Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital

Li Hongzhi, July 22, 2007

"7/20" is a date that has extraordinary significance for us; it may play an important role in the history that has yet to come. In the twinkling of an eye, eight years have passed since Dafa disciples were first subjected to persecution. During this process Dafa disciples have traveled many arduous paths, and it really hasn't been easy. You have gone from at first not knowing what to do or how to deal with the persecution to gradually understanding how you should do things. And not only have you come to know how to do things, you have also grown, owing to the harshness of the persecution, ever more rational and clearheaded.

The beings at different levels each have their own perspectives on this persecution. Some see it as a path that must be traveled that is full of tests, while others consider it the result of old elements from across the entire cosmos being stirred up. Still others regard it as laying out a path for Dafa disciples. And beings at lower levels think that, as the righteous emerges, the evil is bound to do harm. Regardless of the perspectives of beings at different levels, I am intent on doing my things well, and Dafa disciples must walk their paths. While facing different so-called tests and different kinds of demonic interference, you have become more and more mature.

I haven't had to worry about too much lately since you have matured and know what to do. In the various projects meant to save sentient beings, you have rationally and proactively taken on multiple tasks, and, moreover, you are doing an excellent job. So, I don't have to worry about anything and everything as I did back when you first began working against the persecution, where I continually corrected our Dafa disciples, directing them on how to walk well, and properly, their path of cultivation and saving sentient beings while resisting the persecution, as well as on how to better clarify the facts amidst the persecution. That's why you often saw me publishing a variety of short articles meant to consistently correct your steps. This has become infrequent lately, for you have truly matured and really know what to do. So I don't have to worry as much. The focus for you right now is simply to find ways to do better, to be more efficient, to have a greater impact, and to save more people.

Aside from what you as individuals need to go through and establish on your final road to Consummation, what is most important for you and most significant right now is to save people. If not for that, let me tell you, your cultivation would have concluded long ago. As Dafa disciples you have done what you were supposed to in cultivation, but in Fa-rectification some changes have taken place. For example, the people in human society are no longer the same ones as when gods created man once upon a time--divine beings have taken the place of human beings' lives. They still appear human on the surface, but in fact they are beings from different dimensions and different levels. For this reason the people in today's society possess greater intellect and ability than the human beings in any period in history. Never before has such a change been encountered. According to the previous arrangements, a great weeding out would take place in the process, [affecting all,] with the exception of the cultivating Dafa disciples and a portion of the earth's people that would remain to serve as the progenitors of the future human race. Things that many prophecies talk about have come true, with the only changes being to this period of history that began with my Fa-rectification; there are things of that nature involved. These things have changed.

Then what should you do when faced with such lives? From Master's perspective, I know that these people should be saved and are worthy of being saved. Except for the Three Realms, all of the enormous cosmic bodies in the cosmos are gods. Of course, though, when gods peer down from higher cosmic bodies, the gods at various levels down below appear to them in fact the way humans appear to gods. In the previous, old colossal firmament, creation-stasis-degeneration-destruction was an absolute law. So the cosmos's laws are not how man imagines them--they are indiscriminate. Laws of this sort overrode the compassion that gods embody when saving human beings, for such were the [cosmos's] laws. Even though the gods who have descended to the Three Realms come from different levels, it was only upon having steadfast faith in Dafa and the Fa-rectification that each came to the human world. They wanted to come here to obtain the Fa and, along with this, give their aid to Dafa while it was spread. So with these beings, regardless of their levels, the steadfast righteous thoughts they had were extremely precious. The reason is, as seen from divine realms, mankind and human society are a truly terrifying sight to behold, and that was especially so in this case, since the gods were able to look at human beings during their worst time. They were brave enough to descend because of their steadfast faith in Dafa and their conviction that Fa-rectification would surely succeed. [They believed that] the Fa could definitely save them, that Dafa would definitely succeed (enthusiastic applause), and that Fa-rectification would definitely succeed, and it was thus that they had the godly courage to come to the human world. I'm not talking about Dafa disciples or students who obtained the Fa at different times, but rather the human race's overall situation right now. Many beings and many things in human society have changed. With such beings before us, we must act, we must save them.

Then which beings are to be cherished during the Fa-rectification period, this critical point in history? Those with full confidence in Dafa and with corresponding actions; these lives are precious. So I feel that whether you look at this from my perspective or in the context of Dafa disciples' responsibilities, we all have this duty and should take up this task. That is why Dafa disciples must try to save the world's people and save sentient beings. You have initiated many efforts in ordinary society to save people, and held many activities similar to those of ordinary society, or done things that have resembled those of ordinary people, but the starting point and goals are different. Whether it be media outlets or websites, or any of the things you do using a variety of approaches from ordinary human society, they are in fact saving people. Whatever you do is for the good of the people in this world. It looks as if we're seeking help from people, when in fact we are saving them. It doesn't matter if it's seeking help with funding, human resources, or material assistance; clarifying the facts to governments in different countries; making contact with civic groups in society; or communicating with other sectors of society, none of these is for Falun Gong's own sake, nor for your own cultivation. These have nothing to do with what one does in cultivation. All these are for the sake of saving people. When you are reaching out to people, that is when you are saving them. When people give support after becoming clear on the truth, thanks to your clarifying the facts, that is saving people; and the positive results they produce after they come to realize the truth is for saving people. In other words, after ordinary people manage to comprehend things and are able to offer support, the impact of that support can itself save people. You can take it a step further and say that when we do things, whether successful or not, those things are saving people all the same and clarifying the facts. That is what Dafa disciples do. If it weren't for the need to do such things, Dafa disciples' cultivation would have already concluded. So all of what you are doing now is meant for sentient beings.

I said in my previous lecture that individual Consummation is no longer an issue for Dafa disciples. Perhaps a good number of people didn't quite understand what I meant, but that's the idea. Of course, while in the process [of achieving that,] the final path that you as Dafa disciples need to take seems to have been lengthened. For that reason things might seem to go a little slowly when it comes to personal improvement, but this fact won't affect you much. So what you are doing inherently builds greater mighty virtue and is remarkable, because this is done completely for the sake of sentient beings and not for personal gain, or merely personal cultivation.

Then in the process of your doing all these things, there will be many, many areas that are less than satisfactory, and there will be people--and even Dafa students--who don't understand. There will always be those who are diligent and those who are not, and there will always be new students who have just entered, and students with different circumstances, so there are going to be different interpretations and views of things. And this is particularly so with students who are from mainland China, whose thinking is completely in a deformed state after having long lived under high pressure, amidst the Party's culture, and amidst interpersonal relationships distorted by the Party's culture. When mainland students--and not just students, but ordinary people as well--relocate to the outside world, they discover that the ways people think and act in normal societies is completely different from in mainland China. And it's to the extent that since they are used to the way of life in the Party's culture and the tense interpersonal relationships there, once they go outside China they actually perceive foreigners as being really dumb. And the non-Chinese, for their part, can't understand the mainlanders' habits, customs, or ways of interacting with people. Actually, the way things are around the world represents what is normal for interpersonal relationships. There you don't have to put so much mental effort into your relationships with people, and there's no need for you to be so cunning. That is the way normal human beings are.

But no matter how smart or cunning a person is, everything ends up the same in the end. Let's take the case of someone who is very dumb. You may find one person stupid and naive, while another is very cunning. But no matter how you live your life, the outcome is the same. It definitely won't change any just because a person is cunning, nor will it change any because a person is naïve. All that being cunning can do is to turn you into a worse person, and while you create karma you will slide down. As your surroundings and you yourself become tense and strained, the minds of those around you will in turn grow even more complicated, and then their complicated thinking will in turn cause you to grow still worse.

I would like to say a few more words about this. Most recently, students have trickled in from China one after another. [To those students I'd say this:] You should try your best to communicate more with non-mainland students, open up more, and by way of discussion clean yourself up. The way people go about life outside of China is the normal way for human beings to be, at least in modern times. Compared with the ancients, who lived without modern technology, the present way of life is of course completely different. Things were better back then. So I'm just talking about things at present, which, in the context of today's society, can be considered relatively normal. So, you should exchange and communicate a lot on this front with students outside China, and don't always cling to and use the Party-culture mindset of mainland China when dealing with this society. Many people who left mainland China at one time came around only gradually, and after spending a considerable length of time abroad. As Dafa disciples, you need to validate the Fa and do what Dafa disciples are supposed to do. You can't take such a long time to change yourself. There's no time for that. This is especially relevant for those students who didn't do well in China and who made mistakes: Fa-rectification isn't over yet, so be quick to catch up. Of course, I don't think it's too big of a problem for newer students--just study the Fa more, do your best to catch up, and keep pace with the Fa-rectification's progression.

For sure, you have made it through such a prolonged period of trials and tribulations, and as Dafa disciples you have indeed saved many people in human society and truly undone the effect of the poison spread around the world by the CCP's media when the "7/20" event of 1999 began. At that time, all the world's media were carrying the propaganda put out by the mouthpieces of the evil Party in mainland China, which amounted to promoting the persecution on the Party's behalf. Those in Western society weren't that clearheaded on this. They didn't realize that the evil Party is so wicked, nor did they have a good understanding of the evil Party. The pressure was indeed huge as we were up against such a large-scale, global, and negative propaganda machine that was smearing us. But Dafa disciples, and especially veteran ones, were not scared by it. The Dafa disciples living throughout the world were equally remarkable. You started off not knowing what to do. Later, however, you gradually became clearheaded and rational, and knew how to deal with things. During that period of time, many were pondering: "Is Falun Gong really like what the evil Party says in its propaganda? Is the practice I'm learning really upright?" Indeed, faced with such slander from the evil, many beings went through a process in their minds. In any event, the Dafa disciples did very well in the end. The vast majority made it through, helped the immense tide of Fa-rectification to turn the whole situation around, and in the end helped cause those mouthpieces that are completely controlled by the evil Party to no longer dare vilify us around the world. They no longer dare to fabricate things because they know that the Dafa disciples they face are capable of exposing them. As soon as the evil Party creates more lies or does something bad, Dafa disciples expose it and set things straight around the world, allowing the whole world to see the evil for what it is and helping more people know about it. So whether it is vilifying us or doing bad things, it's the same as telling the whole world to look at its wickedness while simultaneously promoting Falun Gong for us and expanding the influence of Falun Gong on the thinking of people everywhere. No matter what it does, it is promoting us.

Really, no matter what the old forces do, that's what will happen under the effect of the cosmos's [law of] mutual-generation mutual-inhibition--whatever it does will amount to advertising on the Dafa disciples' behalf. Let's take, for example, the many projects Dafa disciples are doing. As soon as the evil interferes, the forces that are upright and good emerge in turn. And it's the same with whatever the bad people do: As soon as they smear us, or want to do something bad and stir up trouble, it inherently has the effect of expanding our influence.

There have been many instances over the years of the evil Party promoting things on our behalf. Whether it's the websites that Dafa disciples run, the television station, or the Epoch Times newspaper, in many cases they have experienced something like this. It's especially true in the case of last year's gala performance (New Tang Dynasty Television's Chinese New Year Spectacular and performance tour). At first not that many people knew about it, but then they [the CCP] went everywhere with their propaganda, telling people not to come see the show--they did things even more thoroughly than the Dafa disciples (everyone laughs), they sought out even more people than we did. (Everyone laughs, applauds) A typical case was the show in Australia's capital, Canberra. They called and wrote letters to all members of Parliament telling them not to attend the show, thinking that the world doesn't know what kind of entity the CCP is and that it would heed what they said. Their propaganda was pushed so broadly and its influence was so great that it couldn't be matched at the time by the Dafa disciples. The outcome, however, was that most every one of those officials attended the show. (Everyone laughs, applauds loudly) As it turned out, the officials even humorously said, "We could hold a session of Parliament here before watching the show." (Everyone laughs, applauds) The same theatrics happened at the Ottawa show in Canada.

Of course, these things that I just discussed, seen from another angle, are also meant to tell you that the fact that the old cosmos could last up through to today and reach this point, and the fact that sentient beings and mankind have been able to remain up to the present, is because these beings have been awaiting salvation. In other words, then, they have been waiting for Dafa disciples to establish their mighty virtue and at the same time show the capacity Dafa disciples have for saving sentient beings. Then wasn't this stage kept for Dafa disciples? (Enthusiastic applause) Yes, definitely. So, any bad person may go and commit his wrongful acts and go around stirring up trouble, but whatever he achieves is sure to lend assistance to Dafa disciples in their salvation of people. (Applause) That wasn't his original intent or what those bad people wanted, but as soon as they make a move, that's inevitably the effect it has.

That is to say, don't pay any mind to whatever the reality of today's mankind is or however rampant the evil is: The people who have come to this world are waiting for you to save them! (Applause) All the adverse things that come about are tests for Dafa disciples related to increasing mighty virtue. (Applause) Now that I have put it this way, your thinking is going to be clearer. Whatever specific difficulties you run into, though they may appear identical in form to those of ordinary people and seem more or less the same as the troubles of ordinary people, in reality, if you take a good, calm look, if you look back a bit at the path you have traveled, isn't that the case? Yes, it is. That's because this undertaking that I am doing follows my designs, and we aren't having all of mankind come to learn Falun Gong; this undertaking of mine is divided into two stages. There is the Fa-rectification period, so in the Fa-rectification period there are Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. After the Fa-rectification period concludes, then it is the period of the Fa rectifying the human world. So there are two stages. In the future, then, when the Fa rectifies the human world there will be Fa-rectifying-the-human-world period Dafa disciples, and their mighty virtue will be different from that of the Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. These are two distinct phases.

So during this process, during the Fa-rectification period, Dafa disciples are faced with the responsibility of saving the sentient beings of the future. If it weren't for the fact that lives of high levels came down to this world to obtain the Fa, Dafa disciples wouldn't need to do these things. But as soon as high-level beings came and took the place [of humans], it magnified the importance of this affair and of saving people. But, were it otherwise, were it still a normal human society, it would nonetheless be divided into two stages. And why is that? Because in humankind's large-scale weeding out process, some good people will be left to serve as the progenitors of the future human race; also, during the period when the Fa rectifies the human world, a glory is to be created for Dafa whereby mankind reciprocates Dafa, and it will be a period in which Dafa flourishes in human society. This is a historical inevitability. Mankind will need to give thanks. The fact that Fa-rectification will ultimately be completed here counts as good fortune for mankind.

Though a human body really amounts to nothing without a main soul (yuanshen), it does carry a great amount of information, and if it were re-created it would definitely not be as it is now. A newly-made human being would be just like a blank sheet of paper, and with the world before him, his mind would be a blank slate. In regards to the natural world, he wouldn't have the complete thinking or concepts a human has, nor the concept of the different ways a human acts in relation to the material world, and likewise with the various theories and human norms that have been formed by the mankind of this cycle; the Chinese people of this period have the concepts of "humaneness," "righteousness," "propriety," "learning," and "trustworthiness," while in the West, too, there are norms for human conduct, and so on. A newly-made human being would find a huge range of things such as these incomprehensible. Man has become enriched only by having gone through endless years of life in society and having lived through the long course of history. As I just indicated, it is not the main soul that I'm referring to, but rather the information that the human flesh body carries. And this is especially so for today's human beings, who don't react in very extreme ways when encountering something--they aren't shocked and shaken instantly when something bad happens, and aren't overjoyed to no end when something good comes about. Yet that is how someone who lacked any depth of thought would be. Over the long march of time, man has become ever more steady. This is not just a matter of man's thought, however, as it is also directly related to man's flesh body. Then when man's flesh body, having made it to the present time in history, has all of its bad things cleansed and removed, that exquisite body that's left is truly a masterpiece, a masterpiece truly worthy of being cherished, and truly a culmination of the cosmos's history. (Applause)

In other words, in the cosmos, many wonderful beings as well as a variety of precious elements have indeed been created over the long and vast course of development that the cosmic bodies have undergone, and these would not be the same if re-created. This is an important factor in the necessity for Fa-rectification. If everything in this cosmos were gone and everything had to be started from scratch, the results would, no matter how things were done in the course of development and even if the same history were used, nevertheless definitely turn out to be different from how things are with the beings that exist today. They couldn't possibly be the same, and that is why divine beings throughout the entire cosmos regard the history they have gone through as extremely precious.

I often say that I don't worry much about the final outcome, as what is to be completed in the Fa-rectification is inevitable. No matter how harrowing things may get during the Fa-rectification, the outcome is certain. So I don't pay much attention to it, given that it's bound to succeed. What I value most is the process. Only with the entirety of the process that a being goes through do you have the complete entity that is that being. The entire process of Fa-rectification is the most precious--it is the entirety of the cosmos, and the most remarkable undertaking. The process of Fa-rectification is what's central, so the old forces cannot be allowed to just participate as they wish. Given that this is Fa-rectification, I am particularly insistent on the path I wish to take, as this is about creating the future. All that I have done in the cosmos is most worthy of cherishing, and it is what I will affirm and acknowledge in the future. Things that I don't want cannot be acknowledged or affirmed--they are a disgrace. So in Fa-rectification, no matter what kinds of demonic ordeals I encounter or what kinds of blows I am dealt, they cannot alter my will, nor change what I plan to accomplish. (Enthusiastic applause)

Nearly half a year has passed since the last Fa conference. You've done an excellent job in the course of this half year. Things are progressing quickly. As the wicked beings become fewer and fewer, the minds of the world's people are changing, society is changing, and the sentient beings are changing. When I say "sentient beings," it's not in fact limited to the human race. All objects, regardless of whether modern science considers them organic or inorganic, are in fact alive. Everything is alive. When we speak of "sentient beings," it refers to all living things. The changes taking place in sentient beings are a reflection of Dafa disciples' achievements as Fa-rectification has progressed along, while our Dafa disciples' performance throughout the Fa-rectification period has fully confirmed the honor and glory that Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples have. How magnificent! In the phase ahead, do even better with what you need to do, walk well the final leg of the journey, and do even better with what you are supposed to do. Don't become complacent just because you think you've done such and such, for there are so many sentient beings that we have yet to save. You still need to push yourselves so that you may establish even greater mighty virtue within a limited timeframe, and so that you won't have any regrets when all is said and done. So I hope that you will do even better and be even more magnificent.

You certainly still have many shortcomings in your cultivation, and I have seen many shortcomings that really stand out. I haven't said anything all along, and I don't want to say anything now. That is because I know that although these shortcomings are quite sizable, some have had the effect of deterring interference during the Fa-rectification. But that said, don't go and try to guess what they are--don't think that your shortcomings should be kept. (Master laughs) It's just that I have seen some problems. Ultimately I will take care of these things for you, however.

No matter what, you should do the final things even better and establish even greater mighty virtue. It is not for my sake or for the sake of Fa-rectification: It is for you yourselves. (Enthusiastic applause) The sentient beings of the future will thank you. (Applause) May your lives shine ever more brightly in the cosmos of the future. (Long, enthusiastic applause)

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