User:Asdfg12345/Teachings of Falun Gong

The teachings of Falun Gong were introduced to the public by Li Hongzhi　(李洪志) in Changchun, China, in 1992. Falun Gong is also known as Falun Dafa (Great Law of the Law Wheel). Its teachings cover spiritual, religious, mystical and metaphysical topics. Falun Gong was the fastest growing qigong practice in Chinese history, and had attracted 70 million practitioners before it was banned and persecuted in mainland China in July 1999.

Falun Gong is founded on the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance", which are articulated the core book Zhuan Falun (轉法輪), published in late 1994. According to the texts, Falun Gong is a complete system of mind-body "cultivation practice" (修煉). Its ultimate purpose, according to Li, is to enable people to attain the Tao and complete cultivation practice (圓滿), "free[ing] themselves from the worldly state." It can be separated into two parts: "cultivation" and "practice".

"Cultivation" refers to upgrading xinxing (mind nature or moral quality), which includes giving up human attachments to greed, selfishness, anger, lust etc.. Falun Dafa teaches that a high xinxing level is necessary for a human being to enlighten to higher truths. Li says a person can do this by following the principles set forth in Zhuan Falun. "Practice" refers to purifying the body with the set of five Falun Gong exercises. Some journalists have cited parts of Li's teachings as eccentric or peculiar, while academics maintain that Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong can only be properly understood within their historical and cultural context. Aside from Zhuan Falun, Li periodically gives lectures which are later posted on a main Falun Gong website; there are currently between 1500-2000 pages.

Prominent Falun Gong scholar David Ownby dilineates three core themes in the teachings: first, "Li presents his vision both as a return to a lost, or neglected spiritual tradition, and as a major contribution to modern science"; second, "Falun Gong is profoundly moral"; third, "Falun Dafa promises practitioners supernatural powers". Ownby also lists its "Chineseness" as a major part of the practice's appeal. University of California professor Yuezhi Zhao describes Falun Dafa as "a multifaceted and totalizing movement that means different things to different people, ranging from a set of physical exercises and a praxis of transformation to a moral philosophy and a new knowledge system."

Falun Gong, qigong, and beyond
''See also Theoretical background and Background to persecution

Falun Gong developed as part of the wider "qigong boom" that swept mainland China in the 1980s and 1990s. Qigong refers to a wide variety of traditional cultivation practices that involve movement or regulated breathing designed to be therapeutic. It is practiced for health maintenance, therapeutic intervention, as a medical profession, a spiritual path, or as a component of Chinese martial arts.

The term qigong was coined in the early 1950s as an alternative label to past spiritual disciplines, like Buddhism and Taoism, that promoted the belief in immortality and pursuit of spiritual transcendence. The term was constructed to avoid danger of association with past practices labeled "superstitions" during the Maoist era. It was tolerated because it carried no overt religious or spiritual elements; millions flocked to it during China's spiritual vacuum of the 1980s and 1990s. It was seen as a way to improve health and fitness in the face of China's decaying public health-care system, and according to Ownby rapidly became a social phenomenon of considerable importance.

In China, thousands of "masters" started to promote alternative methods of qigong to the public, claiming cure-all methods for healing illnesses, and fast development of Extraordinary Powers. They received money through healing illnesses, holding lectures, and selling merchandise. Registered qigong organizations numbered in the thousands, and between 60 and 200 million were practicing qigong by the 1990s.

In 1992 Li Hongzhi debuted Falun Gong in Changchun, and his mix of technical and historical theory, along with his view of science and morality, quickly became a success across China. Falun Gong was welcomed into the state-controlled Scientific Qigong Research Association, which sponsored and helped to organize many of his activities between 1992 and 1994, including 54 large-scale lectures. In 1992 and 1993 he won government awards at the Beijing Oriental Health Expos, as the "Qigong Master most acclaimed by the Masses."

The content of Li Hongzhi's books include commentaries on questions discussed in China's qigong community for ages. According to Ownby, Li saw the qigong movement as "rife with false teachings and greedy and fraudulent 'masters'" and set out to rectify it. Li understood himself and Falun Gong as part of a "centuries-old tradition of cultivation," and in his texts would often attack those who teach "incorrect, deviant, or heterodox ways." Qigong scholar David Palmer says Li "redefined his method as having entirely different objectives from qigong: the purpose of practice should neither be physical health nor the development of Extraordinary Powers, but to purify one's heart and attain spiritual salvation... Falun Gong no longer presented itself as a qigong method but as the Great Law or Dharma (Fa) of the universe."

Both its popular name, Falun Gong, and its preferred name, Falun Dafa, highlight it's practical and spiritual dimensions, according to Zhao. Falun Gong literally means 'Dharma Wheel Practice,' which refers to a series of five stretching and meditation exercises aimed at channelling and harmonizing the qi, or vital energy, that supposedly circulates through the body. Theories about the flow and function of qi are basic to traditional Chinese medicine and health-enhancing qigong exercises. Zhao says that traditional Chinese culture assumes "a profound interpretation of matter and spirit, body and soul," and Falun Gong "emphasizes the unity of physical and spiritual healing, in contrast to the Western distinction between medicine and religion." To bring about health benefits, the physical exercises must be accompanied by moral cultivation and spiritual exercises as a way of focusing the mind. For Falun Gong, the virtues to cultivate are 'truthfulness,' 'benevolence' and 'forbearance.'

Falun Gong draws on oriental mysticism and traditional Chinese medicine, criticizes the limits of modern science, and views traditional Chinese science as an entirely different, yet equally valid knowledge system. Concomitantly, says Zhao, it borrows the language of modern science in representing its cosmic laws. "Thus, Falun gong is not conceptualised as a religious faith; on the contrary, its members, which include doctorate holders from prestigious American universities, see it as 'a new form of science.'"

All over China before July 1999, says Palmer, the same scene could be observed at dawn: "Hundreds of people in the parks and on the sidewalks, practising the slow-motion Falun Gong exercises to the rhythm of taped music... yellow and red Fa banners hanging from trees presented the method and its principles. In the evenings practitioners would often meet in a disciple's home to read Zhuan Falun, discuss its teachings, and exchange cultivation experiences."

Cultivation practice
Li describes Falun Gong as a "high-level cultivation practice"; he teaches that practice will reveal the principles of the universe and life at different levels to those who dedicate themselves to study. By cultivating xinxing (mind nature and moral quality) to assimilate to the nature of the universe, and by enduring tribulations and hardships, one can eliminate karma and understand the truth of human life. He says that practitioners will break through the cycle of samsara, and return to their "original, true self."

Falun Gong echoes traditional Chinese beliefs that humans are connected to the universe through mind and body, according to Danny Schechter. Li challenges "conventional mentalities", and sets out to unveil myths of the universe, time-space, and the human body. The opening statement of Zhuan Falun includes the phrase "If human beings are able to take a fresh look at themselves as well as the universe and change their rigid mentalities, humankind will make a leap forward."

Li says that raising xinxing means relinquishing human attachments, which prevent people from awakening. In Zhuan Falun, attachments refer to: jealousy, competitiveness, fame, showing off, pursuit of material gain, anger, lust, etc.. He uses anecdotes to illustrate: "If a person, with all kinds of human sentiment and desire among everyday people, is allowed to ascend and become a Buddha—think about it—is this possible? He may have a wicked thought upon finding a Bodhisattva so beautiful. This person may start a conflict with a Buddha because his jealousy has not been eliminated. How can these things be allowed to take place? What should be done about it, then? You must eliminate all ill thoughts among everyday people—only then can you move up."

Li argues that having material posessions itself is not a problem, but that the problem is with developing attachments to material things: "In our school of practice, those who practice cultivation among everyday people are required to practice cultivation precisely in ordinary human society, and to fit in among everyday people as much as possible. You are not really asked to lose anything materially. It does not matter how high your position ranks or how much wealth you own. The key is whether you can abandon that attachment."

Li also states that Loss and Gain in ones life is not the measure of the loss of money or the gain of comfort, rather it is the measure of how many human attachments one can loose and how much one can enlighten in the course of cultivation practice.

Articles written by practitioners on their experiences with Falun Gong are regularly posted to the Clearwisdom website.

Looking within
Li tells his students that the most important aspect of Falun Gong is not the exercises, but the focus on changing the heart and mind: "Only when you are studying the Fa and cultivating your heart and mind in addition to the means of reaching Consummation—the exercises, and truly changing yourself fundamentally while improving your xinxing and elevating your level—can it be called true cultivation practice."

Li repeatedly emphasises the idea of searching internally when coming across problems; he says this is a key in the path of cultivation practice: "If you can examine yourselves with every thing you come across, then I’d say you are really remarkable, and nothing can block you on your path to Consummation. Yet when we run into problems, we often look outwards—'Why are you treating me like that?'—and feel that we’ve been treated unfairly, instead of examining ourselves. That’s the greatest and most fatal obstacle for all living beings." He says that when someone feels hurt or encounters misfortune, "it’s really difficult for him to still examine himself and see if he’s done something wrong." However, if a person can do that, Li says that "on this path, on this path of cultivation, and for the eternity of his existence, nothing can stop him. It’s truly the case. The key lies in how you understand yourself, and whether you can correctly examine yourself and find within yourself the cause of the problem."

Li also states that students should be thoughtful towards others in all circumstances: "You should always be benevolent and kind to others, and consider others when doing anything. Whenever you encounter a problem, you should first consider whether others can put up with this matter or if it will hurt anyone. In doing so, there will not be any problems. Therefore, in cultivation practice you should follow a higher and higher standard for yourself."

Zhuan Falun, the main book
The teachings of Falun Gong are captured in two main books written by Li: Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun. "Falun Gong" is an introductory book that discusses Li’s views on qigong, introduces the principles of the practice, and provides illustrations and explanations of the exercises. Ownby regards Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun to be largely consistent in terms of content, though he says "important differences in nuance distinguish the two."

Zhuan Falun is the main teaching and the most comprehensive work; it is an edited version of Li's nine-lecture series, 54 of which he taught across China between 1992 and 1994. Li says constant study will lead the practitioner to the final goal of "Consummation", or enlightenment. He says that by reading Zhuan Falun repeatedly, and acting according to its principles, the practitioner is assimilating to the fundamental characteristic of the universe: Zhen 真, Shan 善 and Ren 忍, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Students have subsequently taken these words as the basic slogan for Falun Gong.

Zhuan Falun expounds on topics including: Zhen 真, Shan 善 Ren 忍 is the Sole Criterion to Discern Good and Bad People, the Celestial Eye, Buddha School Qigong and Buddhism, Supernormal Abilities, Loss and Gain, Transformation of Karma, Upgrading Xinxing (Mind nature and moral quality), Practicing Evil Cultivation, Cultivation of Mind and Body, Demonic Interference in Cultivation, The Issue of Killing, Cultivation of Speech, The Issue of Eating Meat, The Issue of Treating Illness, Enlightenment etc.

Since 1992, Li has given lectures which are later edited and posted to the internet (called scriptures by students), address different aspects of the teachings of Falun Gong. He states periodically that only Zhuan Falun should be viewed as the main guide for cultivation practice. In 2007 he said: "What I’ve said recently in different periods is supplementary to Zhuan Falun. Just remember their relationship, and that what you should study frequently is Zhuan Falun."

Zhen 真, Shan 善, Ren 忍
Falun Gong states that the fundamental characteristic of the universe is Zhen 真, Shan 善 Ren 忍, or "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." In Zhuan Falun Li says that the characteristic, Zhen-Shan-Ren, is in the microscopic particles of air, rock, wood, soil, iron and steel, the human body, as well as in all matter. "In ancient times it was said that the Five Elements constitute all things and matter in the universe; they also carry this characteristic, Zhen-Shan-Ren."

Ownby refers to Li's discussion of the moral universe, where he says "The very structure of the universe, according to Li Hongzhi, is made up of moral qualitites that cultivators are enjoined to practice in their own lives: truth, compassion and forbearance. The goal of cultivation, and hence of life itself, is spiritual elevation, achieved through eliminating negative karma... and accumulating virtue."

Li teaches that practitioners are to assimilate their thoughts and actions to these principles, wherein higher aspects of the mysteries of the universe and life will be revealed: "A practitioner can only understand the specific manifestation of the Buddha Fa at the level that his or her cultivation has reached, which is his or her cultivation Fruit Status and level."

Teleology of practice
In Zhuan Falun Li says that human life is not created in ordinary human society, but "in the space of the universe." He says that the universe is benevolent to begin with, and "embodies the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren." When a life is created, it is assimilated to the characteristic of the universe. However, eventually a web of relations developed, and selfishness came about; gradually the level of beings' was lowered until, in the end, they reached this level of human beings. A human beings goal is to practice cultivation and return to their original, true selves. Zhuan Falun says "One should return to one’s original, true self; this is the real purpose of being human."

Ownby interprets Li as saying that "humans were originally gods of some sort, who lost their status as life became 'complicated' (a word with more negative connotations in Chinese than in English) and they engaged in immoral behavior. Presumably, humans can redeem themselves through cultivation and regain their divine status."

Li teaches maintaining virtue in everyday life, by cultivating or improving xinxing through slowly acknowledging and discarding human desires and attachments. A practitioner must also be able to endure hardships and tribulations to reduce karma, which Li says is a negative, black substance that blocks people from enlightening to spiritual truths. Its opposite, virtue, is said to be a white substance gained by doing good deeds and forbearing through hardships. Li teaches that virtue may be transformed into gong, or "cultivation energy", which is said to be an everlasting, fundamental energy a human spirit possesses, and what ultimately dictates where ones spirit goes after death.

Li states that one of the most important aspect of his system is its cultivation of the Main Spirit. He says that a person is made up of a Primordial Spirit, which contains a Main Spirit and an Assistant Spirit. Li says taht in traditional Chinese thought many spirits existed in the human body, some of which govern its process, e.g.: the liver, heart, kidneys, etc.. Li states that upon death the Main Spirit dictates the future life, and is the spirit that humans must cultivate to ascend to higher levels. Zhuan Falun says that upon death, both spirits split from the body and go their own ways. In other practices that cultivate the Assistant Spirit, the Assistant Spirit will reincarnate into another body to continue cultivating, whereas the Main Spirit, which is the person themselves, will be left with nothing and upon reincarnation will not remember its past. It will be left to live locked in the human dimension, in delusion. Li also teaches that other practices that teach trance and mantras and visualization only focus on the Assistant Spirit.

Li says that his teaching offers a chance for humans to return to their original, true selves, and he calls this "salvation of all beings." "In the Buddha School, 'salvation of all beings' implies bringing you out of everyday people’s most agonizing state to higher levels. You will no longer suffer, and will be set free—that is what it implies. Didn’t Sakyamuni talk about the other side of nirvana? That is the actual meaning of salvation of all beings."

In Zhuan Falun, enlightenment refers to the ability to let go of human attachments and desires, in the end achieving consummation. Through cultivation practice, Li says, "one’s gong will also constantly grow until the final step in cultivation practice. When this de substance has completely transformed into gong and this person’s cultivation journey designed by the master has come to an end, "Boom!" all locks will be exploded open at that very second. His Celestial Eye will reach the highest point of his level, and he can see at his level the truth of different dimensions, the forms of existence for different lives and matter in different time-spaces, and the truth of our universe. All of his divine powers will emerge, and he will be able to contact different kinds of lives. By this time, isn’t this person a great enlightened person or a person enlightened through cultivation practice? When translated into ancient Indian language, he is a Buddha."

Karma and the Cycle of Rebirth
Falun Gong teaches that the spirit is locked in the cycle of rebirth, also known as samsara due to the accumulation of karma. This is a negative, black substance that accumulates in other dimensions lifetime after lifetime, by doing bad deeds and thinking bad thoughts. Falun Gong states that karma is the reason for suffering, and what ultimately blocks people from the truth of the universe and attaining enlightenment. At the same time, is also the cause of ones continued rebirth and suffering. Li says that due to accumulation of karma the human spirit upon death will reincarnate over and over again, until the karma is paid off or eliminated through cultivation, or the person is destroyed due to the bad deeds he has done.

Ownby regards the concept of karma as a cornerstone to individual moral behaviour in Falun Gong. He says the it is readily traceable to the Christian doctrine of "one reaps what one sows", but that in Falun Gong there is a system of transmigration "in which each organism is the reincarnation of a previous life form, its current form having been determined by karmic calculation of the moral qualities of the previous lives lived." The seeming unfairness of manifest inequities can then be explained, at the same time allowing a space for moral behaviour in spite of them.

Falun Gong differs in its interpretation of karma, Ownby says, in that it is taken not as a process of award and punishment, but as an exclusively negative term. The Chinese term "de" or "virtue" is reserved for what might otherwise be termed "good karma". Karma is understood as the source of all suffering. Li says "A person has done bad things over his many lifetimes, and for people this results in misfortune, or for cultivators it's karmic obstacles, so there's birth, aging, sickness, and death. This is ordinary karma."

Ownby regards this as the basis for Falun Gong's apparent "opposition to practitioners' taking medicine when ill; they are missing an opportunity to work off karma by allowing an illness to run its course (suffering depletes karma) or to fight the illness through cultivation." Penny shares this interpretation. Since Li believes that "karma is the primary factor that causes sickness in people", Penny asks: "if disease comes from karma and karma can be eradicated through cultivation of xinxing, then what good will medicine do?"

Li himself denies forbidding practitioners from taking medicine, maintaining that "What I'm doing is telling people the relationship between practicing cultivation and medicine-taking." Schechter quotes a Falun Gong student who says "It is always an individual choice whether one should take medicine or not." In that same vein of Li's monism, that matter and spirit are one, karma is identified as a black substance which must be purged in the process of cultivation.

Transformation and higher dimensions
Connected with Li's discussion of cultivation practice is the idea of "supernormal abilities" and "special powers" that the adherent is supposed to develop in the course of dedicated study. Li teaches that these are a by-product of moral transcendence, and are never sought after or to be employed for selfish intentions. Li has said that there are up to 10,000 supernatural powers, though he has never listed them. Some of those he has discussed include the opening of the celestial eye, "which may enable practitioners to see into other spatial dimensions and/or through walls" according to Ownby, clairvoyance, precognition, levitation, and "the ability to transform one kind of object into another kind of object" according to Penny, among others.

Schechter reports a discussion with Falun Gong spokesman Erping Zhang on the subject, when he asked for Zhang’s views on 'higher consciousness' as a possible rationale. Zhang said: "Higher consciousness is a commonly used term in Eastern cultivation [where] … one can reach a higher level of consciousness via meditation. Higher consciousness may also refer to consciousness beyond this physical dimension. Levitation is a phenomenon or a by-product of one’s cultivation of mind and body."

Penny says the practitioner is supposed to pass through various levels until he or she reaches the state of "cultivation of a Buddha's body". Li says: "The supernormal abilities developed at this stage belong to the category of divine powers. The practitioner will have unlimited powers at this point and will have become incredibly mighty. Upon reaching higher realms, he or she will cultivate to become a great enlightened being. All of this depends on how you cultivate your xinxing... Dedicated cultivators find a righteous cultivation way and achieve Righteous Attainment—this is Consummation."

In the book Falun Gong Li says "Dimensions, from our perspective, are very complicated. Mankind only knows about the dimension in which human beings currently exist, and other dimensions have not yet been explored or detected. When it comes to other dimensions, we Qigong masters have already seen dozens of levels of dimensions, which can also be explained in theory, but yet to be proved by science." In Zhuan Falun the question of multiple dimensions is explained this way: "'As human beings, we have a body in each of numerous dimensions. When we examine the human body now, the largest elements are cells, and they comprise the physical human body. If you can enter the space between cells and molecules or the spaces among molecules, you will experience being in another dimension. What does that body’s form of existence resemble? Of course, you cannot use the concepts of this dimension to understand it, and your body must meet the requirement of that dimension’s form of existence. The body in another dimension can become big or small to begin with. At that time, you will find it also a boundless dimension. This refers to a simple form of other dimensions that exist simultaneously in the same place. Everyone has a specified body in each of many other dimensions.'"

David Ownby says that Li regards his discussion of multiple dimensions as a superior approach to knowledge and understanding. One of science’s major shortcomings, according to Li, is its inability to detect multiple dimensions. "Li argues that the universe—and human understanding of the universe—exists at many different levels simultaneously and that the process of enlightenment consists of passing through these levels to arrive at ever more complete understandings." In this context, transformation is both physical and intellectual. The motor behind such transformation is individual moral practiced, alongside cultivation under an orthodox master. Moral practice, says Ownby, is a necessary but not sufficient condition for cultivation and enlightenment. Individual moral practice burns karma and reduces suffering, but unless the individual is committed to an orthodox cultivation regime, they will not be able to break through the various "levels" and attain enlightenment and transformation. "What is required in this instance is a master, someone who has... the power to channel the moral behaviour and intentions of the practitioner in the proper direction." This leads to the oft-repeated phrase in Li's texts: "cultivation depends on oneself, gong depends on the Master" (修在自己，功在師父).

Ownby says that Li's teachings on the role of science, supernatural abilities, and higher dimensions have been "ridiculed by scientists and journalists—both Chinese and Western—as being outlandish." An article in The New York Times described Li's doctrines on these subjects and others, as "peculiar".

Related to these ideas are Li's remarks about various topis that have caught the eye of journalists, such as the "Falun"—"an intelligent, spinning body of high-energy substances" ; the meaning of sexuality and race—that homosexuality, transsexuality, and sexual relations outside heterosexual marriage are all immoral and a result of declining moral standards in the "Dharma-ending period"; extraterrestrials—who, according to Li, exist in other dimensions, and who invented modern science for the "manipulation and eventual replacement of humankind" ; and physical phenomena such as gravity, where "Li postulates that gravity may be controlled by deities that practitioners can visualize at work in their own bodies"; prehistoric culture—"that there were 81 civilisations before us, that there is a two-billion year old nuclear reactor in Africa", and other "idiosyncratic notions" such as the existence of "separate-but-equal heavens for people of different races."

Maria Hsia Chang regards Li's teachings on these subject "abstruse". Ownby acknowledges these as challenges to interpreting Li's message, but attempts to place Falun Gong doctrine within its historical and cultural context. While he writes "Indeed, it is too easy to make fun of Li Hongzhi," Ownby says he attempts to make sense of Li Hongzhi's overall message by not dismissing the apparently outlandish claims—with the caveat of risking "leaving certain statements unchallenged." Penny says "there are aspects of Falun Gong doctrine that could have been understood by a cultivator in China 1000 years ago," along with some of the teachings, such as those about extraterrestrials, for example, "that could not have appeared in China before the late 1980s". He says this is a "synthensis of age-old traditions and contemporary modes". Penny opines that that Li's teachings should not be relegated to "the anomalous or quirky or kooky", but that a proper understanding of contemporary China relies on "really getting to grips" with phenomena like Falun Gong. Schechter regards some of Li's statements as "worhty of our skepticism", but adds that "they do not seem to be central to Li's philosophy or teachings." When prompted, Falun Gong spokesperson Erping Zhang said in reference to these teachings that "there are things that people might not quite understand yet, and they might understand later, and that's quite possible."