(Li Hongzhi, May 22, 2005, in Toronto)
(Enthusiastic applause) Good morning! (Applause)
(Audience: "Good morning, Master!")
I remember that, before July 20, 1999, our Toronto Fa
conference was held here. (Enthusiastic applause) At that time, when the
evil CCP's suppression and persecution were about to
begin, I said something to you: I said that just by remaining unmoved you could
handle all situations. (Enthusiastic applause) Of course, some students
grasped what I said, while others took it to mean, don't do anything, don't take
any action. (Teacher laughs) (Everyone laughs) Being
"unmoved" refers to a person's steadfast righteous thoughts and
righteous faith being unmoved. It wasn't about ignoring a Dafa disciple's
responsibility of saving beings and not even taking the path of cultivating and
improving yourselves through ordeals. How could that work? So however it was
people did, it's cultivation, after all, so each person had a different
understanding and each had taken up Dafa having differing degrees of human
attachment; in the cultivation process there are human thoughts that are hard to
remove, and this makes for different understandings and grasps of the Fa. So
amidst this ordeal, different students' understandings of Dafa and the amounts
of their attachments have been fully shown, and you have seen how differently
people have acted during the persecution. This persecution was forced upon us
and it is not to be acknowledged, but through the persecution shortcomings in
cultivation have indeed been seen, just as the magnificent side of Dafa
disciples has been seen. For you to have followed Master to this point and come
through the persecution, that indeed is magnificent! (Enthusiastic
applause)
I've said that if it were not for this persecution, Dafa
disciples' cultivation would have taken another form. Of course, what's past is
past, and it's basically a moot point now. But with things as they are, in these
circumstances, it truly is magnificent when genuine Dafa disciples can really
keep firm and improve themselves in the Fa, save sentient beings while negating
the persecution, and make it to where they are today. You have seen how wicked,
harsh, and underhanded the persecution has been, and on top of that, it has
something that sets it apart from the persecutions of disciples of enlightened
beings in the past: throughout history, persecutions were done out in the open,
whereas today, the evil CCP has in its hands all the wicked experiences and
filthy tactics from the persecutions of people in the course of history, so in
this persecution and wicked suppression, many unspeakable tactics have been
carried out on the sly. So when it comes to helping the world's people learn
about this, helping society to become alarmed, having the world's people react
in outrage at this persecution, or leading them to voice their support of Dafa
disciples--this seems very hard to do. The reason is, the evil has been
concealing the truth, and their persecutory tactics have been terribly wicked.
Never before has something like this happened. It is the product of the wicked
Communist Party having accumulated for over a century the most wicked of
experiences, and they are covering up their criminal acts in the persecution in
an extremely secretive way.
In other words, this ordeal that was forced upon Dafa
disciples is without precedent in history. Back when the persecution first
began, the [bad people] did things publicly, and they tried in vain to suppress
Dafa disciples with a sinister, overwhelming atmosphere in which it felt as if
the world was collapsing. But the evil forces, the rotten demons, and the
malevolent Party couldn't succeed. Later on they realized that their approach
would, as time went on, draw international attention and aggravate the Chinese
people, and the broader public would support Dafa disciples and the effort to
thwart the persecution. So they gradually made the persecution into a covert
one. Then, for one thing, it looked on the surface like the malevolent CCP had
again won a victory, and secondly, it painted a false picture where things
seemed calm and harmonious on the surface. Meanwhile, behind the scenes it
continued to underhandedly persecute Dafa disciples in a sinister fashion. In
the latter stages it has gotten to the point that even the CCP's
state-controlled radio stations, television stations, and newspapers no longer
mention it. But it has never let up in its means of oppressive persecution.
These are the persecutory means of a gangster regime, the likes of which have
never been seen before. You have seen that under these circumstances the
mainstream media outlets of each country around the world have, for the most
part, not reported on the persecution of Dafa disciples, keeping silent while
crimes and sins are committed.
Of course, there is another factor, which is that China has
now become an economic marketplace for the entire world, and many countries like
the looks of the investment conditions there. It's not that the CCP has
exceptional resources, or that the CCP has changed for the better and improved
China's situation, or that the wicked Communist Party has some great approach,
and thereby attracts investors from all over the world. In reality it's quite
simple: the CCP has made the Chinese people poor and fearful, and so they want
to save up more money; also, the Chinese people's work ethic has led them to
work steadily and long term at their jobs. That has attracted investors. In many
cultures, once people have made some money they stop working, and they won't
work again until they have spent it. But the Chinese people, having been made
poor and fearful by the CCP, have this characteristic that they want to keep
saving up money, and so, as long as they can keep saving money they will keep
working. That has attracted a great many investors who need a stable workforce,
especially one of technical personnel. So the wicked CCP has seized upon this
frame of mind that the Chinese have, and it has been using the Chinese people
and using the investors' funds and massive amounts of financial, material, and
human resources to suppress people and persecute Falun Gong. And so it is that
many countries, out of economic interest, haven't given a stance on the
persecution.
Through the persecution we've seen that nothing advocated for
in human society is reliable. There are many people around the world who talk
about human rights, and there are many countries that pay lip service to freedom
of belief, to the point that seemingly everybody the world over takes these
things to be life's most basic needs, a person's most crucial rights. But when
the CCP persecutes the Chinese people and tramples on their human rights and
freedom of belief in a terribly evil and severe way, many governments and media
throughout the world have remained silent. In other words, when material gain is
at stake, all of that talk about freedom of belief and human rights suddenly
means nothing to them. As for people's consciences, well, we can see that in
this circumstance people's so-called consciences likewise become nothing. It
turns out such things are promoted just as a means to guard certain people's
practical, vested interests. Dafa, on the other hand, is the real Truth of the
cosmos that you have come to understand through cultivation. It is forever
unchanging and immutable. Its upright teachings are to be upheld in all
situations and circumstances; they are what people need to follow no matter the
situation. In any circumstances, as long as the cultivator's righteous thoughts
are strong, he can gain improvement, guidance, and assistance from it, thereby
strengthening his righteous thoughts and helping him to ward off interference
from whatever human tactics or evil temptations might come his way. This is the
cosmos's Law and man's righteous belief in gods, and it is the manifestation of
the Truth as cultivators progress in elevating themselves. Nothing that ordinary
people tout for the purpose of guarding ordinary people's interests can compare
to it. In other words, all of this transcends ordinary people, and that is why
Dafa disciples can make it through the persecution.
Along with those two reasons, there is actually another
factor at the most fundamental level that is behind the many governments and
almost all the major media around the world not taking a stance. And that is,
the old forces' factors in the old cosmos have been blocking off all of the
world's people who haven't obtained the Fa, not letting them get involved in
this affair. Their goal is to have the Dafa disciples be "tested" in
certain locales. If the world's people did get involved, then the
"tests" of Dafa disciples wouldn't be that wicked or reach the goal of
determining, through the harsh, cruel "tribulations" that they
designed for them, whether Dafa disciples are up to par. That's the ultimate
reason why they have done this.
No matter what, though, throughout the persecution Dafa
disciples and I have fully resisted the persecution. So while we completely
resist this persecution, to follow your Master's requirements, my requirements,
and maintain the unique cultivation state that you have, and to do well
everything you are responsible for as a Dafa disciple--that is what it
means to be diligent. I've told you before that, when it comes to cultivation,
any cultivator in the past would, like you, have a tough cultivation
predicament, one of grueling, long-term tests. And especially when a person
cultivates with things that benefit him in practical ways right around him,
that's truly hard. Many chances to gain are right there, tempting cultivators,
and when you let down your guard just a little bit, your thinking, your
understanding, and even your human thoughts will lead you to drift along with
the current. So this form of cultivation is very hard. But because it's hard,
seen from a different angle, it shows that the Dafa disciples today are able to
cultivate to high levels. If the environment were not so trying, then the direct
tests of the cultivator's human surface and of the main body of that person's
being would not be so intense.
You know, whether it was religions or the various cultivation
forms in history, they weren't responsible for the outermost surface of the
person, the true figure, in the person's cultivation. In other words, it didn't
matter to them whether the person's master soul (zhu yuanshen) could
succeed in cultivation. That's why most of them involved cultivating for
extended periods in a state of stillness (ding). The various states that
manifest when attachments are removed in stillness can act only upon the
cultivator's subordinate soul (fu yuanshen). But this form of practice,
one in which Dafa disciples cultivate in human society, has the cultivators'
remaining human attachments and the many temptations of self-interest for the
person at the surface manifest in a most direct way. And this leads to an
emphasis on the cultivation of the cultivator who is at the surface, thus making
changes in the surface human side the key. This then becomes the most
challenging point of emphasis in cultivation. On top of that, the premise is
that the person's main body is the target of salvation and what is to be
improved, so the true cultivation of the person becomes what is foremost, and
the cultivation way is such that the surface of the person is tested directly.
The tests of the subordinate soul and the other beings present in the human body
are not so direct, for they are all breaking through the delusion to some
extent, whereas the person [at the surface] is being directly tested by all the
things that could benefit him in a practical way. That is what's unique about
Dafa disciples' cultivation. And that is what I meant when I said, "Human
beings can now truly cultivate into gods." I said that, "In form it is
now truly the person himself who is cultivating," because the human body
has become the primary body in the cultivation process.
Back when this Dafa was first taught, a lot of gods didn't
understand, and therefore said, "You value humans too much." The
implication was, "Instead of focusing on us, you are focusing on
humans." Who ever took humans seriously in the past? Human beings have so
many attachments, their conduct is so shoddy, and their reasoning is so muddled.
"Why would you want to save humans?" they thought. Of course, there
are many reasons involved that they didn't know about. I have shared with you in
past teachings that low-level gods don't know the true state of things at
mankind's surface level. Over the course of so many years, so much has happened
in human history, and the surface human beings have endured tremendous amounts
in their various incarnations. Fa-rectification is saving all lives, so how
could those lives not be saved? When Dafa rectifies the Fa in the cosmos, things
are carried out in a way different from in any cultivation form of the past,
where [the cultivation form] would be responsible for only one particular type
of being or the beings within only a certain range. Fa-rectification is to save
all beings that can be saved, which includes all forms of life that are created
by gods and are present in a person's main body. What's more, many people have
undergone great hardships over the course of the long, drawn-out years, so how
could they not be saved? Aren't humans the primary beings in the Three Realms?
Don't all of the beings in the Three Realms need to be saved? Then this
cultivation form as well as the foundation that the human race has laid and the
suffering that it has gone through over the course of the long years of
history--isn't it exactly these things that have enabled human beings to gain
the greatest mighty-virtue of all time? And shouldn't these beings be deemed the
most outstanding and considered first for salvation? When this human place is
made the base point of Fa-rectification, isn't it only fitting that the first
priority be to set free this group of beings, human beings?
Of course, it's none too simple. Everything of today was
foreseen in the past. Back when the Three Realms was first formed, arrangements
began to be made, and then in the human form at man's outermost surface the
beings and the conditions that would later be needed by the Fa-rectification
period were gradually arranged, and this then allowed those beings to gain
enormous mighty-virtue in the process of going through such long years. In other
words, what is at a human being's surface is not just simply a human. [Human
beings'] deficient conduct and wisdom are the result of limitations brought
about by the realm human beings are in, the environment of the Three Realms, and
the standard used when man was created. This can't be perceived merely in the
manifestations of things, because the higher a factor's level is, the harder it
is to detect it at the [level of the] human body's surface. With those things
undetected, man's true situation has forever been veiled from the beings at the
multitude of levels. It's not that every god knows the relationship between the
Three Realms and the cosmos. As you know, over the course of history much
culture and many prophecies were passed on to human society, but of the gods,
even those closest to the Three Realms don't know about many such things. Isn't
that curious? So why is that, then? Why don't they know? When human beings can
comprehend certain upright teachings found in some of the philosophies of the
past, as well as the highly accurate prophecies left here during the course of
human history, how could gods not know?
There are actually many mysteries in the human world and in
the Three Realms, and a lot of mysteries are unknown to gods. And there are
great and numerous differences between the time of mankind and those of many,
many gods. Supposing a human being is a particle, then, a divine being that is
the size of a larger particle--speaking in terms of volume, that is--what he can
detect, be aware of, and know regarding the long, drawn-out history of the human
world is quite limited. When it comes to a particle whose volume is smaller than
the human race's particles, or a god who is smaller than a molecular particle,
his time passes by very fast. That is why many beings know nothing about the
essential history of the Three Realms, the reason for the Three Realms'
existence, or the true meaning of life's existence. A god doesn't really die,
but he is reborn in his realm. I'll just use the word "rebirth" to
describe it. He too starts over again owing to the [law of]
formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction that has existed in the cosmos,
similar to how human beings go through birth, aging, sickness, and death and
then reincarnate. At the time of the cosmos's creation the principle of cyclical
renewal was set in the Fa-truths, and so this phenomenon has similarly existed
in the realms of gods. It's just that for gods, the time in their [respective
realms] seems to be endless. Also, gods are aware of their own process of
rebirth, unlike human beings, who find the idea of death terrifying and who are
unsure whether there is an afterlife. These things are part of the delusion and
not things that humans are allowed to know. But gods, in their divine state, do
know them. It's just that when they are reborn their memory from before is
erased--when they are reborn all memory of the past is gone. That's how they
are. But to them, everything is so long that it's as if life never ends. In the
process of rebirth they come to no longer know about things from the past. So
over the long years not all gods in the cosmos know the history that has
unfolded in the Three Realms. And even with today's Fa-rectification, not all
gods know what it is about, nor even can all of them understand or see each step
of Fa-rectification. The beings of the numerous realms see Fa-rectification only
when it is almost right before them, they don't see it until it arrives. That's
why the cosmos's beings have acted in different ways in this Fa-rectification.
Some have a positive understanding, some have a negative one, and some have a
passive one. That's how they are. All of the different ways we have seen human
beings act in today's human societies, I can tell you, are fairly similar to how
things are in the higher realms.
Before July 20, 1999, back when Dafa was being spread widely,
in what kind of state were the beings and the gods of different realms? They
were saying, "Wow, Dafa is so great. What a pity such a good Law is taught
to humans, and done so when humans are at their worst." Some of them
thought, "Perhaps only by spreading it in a time like this can the
magnificence of Dafa be shown." There were also beings who thought,
"Li Hongzhi is merciful, so let's push all of the bad things onto him and
have him work off the sins and karma." They seized the opportunity to do
bad things. The karma that was pressing down [on me] was as enormous as the sky,
and many gods who saw it were thinking, "Will he still be able to take
it?" Though they had different thoughts and understandings among them, the
roles they played were largely positive at the time. But once the persecution
began on July 20, 1999, their thinking changed. Great numbers of beings in
diverse realms assumed a resigned, passive attitude and just watched things;
they did nothing upon seeing the rotten demons do evil and carry out the
persecution, as if they were watching to see if [I] would make it through. They
thought, "If you can make it, then wow, that's simply extraordinary and I
will support you." But, owing to the obstacles that arose after the old
forces and old beings were roused, and upon seeing the world be filled with an
evil, overpowering force, the beings each had selfish thoughts. The majority
thought, "It will be really hard for this to succeed. If it doesn't work I
will be affected." So they didn't declare a stance. Almost all beings in
the multitudinous realms were like that. What the Law of the cosmos intends to
save is precisely the beings in the multitudinous realms. The requirements for
the beings can't be too high, though. If everyone were so upright the cosmos
wouldn't have needed Fa-rectification. Exactly because beings have become like
this, where they are no longer good, they have acted as they have. And that is
how the gods acted towards this Fa-rectification and Dafa disciples.
Of course, as the overall Fa-rectification continually pushes
forward, the situation in the world and that of the entire Three Realms changes
constantly. The actions you have seen by people today bear much resemblance to
how things are in the heavens. Put differently, if the lives of many of the
world's people correspond to those of celestial bodies and have certain
backgrounds, then think about it: doesn't [how they act here] relate directly to
how things are in higher realms at this time? Of course, humans at the outermost
surface aren't clear on things. Right now many people are willing to step
forward, because a lot of the different realms' beings and kings can see that
Dafa's success in Fa-rectification is unstoppable and certain. So one after
another they are giving their stance and showing it in their actions. The final
factors of the old cosmos saw the coming of this stage long ago. There are many
still higher, final beings in the cosmos, and even though they are not related
to the old forces' factors, they are nonetheless old beings and are holding on
to the concepts they formed after deviating. When they look at Dafa disciples
they hold on to the deficiencies of the past cosmos and its warped
characteristics, and they are trying to uphold all of those things. They think
that this kind of persecution can help Dafa disciples cultivate. Their notions
are having an obstructing effect, and they have created a partition between the
surface world and other realms, hindering people's understanding of the Fa. They
think that only when somebody makes it through under these circumstances is it
acceptable, and that the beings in the lower realms and the world's people can
be kept only if they give their stance under these circumstances. Making the
choice under these circumstances does bespeak of a being's magnificence, but is
it necessary to have that state wherein they can't comprehend the Fa-rectification?
And most importantly, the future cosmos doesn't want things done this way. And
Fa-rectification doesn't acknowledge these negative, antagonistic
factors. Furthermore, it is a being's attitude towards Fa-rectification
at this time that is crucial, and this holds for those "final,
highest" beings that try to influence Fa-rectification.
The Fa-rectification affects the futures of all lives,
instead of only Dafa disciples, the world's people, or beings from different
realms. Given the Fa-rectification's immensity, who could be left out? At the
same time, because of the utmost importance of a being's attitude towards Fa-rectification,
nobody has the right to seal off sentient beings and make them ignorantly commit
sins against Fa-rectification and Dafa. Meddling from those factors of the old
forces should never have happened in the first place. It is real only when the
sentient beings are able to look at this affair and take a position without
being controlled in any way and in the absence of interference from any factor.
When that's not the case, isn't what they devised a manifestation of their
arranging certain beings to do good and certain beings to do bad things based on
their wishes? Is that the true behavior of those beings? It's not! But as
the situation currently stands, the cosmos's old, final factors are still
interfering with what is wanted and what needs to be established for the future.
Today the actions of the lives in this world that we witness
are such that despite the old forces' influence, the beings and gods in
different realms are gradually coming to approve of and support Dafa. This
approval, however, isn't a true, unconditional acceptance of Dafa, Fa-rectification,
and Dafa disciples, but instead the result of the great momentum of the Fa-rectification's
success pervading the entire cosmic body, leaving them with no choice. Of
course, there is a significant portion of them that do truly understand, for
they can now see this trend of Fa-rectification and that everything for the
future is sure to be achieved. Of course, the world's people aren't actually
aware of all of this. They can see only that [Falun Gong] hasn't been cowed by
the persecution from the gangster-led CCP government, and they have shown a
human-level realization, "Wow, that Falun Gong is something. After all this
time Falun Gong hasn't been scared into submission by that wicked, evil CCP.
Instead it has increasingly flourished and thrived, while the CCP has destroyed
itself in the process of persecuting Falun Gong. Falun Gong is incredible!"
Also, for the Chinese people, the qualities arising out of the righteous
thoughts displayed by Dafa disciples suggest that there is hope that the moral
values of Chinese civilization will be restored. Those greedy, corrupt officials
and the crimes being committed are raging out of control in that society ruled
by the CCP. Another thing is, in order to allow the Chinese people to comprehend
and obtain the Fa, the minds of the Chinese people were freed up when Fa-rectification
first began, leading them to become very smart. However, during this persecution
they haven't put those smarts to use in understanding the Fa, and have instead
used it to commit crimes. So during the past few years of persecuting Dafa
disciples, they have attacked Zhen, Shan, Ren and promoted wicked things,
and this has made the ways in which sentient beings commit crimes become
extremely covert and complex. The CCP's rogue gang has no way to deal with
China's current predicament. They have simply no way to reverse the crimes they
have committed and the complicated problems in society of their own making that
they now face.
I said all of this just now because I'm sitting here again
today teaching you Fa. (Enthusiastic applause) Five or six years have
passed, and I am teaching the Fa here again today, and you might have a
different feeling, and that might be even more so for those students who were
here last time. We have basically made it through the wicked, cruel persecution,
[and I can say that] since during this Fa-rectification the wicked CCP's factors
are being drastically and rapidly destroyed in great numbers. Just like I said,
they are wicked, malicious, and bad. As long as they exist they will keep
doing bad things. So in China, even though the restraint on people there from
the wicked Communist Party's evil factors is, as with many other people around
the world, being eliminated, slowed down, and lessened, and it is no longer that
effective really, the persecution against Dafa disciples is still being
sustained. [That will continue] unless they are fully eliminated, and at that
point the persecution will end. Those evil factors of the wicked CCP will
definitely be cleared away by gods in the Fa-rectification! (Enthusiastic
applause)
The wicked CCP itself can see that it is teetering on the
edge and that all is lost. Many people want to leave themselves a way out, and
many are trying to cover up the crimes they committed in the persecution. And of
course, even more people want to withdraw from those wicked Party organizations.
All of this throws those die-hards of the wicked Party into despair and
terrifies them. Notably, the withdrawals from the Party are making them tremble
with fear. All is lost for them, and they can already see that it's over for
them. No matter what kind of attitude ordinary people have [towards what's
happening] or how they worry about what will happen to Chinese society and
civilization, they are worrying in vain. Since ancient times gods have never
loosened their grip on any nation or any individual. When gods want a society to
fall into chaos, it will fall into chaos; when gods want a person to go on a
rampage, he will go on a rampage; and when gods want a society to be stable, it
will be stable. Despite how big that wicked Communist camp was, when [gods]
wanted it to dissolve, it dissolved in a matter of days. (Applause) It
all depends on whether gods need something or not. Isn't that so?
Everything here in human society was established for Fa-rectification,
and all that exists today exists for the sake of my Dafa disciples validating
the Fa. Remember: you are the stars of today's world, you are the
lives that sentient beings are watching the most intently, and you are
beings who are determining the future of every person in the human world! (Applause)
So, saving all beings and cultivating yourselves well are of the utmost
importance for you, the Dafa disciples. It's not done just for the Consummation
of your own being--it is also about fulfilling the hopes that have been placed
in you by sentient beings, by more beings! Okay, I'll stop here. (Long,
enthusiastic applause)
Right now [you should just focus on] the things that you are
doing, so I don't want to distract you from what you are currently doing by
talking about too many other things. The things that you are doing now are
crucial, so I won't say more. I thank you all! (Enthusiastic applause)
Last updated: October 22, 2005.
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