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'''Li Hongzhi''' ({{zh-cp|c=李洪志|p=Lǐ Hóngzhì}}) family name is Li. Ethnicity Han Chinese, speaks Mandarin, he is the founder of ''] also called '', a system of mind-body cultivation. Mr. Li currently resides in the United States and is a US permenant resident. | |||
'''Li Hongzhi''' ({{zh-cp|c=李洪志|p=Lǐ Hóngzhì}}) family name is Li. Ethnicity Han Chinese, speaks Mandarin, he is the founder of ''] also called ]'', an international movement originated in the ]. | |||
The date of his birth is disputed. According to the Falun Gong “Li was born into an ordinary intellectual's family in the city of Gongzhuling, Jilin Province, China, on May | |||
] | |||
13 (the eighth day of the fourth month by China lunar calendar), 1951.” . But as reported by the Chinese government he was born on July 7, 1952; he “changed his date of birth to make it coincide with the birthday of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, in an attempt to show that he was the reincarnation of Sakyamuni,” the government claims. . | |||
According to Pureinsight, a Falun Dafa website, Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Dafa on May 13, 1992 at the fifth Middle school in Changchun City, China. From 1992 to 1994, on receiving invitations from State Qi Gong Organizations in each Area, Li travelled accross China, giving more than 54 lecture series and teaching the Falun Gong exercises. Since then the practice was spread by word of mouth and by practitioners volunarily. Li continues to give lectures at Falun Gong conferences outside of China today. | |||
As practitioners started spreading the system, Li Hongzhi stipulated that promoting the Falun Gong could never be done for fame and money, practitioners must not accept any fee, donation or gift in return of their voluntary promotion of the practice. | |||
As practitioners started spreading the system, Li Hongzhi stipulated that promoting the Falun Gong could never be done for fame and money, practitioners must not accept any fee, donation or gift in return of their voluntary promotion of the practice. | |||
==Biography== | |||
According to an official biography of Li, previoulsy included in the index of his Zhuan Falun (the central text of Falun Gong), Li was born in Guangzhulin, Jilin province, China, on May 13, 1951. At the age of four Li began studing under his first master, Law Master Quan Jue, "the 10th heir to the Great Law of the Buddha School". After eight years, this Master left Li for him to be guided under a new master. The biography states that Li continued to be guided under numerous masters throughout his life, and that "over a period of about a dozen of years, he received instructions successively from more than twenty masters from both the Buddha School and the Tao School." Over these years Li supposedly developed a number of supernormal abilities, including levetation and invisibility, and deep wisdom, understanding truth of the universe, and even the origin, development, and future of the humankind. | |||
In 1992, Li Hongzhi introduced the practice of Falun Gong to the general public in China . He taught the practice publicly in China over the course of the following two years, after which the practice continued to grow primarily by word-of-mouth. After this time, Li began giving lectures outside of China, and eventually settled in the US in 1997. Li Hongzhi continues to attend Falun Gong conferences in North America, where he often addresses practitioners and lectures on Falun Gong. | |||
In Li Hongzhi’s Canadian lectures held on May 23, 1999 in Toronto, a question was asked to Mr. Li: "I want to recommend to a newspaper that they publish the Master’s biography. Is this appropriate?" and he answered: | |||
<blockquote> | |||
No. I don’t want to speak about my own situation. Nobody should. Because everybody wanted to find out about me there was a very, very simple biography in Zhuan falun. Now I had asked them to take it out. What I tell you about is the Law (Dharma), everyone should study this Law. Have no interest in my circumstances! Just study the Law and that will lead you to consummation. | |||
</blockquote> | |||
== Awards and Recognition == | |||
] | |||
At the Asian health expo of 1992 and 1993 in Beijing, Falun Gong is successively nominated as the "Star Qigong". According to Falun, Li Hongzhi received "The Award for Advancing Boundary Science" and "Qigong Master most Acclaimed by the Masses" at the Oriental Health Expo, Beijing in 1993<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/recognition.html | title = Governmental Awards and Recognition of Falun Dafa |access date = August 1, 2006 | publisher = Falundafa Clearwisdom.net}}</ref>. | |||
In September 1999, Li was awarded honorary citizenship of the city by the Mayor of ]. | |||
Li Hongzhi was nominated for the 2001 ]<ref>{{cite news| url = http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/scandinavia/01/30/nobel.nominations | title = Nobel Peace Prize deadline looms |date = January 30, 2001 | publisher = CNN}}</ref> by nearly 600 professors and government officials from 21 countries{{fact}}. Mr. Li was also nominated for the ] in 2001 by 28 members of the ], but failed to make the shortlist<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.guengl.eu/archives/tree/news/statem/2001%20state/011016-1en.htm | title = Statement by Francis Wurtz MEP, on the 2001 Sakharov Prize selection |date = 18 October, 2001 | publisher = Confederal Group of the European United Left}}</ref>. | |||
<!-- Francis WURTZ statement from Google cache http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:UCBj28bSyQcJ:www.guengl.eu/archives/tree/news/statem/2001%2520state/011016-1en.htm+sakharov+prize+2001&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&client=firefox-a--> | |||
==Relations with Chinese authorities== | |||
==Divinity of Master Li== | |||
On July 29, 1999, after the onset of The ], the CCP issued a nationwide arrest warrant<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/ppflg/t36563.htm | title = Li Honzhi is Wanted |date = June 29, 1999 | publisher = China-Embassy.org }}</ref> for Li Hongzhi. A request for arrest warrant was also sent to ], and his passport was revoked, preventing him from traveling internationally. Interpol apparently rejected the warrant, on the grounds that it would violate Article Three of the organization's constitution, which forbids Interpol from intervening in "matters of a political, religious, military or racial character"{{fact}}. | |||
] | |||
In China, Li's name remains blacklisted by the ], and some Falun Gong practitioners are held in prisons or ] (forced labor camps). Under pressure some of them have denounced him as part of their "]" process. | |||
No one seems to know who Master Li is and his followers conceal information about him, noted Nina Willdorf from Boston Phoenix. “Talk to several local practitioners, and certain patterns emerge. No one knows much about Master Li's past or present, and followers are reluctant to discuss even what little they do know about him.” | |||
Falun Gong’s official website, Clearwisdom.net, introduces the Master with a saintly sketch: | |||
:"Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced the practice of Falun Gong to the general public in China in 1992. He then taught the practice publicly for two years in China, after which the practice continued to grow primarily by word-of-mouth. In keeping with Chinese tradition, Mr. Li is often respectfully referred to as "Master" or "Teacher." He is not accorded special treatment, nor does he accept money or donations from students of Falun Gong. He has ensured that the practice be available to all people, and without any terms or conditions. For his contributions to humanity he has been given over 400 honors and awards, and is a two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee." | |||
Master Li didn’t used to be so secretive about himself. Appearing as an appendix in Li’s famous Zhuan Falun, an article called “A short biography of Mr Li Hongzhi, Chairman of Falun Gong Research Society” recounted the Master’s story from his birth up to the time he became a popular Master. | |||
According to this biography at the age of four Li began his decades-long training that prepared him to be the greatest Master of all time. His first teacher was a Buddhist master named Quan Jue (literally, complete enlightenment). Quan Jue’s training consisted mainly in cultivating his pre-school pupil’s innate supernatural powers and instilling great moral principles within him. at the age of eight, the young adept attained many supernatural powers. He could levitate off the ground and become invisible simply by thinking “Nobody can see me!” The other two supernatural abilities the young Master acquired were controlling others’ movements by thoughts and teleportation—he could move himself anywhere he wanted by thought alone. | |||
In the following decades he continued to receive trainings from various Masters in spirituality as well as Kung Fu and sword-fighting. The article makes one point clear: all the trainings took place at night in secret locations where no one could witness them. Through these secret trainings Master Li obtained great abilities. The supernatural powers he possessed were “unimaginable for ordinary human beings.” But these powers were not as important as his wisdom: “He discovered the truth of the universe…he saw the origin of humankind and foresaw the development and future of the humankind.” | |||
Despite the biography’s recounting of intensive, decades-long physical and moral training that only legendary saints and heroes undergo, it doesn’t provide the basic background information of Master Li’s life. Master Li apparently grew up in a vacuum. | |||
By 1996, Li was hinting that he was not just an ordinary human being, but rather a reincarnated deity who has lived many previous lives. “The things imparted to me by my several masters in this life are exactly what I intentionally arranged a few lifetimes ago for them to obtain. When the predestined occasion arrived, it had already been arranged that they impart those things back to me so that I could recall my fa (Law) in its entirety.” | |||
Since 1996, Master Li’s statements about his identity have become ever more grandiose. In March, 2002, Li announced that “no being knows who I am. Yet without me, the cosmos wouldn't exist.” | |||
On February 15, 2003 at a Falun Gong conference near Los Angeles, Master Li was able to engineer an even more dramatic version of his glorious story. He started by telling his followers that his situation isn’t something that ordinary human beings can imagine. Then he described his origins: “I came from the inside, and came from the outside; I came from nothing, formed into something, appeared at the pinnacle of the colossal firmament, and then from there I descended step by step to the most surface, the Three Realms . No being knows who I am.” Master Li went on to reveal what he has done for the human race. “In fact, today's human race would have been destroyed a long time ago if it weren't for the fa-rectification. The standard of the human race's thinking is already at a level lower than hell. It's because of the Fa-rectification that I atoned for the sins of all sentient beings in the Three Realms.” Fa-rectification is a term used by Master Li to refer to a period in the near future when his great law will come to judge everyone on Earth. It is the Falun Gong Judgment Day. | |||
Li then explains what he has done for the followers: “As far as our students are concerned, it was as if I scooped you out of hell back then.” With these words, Master Li received a round of applause, and said: “I have truly borne for you the sins you committed over hundreds and thousands of years…I will also save you and turn you into Gods…since you'll become Gods at levels that high, I have to give you the honors of Gods at levels that high and all the blessings that you need.” | |||
==Master Li as a mundane human being== | |||
] | |||
<!-- Unsourced image removed: ] --> | |||
<!-- Unsourced image removed: ] --> | |||
An article done by UCLA Center for East Asian Studies provides the following account of the Master: | |||
:Li Hongzhi was born in Gongzhuling City (former Gongzhuling Town), Jilin Province, on July 7, 1952. | |||
:Between 1960-69, he studied in Changchun Zhujianglu Primary School, and finished his junior middle school studies in Changchun No. 4 and No. 48 middle schools. | |||
:In the period 1970-78, he worked as a trumpet player at a PLA stud farm and Jilin Provincial Forest Armed Police Troop. | |||
:In the following four years, he was an attendant at a guest house of the Forest Armed Police Troop. | |||
:Li was discharged from military service in 1982, and went to work in the security department of the Changchun Cereals and Oil Co. | |||
:In 1991, he quit the job and began practicing qigong. In May 1992, he began to propagate the ideas of Falun Gong. | |||
==Interviewing the Master== | |||
] | |||
From April to July, 1999, Li was interviewed by a number of western media. The following are some of the highlights: | |||
:*On May 2, 1999, when asked why he left China, Li told the Agence France-Press that: | |||
"My daughter wanted to go to the States. I also wanted her to study more English language. | |||
I heard the US education was pretty good." | |||
:*On July 25, 1999 Li told Mae M. Cheng from Newsday that: "I have never gotten upset with human beings," he said. "I have never been to hospitals, never been ill." | |||
:*Li had a dialogue with Times reporter on May 10, 1999: | |||
:TIME: Have you seen human beings levitate off the ground? | |||
:Li: I have known too many. | |||
:TIME: Can you describe any that you have known? | |||
:Li: David Copperfield. He can levitate and he did it during performances. | |||
:TIME: Would you use qigong to cure an illness? | |||
:Li: I can do all of this, but I won't do it. | |||
:TIME: Are you a human being? | |||
:Li: You can think of me as a human being. | |||
:TIME: Are you from earth? | |||
:Li: I don't wish to talk about myself at a higher level. People wouldn't understand it. I am trying to save those people who can return to a high level and to a high moral level. Modern science does not understand this, so governments can do nothing. The only person in the entire world who knows this is myself alone. | |||
==Arrest warrant for Master Li== | |||
On July 29, 1999, Chinese authorities issued a nationwide arrest warrant<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/ppflg/t36563.htm | title = Li Honzhi is Wanted |date = June 29, 1999 | publisher = China-Embassy.org }}</ref> for Li Hongzhi. A request for arrest warrant was also sent to ], and his passport was revoked, preventing him from traveling internationally. Interpol rejected the request on the grounds that it violates article three of the organization's constitution which forbids the Interpol from intervening in "matters of a political, religious, military or racial character"{{fact}}. | |||
==Disputes== | ==Disputes== | ||
===Birthdate=== | ===Birthdate=== | ||
In ], after the persecution against Falun Gong was launched, the Chinese authorities alleged |
In ], after the persecution against Falun Gong was launched, the Chinese authorities alleged Li fraudulently changed his birth date: Li claims that he was born on ], ], however, Chinese authorities allege that his actual birthdate was ], ], and that he changed it so as to be the same as ]'s founder ]. | ||
Li claims that he was born on ], ], however, Chinese authorities allege that his actual birthdate was ], ]. | |||
In an interview with ], Li asserts that he merely corrected his birth data which was confused during the ], and has not drawn particular significance to it, claiming to be "just a very ordinary man"<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/99/0802/li1.html | title = I am just a very ordinary man |date = August 2, 1999 | publisher = Time Magazine }}</ref>. | In an interview with ], Li asserts that he merely corrected his birth data which was confused during the ], and has not drawn particular significance to it, claiming to be "just a very ordinary man"<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/99/0802/li1.html | title = I am just a very ordinary man |date = August 2, 1999 | publisher = Time Magazine }}</ref>. | ||
=== |
===Making money with Falun Gong=== | ||
According to a ] report "American Dream Finds Chinese Spiritual Leader," on November 1, 1999, Li was offered a house in New York for $293,500 in 1998 shortly after immigrating to the US, then was offered another for $580,000 in New Jersey in 1999. John Sun, a wealthy New York Falun Gong practitioner,pointed out in a letter to the editor of Wall Street Journal that he bought the house in Li’s wife’s name as an attempt to offer it as a gift, but Mr. and Mrs. Li firmly refused to accept the house<ref>{{cite news| url = http://clearwisdom.net/eng/clarification/letter_to_wsjournal.html | title = Letters from Falun Gong practitioners to Wall Street Journal |date = November 17, 1999 | publisher = Falundafa Clearwisdom.net}}</ref>. | According to a ] report "American Dream Finds Chinese Spiritual Leader," on November 1, 1999, Li was offered a house in New York for $293,500 in 1998 shortly after immigrating to the US, then was offered another for $580,000 in New Jersey in 1999. John Sun, a wealthy New York Falun Gong practitioner, pointed out in a letter to the editor of Wall Street Journal that he bought the house in Li’s wife’s name as an attempt to offer it as a gift, but Mr. and Mrs. Li firmly refused to accept the house<ref>{{cite news| url = http://clearwisdom.net/eng/clarification/letter_to_wsjournal.html | title = Letters from Falun Gong practitioners to Wall Street Journal |date = November 17, 1999 | publisher = Falundafa Clearwisdom.net}}</ref>. | ||
== Patent == | |||
According to the ] article, Jing Zhanyi a senior engineer applied for a process patent paid for by Li Hongzhi. This issue has caused quite a stir in the Falun Gong community and brought out questions about Mr. Li character. | |||
Clumsy fraud, harmful heresy | |||
== Awards and Recognition == | |||
]{{See also|Criticism and controversies about Falun Gong#debatable significance of Falun Gong awards and recognitions}} | |||
At the Asian health expo of 1992 and 1993 in Beijing, Falun Gong is successively nominated as the "Star Qigong". According to Falun, Li Hongzhi received "The Award for Advancing Boundary Science" and "Qigong Master most Acclaimed by the Masses" at the Oriental Health Expo, Beijing in 1993<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/recognition.html | title = Governmental Awards and Recognition of Falun Dafa |access date = August 1, 2006 | publisher = Falundafa Clearwisdom.net}}</ref>. | |||
In September 1999, Li was awarded honorary citizenship of the city by the Mayor of ]. | |||
Li Hongzhi was nominated for the 2001 ]<ref>{{cite news| url = http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/scandinavia/01/30/nobel.nominations | title = Nobel Peace Prize deadline looms |date = January 30, 2001 | publisher = CNN}}</ref> by nearly 600 professors and government officials from 21 countries{{fact}}. Mr. Li was also nominated for the ] in 2001 by 28 members of the ], but failed to make the shortlist<ref>{{cite news| url = http://www.guengl.eu/archives/tree/news/statem/2001%20state/011016-1en.htm | title = Statement by Francis Wurtz MEP, on the 2001 Sakharov Prize selection |date = 18 October, 2001 | publisher = Confederal Group of the European United Left}}</ref>. | |||
<!-- Francis WURTZ statement from Google cache http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:UCBj28bSyQcJ:www.guengl.eu/archives/tree/news/statem/2001%2520state/011016-1en.htm+sakharov+prize+2001&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&client=firefox-a--> | |||
==Quotes== | |||
“I have neither form nor name, and I am different from anything that composes any being in the cosmos. To the sentient beings in the cosmos, I have nothing. Perhaps when the cosmos is no more, only I am there. I have nothing. ''No being knows who I am. Yet without me, the cosmos wouldn't exist.'' The reason I have come here is to save all sentient beings amidst the Fa-rectification at a time when the colossal firmament of the cosmos is disintegrating.” | |||
<ref>{{cite news| url = http://clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/4/14/2002natourlect.html | title = Speech at a Falun Gong conference |date = March, 2002 | publisher = Falundafa Clearwisdom.net}}</ref> | |||
== References == | == References == | ||
Line 59: | Line 120: | ||
==External links == | ==External links == | ||
* | |||
* | |||
* by Samuel Luo, a Falun Gong critic. | |||
* while He was introducing ] (free to download) | * while He was introducing ] (free to download) | ||
* | |||
* | * | ||
* | * | ||
Line 69: | Line 133: | ||
* | * | ||
* | * | ||
* "Some Thoughts of Mine"] | |||
* | * | ||
Revision as of 19:56, 25 August 2006
Li Hongzhi (Chinese: 李洪志; pinyin: Lǐ Hóngzhì) family name is Li. Ethnicity Han Chinese, speaks Mandarin, he is the founder of Falun Gong also called Falun Dafa, an international movement originated in the People's Republic of China.
The date of his birth is disputed. According to the Falun Gong “Li was born into an ordinary intellectual's family in the city of Gongzhuling, Jilin Province, China, on May 13 (the eighth day of the fourth month by China lunar calendar), 1951.” . But as reported by the Chinese government he was born on July 7, 1952; he “changed his date of birth to make it coincide with the birthday of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, in an attempt to show that he was the reincarnation of Sakyamuni,” the government claims. .
Divinity of Master Li
No one seems to know who Master Li is and his followers conceal information about him, noted Nina Willdorf from Boston Phoenix. “Talk to several local practitioners, and certain patterns emerge. No one knows much about Master Li's past or present, and followers are reluctant to discuss even what little they do know about him.” Falun Gong’s official website, Clearwisdom.net, introduces the Master with a saintly sketch:
- "Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced the practice of Falun Gong to the general public in China in 1992. He then taught the practice publicly for two years in China, after which the practice continued to grow primarily by word-of-mouth. In keeping with Chinese tradition, Mr. Li is often respectfully referred to as "Master" or "Teacher." He is not accorded special treatment, nor does he accept money or donations from students of Falun Gong. He has ensured that the practice be available to all people, and without any terms or conditions. For his contributions to humanity he has been given over 400 honors and awards, and is a two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee."
Master Li didn’t used to be so secretive about himself. Appearing as an appendix in Li’s famous Zhuan Falun, an article called “A short biography of Mr Li Hongzhi, Chairman of Falun Gong Research Society” recounted the Master’s story from his birth up to the time he became a popular Master.
According to this biography at the age of four Li began his decades-long training that prepared him to be the greatest Master of all time. His first teacher was a Buddhist master named Quan Jue (literally, complete enlightenment). Quan Jue’s training consisted mainly in cultivating his pre-school pupil’s innate supernatural powers and instilling great moral principles within him. at the age of eight, the young adept attained many supernatural powers. He could levitate off the ground and become invisible simply by thinking “Nobody can see me!” The other two supernatural abilities the young Master acquired were controlling others’ movements by thoughts and teleportation—he could move himself anywhere he wanted by thought alone.
In the following decades he continued to receive trainings from various Masters in spirituality as well as Kung Fu and sword-fighting. The article makes one point clear: all the trainings took place at night in secret locations where no one could witness them. Through these secret trainings Master Li obtained great abilities. The supernatural powers he possessed were “unimaginable for ordinary human beings.” But these powers were not as important as his wisdom: “He discovered the truth of the universe…he saw the origin of humankind and foresaw the development and future of the humankind.”
Despite the biography’s recounting of intensive, decades-long physical and moral training that only legendary saints and heroes undergo, it doesn’t provide the basic background information of Master Li’s life. Master Li apparently grew up in a vacuum.
By 1996, Li was hinting that he was not just an ordinary human being, but rather a reincarnated deity who has lived many previous lives. “The things imparted to me by my several masters in this life are exactly what I intentionally arranged a few lifetimes ago for them to obtain. When the predestined occasion arrived, it had already been arranged that they impart those things back to me so that I could recall my fa (Law) in its entirety.”
Since 1996, Master Li’s statements about his identity have become ever more grandiose. In March, 2002, Li announced that “no being knows who I am. Yet without me, the cosmos wouldn't exist.” On February 15, 2003 at a Falun Gong conference near Los Angeles, Master Li was able to engineer an even more dramatic version of his glorious story. He started by telling his followers that his situation isn’t something that ordinary human beings can imagine. Then he described his origins: “I came from the inside, and came from the outside; I came from nothing, formed into something, appeared at the pinnacle of the colossal firmament, and then from there I descended step by step to the most surface, the Three Realms . No being knows who I am.” Master Li went on to reveal what he has done for the human race. “In fact, today's human race would have been destroyed a long time ago if it weren't for the fa-rectification. The standard of the human race's thinking is already at a level lower than hell. It's because of the Fa-rectification that I atoned for the sins of all sentient beings in the Three Realms.” Fa-rectification is a term used by Master Li to refer to a period in the near future when his great law will come to judge everyone on Earth. It is the Falun Gong Judgment Day.
Li then explains what he has done for the followers: “As far as our students are concerned, it was as if I scooped you out of hell back then.” With these words, Master Li received a round of applause, and said: “I have truly borne for you the sins you committed over hundreds and thousands of years…I will also save you and turn you into Gods…since you'll become Gods at levels that high, I have to give you the honors of Gods at levels that high and all the blessings that you need.”
Master Li as a mundane human being
An article done by UCLA Center for East Asian Studies provides the following account of the Master:
- Li Hongzhi was born in Gongzhuling City (former Gongzhuling Town), Jilin Province, on July 7, 1952.
- Between 1960-69, he studied in Changchun Zhujianglu Primary School, and finished his junior middle school studies in Changchun No. 4 and No. 48 middle schools.
- In the period 1970-78, he worked as a trumpet player at a PLA stud farm and Jilin Provincial Forest Armed Police Troop.
- In the following four years, he was an attendant at a guest house of the Forest Armed Police Troop.
- Li was discharged from military service in 1982, and went to work in the security department of the Changchun Cereals and Oil Co.
- In 1991, he quit the job and began practicing qigong. In May 1992, he began to propagate the ideas of Falun Gong.
Interviewing the Master
From April to July, 1999, Li was interviewed by a number of western media. The following are some of the highlights:
- On May 2, 1999, when asked why he left China, Li told the Agence France-Press that:
"My daughter wanted to go to the States. I also wanted her to study more English language. I heard the US education was pretty good."
- Li had a dialogue with Times reporter on May 10, 1999:
- TIME: Have you seen human beings levitate off the ground?
- Li: I have known too many.
- TIME: Can you describe any that you have known?
- Li: David Copperfield. He can levitate and he did it during performances.
- TIME: Would you use qigong to cure an illness?
- Li: I can do all of this, but I won't do it.
- TIME: Are you a human being?
- Li: You can think of me as a human being.
- TIME: Are you from earth?
- Li: I don't wish to talk about myself at a higher level. People wouldn't understand it. I am trying to save those people who can return to a high level and to a high moral level. Modern science does not understand this, so governments can do nothing. The only person in the entire world who knows this is myself alone.
Arrest warrant for Master Li
On July 29, 1999, Chinese authorities issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Li Hongzhi. A request for arrest warrant was also sent to Interpol, and his passport was revoked, preventing him from traveling internationally. Interpol rejected the request on the grounds that it violates article three of the organization's constitution which forbids the Interpol from intervening in "matters of a political, religious, military or racial character".
Disputes
Birthdate
In 1999, after the persecution against Falun Gong was launched, the Chinese authorities alleged Li fraudulently changed his birth date: Li claims that he was born on May 13, 1951, however, Chinese authorities allege that his actual birthdate was July 7, 1952, and that he changed it so as to be the same as Buddhism's founder Sakyamuni.
In an interview with Time magazine, Li asserts that he merely corrected his birth data which was confused during the Cultural Revolution, and has not drawn particular significance to it, claiming to be "just a very ordinary man".
Making money with Falun Gong
According to a Wall Street Journal report "American Dream Finds Chinese Spiritual Leader," on November 1, 1999, Li was offered a house in New York for $293,500 in 1998 shortly after immigrating to the US, then was offered another for $580,000 in New Jersey in 1999. John Sun, a wealthy New York Falun Gong practitioner, pointed out in a letter to the editor of Wall Street Journal that he bought the house in Li’s wife’s name as an attempt to offer it as a gift, but Mr. and Mrs. Li firmly refused to accept the house.
Patent
According to the People's Daily article, Jing Zhanyi a senior engineer applied for a process patent paid for by Li Hongzhi. This issue has caused quite a stir in the Falun Gong community and brought out questions about Mr. Li character.
People's DailyClumsy fraud, harmful heresy
Awards and Recognition
See also: Criticism and controversies about Falun Gong § debatable significance of Falun Gong awards and recognitions
At the Asian health expo of 1992 and 1993 in Beijing, Falun Gong is successively nominated as the "Star Qigong". According to Falun, Li Hongzhi received "The Award for Advancing Boundary Science" and "Qigong Master most Acclaimed by the Masses" at the Oriental Health Expo, Beijing in 1993.
In September 1999, Li was awarded honorary citizenship of the city by the Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.
Li Hongzhi was nominated for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize by nearly 600 professors and government officials from 21 countries. Mr. Li was also nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2001 by 28 members of the European Parliament, but failed to make the shortlist.
Quotes
“I have neither form nor name, and I am different from anything that composes any being in the cosmos. To the sentient beings in the cosmos, I have nothing. Perhaps when the cosmos is no more, only I am there. I have nothing. No being knows who I am. Yet without me, the cosmos wouldn't exist. The reason I have come here is to save all sentient beings amidst the Fa-rectification at a time when the colossal firmament of the cosmos is disintegrating.”
References
- "Li Honzhi is Wanted". China-Embassy.org. June 29, 1999.
- "I am just a very ordinary man". Time Magazine. August 2, 1999.
- "Letters from Falun Gong practitioners to Wall Street Journal". Falundafa Clearwisdom.net. November 17, 1999.
- "Governmental Awards and Recognition of Falun Dafa". Falundafa Clearwisdom.net.
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suggested) (help) - "Nobel Peace Prize deadline looms". CNN. January 30, 2001.
- "Statement by Francis Wurtz MEP, on the 2001 Sakharov Prize selection". Confederal Group of the European United Left. 18 October, 2001.
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(help) - "Speech at a Falun Gong conference". Falundafa Clearwisdom.net. March, 2002.
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External links
- A Short Biography of Mr. Li Hongzhi, Founder of Falun Dafa, President of the Research Society of Falun Buddha Science
- Who is Master Li by Samuel Luo, a Falun Gong critic.
- Book: Practitioners recollection about their Teacher (Li Hongzhi) while He was introducing Falun Gong (free to download)
- Videos of Li Hongzhi's Nine day lecture in Guangzhou, China. (English overlay)
- 1999 statement by Li Hongzhi
- Interviews with Li Hongzhi, New York Times Magazine, August 8, 1999
- Extensive May 1999 interview with Li Hongzhi several news agencies, in Sydney Australia
- May 1999 interview with Li Hongzhi by Time Magazine Asia
- Who is Li Hongzhi? BBC Interview (RealPlayer video)
- Li Hongzhi interviewed by Time Magazine Asia in August 1999
- The actual teachings of Li Hongzhi, online
- Summary of a 2004 interview with Li Hongzhi with NTDTV, the first since 1999, hosted on a Falun Dafa website
- 2001 San Jose Mercury News critical article held at Rick Ross, a "cult watchdog" group
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