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Template:RFMF Falun Gong was introduced to the public by Li Hongzhi on 13 May 1992, in Changchun, China as a form of qigong. Li taught the practices for three years in China until practitioners themselves started promoting the system. Li Hongzhi stipulated that it could never be done for fame or profit and that cultivation practice always had to be voluntary. Falun Gong quickly grew in popularity in China. As of 1996, Li Hongzhi had taught as well in Europe, Asia, Australia and America.

Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance

The foundation of Falun Dafa are teachings known in traditional Chinese culture as a "Fa" (Dharma), or "Dharma and principles" – that are set forth in the book Zhuan Falun. Falun Gong teaches that the "Buddha Law", in its highest manifestation, can be summarized in three words – Zhen 真, Shan 善 and Ren 忍, which translate approximately as 'Truthfulness (or Truth), Benevolence (or Compassion), and Forbearance (or Endurance)'. The process of cultivation is thought of to be one in which the practitioner assimilates himself or herself to Zhen 真, Shan 善 and Ren 忍.

The principles of Falun Gong are captured in two main books written by Li Hongzhi: Falun Gong ( Law Wheel (Dharma Chakra) Exercise) and Zhuan Falun ( Turning the Dharma Chakra (Law Wheel) ). Falun Gong is an introductory book that discusses qigong, introduces the principles and provides illustrations and explanations of the exercises.

"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, is the foundation of cultivation practice. Its cultivation is guided by this supreme nature, and based on the principles of the universe’s evolution. So what we cultivate is a Great Fa, or a Great Dao"

"Falun Buddha Fa also includes cultivation of the body, which is accomplished by performing the exercise movements of the Great Consummation Way—a great high-level practice of the Buddha School."

-The Book Falun Gong

Zhuan Falun, which has been translated to over 40 languages, is the most comprehensive and essential work of Falun Gong. Practitioners consider a thorough study of Zhuan Falun necessary for Falun Gong practice. Zhuan Falun is organized in the form of nine lectures. Zhuan Falun, Falun Buddha Fa Lecture in United States says :

"The inner meaning of Zhuan Falun is really enormous and rich. Since cultivation practice is divided into different levels and various realms, after one reading of the book you’ll find: “Oh, this is a book that tells you how to be a good person.” But I can tell you that it’s not merely teaching you how to be a good person. If that were all there was to it, you wouldn’t be able to raise your level. If you want to elevate yourself, the book needs to contain principles of Fa that are at higher realms and that guide you beyond being a good person. So, this book must have inner meaning at those levels. When you practice cultivation towards even higher levels it will be able to guide your cultivation towards high, higher, and even higher levels. So this Fa has to have that ability, it has to have inner meaning at different levels to guide your cultivation. It will guide you all the way until you reach the goal of cultivation—the realm of Consummation. The higher the level you reach, therefore, the more things you’ll see in the book as you practice cultivation."

Practitioners encourage studying the books or listening to the lectures, first-hand, to gain a good understanding of the principles and the cultivation system.

Cultivation practice

Central to Falun Gong is the concept of "cultivation practice" (xiulian) in which the practitioner strives to improve his “xinxing” (heart-nature/mind-nature) by gradually letting go of attachments such as selfishness, hatred, jealousy, greed and all bad thoughts.

Falun Gong teaches simultaneous cultivation of Truthfulness, Compassion and Endurance. The process of cultivation is said to be one in which the practitioner constantly assimilates to the nature of the Universe - Zhen, Shan, Ren ( Truthfulness, Compassion, Endurance). The following is excerpted from the book Falun Gong:

"Our cultivation way cultivates Zhen, Shan, and Ren simultaneously. “Zhen” is about telling the truth, doing truthful things, returning to one’s origin and true self, and ultimately becoming a true person. “Shan” is about developing great compassion, doing good things, and saving people. We particularly emphasize the ability of Ren. Only with Ren can one cultivate to become a person with great virtue. Ren is a very powerful thing and transcends Zhen and Shan. Throughout the entire cultivation process you are asked to forbear, to watch your xinxing, and to exercise self-control."

"It’s not easy to forbear when confronted with problems. Some say, “If you don’t hit back when beaten, don’t talk back when slandered, or if you forbear even when you lose face in front of your family, relatives, and good friends, haven’t you turned into Ah Q ( A foolish character in a well-known Chinese novel)?!" ”I say that if you act normal in all regards, if your intelligence is no less than that of others, and if it’s only that you have taken lightly the matter of personal gain, no one is going to say you are foolish. Being able to forbear is not weakness, and neither is it being like Ah Q. It is a display of strong will and self-restraint... There is a saying in China: “With one step back, you will discover a boundless sea and sky.” Take a step back when you are confronted with troubles, and you will find a whole different scenario."

"A practitioner should not only show forbearance towards the people with whom he has conflicts and those who embarrass him directly, but should also adopt a generous attitude and even thank them. How could you improve your xinxing if it weren’t for your difficulties with them?"

Falun Dafa, emphasizes cultivation of "xinxing". The Chinese term xinxing translates, approximately, to heart-nature or mind-nature.

Zhuan Falun says:

“To truly practice cultivation, you must cultivate your mind. This is called xinxing cultivation...”

“What is xinxing? It includes de (a type of matter), tolerance, enlightenment quality, sacrifice, giving up ordinary people’s different desires and attachments, being able to suffer hardships, and so on. It encompasses various things. Every aspect of xinxing must be upgraded for you to make real progress”

“As a practitioner, the first thing you should be able to do is to not fight back when you are beaten or sworn at—you must be tolerant. Otherwise, what kind of practitioner will you be?”. . .“If you can tolerate it and yet it preys on your mind, it is still not good enough.”

The book Falun Gong says:

“Xinxing encompasses how to deal with the two matters of gain and loss. “Gain” is to gain conformity to the nature of the universe. The nature that comprises the universe is Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness( or truth) -Compassion (or benevolence) -Endurance (or Tolerance). A cultivator’s degree of conformity to the nature of the universe is reflected in the amount of his or her virtue. “Loss” is to abandon negative thoughts and behaviors…”

“One’s compassion emerges quickly in our Falun Gong..." "This is actually the heart of great compassion that emerges. Your nature, your genuine self, will start to connect with the nature of the universe: Zhen-Shan-Ren(Truthfulness-Compassion-Endurance). When your compassionate nature emerges, you will do things with much kindness. From your inner heart to your outer appearance, everyone will be able to see that you are really kind. At that point no one will mistreat you anymore. If someone were to treat you unfairly then, your heart of great compassion would be at play and you wouldn’t do the same to him in return. This is a type of power, a power that makes you different from everyday people.”

Practice

The term practice refers to the exercises. Falun Dafa has five exercises, one of which is a sitting meditation. The principles behind the five exercises are explained as follows in the book Falun Gong.

"Falun Buddha Fa also includes cultivation of the body, which is accomplished by performing the exercise movements of the Great Consummation Way—a great high-level practice of the Buddha School. One purpose of the exercises is to strengthen a practitioner’s supernormal abilities and energy mechanisms using his or her powerful gong potency (gongli), thus achieving “the Fa refines the practitioner.” "

"The exercises are part of the harmonization and perfection in our Dafa. So Dafa is a comprehensive mind-body cultivation system. It is also called “The Great Consummation Way.” This Dafa thus requires both cultivation and exercises, with cultivation taking priority over the exercises. A person’s gong will not increase if he merely does the exercises and fails to cultivate his xinxing. A person who only cultivates his xinxing and does not perform the exercises of the Great Consummation Way will find the growth of his gong potency impeded and his original-body (benti) unchanged."

The First Exercise- Buddha showing a thousand hands

“At the core of Buddha Showing a Thousand Hands is stretching of the body. This stretching unblocks areas where energy is congested, stimulates the energy within the body and under the skin so that it circulates vigorously, and automatically absorbs a great amount of energy from the universe. This enables all of the meridians in a practitioner’s body to open at the beginning. When one performs this exercise, the body will have a special feeling of warmth and of the existence of a strong energy field. This is caused by the stretching and opening of all meridians throughout the body. Buddha Showing a Thousand Hands is composed of eight movements. The movements are quite simple, yet they control many things that are evolved by the cultivation method as a whole. At the same time, they enable practitioners to quickly enter the state of being surrounded by an energy field. Practitioners should perform these movements as a foundational exercise. They are usually done first, and are one of the strengthening methods for one’s cultivation practice.”

The Second Exercise – Falun Standing Stance

“Falun Standing Stance is a tranquil standing meditation composed of four wheel-holding positions. Frequent performance of Falun Standing Stance will facilitate the complete opening of the entire body. It is a comprehensive means of cultivation practice that enhances wisdom, increases strength, raises one’s level, and strengthens divine powers. The movements are simple, but much can be achieved through the exercise. Beginners?arms may feel heavy and painful. After doing the exercises, the whole body will immediately feel relaxed, without feeling the kind of fatigue that comes from working. When practitioners increase the time and frequency of the exercise, they can feel a Falun rotating between the arms. The movements of Falun Standing Stance should be done naturally. Don’t intentionally pursue swaying. It is normal to move slightly, but obvious swaying should be controlled. The longer the exercise time, the better, but it differs from person to person. Upon entering into tranquility, do not lose awareness that you’re exercising, but instead maintain it.”

The Third Exercise – Penetrating the two Cosmic Extremes

"Penetrating the Two Cosmic Extremes channels the cosmic energy and mixes it with the energy inside one’s body. A great amount of energy is expelled and taken in during this exercise, enabling a practitioner to purify his or her body in a very short time. At the same time, the exercise opens the meridians on top of the head and unblocks the passages underneath the feet. The hands move up and down according to the energy inside the body and the mechanisms outside the body. The upward-moving energy dashes out of the top of the head and travels directly to the upper cosmic extreme; the downward-moving energy is ejected out from the bottom of the feet and rushes directly to the lower cosmic extreme. After the energy returns from both extremes it is then emitted in the opposite direction. The hand movements are done nine times."

The Fourth Exercise - Falun Heavenly Circuit

"Falun Heavenly Circuit enables the energy of the human body to circulate over large areas—that is, not just in one or several meridians, but from the entire yin side to the entire yang side of the body, back and forth continuously. This exercise is far beyond the usual methods of opening the meridians or the Great and Small Heavenly Circuits. Falun Heavenly Circuit is an intermediate-level cultivation method. With the previous three exercises as a base, the meridians of the entire body (including the Great Heavenly Circuit) can be quickly opened through performing this exercise. From top to bottom, the meridians will be gradually connected throughout the entire body. The most outstanding feature of this exercise is its use of the Falun rotation to rectify all abnormal conditions in the human body. This enables the human body—a small universe—to return to its original state and enables all meridians inside the body to be unblocked. When this state is reached, one has achieved a very high level within In-Triple-World-Law cultivation. When doing this exercise, both hands follow the energy mechanisms. The movements are gradual, slow, and smooth."

The Fifth Exercise - Falun Sitting Meditation

“Strengthening Divine Powers is a tranquil cultivation exercise. It’s a multi-purpose exercise that strengthens divine powers (including supernormal abilities) and gong potency by turning the Falun using Buddha hand signs. This exercise is above the intermediate level and was originally a secret exercise. Performing this exercise requires sitting with both legs crossed. Single-leg crossing is acceptable at the initial stage if double-leg crossing cannot be done. One is eventually required to sit with both legs crossed. During the exercise, the flow of energy is strong and the energy field around the body is quite large. The longer the legs are crossed, the better. It depends on one’s endurance. The longer one sits, the more intense the exercise and the faster one’s gong grows. Don’t think about anything when performing this exercise—no mind-intent is involved. From tranquility enter into ding. But your Main Consciousness must be aware that you’re the one who is doing the exercise.”

Buddha Fa

Falun Gong teaches the "Buddha Fa" can be summarized in three words – Zhen 真, Shan 善 and Ren 忍, which translate approximately as 'Truthfulness (or Truth), Benevolence (or Compassion), and Forbearance (or Endurance)'. The process of cultivation is said to be one in which the practitioner assimilates himself or herself to Zhen 真, Shan 善 and Ren 忍.

"The Buddha Fa is broad, immense, and profound. The Fa we’re teaching today goes beyond conventional understandings of the Buddha Fa. We are teaching the Fa of the entire cosmos—the nature of the entire cosmos. Yet within this immense cosmos, each of its levels has its cosmic nature, that is, the principles of the Fa manifested from Zhen- Shan-Ren at each realm. And the Fa’s principles at each level are really enormous and complex. If you wanted to explain the principles at one particular level, you might not be able to explain them fully even if you took a whole lifetime—that’s how immense and complex they are.

Today, I’m only using human language—the simplest human language of today—to tell you about the general situation of this entire vast and profound cosmos. If you can truly and thoroughly understand this Fa, and can practice cultivation in this Fa, the height and depth of what you’ll experience and enlighten to will be beyond description. As long as you practice cultivation, you’ll gradually experience and enlighten to more and more. The more you read Zhuan Falun, the more you’ll understand from it. Even if your inborn quality is really good, there’s more than enough for you to cultivate in this Dafa. However high you want to cultivate to, this Fa is immense enough to accommodate that—this Fa is just incredibly broad and immense."

"A cultivator can only know the specific manifestation of Buddha Law at the level he has cultivated to, and that’s his cultivation Fruition, his level. If you spell it out in detail, the Law is huge. But when you reach its highest point, then it’s simple, because the Law stacks up in a pyramid-like shape. Up at an extremely high level you can summarize it in just three words: True, Good, Endure. But as it manifests at each different level it gets extremely complicated."

"The principles of Falun Dafa can provide guidance for anyone’s cultivation practice, including for one’s religious beliefs. This is the principle of the universe, the true Fa (Law) that has never been taught. People in the past were not allowed to know this universe’s principle. It transcends all academic theories and moral principles of human society from ancient times to this day. What was taught by religions and what people experienced in the past were only superficialities and shallow phenomena. Its broad and immense, profound inner meaning can only manifest itself to, and be experienced and understood by, practitioners who are at different levels of true cultivation. Only then can one truly see what the Fa is.”

Cultivation Practice and Health

"I’m not going to talk about doing healing here. We don’t do healing. But if you want to do true cultivation, and you’ve come here with an ailing body, then you can’t cultivate yet. So I have to purify your body. I only purify the body for people who’ve truly come here to learn the practice, who truly come to learn the Law. There’s one thing we stress: if you can’t set aside those thoughts of yours, if you can’t set aside that health problem, then there’s nothing we can do and we can’t help you. And why is that? Because there’s a truth in this universe: the things that happen to ordinary people, as Buddhists put it, all have underlying causes, and for ordinary people things like birth, aging, sickness, and death are just a fact of life. People only have health problems and suffering because they did bad things in the past and made karma. When they go through hard times they are paying off a karmic debt, so nobody can just go and change that at will. If it’s changed, that’s like letting somebody who’s in debt get off without paying it back, and you can’t just go and do that on a whim. That’s the same as doing something bad."

"So why is it okay to do that for cultivators, then? Because nobody is more precious than a cultivator. He wants to cultivate, and that’s the most precious thought. In Buddhism they talk about Buddha-nature, and that when a person’s Buddha-nature comes out the Enlightened Beings can help him."

"The beings in this dimension can’t see the beings in other dimensions, and they can’t see how the universe really is, so it’s just like these people have dropped into a realm of delusion. If they want to get healed, get rid of adversity, or eliminate their karma, then they’ve got to cultivate and return to their original, true selves. That’s how all the different cultivation ways see it. A person should return to his original, true self—that’s actually the true purpose of being human. So, once somebody wants to cultivate, they’d say his Buddha-nature has come out. That thought is the most precious, because he wants to return to his original, true self, he wants to break out of this level of ordinary people. Maybe you’ve heard the Buddhist saying, “When a person’s Buddha-nature comes out it shakes the Ten-Directional World.” Whoever sees this will help him, and they’ll help him no matter what. Buddhists believe that saving people has no conditions attached, it’s done at whatever cost, and they can help him unconditionally. That’s why we can do a lot for our students. But it doesn’t work like that for an ordinary person, who just wants to be an ordinary person and get healed. Some people think, “I’ll cultivate if I can just get my health back.” But cultivation doesn’t have any conditions attached—if you want to cultivate, then you just cultivate."

- Excerpted from Chapter 1, Zhuan Falun

Buddha School qigong

"Many people think of a matter as soon as we mention Buddha School qigong: Since the goal of the Buddha School is to cultivate Buddhahood, they start to relate it to the things of Buddhism. I hereby solemnly clarify that Falun Gong is qigong of the Buddha School. It is a righteous, great cultivation way and has nothing to do with Buddhism. Buddha School qigong is Buddha School qigong, while Buddhism is Buddhism. They take different paths, even though they have the same goal in cultivation. They are different schools of practice with different requirements."

Inborn Quality and Enlightenment Quality

Virtue(De) and Karma are both considered material and of higher dimensional existence rather than something speculative or philosophical. The term enlightenment carries different meanings. The following is taken from the book Falun Gong.

“Inborn quality” refers to the white substance one brings with oneself at birth. In fact, it is virtue—a tangible substance. The more of this substance you bring with you, the better your inborn quality. People with good inborn quality more easily return to their true self and become enlightened, as their thinking is unimpeded. Once they hear about learning qigong or about things concerning cultivation, they immediately become interested and are willing to learn. They can connect with the universe. It is exactly as Lao Zi said: “When a wise man hears the Dao, he will practice it diligently. When an average man hears it, he will practice it on and off. When a foolish man hears it, he will laugh at it loudly. If he doesn’t laugh loudly, it is not the Dao.” Those people who can easily return to their true self and become enlightened are wise people. In contrast, a person with a lot of the black substance and an inferior inborn quality has a barrier formed outside of his body that makes it impossible for him to accept good things. The black substance will make him disbelieve good things when he encounters them. In fact, this is one of the roles karma plays.

A discussion of inborn quality has to include the matter of enlightenment quality. When we talk about enlightenment, some people think that being enlightened is the equivalent of being clever. The “clever” or “cunning” person that everyday people refer to is actually far away from the cultivation practice we are discussing. These types of “clever” people usually can’t achieve Enlightenment easily. They are only concerned with the practical, material world so that they can avoid being taken advantage of and avoid giving up any benefit. Most notably, a few individuals out there who regard themselves as knowledgeable, educated, and smart, think that practicing cultivation is the stuff of fairy tales. Practicing cultivation and improving xinxing are inconceivable to them. They consider practitioners foolish and superstitious. The enlightenment we speak of doesn’t refer to being smart but to the return of human nature to its true nature, to being a good person, and to conforming to the nature of the universe. One’s inborn quality determines one’s enlightenment quality. If one’s inborn quality is good, one’s enlightenment quality tends to be good as well. Inborn quality determines enlightenment quality; however, enlightenment quality isn’t entirely dictated by inborn quality. No matter how good your inborn quality is, your understanding or comprehension cannot be lacking. The inborn quality of some individuals isn’t so good, yet they possess superb enlightenment quality and so can cultivate to a high level. Since we offer salvation to all sentient beings, we look at enlightenment quality, not inborn quality. Even though you have many negative things, as long as you are determined to ascend in cultivation, this thought of yours is a righteous one. With this thought you only need to forgo a little more than others and you will eventually achieve Enlightenment.

Miscellaneous concepts

In the lectures, several concepts ranging from "independent time-spaces", "Third-Eye" and "Root Cause of Illness to Higher Dimensional Realities" and "Structure of Cosmic Bodies" are proposed.

Regarding Structure of Cosmic Bodies, The United States Lecture Says:

"And this universe has a shell, or boundary. So this is the universe we usually refer to. But beyond this universe there are other universes at farther places. Within a certain expanse there are another three thousand universes like this. Yet there’s a shell outside of these three thousand universes, and a second-level universe is constituted. Beyond this second-level universe there are about three thousand universes the size of this second-level universe. There is a shell outside of them, and they constitute a third-level universe. It’s just like how small particles comprise atomic nuclei, atomic nuclei comprise atoms, and atoms comprise molecules—it’s just like how microscopic particles comprise larger particles in a system. The universe that I’ve been describing is only the way things are within this one system. There’s no way this language can describe it; human language isn’t able to express it...This is the situation in this one state. But there are many, many systems—as numerous as the innumerable atoms that comprise molecules—spread all over the cosmos in the same way."

"...This was only a discussion of this one system, of a system like this. Just as small particles comprise larger particles and larger particles comprise even larger particles, this is within one system. But there are more than just this one system of particles. Numerous particles at different levels are spread all over the cosmic body.”

"Today, I’m only using human language—the simplest human language of today—to tell you about the general situation of this entire vast and profound cosmos. If you can truly and thoroughly understand this Fa, and can practice cultivation in this Fa, the height and depth of what you’ll experience and enlighten to will be beyond description. As long as you practice cultivation, you’ll gradually experience and enlighten to more

The Relationship between Karma and Illness is discussed in several Lectures, including Zhuan Falun, Falun Buddha Fa Lectures in Europe and Falun Buddha Fa Lectures in Sydney. The 1996 Lectures in United States, says:

"Just now I said that it is the karma accrued lifetime after lifetime that causes sickness. What is that karma? The smaller the particles of the karma that exists in other dimensions—the smaller its grain—the more power it has. When it seeps into our dimension, it’s a microorganism, the most microscopic virus. So would you say that sickness is accidental? It can’t be understood by modern medicine or modern science, which can only understand the kind of phenomena that manifest in this surface dimension composed of the layer of the largest particles, which are formed by molecules. So it’s considered a sickness, a tumor, an infection somewhere, or something else; but today’s science can’t see the fundamental cause of people becoming sick, and it always explains with the limited reasons that can be understood by everyday people. Of course, when someone gets sick, it usually conforms to the principles at the level of this world, and there’s usually an external factor in this world that induces the sickness to manifest. Then it appears to really conform to the principles of this world. In fact, it’s just an external factor that makes it in conformity with the principles of this world or the state of this world. But the fundamental cause and the sickness don’t originate in this dimension. So when you take medicine now you’re killing this sickness or the virus at the surface. Medicine can truly kill viruses at the surface…When an everyday person gets sick he definitely needs medical treatment.”

Enlightenment

In Li's book Essentials for Further Advancement, there is a chapter on enlightenment.

• Falun Gong