Falun Gong

{{Chinese|title=Falun Gong|t=法輪功|s=法轮功

[Site] Exposing the Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) and its founder Li Hongzhi
Exposing the leader of Falun Gong and the group's well concealed doctrine, this ... If you would like to visit the official Falun Gong website, you may click here. ...
exposingthefalungong.org

|l=Practice of the Wheel of Law

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|p= Fǎlún Gōng|j=fat2 lun4 gung1|altname=Falun Dafa|t2=法輪大法|s2=法轮大法

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9/28/04 Click thumbnails to see large image. Scroll thumbnails to view more. joreen@jofreeman.com RC04 4-27 Falun Gong.jpg

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[Video] Shanghai Teacher Arrested for Copying DVDs

|p2= Fǎlún Dàfǎ|j2=fat2 lun4 daai6 fat2|pic=Falun8.svg|picsize=150px|Image size=150pxpiccap=Falun, the emblem of Falun Dafa}}Falun Gong or Falun Dafa is a spiritual practice introduced to the public in China by Li Hongzhi （李洪志） in 1992. Statement of Professor David Ownby, Unofficial Religions in China: Beyond the Party's Rules, 2005 It has five sets of meditation exercises and seeks to develop practitioners' hearts and character according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance (真，善，忍）articulated in the main books Falun Gong （法輪功）and Zhuan Falun （轉法輪）. The teachings deal with issues such as "cultivation of virtue and character", "moral standards for different levels", and "salvation of all sentient beings." The books have been translated into over 40 languages.

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According to Professor David Ownby, Falun Gong developed as part of a wider "qigong boom" of the 1990's, and understands itself in terms of a centuries-old tradition of "cultivation practice" (修煉 xiūliàn).Ownby, David, "A History for Falun Gong: Popular Religion and the Chinese State Since the Ming Dynasty", Nova Religio, Vol. ,pp. 223-243 Sinologist Professor Barend ter Haar states that it is a distinctly new form of Chinese religious practice shaped by the Maoist revolution.Haar, Barend ter, " Evaluation and Further References". Another sinologist, Benjamin Penny, concurs, noting that while it is a "qigong cultivation system"Benjamin Penny, The Past, Present, and Future of Falun Gong, 2001, accessed 16/3/08, the heavy emphasis on morality makes it appear to be a religion. Falun Gong: Cult or Culture?, ABC Radio National, April 22, 2001 Penny regards Falun Gong as one of the most important phenomena to emerge in China in the 1990s.

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In April 1999, 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners silently appealed at the Chinese Communist Party headquarters at Zhongnanhai against recent beatings and arrest in Tianjin.Controversial New Religions, The Falun Gong: A New Religious Movement in Post-Mao China, David Ownby P.195 ISBN 0195156838Reid, Graham (Apr 29-May 5, 2006) "Nothing left to lose", New Zealand Listener, retrieved July 6, 2006Danny Schechter, Falun Gong's Challenge to China: Spiritual Practice or Evil Cult?, Akashic books: New York, 2001, p. 66 Two months later, the Chinese government began a large-scale persecution, including widespread propaganda, torture, illegal imprisonment, forced labour, and psychiatric abuses. Falun Gong comprise 66% of all reported torture cases in China, and at least half of the labour camp population.Johnson, Ian, Wild Grass: three portraits of change in modern china, Vintage (March 8, 2005) Leung, Beatrice (2002) 'China and Falun Gong: Party and society relations in the modern era', Journal of Contemporary China, 11:33, 761 – 784 (23 March 2000) The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called heretical organizations, Amnesty InternationalUnited Nations (February 4, 2004) Press Release HR/CN/1073, retrieved September 12, 2006 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: MISSION TO CHINA, Manfred Nowak, United Nations, Table 1: Victims of alleged torture, p. 13, 2006, accessed October 12 2007 International Religious Freedom Report 2007, US Department of State, Sept 14, 2007, accessed 28th Sept 2007

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The number of practitioners is not known: a 1998 figure from the Chinese government suggests there were 70 million practitioners in China at that time; Notoriety Now for Movement's Leader Falun Gong claims 100 million practitioners in more than 80 countries. "Answers to Commonly Asked Questions about Falun Gong", Falun Dafa Clearwisdom.net, retrieved June 10, 2006

[Site] Falun Dafa Info Center
News and information about Falun Gong around the world.
www.faluninfo.net

Origins

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Beliefs and teachings

[Image]
I was on the way to dinner in Ampang when I saw a group of people protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy. turns out they're members of the Falun Gong sect, trying to call attention to the Chinese government's crackdown on their brethren over the past 9 years. i'm not professing to know all that much about the issue, but i promised myself i'd get a few shots in. anyone want to enlighten me further about this?

The foundation of Falun Dafa are teachings known in traditional Chinese culture as the "Fa" (Dharma), or "Dharma and principles" – that are set forth in the book Zhuan Falun:

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"Falun Buddha Fa is a great, high-level cultivation way of the Buddha School, in which assimilation to the supreme nature of the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren [1], is the foundation of cultivation practice." Chapter One, The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa, Li Hongzhi, November 13, 1996, retrieved July 04, 2007

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Falun Gong teaches that the Fa or "Buddha Law" can be summarized in three words – zhen 真, shan 善 and ren 忍, which translate approximately as 'truthfulness, benevolence (or compassion), and forbearance'. The process of cultivation is said to be one in which the practitioner assimilates himself or herself to zhen, shan and ren.

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The teachings of Falun Dafa are articulated in the two main books of the practice, Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun.

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Falun Gong lays emphasis on its ideas of good moral nature and morality. Practitioners are required to emphasize virtue (de), be a good person in all environments, and always be considerate of others when doing things.

[Site] Friends of Falun Gong
A U.S.-based nonprofit organization.
www.fofg.org/index.php

According to Li Hongzhi, the sole criterion that distinguishes good from bad is the unchanging characteristic of the universe: Zhen-Shan-Ren. In Zhuan Falun, Li states:

“As a practitioner, one must follow this characteristic of the universe to conduct himself instead of the standard of ordinary people… As a human being, if you can follow this universe’s characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren, you are a good person.”Li, Hongzhi  ''[http://www.falundafa.org/eng/books.htm#zhuanfalun Zhuan Falun: The Complete Teachings of Falun Gong]'' (Yih Chyun, Fair Winds Press edition 2001) ISBN 1-931412-53-7

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In a speech in Los Angeles (2006), Li Hongzhi underlined that in practicing cultivation one must lay emphasis on cultivation of one's own heart nature or "xinxing":

• "Cultivation is about looking inside yourself. Whether you are right or wrong, you should examine yourself".
• "Cultivation is about getting rid of human attachments. If you always reject reproaches and criticism, always point your fingers at others, and always refute others' disapproval and criticism, is that cultivating? How is that cultivating? You have grown used to focusing on other people's shortcomings, and never take examining your own self seriously. When others' cultivation one day meets with success, what about you?"Hongzhi, Li (February 6, 2006) "Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles", retrieved June 13, 2006

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I have to witness I do not know much about Falun Gong (and, honestly, do not care much, as probably the other people in a beautiful Sunday in the park) but I thought it made for an interesting shot.

Theoretical background

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According to Xu Jian, the discourse on qigong theory broadly divides into "naturalist" and "supernaturalist" schools. The "naturalist" discourse involves scientific research on qigong and understands it within a modern, empirical framework, while the "supernaturalist" discourse is situated within a revival of nationalistic traditional beliefs and values, and understands qigong as psychosomatic and metaphysical. Scholar Xu Jian says "Each strives to establish its own order of power and knowledge, its own 'truth' about the 'reality' of qigong, although they differ drastically in their explanation of many of its phenomena."Xu Jian, "Body, Discourse and the Cultural Politics of Contemporary Chinese Qigong", The Journal of Asian Studies 58 (4 November 1999

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the center of the debate is whether and how qigong can bring forth “supernormal abilities” (teyi gongneng 特異功能). "The psychosomatic discourse emphasizes the inexplicable power of qigong and relishes its occult workings, whereas the rational discourse strives to demystify many of its phenomena and to situate it strictly in the knowledge of modern science."

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The trial of two Falun Gong practitioners at Jiguan District Court in Heilongjiang province on Thursday (October 30) was adjourned at the request of prosecution after the defence counsel requested investigations into allegations of ...

The Chinese government has generally tried to encourage qigong as a science and discourage religious or supernatural elements. However, the category of science in China tends to include things that are generally not considered scientific in the West, including qigong and traditional Chinese medicine.

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David Aikman says that unlike in America, where many may believe that qigong is a socially neutral, subjective, New Age-style concept incapable of scientific proof, much of China's scientific establishment believes in the existence of Qi. He contends that controlled experiments by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the late 1970s and early 1980s concluded that qi, when emitted by a qigong expert, "actually constitutes measurable infrared electromagnetic waves and causes chemical changes in static water through mental concentration."David Aikman, American Spectator, March 2000, Vol. 33, Issue 2

[Site] Falun Dafa
System of cultivation and practice introduced by Master Li Hongzhi.
www.falundafa.org

Theories about the cultivation of elixir (dan), "placement of the mysterious pass" (xuanguan shewei), among others, are also found in ancient Chinese texts such as The Book of Elixir (Dan Jing), Daoist Canon (Tao Zang) and Guide to Nature and Longevity (Xingming Guizhi). Falun Gong's teachings tap into a wide array of phenomena and cultural heritage that has been debated for ages. However, the definitions of many of the terms used differ somewhat from Buddhist and Daoist traditions. Falun Gong exercises took up Taoist and Buddhist routines as well as a legacy vocabulary familiar to many, and was revamped in a simple, persuasive way. The doctrine appealed to Chinese who retained superficial traces of the old beliefs. http://atimes.com/china/CA27Ad01.html Falungong Part 1: From Sport to Suicide, Francesco Sisci, Asia Times, January 27, 2001Li Hongzhi states in Falun Buddha Fa Lecture in Europe:

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"Since the time Dafa was made public, I have unveiled some inexplicable phenomena in qigong as well as things that hadn’t been explained in the qigong community. But... the reason why so many people are studying Dafa...[2] because our Fa can truly enable people to Consummate, truly save people, and allow you to truly ascend to high levels in the process of cultivation. Whether it’s your realm of mind or the physical quality of your body, the Fa truly enables you to reach the standards of different levels."

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O que existe em comum entre um grupo de pessoas distribuindo panfletos da Falun Gong em várias cidades do mundo e o

Qigong and beyond

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The content of Li Hongzhi's books include commentaries on questions that have been raised in China's qigong community. 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.”Ownby, David, "A History for Falun Gong: Popular Religion and the Chinese State Since the Ming Dynasty", Nova Religio, Vol. ,pp. 223-243

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Falun Gong originally surfaced in the institutional field of alternative Chinese science, a field "insulated from the spaces formally acknowledged as institutionalized science in Western countries"Noah Porter (Masters thesis for the University of South Florida),. Falun Gong in the United States: An Ethnographic Study, 2003. p 38-39 Johnson described how “Falun Gong positions itself as a kind of Über-science, something that is modern but even better than modern.”p 212

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Johnson suggests that while initially Falun Gong laid emphasis on health benefits, over time “the philosophical teachings of Truth, Goodness and Forbearance began to take on more importance.” He writes that in the context of Falun Gong, these principles require people to live “upright lives.” A traditional morality—what Ownby calls “popular fundamentalism,” a supposed return to moral values that numerous Chinese “feel have been lost in the rush to modernisation.”

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Li sought to develop a greater history, theory and meaning behind cultivation. Ownby delineates the following discourses: the suffering body which holds the possibility of freedom from illness and physical suffering; limitless human potential where physical transformation is chiefly effected by moral practice; and exile and return concerning world creation, degeneration, and salvation/renewal. Johnson describes Falun Gong as “the next logical step in qigong's development”, writing that “while firmly stating that Falun Gong was not a religion, Master Li drew on traditional religions for terminology and symbols.” The term “Falun” means Dharma Wheel, or Wheel of Law, a traditional Buddhist concept. The imagery used includes Buddhist swastikas and Taoist t'ai chi (yin-yang) symbols.Andrew P. Kipnis said that qigong may seem to be religious to laymen in the West because it deals with spiritual matters. As many Falun Gong concepts can be traced to Buddhism and Taoism, it may seem even more like a religion to the outsider.

[Site] Falun Gong: Definition from Answers.com
Falun Gong Also known as Falun Dafa, Falun Gong means Law of the Wheel Breathing ... The exercises of Falun Gong have been described as relaxing and energizing, and ...
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Early History

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Falun Gong was introduced to the public by Li Hongzhi on May 13, 1992, in Changchun, Jilin. A Chronicle of Major Historic Events during the Introduction of Falun Dafa to the Public Invited by qigong organizations from each area, Li traveled to almost all major cities in China from 1992 to 1994 to teach the practice. For the first few years of spreading Falun Gong, Li was granted several awards by Chinese governmental organizations to encourage him to continue promoting what was then considered to be a wholesome practice. University of Montreal scholar David Ownby noted that neither Li nor Falun Gong were particularly controversial in the beginning.David Ownby, "The Falun Gong in the New World," European Journal of East Asian Studies, Sep2003, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p 306 Li became an "instant star of the qigong movement," with his practice method celebrated at the Beijing Oriental Health Expos of both 1992 and 1993. Falun Gong was welcomed into the Scientific Qigong Research Association, which sponsored and helped organise many of Li's activities between 1992 and 1994, including the 54 large-scale lectures given throughout China in most major cities to a total audience of 20,000. The scale of the activities was unprecedented at that time.

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These guys were doing their Falun Gong or maybe quot;Tai Chi quot; things under the bridge in Singapore

After teaching publicly in Changchun, Li began to make his ideas more widely accessible and affordable, charging less than other qigong systems for lectures, tapes, and books.p. 66 On 4 January 1995 Zhuan Falun, the main book on Falun Gong, was published and became a best-seller in China. Before 1999, people learned Falun Gong by word of mouth, and it was usually practiced in the morning in parks like many other forms of exercise in China.Danny Schechter, Falun Gong's Challenge to China: Spiritual Practice or Evil Cult?, Akashic books: New York, 2001, p. 66 It attracted many retired persons, factory workers, farmers, state enterprise managers, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, and students.Thomas Lum, Congressional Research Report #RL33437, Congressional Research Service, August 11 2006

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In 1994 Falun Gong was taught at the Chinese consulate in New York, as part of the Party's "cultural propaganda to the West" alongside Chinese silk craft and cooking.Philip Adams, Media and Internet Censorship in China, Late Night Live, Radio National Australia The consulate at that time also set up Falun Gong clubs at MIT and Columbia University which are active to this day. Starting in 1995, Li himself taught the practice outside of China, chairing a series of conferences at the Chinese embassy in Paris.

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The Economist asserts that much of Falun Gong's success in the 1990s was due to claims that it could heal without costly medicine, as many citizens had lost medical benefits and services due to changing economic conditions. Religion in China - When opium can be benign, The Economist, Feb 1, 2007 Some in China maintained that Falun Gong was the most popular qigong practice in the country, and that many professors from Peking University practised the exercises every day on the campus grounds until the crackdown in 1999.Julia Ching, "The Falun Gong: Religious and Political Implications," American Asian Review, Vol. XIX, no. 4, Winter 2001, p 2

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1999 and beyond in mainland China

[Site] Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group
Falun Gong Human ... Newsletters Introduction What is Falun Gong Contact Us How You Can ... then, millions of Falun Gong practitioners have faced serious ...
www.flghrwg.net

The ban

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China today banned the Research Society of Falun Dafa and the Falun Gong organization under its control after deeming them to be illegal.

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Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that is Buddhist in nature. hile Falun Gong is practiced openly in 70 countries, today in its homeland of China it is subject to severe human rights violations. The scale and scope of abuses taking place make it possibly the largest religious persecution in the world today. On these photos are 3 refugees from China who where captured and tortured by the government of China only because they did Falung Gong. These managed to get away but hundreds of thousands(!) of them are stil in labourcamps.

In its decision on this matter issued today, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that according to investigations, the Research Society of Falun Dafa had not been registered according to law and had been engaged in illegal activities, advocating superstition and spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances, and jeopardizing social stability.

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The decision said that therefore, in accordance with the Regulations on the Registration and Management of Mass Organizations, the Research Society of Falun Dafa and the Falun Gong organization under its control are held to be illegal and are therefore banned.Xinhua, China Bans Falun Gong, People's Daily, July 22, 1999}}Xinhua further declared that Falun Gong was a highly organised political group "opposed to the Communist Party of China and the central government, [3] preaches idealism, theism and feudal superstition". It attempted a distinction between "ordinary core members" and the leaders, which it referred to as "a small number of behind-the-scenes plotters and organizers who harbor political intentions". It struck a warning-bell against some important Party and government officials who were members. Xinhua Commentary on Political Nature of Falun Gong, People's Daily, August 2,1999 Xinhua also affirmed that "the so-called 'truth, kindness and forbearance' principle preached by Li has nothing in common with the socialist ethical and cultural progress we are striving to achieve."Gayle M.B. Hanson, China Shaken by Mass Meditation - meditation movement Falun Gong, Insight on the News, August 23 1999, accessed 31/12/07

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Li Hongzhi responded with a "Brief Statement of Mine" on July 22:{{cquote|Falun Gong is simply a popular qigong activity. It does not have any particular organization, let alone any political objectives. We have never been involved in any anti-government activities. I am a cultivator myself, and I have never been destined to be involved in political power. I am just teaching people how to practice cultivation. If one wants to practice qigong well, he/she must be a person of high moral standards...

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Falun Gong practitioners took part in the annual Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, which took place in Warsaw, Poland from September 29 to October 10, 2008. ...

We are not against the government now, nor will we be in the future. Other people may treat us badly, but we do not treat others badly, nor do we treat people as enemies.

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We are calling for all governments, international organizations, and people of goodwill worldwide to extend their support and assistance to us in order to resolve the present crisis that is taking place in China. Li Hongzhi, A Brief Statement of Mine, July 22 1999, accessed 31/12/07}}

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The persecution