Chapter I The Features of Falun
Dafa
Falun Buddha Law is a great, high-level cultivation way of
the Buddhist school, in which assimilation to the supreme nature of the
universe—to Zhen, Shan, Ren[1]—is
the foundation of cultivation. Its cultivation is guided by this supreme nature,
and is based on the laws by which the universe evolves. So what we cultivate is a Great Law,
or a Great Dao.
Falun[2] Buddha Law aims
directly at people’s minds and makes it clear that cultivation of character
(xin-xing) is the key to increasing gong[3].
However high a person’s gong is, that’s how high his or her character
is, and this is an absolute truth of the universe. “Character” includes the
transformation of virtue (de) (a white kind of matter) and karma
(a black kind of matter), the abandonment of ordinary human desires and attachments,
and the capacity to endure the toughest hardships of all. It encompasses many types of things
that a person must cultivate to raise his or her level.
Falun Buddha Law also includes cultivation of the body, which
is accomplished by performing the exercise movements of the Great Way of
Spiritual Perfection—a great high-level Buddhist practice. One purpose of the
exercises is to strengthen a practitioner’s supernatural abilities and energy
mechanisms using his or her powerful gong strength (gong-li),
thus achieving “the Law (fa) refines the practitioner.” Another purpose is
to evolve many living beings in a practitioner’s body. In high-level cultivation, the Immortal Infant or Buddha-Body will be born,
and many abilities will be developed. The exercise movements are necessary for transforming and cultivating these things.
The exercises are part of the harmonization and perfection in our Dafa[4]. So Dafa is a
comprehensive mind-body cultivation system. It is also called “The Great Way of
Spiritual Perfection.” Dafa thus requires both cultivation and exercises, with
cultivation taking priority over the exercises. A person’s gong won’t
increase if he merely does the exercises and fails to cultivate his character.
Meanwhile, a person who only cultivates his character and doesn’t perform the
exercises of the Great Way of Spiritual Perfection will find the growth of his
gong strength impeded and his innate body (ben-ti) unchanged.
There are people with a predestined connection,
and people who have been cultivating for many years but not able to increase their gong. In order for more of them
to gain the Law, to cultivate at a high level from the outset, and to increase their gong rapidly so as to reach Perfection directly, I have
hereby imparted to the public this Great Way (da-fa) for cultivating Buddhahood that I cultivated and awakened to in
the remote past. This cultivation way brings a person to harmony and wisdom.
The movements are concise, as a great way is extremely simple and easy.
The Law Wheel (fa-lun) is central to cultivation in Falun Buddha Law.
The Law Wheel is an intelligent, rotating entity composed of high-energy matter. The Law Wheel that I plant in a cultivator’s
lower abdomen rotates constantly, twenty-four hours a day. (True cultivators can acquire a Law Wheel by reading my books,
watching my talks on video, listening to my talks on audiocassette, or studying with Dafa students.) The Law Wheel
helps cultivators cultivate automatically. That is, the Law Wheel cultivates cultivators at all times even though
they don’t perform the exercises at every moment. Of all the cultivation ways introduced to the world today,
this is the only one that has achieved “the Law refines the person.”
The rotating Law Wheel has the same nature as the universe
and is its miniature. The Buddhist Law Wheel, the Daoist yin-yang, and everything in the Ten-Directional World[5] are reflected in the Law Wheel. The Law Wheel provides salvation to the cultivator when it rotates inward (clockwise), since it absorbs a great amount of energy from the universe and transforms it into gong. The Law Wheel provides salvation to others when rotating outward (counter-clockwise), for it releases energy that can save any being and rectify any abnormal condition; people near the cultivator benefit.
Falun Dafa enables cultivators to assimilate to the supreme
nature of the universe—Zhen, Shan, Ren. It differs fundamentally from all other practices and has eight major distinguishing features.
The Law Wheel has the same nature as the universe and is an intelligent, rotating entity made of high-energy matter. The Law Wheel rotates constantly in the cultivator’s lower abdomen and continually collects energy from the universe, evolving and converting it into gong. For this reason cultivating in Falun Dafa can increase gong and allow a person to reach the state
of Unlocked Gong unusually quickly. Even those people who have cultivated for
over a thousand years have wanted to get this Law Wheel but couldn’t. At
present, all the practices that are popular in society cultivate elixir
(dan) and form elixir. They are called elixir-method qigong[6]. It’s extremely hard for cultivators of elixir-method qigong to achieve Unlocked Gong and Enlightenment in this lifetime.
As cultivators have to work, study, eat, and sleep every day, they aren’t able to do the exercises twenty-four hours a day. But the Law Wheel rotates constantly, helping cultivators to achieve the effect of doing the exercises twenty-four hours a day. So although a person cannot do the exercises every moment, the Law Wheel still refines him or her nonstop. In short, even though a person might not be doing the exercises, the Law is refining him or her.
Nowhere in the world today has another publicly introduced practice solved the problem of finding time for both work and exercises. Only Falun Dafa has solved this problem. Falun Dafa is the only cultivation way that has achieved “the Law refines the person.”
Falun Dafa cultivates a person’s main consciousness.
Cultivators have to consciously cultivate their minds, abandon all of their
attachments, and improve their character. You cannot be in a trance or lose
yourself when practicing the Great Way of Spiritual Perfection. Your main
consciousness should govern you at all times as you do the exercises.
Gong that is cultivated in this way will grow on your own body and you will acquire gong that you yourself can take forth with you. That’s why Falun Dafa is so precious—you yourself get gong.
For thousands of years, all other practices introduced among everyday people have refined the cultivator’s assistant consciousness; the person’s flesh and main consciousness have served only as mediums. Upon reaching Perfection, the cultivator’s assistant consciousness would ascend and take the gong away with it. There would then be nothing left for the person’s main consciousness and innate body—a lifetime of cultivation effort is in vain. Of course, when a person cultivates his main consciousness, his assistant consciousness gets some gong too and, naturally, improves along with the main consciousness.
“Cultivation of mind” in Falun Dafa refers to the cultivation of a person’s character. Cultivation of character takes precedence, as it is considered the key to increasing gong. In other words, the gong that determines your level is not gained by doing exercises, but by cultivating your character. Your gong level is as high as your character level. The character element in Falun Dafa covers a much wider range of things than just virtue; it encompasses many types of things, including virtue.
“Cultivation of body” in Falun Dafa refers to achieving longevity. Through performing the exercises a person’s innate body undergoes transformation and is preserved. Your main consciousness and flesh merge into one, accomplishing Perfection of the whole. Cultivation of the body fundamentally changes the human body’s molecular components. By replacing cells’ elements with high-energy matter, the human body is converted into a body made of matter from other dimensions. As a result you will stay young forever. The issue is dealt with at its root. Falun Dafa is a practice that truly cultivates both mind and body.
A great way is extremely simple and easy. Viewed broadly, Falun Dafa has a small number of exercise movements, yet the things to be developed are numerous and comprehensive. The movements govern every aspect of the body and the many things that will be developed. All five exercises in their entirety are taught to cultivators. Right from the outset, the areas in the cultivator’s body where energy is blocked will be opened, and a great amount of energy will be absorbed from the universe. In a very short period of time the exercises will expel useless substances from the person’s body and purify it. The exercises also help cultivators to raise their level, strengthen their supernatural powers, and arrive at the Pure-White Body state. The five exercises are far beyond the usual exercises that open the meridians[7] or the Great and Small Cosmic Orbits. Falun Dafa provides cultivators with the most convenient and efficient cultivation way, and what is also the best and the most precious way.
Falun Dafa cultivation involves no directing with thought, no focusing thought on specific objects, and is not guided by mind intent. So practicing Falun Dafa is absolutely safe, and it is guaranteed that cultivators won’t go awry. The Law Wheel protects cultivators from going awry in the practice as well as from disturbance by people whose character is poor. Moreover, the Law Wheel can automatically rectify any abnormal condition.
Cultivators begin their cultivation at a very high level. As long as they can bear the toughest hardships of all, tolerate the intolerable, maintain their character, and really practice only one cultivation way, they will be able to reach the state of Three Flowers Gathered Atop the Head within a few years. That is the highest level a person can reach during Triple-World-Law cultivation.
The Law Wheel is a miniature of the universe. The universe is rotating, all of its galaxies are rotating, and the Earth is rotating as well, so there is no north, south, east, or west for us. Falun Dafa cultivators do their cultivation according to the fundamental nature of the universe and the laws by which it evolves. So no matter which direction somebody faces, he or she is doing the exercises towards every direction. Since the Law Wheel rotates constantly there is no concept of time; cultivators can do them at any time. The Law Wheel always rotates and cultivators couldn’t stop its rotation [if they tried], so there is no concept of ending the practice. You finish the movements but not the functioning of gong.
It’s very dangerous for an everyday person to suddenly
receive high-level things, as his or her life will instantly be in danger.
Cultivators will gain protection from my Law Bodies (fa-shen) when they accept my Falun Dafa teachings and truly cultivate. As long as you persevere in cultivation, my Law Bodies will protect you until you reach Perfection. Should you decide to stop cultivating at some point, my Law Bodies will depart.
The reason many people don’t dare to teach high-level truths is that they are not able to assume the responsibility, and heaven prohibits their doing so. Falun Dafa is an upright Law. One right thought will subdue a hundred evils, provided that in the cultivator’s cultivation he maintains his character, abandons his attachments, and forgoes any incorrect pursuits, as prescribed by Dafa. Any wicked entity will be afraid, and anything not related to your improvement won’t dare to meddle with you or disturb you. The teachings of Falun Dafa are thus completely unlike those of conventional cultivation methods or the elixir-cultivation theories of other practices and branches of cultivation.
Cultivating in Falun Dafa consists of many levels in both Triple-World-Law and Beyond-Triple-World-Law cultivation. This practice, right at the outset, begins at a very high level. Falun Dafa provides the most convenient cultivation way for its cultivators, as well as for those who have been cultivating for a long time yet have failed to increase their gong. When a cultivator’s gong strength and character reach a certain level, he or she can attain an indestructible, never-degenerating body while in the secular world. A person can also achieve the Unlocking of Gong, Enlightenment, and ascension of the whole person to high levels. Those with great determination should study this upright Law, strive to achieve the Rightful Attainment, improve their character, and discard their attachments. Only then can they reach Perfection.
[1] The three
Chinese words here can be translated as follows. Zhen, “true,”
“truth(fulness),” “real” “genuine”; Shan, “good(ness),” “kind(ness),”
“compassionate,” “benevolent”; Ren, “endure,” “forbear(ance),” “forbearing,” “patience,” “self-control.”
[2] (pronounced
“fah-lun”) “Falun” translates loosely as “Law Wheel.” Note: This
and all footnotes are the translator’s additions.
[3]
(“gohng”) A special type of energy.
[4]
(“dah-fah”) “Great Way” or “Great Law,” short for the full name Falun Dafa.
[5]
A Buddhist conceptualization which holds that the universe has ten directions.
[6] (“chee-gong”)
A general name for certain practices that cultivate the human body. In recent
decades, qigong exercises have been extremely popular in China.
[7] “Meridians”
form a network of energy channels in the body said to be conduits of qi energy; they have an important place in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese thought.
|