, generals, ministers, scholars, or fine ladies were good people, and that only the Party is what’s best. I feel sorry for this entire generation of Chinese.

     There used to be such a rich material culture in ancient China. Back then every county had several temples, and there were countless old abodes of historical figures, stone sculptures along the streets and down the alleyways, ancient city walls, and different styles of dwellings, and the cities and towns had a simple and ancient feel! Human relations and conduct back then were completely different from now. The artifacts, works of calligraphy, and ancient paintings passed down over the five thousand years have since been burned and destroyed. Nowadays they’re putting a lot of work into digging up and robbing graves and tombs, but try to glorify it as “archaeological research.” Robbing tombs! That’s just further destroying what is left of the ancients. And when they land something through their robbery, they proclaim, “Under the leadership of our Party, we have discovered such-and-such things.” The wicked CCP has destroyed so much of our Chinese heritage and history! Weren’t those things done under its “leadership”? When they dig something up out of a grave, and can’t even trace back who it belongs to, they still claim that [it was discovered] under the “leadership” of the Party.

     I’ll leave it at that. [Turning these things around] takes time. You can try your best and consult what’s still available from traditional culture.

     Disciple: Millions of Dafa disciples have lost their lives, but Minghui.org has only documented a few thousand deaths. How can we find evidence of the persecution of those millions of Dafa disciples?

     Master: Many Dafa disciples have been killed in the persecution. As a media outlet, your reporting needs to have solid evidence. You need to track down who the person was and get a hold of information about him or her in order to make your reports convincing. So as a media outlet, as Minghui.org, that is the only approach you can take. In cases where you can’t verify the person’s identity, you can’t use that information formally.

     How do you track down those things? Currently there isn’t time to put much effort into that. Gods are watching over things, though, and whether a Dafa disciple departs earlier or later, he or she achieves Consummation. But regardless, each person will be held responsible for what he does during the persecution, and that includes the perpetrators. Humankind will have to pay a price for its actions as well.

     Disciple: Everyday people don’t understand who will settle the score with the wicked Party, as they don’t believe that gods are involved.

     Master: You can only talk about heavenly laws and divine beings in a general sense. Just speaking in moral terms, isn’t the wicked CCP persecuting good people? People may not know how it has destroyed and covered up Chinese history, right? People may not know how it has persecuted China’s elite in each of its political movements, right? People may not know the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong, right? And people may not know what the wicked CCP is, right? When you explain to people how wicked that evil demon is, they will understand.

     As for gods watching over things, if you talk about things at too high of a level while clarifying the facts, and say that gods are doing things or watching over things, not everyone will be able to understand such things. I think that if you speak at too high of a level, they won’t be able to accept it. It would be as if you were telling them, “Don’t listen to me clarifying the facts, as I’m just talking nonsense.” Of course, some Chinese people do believe in gods, and in that case you can mention it in general terms, and it will make sense to them.

     Disciple: I’m an English-speaking practitioner, and I currently sell ads for the Chinese-language Epoch Times. I would like to ask: Is it more important to support the Epoch Times in my area or to support the English Epoch Times in New York?

     Master: Well, Master can’t answer this question for you. Everyone needs to walk his own path. Do whatever you think will work. As for the media, they should handle the specific matters themselves; but if they do poorly, I will hold them accountable. The specifics are up to them to handle, though.

     Disciple: I would like to ask about how in the fifth lecture of Zhuan Falun it states that, “We, on the other hand, directly target one’s mind and practice cultivation according to the universe’s highest characteristic and to the universe’s form.” I don’t understand what “form” of the universe it is referring to. Thank you, Master.

     Master: “Form”? Isn’t it about the form of the motion of the universe, galaxies, and particles? You conform to the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren, which is also the standard of the universe. Are you a new student? Or are you someone who fell during the persecution and then came back? If you are someone who came back, then you might ask this kind of question. All of those who, over the years, couldn’t keep up with the progress of things and completely fell and then came back are like new practitioners, but the questions they ask are strange and not like those from new practitioners.

     Study the Fa. Everything is contained in it. All these people here came to understand things by studying the Fa. (Enthusiastic applause)

     Disciple: We didn’t do as well as we had hoped publicizing the Shen Yun Orchestra’s performances in New York last year. How can we do better?

     Master: The same was [initially] true for Shen Yun with such things. With time, however, the world’s people came to know it, and now Shen Yun has even become a household name; we’ve achieved that in the United States, at least. When people hear about it, they realize, “Shen Yun’s coming,” and then it’s easy for us, because now [Shen Yun] is quite well known. That’s no longer where the challenges lie for us, at least. Instead, people are trying to figure out things such as, “How can I come up with money to buy tickets,” “How am I going to get there,” or “Let’s see how to make this work with my schedule.”

     With the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra, only music is performed. The music industry is not doing very well right now. The Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra isn’t as well known as Shen Yun, so a lot of people are waiting and seeing, and don’t know what your music sounds like. With Shen Yun Performing Arts, people at least know that the show is magical. But they don’t know what a Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra performance is like. So this is a challenge that happens in the early stages. But that said, it is the symphony music of Shen Yun, after all. When they performed in New York, the New York Philharmonic was performing the same day over at Lincoln Center while the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra was performing at Carnegie Hall. I heard that some audience members went to both concerts and said that they didn’t have as many people in attendance as we did. And some people who heard both concerts said that the music performed by the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra was very nice and had strong energy (applause), and the program was very rich and original. Those were comments from the concertgoers.

     Disciple: I am a disciple who clarifies the truth at a site in New Zealand. Recently our site has been severely interfered with. A tour guide photographed and videotaped us, and that prevented us from clarifying the truth and persuading people to quit the CCP next to some tour buses.

     Master: Then you need to thoroughly clarify the truth to that tour guide. A few years ago, various areas encountered the same situation, in fact, and they all overcame it this way. Back then, some tour guides didn’t let [tourists] look at the truth-clarification [materials], but now some tour guides are bringing people over to look at the materials. Even though they don’t necessarily all act that way, as Dafa disciples, you are to clarify the truth and save people. That tour guide is a person too, so you should clarify the truth to him as well. Maybe there are other problems involved. Anyway, you can gauge the situation [and decide what to do], as clarifying the truth indeed is not easy. Since it is cultivation and it involves establishing your mighty virtue, when the old forces see that you are convincing so many people to quit the CCP and its two affiliate organizations every day, they think it’s too easy for you, and so they make trouble for you. (Master laughs) And in fact, this is how you have made it through your journey.

     Disciple: As a whole, the cultivation of practitioners in Italy hasn’t kept up with the progress of Fa-rectification. How can we make a breakthrough?

     Master: Areas with many new practitioners must use time well to study the Fa, and have the new people study the Fa more. And encourage them to actively participate in activities in addition to self-cultivation. You should do more to lead them along and help them catch up, and gradually they will come to understand things. The more loose you let them be, and, if they don’t realize the importance of being diligent, they will let themselves become more and more lax, and it’s possible that they won’t be able to really start cultivating. You must do more to lead them along.

     Disciple: Do we still have enough time to save half of the Chinese people? If the CCP dissolves before the arrival of Fa-rectification, will those people who haven’t quit the Party still have a chance?

     Master: Of course they won’t have a chance anymore at that point. That’s why I say that time is limited. The old forces don’t want you to save that many people anyway, but I am holding out against them. Otherwise, they were going to end things last year. But what would we do if hardly any people remained? The world would be empty. Humankind is supposed to create a glorious era for Dafa, but if no one were left, how could that be done?

     Disciple: On May 13, Dafa Day, this year, Jinan Dafa disciples went to the center city plaza to do the exercises and spread the Fa, but many of them were arrested by undercover police. We are very worried about them. At present, doing the three things well and hurrying to save people are of utmost importance for us. If we go to the plaza to do the exercises and spread the Fa but all get arrested, how can we save sentient beings?

     Master: They acted a bit too rashly. Organizing so many practitioners to go clarify the truth publicly in China puts practitioners at risk. You should still take safety into consideration. In some regions things have indeed lightened up, and I’ve heard that they do the exercises out in the open and the police act as if they don’t see it; some police officers even watch over the site and keep a look out for them. The situation in every region is different. It’s not that the wicked CCP now has a new attitude; the machinery that persecutes Falun Gong is still running. [Certain] areas have a relaxed attitude because [the practitioners] there have done well in clarifying the facts and because people are changing. So, you need to have the necessary conditions before you can do things publicly. Without those conditions, don’t do things publicly, or it will bring trouble to practitioners and lead to unnecessary persecution.

     Disciple: Fellow practitioners’ negative thoughts about one another are “large gray mountains”—that’s how it was put in an experience sharing article on Minghui.org. I can’t see other dimensions, but when I have conflicts with other practitioners I do feel a lot of pressure and that I am being engulfed by bad substances. I think that others’ bad thoughts toward me are external substances and cannot harm me, and that as long as I rectify myself according to Dafa I can get out of that haze. But I know that it has been a tough process for me.

     Master: Each person’s specific situation is different. For a cultivator, the situations he sees can be a symbolic hint, but those aren’t necessarily how things truly are. So that thing may be like a large mountain; it’s not a demon per se, but it is something negative. If a Dafa disciple wants to break through it, it will take some effort before he can charge through it. And isn’t that in fact how you have made it through these years? Help and cooperate with each other more, be more understanding of one another, and focus more on others’ strong points; then things should be fine.

     Disciple: I’m a sophomore in high school, and I would like to go to Shen Yun. As it turns out, I have recently started to learn an instrument. Is it too late for me? I have trouble balancing my academic studies and doing the three things. It always feels as though there’s not enough time.

     Master: Indeed, you want to learn an instrument and you also have to study, so you are very busy. Let me put it this way. When Shen Yun was first launched, we recruited a group of Dafa disciples’ children, including for the orchestra, and didn’t apply rigorous criteria. Their skill level (Master laughs) was really far from the skill level today. Nowadays the qualifications for joining Shen Yun Performing Arts are very high. You may have seen that when we recruit people from society, cultivation has to be foremost—the person must be willing to cultivate. Secondly, people without a master’s degree or who aren’t at that level are not hired. Audiences say that the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra’s concerts are outstanding. Well, of course that’s the case—those are highly skilled musicians. And the students are young Dafa disciples. Back at the start they didn’t have teachers, so they couldn’t raise their levels and it limited their aspirations. But since the time when the highly skilled musicians joined and became teachers, the students have made extremely fast progress. Many of the students have surpassed the adults. Things are completely different now.

     Disciple: Some practitioners say that regardless of whether the ideas of the head of the Dafa Association are right or not, and even when something will negatively impact saving people or our overall improvement, we shouldn’t question them and should carry out their ideas.

     Master: [The problems] aren’t that serious, are they? If there really are problems, you can check with the head of the main Dafa Association. The people in charge are cultivators too. It’s just that they organize people to participate in Dafa disciples’ group activities. It’s quite possible that sometimes they don’t think of everything. When there is something lacking, I think that if you, as a Dafa disciple, take the initiative to make up for what is lacking, then that is what a Dafa disciple should do. When you are busy you can skip certain activities, and when you have time you should join in. No matter what activity it is, I’m sure it was organized because it contributes to saving people or opposing the persecution, or else the coordinator wouldn’t do it.

     But often when these things are being worked on there are people among us saying that this isn’t good or that doesn’t work, complicating things and sometimes even holding things up. If you think there is something lacking somewhere, then you can go fix it yourself, right? Go do that. If the person in charge didn’t think of something, then you can do a little more and fix it, and that will be the end of it, right? It’s cultivation, so what gods look at is a person’s heart, not whether he planned some activity thoroughly or comprehensively. Gods don’t look at that. And when things are not very comprehensive, they are in fact happy, for they want to see who among you will make things right when an imperfection is found. That’s because your cultivation is a part of everything you do. What they look at is your cultivation! It’s not like we only study [the Fa] but don’t use it. Whether you proactively cultivate or are just passively following along reflects whether you are cultivating.

     Disciple: The Hong Kong tourist sites lack manpower. There are practitioners in Taiwan who have taken the initiative to organize different people on a non-regular basis to go to various counties and cities [in Taiwan] to share their understandings [of the importance of this] with other practitioners and to encourage them to go to Hong Kong to clarify the facts at the tourist sites. Some practitioners say that their actions disrupt the Fa.

     Master: Clarifying the truth is not disrupting the Fa. Clarifying the truth to people is still important. If the purpose of the sharing is to help people improve and is for saving people, and their approach is not irrational, then [it’s okay because] saving people is still what’s important. If there are problems with their approach or in their thinking, then it will surely cause resistance.

     Disciple: There are practitioners in our area who publish articles using aliases and circulate them internally among our practitioners via email. The Dafa Association suggested that they use their real names, but some practitioners insist that it’s not a problem [to use aliases].

     Master: If it’s outside the mainland, it is better to use your real name, so if people have questions or issues it’s easy for them to communicate with you. If you use a fake name, no one will know who you are, and if there’s an issue there will be no way to communicate with you about it.

     Perhaps you’ve already had the thought that, “I can do whatever I like and not worry about the consequences [if I use an alias], and you won’t be able to find me.” Isn’t that right? But aren’t gods watching your thoughts? You say you are cultivating, but what is cultivation? Doing things that look to others like you’re cultivating? That is fake! What really counts is what your thoughts are. Then who can see your thoughts? Can anyone see other practitioners’ thoughts? Others can only see the actions that result from your thoughts, but not what your deepest motive is. Then who can see it? Gods can see it! Master’s Law Bodies can see it! And countless lives in the cosmos can see it!

     Everything you do is completely public to others!—with only human beings, who cannot see it, being the exception. Do you realize that when you are doing something, it is even more public than when people watch a movie? The entire cosmos knows your thoughts, and all lives in the cosmos are watching them. With such a major event, how could the myriad gods be worry-free? And that includes the old forces—don’t they have to watch things?! Since the survival of every life in the cosmos is at stake, don’t they need to pay close attention? So many beings are watching you!

     Disciple: Our client’s advertisements haven’t been effective. What is the reason? Is it because our truth-clarification has been insufficient, because we are not professional enough, or because the old forces are interfering?

     Master: The effectiveness of an advertisement is also very much related to that individual business, as well as to the state of the economy. People can’t expect to have more customers after running some advertisements. That’s not necessarily what will happen. Advertisements are just advertisements.

     Disciple: There are practitioners promoting pyramid schemes and direct sales products among practitioners, and they won’t listen to others’ well-intended suggestions [to stop].

     Master: Whoever spreads among practitioners things unrelated to the Fa-rectification is interfering with Dafa disciples and damaging the form of Fa-rectification! The sin is bigger than that of demons. In the old forces’ words, it is more severe than what demons have done. That is truly causing harm. I have raised this question before: who can damage the cultivation form of Dafa disciples? Have external factors been able to damage it through persecution? They have only tempered Dafa disciples and made them mature, sifting out the sand. Who can really harm this cultivation group, or harm Dafa? No one can, as experience has shown. As I’ve said, that is how things are, and those who are interfered with are people with attachments—but nothing can damage the Fa. Only people within the group can have an adverse effect. Whoever does these things is not a Dafa disciple, so don’t regard him as a Dafa disciple no matter how long he has cultivated for.

     Disciple: Should our television station provide a richer variety of entertainment programs to attract viewers? In terms of production content, ordinary media really stimulate people, and it is very attractive to today’s ordinary people.

     Master: There are all kinds of media companies and art forms out there. Just ignore them. People with poor character enjoy inferior things. But those who are the main force of society don’t like inferior things. After working on Shen Yun you have come to realize that as popular as modern dance and music may be, the main force of society watches ballet and goes to the symphony. If you, as a media company that is targeting society’s mainstream, want to become a prestigious, mainstream media company, you will never rise to that point if you start out with those inferior things. If you air those things to mainstream society, people will regard your company as third-rate. Even though you are a Chinese-language media company, your quality has to be high.

     Your company has its own strengths. People know about them now, and the whole world is taking interest in the Epoch Times’ and NTD’s reporting, as currently only you have the courage to report things as they are. Your news reports, well, many things are substantial and interesting to people. Try to make your content more rich and varied. This includes the art forms that you feature, the arts events that you air, and the content of your programs—they need to have quality. When people can tell right away that it’s a high-quality, credible media company, its reputation will grow still further.

     Disciple: Currently there is a kind of audio card produced by mainland Chinese practitioners spreading in Hong Kong that contains recordings of Master’s early lectures, including Jinan, Dalian, and others. It also contains exercise music that has not been published by Minghui.org, and other experience sharing and truth-clarification articles from Minghui.org. It is being sold for 70 Yuan each. I’ve heard that the Dafa Association has told practitioners to stop spreading and selling it, but some people are still doing so. It has now reached the U.S. I’d like to ask whether it can be spread?

     Master: Interference to Dafa disciples’ cultivation appears in all shapes and sizes. When things were the most chaotic, when the persecution was the most severe, all kinds of things showed up. [Some things] look positive but are actually interfering. Seventy Yuan each—where does the money go? Who is doing this? Dafa disciples have provided many things to others for free. With the exception of [what is sold at] formal bookstores, basically there is no charge, and everything is online as well. What is their intention [with selling these cards]? Even if it’s for making it easy for everyone to study the Fa, you need to get the agreement of the Dafa Association and the practitioners in charge of publishing.

     Disciple: In Singapore, we need to apply with the police department before we can display truth-clarification boards in public places, but we’ve never received an approval. Some practitioners have persisted in clarifying the facts for over ten years, and because of this have been taken to court by the police multiple times on baseless charges. There are large disputes among practitioners [over how to handle these matters].

     Master: When Master speaks here, I’m speaking in a public setting, so I don’t want to talk [about these things] in a public setting. Truth-clarification has to be done, but as to how you do it, the practitioners in each area should do things based on their own situation. The way Singapore has treated Dafa disciples in recent years has gotten too similar to [the treatment by] the wicked CCP. In terms of persecuting Falun Gong, it has practically become a province of China.

     Disciple: How about the matter of young disciples playing video games?

     Master: Video games are really harmful to people, and not just Dafa disciples’ kids. They really draw people in, and have had a negative effect on everyday people as well. They make you do poorly in your work, sleep poorly, rest poorly, and make you devoid of human affection or warmth of feeling, make you neglect your family, make students neglect their studies, and entice you and draw you in. They are contributing to humankind’s destruction. In order to promote video games, those business people constantly come up with new kinds and hype them up on a large scale. What are people to do after they’ve created such an enormous amount of karma? They are corrupting humankind.

     Disciple: How should we resolve the chain of debt among the companies established by Dafa disciples?

     Master: How do you resolve it? You have to pay your creditors. If you print newspapers but don’t pay for it, then what is the print shop going to do? Yours is a Dafa project, but so is theirs—then what should be done? When you don’t manage the business well, it’s because you haven’t done well, so you need to work hard at it. If Dafa disciples owe one another debts, you need to repay the money. “We’re all Dafa disciples, so what’s yours is also mine”— what kind of an idea is that? (Everyone laughs) Could that be acceptable? As an independent being, you are you, and he is him. He cannot take your place in cultivation, just as you cannot take his. And this goes for one’s parents, siblings, spouse, and children—no one can take another person’s place.

     Disciple: The work environment at the media company is very complicated, and the practitioners who work there with me have the same feeling. Sometimes the mind games and scheming against one another are worse than what everyday people do.

     Master: When you don’t trust one another and aren’t truthful in what you say, and no one can take any criticism or look inside, then of course things are complicated. So what kind of a media company are you? And what are you people doing? Cultivating? [You have] such strong attachments! Be it the TV station, the Epoch Times, or other media companies, from now on, change the state you are in. You are not acting like cultivators! I brought up these matters long ago. When are you going to do something about it? When are you going to do something about it? Time is running out. (Enthusiastic applause)

     Dafa disciples—every one of you—were once kings, and you came to the human world with great blessings. But you gave those up because you wanted to assist Master in Fa-rectification. But now you are not putting your hearts into it. If you had really wanted money, if you had really wanted positions of power, if you had really wanted to be the ones in charge, you would really have been the elite of human society—you would have been able to achieve that. But you didn’t want those things. Having come this far, why can’t you let go of those trivial things?! Let go of everything and—openly and with breadth of mind—act like a cultivator. From this point on, as you look around, [you will see that] those who have changed how they are, have done what Master has said; and those who haven’t changed, have not done what Master has said! (Enthusiastic applause)

     But even after Master has instructed you in this way, once you go back to the real world, you will once again find one another irritating. Once you go back to the real world and are affected by self-interest and personal attachments, your state of mind will no longer be what it is now! You need to keep in mind that you are cultivators, and that your responsibility is tremendous! You will realize this in the future, but at that time all you will be able to do is regret!

     Disciple: Everyday people stress that one should try to avoid saying unlucky things. Recently it’s become in vogue among practitioners to say only positive things and not negative things. They say that this is how Shen Yun does things. But if we share in that way, a lot of problems cannot be resolved.

     Master: With everyday people, say to them what they are willing to hear, since you’re trying to save them. You can’t treat them as cultivators and remove their attachments. If you try to remove their attachments now, aren’t they going to run away? (Everyone laughs) In order to save them, you have to say what’s agreeable to them. Well, you have to do it this way because it’s hard to save people. But do you cultivators need to be like that? Whoever is unwilling to listen to different views is not a cultivator. But, whoever is not speaking out of goodwill is also not behaving like a cultivator.

     Disciple: Over fifty countries and regions outside of China and over eighty cities and provinces in China send their greetings to Master.

     Master: Thank you all. (Applause) I asked them not to pass up to me any of the slips with greetings, so they wrote a summarized one. (Everyone laughs) My, there’s still a great deal written here. I won’t read these, then.

     Disciple: I live in a small town in Vietnam. Recently there’s been a rumor that Falun Gong has started a donation drive for the purpose of building temples in America and supporting NTD. Not long ago, my younger sister went to southern California to visit her family. She met a practitioner there who claimed that he was in charge of the donation drive, and my sister donated. Do practitioners in Vietnam need to respond [to the drive]?

     Master: There is no such thing. No such thing. Some practitioners may have the desire to do this, but absolutely do not do it, absolutely not! If it were needed, I would have done it. I would simply need to say, “Everyone give me a bit of money and let’s build a temple.” I know that all of you would provide some money. It would be easy for me to do that, wouldn’t it? So why would I need you to do it? (Enthusiastic applause) Don’t do it. Absolutely, absolutely do not do that.

     Some of our disciples who are businesspeople and some others who are doing extremely well financially have provided some financial help, and when they do that it can really resolve some problems. But we don’t accept it from others. I know that over these years, Dafa disciples have been paying out of their own pockets for things that truth-clarification requires, which is quite a burden as is. Do you know why Fei Tian Academy gives out full scholarships to so many students? Why is everything covered by the mountain when a student attends school there? It’s because I want to lessen Dafa disciples’ financial burdens. (Applause) Sometimes, when kids on the mountain behave poorly, I know that their parents haven’t cultivated well. (Applause)

     Disciple: I’ve arrived at an understanding that Dafa disciples have reincarnated lifetime after lifetime, but not actually in the sixfold path of reincarnation, and that all other beings besides Dafa disciples went through the sixfold path of reincarnation. Is this understanding correct? Since some religious believers don’t believe in the sixfold path of reincarnation but believe that, after death, the soul reincarnates into a human being, how should we clarify the facts and lead religious believers to obtain the Fa?

     Master: You can’t lie in order to help people obtain the Fa. Human beings go through the sixfold path of reincarnation. That was always the case before. Basically all beings on earth go through that, including Dafa disciples. It’s just that [Dafa disciples] have reincarnated more often as humans or as heavenly people.

     Disciple: I’m from Japan, and I work in the media. It’s quite difficult to keep the website going and, to this day, we’ve relied on practitioners’ money to sustain it.

     Master: Media companies cannot have practitioners do this long-term. If you don’t get people to work on selling ads and rely entirely on practitioners’ financial contributions, that is how you get fliers done and not how you would run a media company, and over the long term problems will occur. Practitioners have to work at a job and be able to provide for themselves. In any case, a media company cannot rely on practitioners’ donations long-term.

     Currently, the world’s people are closely watching the media companies that Dafa disciples have established, and the reputations of these media are growing. What kind of a juncture is this? An everyday person who recognizes business opportunities will realize that this is an excellent time to seize the opportunity. At a time when people have a favorable impression [of your media] and trust them, if you don’t stabilize your client base and lock it in, and don’t put a lot of manpower into marketing, then what are you waiting for? For manna to fall from the sky? What is a company? It is something created for economic reasons; it is used for the purpose of making money. Only with capital can you run a media company well, can you operate in a positive cycle, can you have the conditions needed to clarify the facts, and can you have the conditions needed to save people.

     Disciple: Some veteran practitioners don’t come out much because of the attachments of a few members of the Dafa Association. These practitioners find things to do on their own or interact with only a small number of practitioners. They have somewhat distanced themselves from the local group environment. Should the way in which the head of the Dafa Association manages other practitioners or projects be like the media, where ordinary people’s management approaches are used?

     Master: Like the media? Like ordinary people’s management approaches? Everyday people’s management approaches are not cultivation. A Dafa disciple shouldn’t always focus his or her attention on the coordinator. If he’s good, then you’re good; if he likes you then you cultivate, but if he doesn’t like you then you don’t cultivate. Are you cultivating for him?

     Now as a coordinator, look at how big of an impact you have had. They signed a vow with Master in an age long ago, but now you are actually making them stop cultivating. Do you know if you will be able to bear responsibility for that in the future? If it’s really because of you that they don’t want to cultivate anymore, how will you bear responsibility for that in the future? At the final moment of Consummation, what are you going to do?

     Now as for all those who have not done well, Master would like to ask you a question. Listen up: At the final moment of Consummation, how will you possibly be able to explain away those attachments that you failed to let go of or the things that you did wrong? All of you should think about it. I’m extremely worried!

     Disciple: There’s a certain coordinator of a project who often makes false accusations against people behind their backs, but most people can’t touch this practitioner. That being the case, should we just keep cultivating our endurance (Ren), or should we do all that we can to expose and criticize him?

     Master: “Exposing and criticizing” isn’t right, either, and is a Party-culture term. (Everyone laughs) That’s a tactic used to criticize people for political reasons. You have to look at the issue from two sides. If it’s really meant to have you cultivate yourself, and if his attitude toward you doesn’t affect the project—if your work isn’t affected much—then I’d suggest you endure it and cultivate yourself. (Master laughs) (Everyone applauds)

     And why do I say that? You know, with cultivators, the following is often said: only when you have an attachment will you be affected inside; if you don’t have an attachment, it will be like a breeze passing over you—you won’t feel a thing. If you hear someone say that you want to commit some horrible crime, you’ll just find it amusing. (Master laughs) You will think, “How could that be possible?” and will laugh it off. You won’t take it seriously at all. Since you don’t even have that thought, those words can’t touch you. If you don’t have that kind of thought, they can’t touch you. When you are affected inside, that means you do have [an attachment]! And if you really feel strongly that you have been treated unjustly, then [your attachment] is rather large. (Applause) So shouldn’t you cultivate yourself?

     Conversely, to the person who always has a bad attitude toward others: Dafa disciples are supposed to cultivate kindness (Shan). Is it that you think this fellow practitioner of yours has cultivated better than you, so you don’t need to be kind to him? Aren’t you thinking too highly of him? You don’t need to be kind to him? Or is he one of those who persecutes Dafa disciples, so you don’t need to be kind to him? Even if he were one of those who has participated in the persecution, one of those who has been taken in, duped, and ended up in a criminal gang, you would still need to be kind to him. Then why can’t you be kind to your fellow practitioners? They are Master’s disciples—do you realize that? (Applause) When you don’t watch what you are saying, does it not occur to you that, at that time, you are like a demon? You are not a demon—I’m just referring to the state you are in at that time. If you are always like that, always in the state of a demon, then are you cultivating demonhood? If people never see you with a pleasant look on your face, and you always act so cunning, then what state would you say you are in? Gods are watching you.

     I can tell you, originally I didn’t expect that so many gods would be closely watching Dafa disciples! As what I’m doing gets larger and larger, I’m finding that the number of beings has become simply countless. In the past I saw only that the eyes they projected were watching you, but now I’ve found that their eyes are all squeezed together [because] there’s no space. Countless, innumerable beings are watching you closely, without taking their eyes off you for even just a moment! The entire cosmos is being impacted. Even within a space that’s the size of the tip of a needle there are countless hundreds of millions of beings watching you. Beings aren’t classified by their size, as wisdom and abilities are not determined by size. “A sparrow is small but complete,” as they say. I can tell you that some gods at extremely high levels are smaller than the tip of a needle, but are incomparably mighty! They can instantly turn themselves into enormous gods.

     I have long said that the human realm is a big stage, and you are performing here. The audience is the myriad gods and numerous heavenly people of the entire cosmos—it’s like they are watching a play in a theatre. If humans were to sit off stage and watch other humans perform, they wouldn’t be able to see what’s going on in the performers’ minds. But those gods are watching your thoughts and your deeds. With your head atop the body, they are watching how the cells in your brain are moving, and they can also see how your heart and mind shift. When you do ridiculous things, they can’t help but laugh. When you do things that Dafa disciples shouldn’t do, they become extremely stern, looking at you.

     Disciple: The media companies established by Dafa disciples seem to be overly focused on internal struggles, which has incurred the wrath of heaven and earth. They have under-emphasized content about Dafa disciples validating the Fa. This is especially true with Dongtaiwang.com.

     Master: What you said doesn’t sound accurate to me. “Incurred the wrath of heaven and earth”? Internal struggles? If you’re saying this because you are speaking from the wicked CCP’s perspective, then you have problems. You are saying that we Chinese have internal struggles, right? We are not part of the wicked CCP’s gang. It is a monster, and it is harming the Chinese people, although on the surface it’s China’s government. We are simply exposing why it persecutes Dafa disciples and at the same time telling the people of the world what it is.

     I said this before the persecution began: The wicked CCP will topple itself in persecuting Falun Gong. (Applause) I wasn’t just predicting something. I had actually foreseen it, because this is how the old forces have arranged things: They make it act like a clown, and when they are done using and playing with it they will eliminate it. Their aim is to cruelly test Dafa disciples and to have Dafa disciples’ human attachments be removed during this persecution. That’s why that thing was created. Could it be allowed to exist for long?

     Disciple: Disciples from Gongzhuling and Changchun have come. Should they stay here?

     Master: These are personal matters. If you think you should stay, then stay. If you think your skills can be used well here, then stay; if you don’t think your skills can be used well here, then don’t stay. In any case, nowadays it’s quite easy for Dafa disciples to come to the United States or to visit different places around the world, and it will become easier and easier. As the evilness of the persecution is exposed, the world’s people are increasingly seeing Dafa disciples in a new light. When the truth is completely disclosed, the whole world will respect Dafa disciples deeply. (Applause)

     In any case, what Master would actually most like to say is that the overall situation is changing, but that Dafa disciples cannot allow their cultivation to change along with the changes in the situation. Make sure not to be swayed no matter what the situation is! Act like Dafa disciples and always cultivate yourselves no matter what problems you encounter. (Enthusiastic applause)

     This is all I’m going to say for today. The conference committee may have received additional question slips. (Enthusiastic applause) But I know that if I were to sit here and answer every person’s question, even then, you might not necessarily have brought up all of your questions, and you would still have more questions. So I’ll stop here. Master can only talk about things in terms of the Fa’s principles. Cultivation depends on you, yourself. If you can maintain the state of mind that you have at this very moment at this Fa conference, you will surely succeed! (Enthusiastic applause)

     Don’t let your mind be affected by the realities of the ordinary world or by notions, and as you go back to those realities, don’t go back to the way you used to view other practitioners. Don’t let this Fa conference be in vain. Dafa’s Fa conferences are held solely for you to improve, to build up your righteous thoughts, and to help you in your cultivation. So I hope that all of you can maintain the state of mind that you have at this very moment, and act like a Dafa disciple should. The situation is pressing, and so many lives are waiting for you to save them. I am extremely anxious!

     The beings that have come to this world, [including those that] couldn’t become human beings and became animals or plants—all of them are waiting for Dafa disciples to save them. If you don’t do well, it’s not just a matter of you yourselves not doing well—the beings that you have vowed to save will lose their chance. Your responsibility is great. The future is waiting for you, and numerous beings in the cosmos are waiting for you.

     Cultivate as you did at the beginning, and you are sure to succeed! (Disciples present flowers to Master, and all the disciples applaud at length.)