If we do not practice spiritually, we will not know when God wants us to be Hiers tool, and our actions may incur bad karma. It is said that "Karma does not exist originally." Suppose God wants more people to know about me and wants me to do more in sharing the Truth, let more virtuous people know about my teachings, and let more people come to my lectures. Since I am not responsible for publicity matters, God helps me through other people, particularly those who have money and authority, because they own many religious magazines and newspapers. When God works through them, they use expressions of recommendation and praise, if they are aware of it. But if they do not practice spiritually, the God-power may become poison for them; what should have been praise turns into words of defamation.

Therefore, God's Grace is of little use to those who do not practice spiritually. An average spiritual practitioner who shares my teachings with millions of people is blessed with infinite and inexhaustible merits, and attains sainthood very soon. However, for those who do not practice spiritually, even a big mission or assignment from God turns into bad karma. People pray for God's grace, but if they do not practice spiritually, God's blessings will be of little use to them. When we have indigestion, even gourmet dishes become toxic when eaten, and we cannot digest tonics even if we take them. You all know this theory. Suppose we have a stomach problem; drinking milk will only produce more toxins in us. However, milk is good for children and makes healthy people even healthier. If we have a gastrointestinal problem, we cannot digest even the best food, which only turns into toxins.

Therefore, we should try to purify our actions, speech, and thoughts to be able to digest the superior blessings from God. Otherwise, the more God blesses us, the more trouble we will have. Take the mission group we just mentioned, for instance. If they had accomplished this work for me, they would have earned considerable merits. They would have flourished, benefited, and attained sainthood. Unfortunately, because they are not enlightened, they failed to accomplish this task and incurred bad karma with their actions. Sometimes, they perform their jobs with negative thoughts, not realizing that the work is an honor from God. The same assignment, the same mission, and the same result may bring them only bad karma instead of blessed reward.

This is why we have to practice spiritually. Only when we do will we realize that karma does not exist originally, and there was no karma in the first place. It is our toxic mind which turns God's arrangements into karma. Therefore, we must practice the Quan Yin Method to cleanse our mind of any preconceptions and garbage, then everything that goes in will reside in a pure abode and become nectar water. Otherwise, no matter how much we do and how diligently we work, it is all for our ego, for fame and profit, and will not yield any blessed reward. We do not know that it is the arrangement of God, our highest almighty power, to perform work through our physical body and mind. This is beyond the understanding of our mind.

Once we have purified our actions, speech, and thoughts, everything we do is correct and any action is appropriate. Therefore, we must practice spiritually. Now you have a clear picture of how the blessing power descends from above. It is our negative thinking that finally turns it into a toxin within us. That is why the Sixth Patriarch Sutra says, "When your thinking is neither good nor bad, then you are in the Tao." The Tao does not incline in any direction, but this does not suggest that the Tao means doing bad things. Only when it is done through the mind does it become bad.

Therefore, it is most important for us to pursue spiritual practice. This is mentioned in all scriptures, but strangely, few people understand it. We must first cultivate ourselves and foster family harmony before we can govern the country and contribute to world peace. However, people rush to maintain world peace, thinking that this is the most important phase and the other three are trivial matters not worthy of concern. How on earth can they ensure world peace? Suppose we want to build a house; we must first lay the foundation. Without a foundation, the higher a building is, the more troublesome it will be and the sooner it will collapse. Therefore, pay no heed to advice that you can practice without observing the precepts. I have made myself very clear on this point.