PureInsight | April 12, 2002
We know that the Fa-rectification is breaking through the old forces' arrangements and rectifying the universe to a state that is/will be (a question of time, different topic) much better than the 18K gold plan they had. As Fa-rectification Dafa disciples we are already on the path of breaking through the old arrangement; however, that sounds a little passive. In Fa-rectification we, of course, are not passive—the Falun turns to correct abnormalities and we as particles of the Fa are also constantly moving to rectify the Fa.
Ever since Master Li began to spread the Fa (and even long before), He has been providing us with the path and methods to prepare for and eventually today to take part in Fa-rectification. (It is my understanding that our preparation was all the lives that we had gone through before and all the way up to 1999, then after 1999 we began actually taking part—perhaps again it is like the Falun. It first turned 9 times to rectify us, and now it is turning 9 times the other way to rectify the universe.) Throughout our cultivation Master has set different standards for us to meet, and as we are rising up and getting closer and closer to becoming Gods, He is giving us more specific means of doing what we need to do. Our Consummation and Fa-rectification may be understood as different sides of the same thing. Our reaching Consummation would then be the end of Fa-rectification, and our finishing Fa-rectification may mean our reaching Consummation. Perhaps these two are inseparable. For the specific expression of these methods that Master is giving us to do in Fa-rectification we can take a look at some of Master's past articles: "Rationality" August 9, 2000: "Validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence-this is establishing the mighty virtue of an enlightened being." Then "Dafa is Indestructible" on June 23, 2001: "Clarify the truth thoroughly, eliminate the evil with righteous thoughts, save all beings, and safeguard the Fa with determination, because you are a part of Dafa, indestructible; rectify all that is not righteous." And the current situation we are in now, "Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A" on December 29, 2001: "I think these three things are all I'll talk about. One is your Fa-study, one is sending forth righteous thoughts, and the other is about how clarifying the truth is extremely important." My understanding is that, though this is just a summary of what was lectured, we can see the process that we have been going through. First we needed to establish mighty virtue (the foundation of an enlightened being), then we really needed to become an indestructible part of Dafa, and now we are breaking through and completely eliminating the old evil forces.
How do we break through the old forces' arrangement? I understand that what was discussed in the Florida lecture is basically giving us the method to do what we need to do now: break through the old forces' arrangements and completely eliminate the evil (the same thing really). The three things Master brought up in the Florida lecture sum up the way we do this. Understanding these three things from the point of view of the Fa, we can see that it is actually a complete method. Like Zhen-Shan-Ren, you can't have one without the other two, and within each of those there actually exists the others, it's just that each manifestation is a little different, but they are all the Fa of the universe. To talk a little more in detail on how these three things make a complete method, we need to understand it from the fundamental nature of the universe, and from the Falun (the relation between the Falun and the nature of the universe is another discussion). When we study the Fa, we know that from one point of view we are improving our xinxing and assimilating into the Fa, which of course allows our Gong to grow and our divine powers to form. On the other hand, when we study the Fa we are also giving all the beings in the dimension of our body and the cosmic system we came from the chance to improve and assimilate to the Fa as well—so studying the Fa itself is a very complete thing. When we clarify the truth, we are able to improve ourselves, while at the same time save others, which is also complete. When we send forth righteous thoughts, we first rectify that which is within us, and then we rectify that which is outside of us; this is also complete. When these three things are all put together, I understand that they make one whole thing (even though they are complete on their own). Like the characteristics of the universe, the three together make up a complete Fa of the universe, even though each one can be said to be complete on its own. Some cultivation methods focused on Zhen, while others focused on Shan, but since we cultivate the Dafa of the universe, we are doing all three at once. So, of course, it's much more powerful, and is a whole (though it's not entirely that simple, because each characteristic contains the others as well). Another way to understand these three things mentioned in Florida is like the Falun. The Falun has a few different things that make up the whole. To be more specific, one understanding could be (but definitely is not limited to) the following: clarifying the truth is represented in the 4 small wan symbols, sending forth righteous thoughts is represented in the 4 taiji, and the middle wan is studying the Fa. As we study the Fa, it moves the others to do what they need to do, making for a complete way of rectifying abnormalities. Of course, this is just one understanding, and looking at it from an even higher level there will be even higher meanings. Perhaps what I just said is only an expression at one level, and at an even higher level there is a completely different expression.
To break through the old forces' arrangement, we need to not only do all three things mentioned in Florida, but also understand that they are inseparable as well as understand the relationship between them. When we are able to do all three of these well, we will see that it moves like the Falun, in which everything within it moves in sequence with the others and fully rectifies. When we can reach this state, then we will very easily be breaking through the old forces' arrangement. If one of these three things is not done well, it will affect the others. For example, if the middle wan of the Falun moves slowly, then everything else has to move slowly as well waiting for it. If they all move at the same rate at the same time, then that is when it is simply doing what it needs to do.
All of what I just mentioned though seems to be just talking about the individual. Perhaps each of us Dafa particles is a different part of the giant Falun that is rectifying the universe. In that case, our doing well individually will influence the effects of the giant Falun. If each of us individual particles is able to amply do what we should, perhaps we can all reach this state, and with one turn of this giant Falun all will be rectified. Like Master said in Florida: "Then if every student is able to do that, I can tell you, with five minutes of sending forth righteous thoughts together, the evil in the Three Realms will never exist again--that's how important this is."
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Time. To humans, time seems like a big incomprehensible thing that we can never really figure out. To Gods, on the other hand, it is probably quite simple. We have all read various articles and have had discussions on time. Many of the articles are quite good, but from the ones I have seen I have noticed a slight problem. They all seem to be talking about time from one aspect, but not looking at the whole thing. This is like scientists taking an atom and looking at and studying that alone, while not looking at all the atoms together.
From the Fa we know that Time is a God. Of course, the concept of God is probably quite different at the many complicated levels and realms of the universe. Each dimension has its own time (if not many). From a certain level, time may manifest like a circle. When [one is]within the process of time, it seems like a straight line: people are born, they grow, and then they die. Jumping out of the realm, though, into a higher realm and looking at it, we would notice that it is already a complete thing sitting in front of our eyes: birth, death and everything in between is there. Putting it this way though it sort of sounds like a dead thing. Yet in actuality it is a god, quite alive, that is putting all of the pieces of this puzzle into play. Ordinary people cannot break through this because their yuanshen [Primordial Spirit] is restricted to that dimension. Practitioners, on the other hand, are different because we know that on the day we truly begin practicing, our most microscopic body is already changing. So, we could say from the day we start cultivating we are already gods. The body in that dimension is obviously much higher than the god of time in the human world, and it is quite easy for that high god, that cultivator's body in another dimension, to change and manipulate the time god however we want. Of course, it's not that simple because we are still cultivating, and not exactly like gods that have reached Consummation. We do have all these abilities, though, and I understand that righteous thoughts are really the only thing that can allow us to use these abilities. That means we have to be in a righteous state of mind doing something righteous (for example, Fa-rectification work) for these abilities to work. Even though we are cultivators with these powers, if we use a human mind to try and use them, not only will they not work, but we will easily incur retribution or drop in levels.
What I mentioned above is just one small manifestation of time. Time actually manifests in many different ways. I have heard some say that the God of time and distance are the same and I have heard some say time is like a sphere, and so on. Are these correct? I would say they are all correct at a certain level, but surpassing that realm it is not so correct. We know that in enlightened beings' paradises there is no concept of time. Fundamentally I understand this to mean that for enlightened beings there is no one controlling them. They are in control of all within their range (paradise, universe, cosmic system, etc.) Even though they may be part of something much greater, within their range everything goes according to their own Fa that they enlightened to from Zhen-Shan-Ren. Time has to bow to them, and not the other way around. An enlightened being may find many uses for time in various dimensions, so they can use time at will. For example, if there were no time on earth, then any being that dropped down here would be in eternal suffering. Perhaps time is used in some dimensions to complete a process. Namely, Fa-rectification has a process, which has a direct connection to, if it is not the same thing as, time.
We could talk about all the manifestations and how time works in various dimensions for, well, a long time. I think it's good to understand its various manifestations, especially because these may relate directly to some of the Fa-rectification work we do. I think it's important, though, that we don't solidify and stick to a certain concept of time, because then we will be restricted by it.
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The Snake. We all know that in the lowest dimension the Chinese Communist Party is an evil red dragon, and I have heard that at the highest level it is a snake. When I heard this, I immediately thought of the last few paragraphs in "Consecration" about the snake Futi [Animal or Spirit Possession] disturbing Master. I think there is much about the history of the old forces, including their development, destruction, and manifestations in the human world, in those few paragraphs.
