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The teachings of Falun Gong were developed by Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China. Li taught the practice for three years starting on 13 May, 1992 in China until practitioners themselves started promoting the system. Falun Gong quickly grew in popularity in China. As of 1996, Li Hongzhi had taught as well in Europe, Asia, Australia and America. Falun Gong teachings consist of two components: The Falun Gong (exercises of the law-wheel) and Falun Dafa (great law of the law-wheel), a set of religious teachings. In the first lecture of Zhuan Falun, the main text of the discipline, Li states the following: “Our Falun Dafa is one of the eighty-four thousand cultivation ways in the Buddha School. During the historical period of this human civilization, it has never been made public. In a prehistoric period, however, it was once widely used to provide salvation to humankind. In this final period of Last Havoc, I am making it public again. Therefore, it is extremely precious."

Depravity of today’s people

According to Master Li, “The standard of the human race's thinking is already at a level lower than hell.” Li teaches that human beings are corrupt, ignorant, selfish and greedy--“these lives should have been destroyed upon falling to this level.” The corruption of humankind is so great that even the Gods have left us. “People nowadays are indeed degenerate. Gods don’t look after them anymore,” Li teaches.

Women’s liberation is one source of depravity. Li denies that women were oppressed in the old days—to claim that they were is tantamount to judging the ancients with modern people’s degenerate notions. When women start to stand up for their rights, the result is “divorce, fighting, abandoned children, and other social problems,” therefore Li concludes that “the advocacy of “independence” and “self-reliance” for women is wrong.” Mixed raced children are products of ignorant people according to Li. “The races in the world are not allowed to be mixed up,” he has stated, “now, the races are mixed up and it has brought about an extraordinarily serious problem.” Children born of mixed-raced marriages might be “physically and intellectually incomplete” and they do not have a “relationship with the higher levels.” .” Li also teaches that paradises are racially segregated: “Jesus told people not to spread the teaching (Christianity) in the East. I have also found no oriental people in Jesus' paradise.”

Li has condemned people who start new religions: they are “demons who undermine orthodox religions.” Such religions are “evil religions” Li warns, they interfere with people’s faith in orthodox religions. Li acknowledges that orthodox religions such as Buddhism and Christianity were legitimate, but they are being run by people who have been corrupted: “people in religions brag about themselves and flaunt their credentials to have others believe in them and provide for them. They seek fame and personal gain, even becoming politicians.” Li also teaches that these orthodox religions can no longer save people because “no religion is being looked after by gods, since gods see that humankind is too depraved.”

Sickness Karma

Claiming that he is the only one who knows the true cause of sickness, master Li has characterized modern medical science as shallow and said that the cause of sickness is “simply beyond the reach of modern medical technology.” The real cause of sickness is not physical but moral, reveals the master: “Due to karma resulting from past wrongdoing, one has illnesses.” Li explains that people reincarnate life after life and in each life unavoidably commit wrong deeds and therefore amass sickness karma. This karma then forms layers in the physical body like the annual rings in trees, as a result “the human body is like the annual rings of a tree, whereby each ring contains sickness-karma.” When this sickness karma remains inside the physical body the person is fine but “when it returns to the surface of this physical body the person becomes ill.”

Master Li also reveals a different way that karma causes sicknesses: “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.”

Since the cause of sicknesses is supernatural, the treatment has to be a supernatural as well. Master Li claims that he has just the power: “Your illnesses will be cured directly by me.” Ever since the beginning of the Falun Gong Master Li has claimed to have the supernatural power to heal. Master Li’s official biography recalled the miraculous healing he did for his students. First, he used his supernatural power to purify the bodies of his students and rid them of the root cause of their sicknesses. Then he installed a Falun—a turning law wheel—in each student’s abdomen; forever rotating, it cures illnesses. The installation did not require an operation nor did it cause the practitioners any pain, for the Falun is not a physical object; it can not be seen or touched. It is formed by the supernatural energy of the Master, which is the reason why it has the power to heal.

Practitioners who seek medical treatment and take medicine for pain are criticized by the master as ignorant everyday people: “you find it terribly uncomfortable and painful, can’t bear it, regard yourself as an everyday person, and go take medicine... your enlightenment quality isn’t up to par.” According to the master it’s ok for everyday people to take medicine, but as a Falun Gong practitioner whose mind has been enlightened and whose body has been purified by the master they should know better.

The master scolds practitioners who constantly fail the test by taking medicine, perhaps out of his concern for them since the consequence of their unwise act is so devastating: “you feel that you’ve recovered because you took the medicine. But let me tell you that it nonetheless accumulates over there. Life after life human beings are accumulating this stuff. When the accumulation reaches a certain extent, the person becomes incurable and when he dies he’s totally destroyed. He loses his life—forever loses his life. That’s how horrifying it is.” In order to stop his followers from seeking medical help and to persuade them to totally rely on his divine power, master Li reveals the devastating result of taking medicine—an eternal death.

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)'. It is thought that during the cultivation process the practitioner assimilates himself or herself to Zhen 真, Shan 善 and Ren 忍, which are considered the sole criteria to judge good an bad. In Zhuan Falun, Li states: "An ordinary person cannot detect the existence of the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren in the universe because all ordinary people are at the same level. When you reach beyond the level of ordinary people, you will be able to detect its existence."

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, firsthand, 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.”

Two books: Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun

The main teachings of Li Hongzhi are captured in two books: Falun Gong ( Law Wheel (Dharma Chakra) Exercise) and Zhuan Falun ( Turning the Dharma Chakra (Law Wheel) ). Falun Gong is an introductory book that discusses the Falun Gong exercises, and provides illustrations and explanations. In Zhuan Falun Master Li fully explains the principles of Falun Dafa, topics include: the origins of qigong and the long-forgotten meaning of "cultivation"; the roots of illness, and their fundamental removal; karma: its origin, effects, and transformation into virtue; Falun Gong's relation to qigong, Buddhism, Taoism, and other cultivation methods; the meaning and function of supernormal abilities; the question of eating meat and the issue of attachments; genuine, integrated cultivation of mind and body; what is Enlightenment, and what is Consummation?

The Falun Dafa Theology

Master Li often has stated that an understanding of the teachings of Falun Dafa, also referred to as the Fa (Law), alongside sincere xinxing cultivation, is more important than doing the exercises. Master Li has said: “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 that has never been taught. People in the past were not allowed to know this universe’s principle (the Buddha Fa). 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.”

And in coming to an understanding of the teachings of Falun Dafa in general, the first sentence of the LUNYU says: "'The Buddha Fa' is most profound; among all the theories in the world, it is the most intricate and extraordinary science. In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking. Otherwise, the truth of the universe will forever remain a mystery to humankind, and everyday people will forever crawl within the boundary delimited by their own ignorance.

On the origin and meaning of human existence, it is stated in Zhuan Falun:

"We see that in this universe a human life is not created in ordinary human society; the creation of one’s actual life is in the space of the universe. Because there is a lot of matter of various kinds in this universe, such matter can, through its interactions, produce life. In other words, a person’s earliest life comes from the universe. The space of the universe is benevolent to begin with and embodies the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren. At birth, one is assimilated to the characteristic of the universe. Yet as the number of lives increases, a collective form of social relations develops in which some people may develop selfishness and gradually their level will be lowered. If they cannot stay at this level, they must drop down further. At that level, however, they may again become not so good and not be able to stay there, either. They will continue to descend further until, in the end, they reach this level of human beings."

Elaborating further on these themes, in Lecture Three it is written:

"From the high-level perspective, one’s life is not meant for being human. Because one’s life is created in the space of the universe, it is assimilated to Zhen-Shan-Ren, the characteristic of the universe. Its nature is kind and benevolent. Nonetheless, after the number of lives increases, a social relationship forms. As a result, some people become selfish or bad and cannot stay at very high levels. They must drop to a lower level where they again become bad, and they have to drop further down to the next level. This goes on until in the end they drop to this ordinary human level. Upon dropping to this level, they should be completely destroyed. Out of benevolence and compassion, however, those great enlightened people decided to give humankind another opportunity in the most painful environment; they thus created such a dimension. In other dimensions, people do not have bodies like this. They can levitate and become large or small. But in this dimension people are provided with this kind of body, our physical bodies. With this body, one cannot put up with it if the body is cold, hot, tired, or hungry. In any case, it is suffering. When you are ill, you suffer. One has to go through birth, old age, illness, and death so that one can repay karmic debts through suffering. You are given another opportunity to see whether you can return to the origin. Therefore, human beings have dropped into a maze. After you come down here, this pair of eyes are created for you so that you cannot see other dimensions and the truth of matter. If you can return to the origin, the bitterest suffering is also most precious. In order to return to one’s origin by practicing cultivation in the maze and through awakening to things, there are numerous tribulations; one can thus make it quickly. If you become worse your life will be eliminated. Therefore, in the eyes of other lives, one’s life is not for being human. It is meant to return to one’s original, true self. An everyday person cannot realize this. An everyday person is just an ordinary person in ordinary human society, a person who thinks about how to advance himself and live well. The better he lives, the more selfish he becomes; the more he wants to possess, the further away he moves from the characteristic of the universe. He then heads for destruction. "

Related to this, Master Li has also discussed the meaning of human suffering. For example, "Just by merely living in this world, humans generate karma—it’s only a question of how much. But in the human world there are also factors that allow karma to be repaid, such as disease, natural disasters, and war. A person’s painful death in war can eliminate karma for that being, it can eliminate sins, and in his next incarnation he won’t have karma and will enjoy a good life."

It has been suggested that with the dissemination of Falun Dafa, Master Li has provided humankind with a ladder to heaven.

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.”

Suffering, Sickness and Cultivation Practice

The relationship between karma and illness is discussed in several Lectures, including Zhuan Falun, Falun Buddha Fa Lectures in Europe, Sydney and New York.

An outline of the relationship between karma and illness appears on the first few pages of Zhuan Falun, and it is closely related to other aspects of the teachings:

"I do not talk about healing illness here, and neither will we heal illness. As a genuine practitioner, however, you cannot practice cultivation with an ill body. I will purify your body. The body purification will be done only for those who come to truly learn the practice and the Fa. We emphasize one point: If you cannot relinquish the attachment or concern for illness, we cannot do anything and will be unable to help you. Why is this? It is because there is such a principle in the universe: Ordinary human affairs, according to the Buddha School, all have predestined relationships. Birth, old age, illness, and death exist as such for ordinary people. Due to karma resulting from past wrongdoing, one has illnesses or tribulations; suffering is repaying a karmic debt, and thus nobody can casually change this. Changing it means that one would not have to repay the debt after being in debt, and this cannot be done at will. Doing otherwise is the same as committing a bad deed.

Some people think that treating patients, curing their illnesses, and improving their health are good deeds. In my view, they have not really cured the illnesses. Instead of removing them, they have either postponed or transformed the illnesses. To really dispel such tribulations, karma must be eliminated. If one could truly cure an illness and completely remove such karma, one’s level would have to be quite high. One would have already seen a fact: The principles of ordinary human society cannot be casually violated. In the course of cultivation practice, a practitioner, out of his or her compassion, can do some good deeds by helping treat diseases and heal others’ illnesses, or maintain their health—these are permitted. However, one cannot completely heal other people’s illnesses. If the cause of an ordinary person’s illness were indeed removed, a non-practitioner would walk away without any illness. Once this person steps outside this door, he would remain an everyday person. He would still compete for personal profit like ordinary people. How can his karma be casually eliminated? It is absolutely prohibited.

Why can this be done for a practitioner, then? It is because a practitioner is most precious, for he or she wants to practice cultivation. Therefore, developing this thought is most precious. In Buddhism, people talk about Buddha-nature. When a person’s Buddha-nature emerges, the enlightened beings are able to help him. What does this mean? If you ask me, since I am teaching the practice at high levels, it involves the principles of high levels as well as issues of great importance. We see that in this universe a human life is not created in ordinary human society; the creation of one’s actual life is in the space of the universe. Because there is a lot of matter of various kinds in this universe, such matter can, through its interactions, produce life. In other words, a person’s earliest life comes from the universe. The space of the universe is benevolent to begin with and embodies the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren. At birth, one is assimilated to the characteristic of the universe. Yet as the number of lives increases, a collective form of social relations develops in which some people may develop selfishness and gradually their level will be lowered. If they cannot stay at this level, they must drop down further. At that level, however, they may again become not so good and not be able to stay there, either. They will continue to descend further until, in the end, they reach this level of human beings. - Excerpted from Lecture One, Zhuan Falun

and in New York City in 1997, these ideas were explained explicitly:

... I’ve said that as a cultivator you can’t use ordinary human notions to evaluate whatever you see, come into contact with, or experience. You thus have to hold yourself to a higher standard.

When an everyday person gets sick and doesn’t go to the hospital or doesn’t take medicine, that doesn’t conform to the principles of everyday people, it doesn’t conform to the principles of this world, and people can’t accept it: “Of course a person needs to take medicine when he gets sick.” “Of course a person needs to go to the hospital for treatment when he gets sick.” This is how people deal with this, and it isn’t wrong. But as a cultivator you can’t confuse yourself with an everyday person. To put it a bit seriously, you’re no longer human. As I just said, humans have various emotions and desires, and live for emotion (qing). During the course of cultivation you are gradually taking these things more lightly and gradually letting go of them until you completely discard them. Humans live for these things, but you don’t. Could you be the same as a human? You aren’t the same. Since that’s the case, why don’t you apply high-level principles that aren’t the same as those of humans to evaluate problems and to evaluate yourself and the things you encounter? That’s the way it should be. That’s why I’ve told you that when we cultivators feel uncomfortable somewhere in our bodies it isn’t sickness. Yet what everyday people consider a sick state, and the state that’s reflected in a cultivator’s body when his karma is being reduced, are the same. It’s hard for everyday people to tell the difference. That’s why cultivation practice stresses enlightening (wu). If they weren’t the same, everyone would practice cultivation and the question of enlightening wouldn’t exist. If only wonderful things happened in a person’s body and even a little discomfort felt like what immortals feel, tell me, who wouldn’t cultivate? Everyone would, but then it wouldn’t count—it wouldn’t count as cultivation. Besides, people aren’t allowed to cultivate that way, as there would be no enlightening involved. So in cultivation you’re bound to be tested amidst the uncertainty of what’s true and what’s false to see how you deal with the matter at hand—to see whether you’ll regard yourself as a cultivator or as an average, everyday person. Isn’t this to see whether you can cultivate? Of course, you appear to be ordinary and no different from an everyday person on the surface, but you are in fact a cultivator."

Later in the same lecture, the same theme is explained again:

"Let me talk to you more about the relationship between taking medicine and eliminating karma. 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. Yet a practitioner’s gong is automatically destroying viruses and karma. But as soon as medicine kills the surface virus that has seeped over from other dimensions, the virus—karma—over on the other side will know, since everything is alive, and it will stop coming over. Then you feel that you’ve recovered because you took the medicine. But let me tell you that it nonetheless accumulates over there. Life after life human beings are accumulating this stuff. When the accumulation reaches a certain extent, the person becomes incurable and when he dies he’s totally destroyed. He loses his life—forever loses his life. That’s how horrifying it is. So here I’ve explained to you the relationship. It’s not that people aren’t allowed to take medicine. When an everyday person gets sick he definitely needs medical treatment.

The Universe's deviation from the Fa

Master Li has referred to this period of time being the "Dharma-ending Period" - it is defined in Zhuan Falun in this way: "According to Buddha Sakyamuni, the Dharma-ending Period would begin five hundred years after he passed away, and his Dharma could no longer save people thereafter."

From Lecture One of Zhuan Falun:

Today is the Dharma-ending Period to which he referred. Now people can no longer practice cultivation with that Dharma. In the Dharma-ending Period, even monks in temples have difficulty saving themselves, let alone offering salvation to others. The Dharma Sakyamuni taught at that time took that situation into consideration, and he did not articulate fully the Buddha Fa that he understood at his own level. It is also impossible to keep it unchanged forever. Now people can no longer practice cultivation with that Dharma. In the Dharma-ending Period, even monks in temples have difficulty saving themselves, let alone offering salvation to others. The Dharma Sakyamuni taught at that time took that situation into consideration, and he did not articulate fully the Buddha Fa that he understood at his own level. It is also impossible to keep it unchanged forever.

Lecture Three of Zhuan Falun:

The Dharma-ending Period does not only pertain to Buddhism, but also the corruption of many dimensions beneath a very high-level dimension. "Dharma-ending" does not only refer to Buddhism; it also means that in human society there is no sense of spiritual obligation that maintains morality.

and later in the lecture:

Sakyamuni stated that by the Dharma-ending time monks in temples would have a difficult time saving themselves, not to mention those lay Buddhists who are being looked after by no one. Though you have a "master," that so-called master is also a practitioner. If the master does not truly practice cultivation, it is useless. Without cultivating the heart, no one can make it. Conversion is a formality of everyday people. Are you a member of the Buddha School after conversion? Will Buddha then take care of you? There is no such thing. Even if you kowtow everyday until your head bleeds, or even if you burn bundles of incense, it is still useless. You must truly cultivate your heart to make it work. By the Dharma-ending time, the universe has gone through very big changes. Even religious places of worship are no longer good. Those with supernormal abilities (including monks) have also discovered this situation. At present, I am the only person in the world teaching a righteous way in public. I have done something unprecedented. I have furthermore opened this door so widely in the Dharma-ending time. In fact, this opportunity does not come along in one thousand years or ten thousand years. But whether one can be saved—in other words, whether one can practice cultivation—still depends upon oneself. What I am telling you is a principle of the enormous universe.

Master Li has also mentioned different aspects of the Dharma-ending period as manifesting in various modern social phenomenon such as homosexuality, feminism , sexual freedom, understandings of the family, mixed race marriages, the founding of different kinds of religions and the corruption of orthodox religion .

Righteous Thoughts

Li Hongzhi has repeatingly asked FLG members to "send forth righteous thoughts" in order to cleanse evil . Li has claimed:

On May 25th, 2001, Minghui Net urged worldwide FLG members to simultaneously "send forth righteous thoughts" on 5,6, and 7 o'clock a.m. Beijing Time the Sunday at that week (May 27th). The effects claimed to happen were:

Dafa disciples around the world performed Fa-rectification together, eliminating bad thoughts, karma, and bad notions or external interference in their own minds, and eliminating the evil in the Three Realms that damage Dafa. It was very effective. In various parts of the world, all of the cultivators of the righteous Fa whose Third Eyes (tianmu) have reached certain levels saw many scenarios in other dimensions, and felt very inspired.

Therefore Minghui Net urged a second event on the 30th, and then a third, which then eventually became a weekly event . Around the beginning of October, 2002, before Jiang Zemin was visiting the United States in the 25th, "sending forth righteous thoughts" was urged to be carried out on a daily basis. On November 2nd, the schedule was to "revert back to the way it was done before October" . However, further articles show that FLG members were still "sending forth righteous thoughts" on a daily basis . On July 1st, the Sunday event was officially ended, though members were still urged to send righteous thoughts daily.

Testimonies from FLG members claim various effects of "righteous thoughts", including removing computer viruses , and walking out of prisons, (Chinese link).

This has extended to where FLG members claim by saying "Falun Dafa is good" will result in various effects, like healing illness , and extinguishing mountain fires .

Practice

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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 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

References

Falun Gong core belief system by Samuel Luo.

• Misplaced Pages articles needing copy edit from January 2007
• Falun Gong