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Falun Gong ( Traditional Chinese: 法輪功, Simplified Chinese: 法轮功, literally "Practice of the Wheel of Law") or Falun Dafa ( Traditional Chinese: 法輪大法, Simplified Chinese: 法轮大法, lit. "Great Law of the Wheel of Law") is a controversial Chinese spiritual movement with influences from Buddhism and Taoism, which purports to improve the mind, body and spirit. The actual number of Falun Gong adherents is a matter of dispute: Falun Gong itself claims to have 100 million followers, including 70 million inside China; official Chinese estimates put the number at several million.
The government of the People's Republic of China, concerned by the group's ability to organize, claims it is an evil cult spreading superstition and malicious fallacies to deceive people. Whether Falun Gong is a harmless spiritual movement or a manipulative cult has been the subject of much debate. The former head of the government of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Zemin, used his power to condemn the group using the state controlled media. It should be noted, however, that Falun Gong has always denied itself being a religion or a cult, despite its obvious Buddhist and Taoist influences.
Falun Dafa was introduced to the general public in 1992 by Li Hongzhi (now residing in Brooklyn, New York), and grew very swiftly in popularity not only in China but worldwide. It was popularised widely under the PRC government's supervision for 7 years. An estimate of the PRC government presented in 1998 on the public television (state owned) in Shanghai mentioned that in mainland China alone the number of practitioners were approx. 70-100 million.
The three basic moral principles of Falun Gong are: Zhen, Shan and Ren, which translate approximately as 'Truthfulness, Benevolence or Compassion, and Forbearance or Tolerance'. It is through focusing on these qualities that Falun Gong practitioners develop their xinxing (moral character) which then purportedly gives the potential to develop high levels of 功, gong, (which Falun Gong practitioners use to mean "energy," in Mandarin Chinese can means "merit" or "achievement" and by extension, it is usually part of compound terms describing a disciplined regimen). Practitioners of Falun Gong also make the controversial claim that gong possesses healing properties and that 氣 qì (which means "breath") only lets a person feel better transiently. See qigongQigong ( pinyin: qi gong Wade-Giles: ch'i kung is an increasingly popular aspect of Chinese medicine. Qigong is mostly taught for health maintenance purposes, but there are also some who teach it, especially in China, for therapeutic interventions. Variou and kung fuAlternative meaning: Kung Fu (TV series Kung fu or gongfu (, pinyin: gongfu) is a well-known Chinese term used in the West to designate Chinese martial arts. Its original meaning is somewhat different, referring to one's ability in any skill, not necessar.
Central to Falun Gong are five sets of exercises that are intended to help in purification of the body. Falun Gong practitioners believe that illnesses are the result of bad karmasThe law of Karma ( Sanskrit: ), or Kamma ( Pali) originated in the Vedic system of religion, otherwise known as Hinduism. As a term, it can at the latest be traced back to the early Upanishads, around 1500 BC. Introduction In its major conception, karma i, and by becoming a practitioner, a falun (wheel of dharma or chakraIn Hinduism and its spiritual systems of yoga and in some related eastern cultures, as well as in some segments of the New Age movement, a chakra (from the Sanskrit word for wheel, circle is thought to be an energy node in the human body. The seven main c) is installed into his/her lower abdomen; constantly turning, the falun eliminates the bad karmas.
In addition to these basic spiritual principles, Falun Gong contains a number of other beliefs, some of which may also be found in various schools of Buddhism and other systems of belief, and others being unique to Falun Gong. In Li Hongzhi’s book, Zhuan Falun, he writes he can personally heal disease and that a Falun (a turning wheel of energy) resides in the abdomen of all true practitioners. However, Li also states repeatedly that he is not here to heal disease. Some of Falun Gong practitioners believe they can see this Falun rotating in their abdomens provided their "celestial eye" (in the forehead) is not blocked. Li states gods and demons exist, that the Earth is currently being invaded by aliens and that remains of unknown civilizations prior to those we know can still be found. In interviews, Li has declined to name his own teachers or to delineate the actual provenance of Falun Gong when asked directly.
Falun Gong also teaches a form of conservative morality. Homosexuality is frowned upon, and the taking of any life is forbidden (although Falun Gong does not explicitly require its practitioners to become vegetarians). Some observers believe that Falun Gong has gained such popularity because it fills a void of morality within the increasingly materialistic Chinese society.
All exercises are taught free of charge by other Falun Gong practitioners and are detailed in Li's books, which may also be found free of charge on their websites.
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