Suicidal blaze, another crime of Falun Gong cult
Xinhua News Agency, China's leading news service, Tuesday published a feature story detailing the suicide attempts of seven Falun Gong practitioners at Tiananmen Square on January 23.
The tragedy once again demonstrated the evil nature of Falun Gong and sounded an alarm to those obsessed with the cult.
Five Falun Gong practitioners, including a 12-year-old girl, soaked themselves in gasoline and set themselves on fire at around 2:40 PM on the eve of China's Lunar New Year. One died on the spot and the four others injured in the suicide attempts. The police on duty rushed to their rescue and immediately sent the injured to local hospital.
Hoodwinked by the malicious fallacies of Li Hongzhi, founder of the Falun Gong cult, seven practitioners plotted the appalling suicidal blaze at Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing. Two were found and stopped from the suicide attempts.
At 2:41 PM, a man in his forties sitting cross-legged at Tiananmen Square was found pouring liquid over his body from a green bottle. All of a sudden, his body burst into flames and was covered with thick smoke. "Falun Dafa is compulsory to all," the man was screaming.
A few minutes later, four women who were not far from the man set themselves on fire. Blown by the cold winter wind, the flames immediately spread, turning the women into scurrying fire balls in horrible screams.
"Uncle, help!" cried a short, slim girl on fire when police rushed towards them.
Almost simultaneously, on the northeastern side of the square, a woman took out a plastic Sprite bottle, drank a few mouthfuls of the liquid, and then poured it on herself. Police on duty, who were alert at the strong smell of gasoline, were quick to seize her lighter and stopped her from burning herself.
The woman kept yelling "let me go heaven."
On the western side of the square, a man, looking agitated and with the buttons of his overcoat unfastened, was discovered with two full bottles of gasoline tied to his body. Police also prevented him from setting himself ablaze.
It took one minute and a half for police to put out the fire on the four women. However, one woman died and the other three were seriously burnt.
Three emergency ambulances of the Beijing First-aid Center arrived at the site less than seven minutes later and rushed the injured to the prestigious Beijing Jishuitan Hospital.
A rescue team was formed, comprising well-known doctors. Special wards were prepared for around-the-clock monitoring. Doctors and nurses on holiday returned to work immediately. Nearly 10,000 milliliters of plasma and several thousand milliliters of blood were sent to the operation rooms.
Due to the efforts of the doctors, all the injured passed the shock stage.
Police investigation showed that the seven people who attempted suicide were from Kaifeng City in central China's Henan Province. They were all avid Falun Gong practitioners.
The dead woman, Liu Chunling, had been obsessed with Falun Gong herself and persuaded and influenced her 12-year-old daughter Liu Siying to pursue the cult.
Wang Jindong, the organizer, started practicing Falun Gong in 1996. Wang and his wife and kid came to Tiananmen Square on December 19, 2000 to propagate Falun Gong with banners.
Hao Huijun, a music teacher with a middle school in Kaifeng, has become silent and absent-minded since 1997 when she started practicing Falun Gong.
Influenced by Hao, her 19-year-old daughter Chen Guo who studied Pipa in Beijing also practiced Falun Gong and was obsessed with the cult. The mother and daughter participated in illegal gatherings on Tiananmen Square.
Liu Baorong, a textile factory worker who left her post due to an industrial injury in 1984, began practicing Falun Gong in 1995.
"Everyone of us knew what we were going to do in Beijing before we left Kaifeng," Liu confirmed, "We were prepared to set ourselves on fire and going up to heaven."
"Li Hongzhi often mentioned in his 'scripture' and speeches that there were still some people not 'standing out'. If I did not 'stand out', I would not realize 'nirvana'," said Liu, who believed that to obtain "nirvana" was to go to the heaven.
"It was a good thing to go to the heaven," she said, "It took a mere moment and one would not feel pain."
For this purpose, Liu drank gasoline at Tiananmen Square.
Liu Yunfang, 57, was a part-time worker at a paint shop in Kaifeng. He said that he planned to set himself on fire to cultivate his physical and mental capabilities according to Falun Gong rules.
Liu explained that he was not able to burn himself because he has not reached a certain level.
Wang Jindong, Hao Huijun, Liu Yunfang, Liu Baorong, Liu Chunling and her 12-year-old daughter Liu Siying took the train to Beijing on January 16, making an appointment with a Falun Gong practitioner who saw them off at the railway station to meet again in heaven.
Chen Guo met the six at Beijing Western Railway Station the next morning. They stayed with another Falun Gong practitioner and seldom left the premises except to buy food at a nearby supermarket.
Even their neighbors did not notice they had stayed for about one week. "I thought it was empty, no one was there," said one neighbor.
During the week, the seven people imagined how wonderful it would be to enter heaven. When Chen Guo was worried about the pain, Wang Jindong told her that unlike average people, Falun Gong practitioners would not feel pain when they were on fire. They will go up to heaven in a second.
Liu Yunfang created stories about "paradise" for Liu Siying: you would become a "religious king" once you enter "paradise". You would have many servants if you became king.
Wang Jindong, 50, once a driver, came up with the idea of using gasoline to set themselves on fire. They first tried plastic bags but failed to contain the gasoline safely. Then Liu Baorong suggested they should use plastic Sprite bottles because the color of gasoline looks similar to Sprite and would not be identified easily.
They discussed when and where the event was to take place. Everyone had two lighters in case one failed to work on the spot.
With bottles of gasoline, blades and lighters, the seven arrived at the Square by taxi. Out of their expectation, the Square was temporarily closed in the morning for activities. They had to stroll nearby and agreed to light themselves at different locations at 2:30 PM.
"Thanks to the police. It was them who saved me," recalled Liu Baorong. She said that she took the bottle out of her bag. Her watch was not working properly at the moment they were expected to light themselves.
Liu Yunfang was discovered and stopped by the police before she lit herself. But the other five members did not escape the "fire".
Chen Guo's relatives and teachers felt very regretful when they heard about the tragedy. She was an excellent student at school and performed in Singapore when she was only 12.
She began practicing Falun Gong in 1996 and became even more silent when her father passed away in 1998. She wrote a letter to her teachers when they tried to help her, saying that Falun Dafa was "The most mysterious science in the world" , and "My life was created by Dafa."
Liu Baorong said that they chose Tiananmen Square because there was a rumor that an old woman practitioner in northeast China saw in her dream the words "registration for Dafa followers" written on the Tiananmen Rostrum.
She explained that they were driven to burn themselves by what Li Hongzhi said in the "scripture", such as "forget death and life ", and "seeking for nirvana".
"These are absolute lies," said Liu, "Life is precious indeed. We should never give it up easily. It was not worth trying at all since Li Hongzhi is enjoying life while we are suffering."
"Falun Gong has brought misfortune to the country and the people," she said, "Other practitioners should sober up when they learn the truth behind the fire."
"My mom cheated me," said Liu Siying lying in a hospital bed, bandaged. The little girl has not yet been informed of her mother's death in the suicide attempts.
The 12-year-old girl suffered severe burns to her face, head, and hands. Though in pain and blinded, she described the beauty of "paradise" to the nurses: the whole "world" was made of gold -- the roads, the birds and even the people.
Lying in the same ward, 19-year-old Chen Guo was unable to mobilize her imagination in the same way. Having incurred burns all over her body, Chen Guo suffered from burn shock when she was rushed to the Beijing Jishuitan Hospital.
"I regret very much," Chen managed to say, "I want to play Pipa in the future."
Doctors said that Chen, a music student in Beijing, can no longer play Pipa, an ancient flat stringed instrument, because her fingers were too damaged by the fire.
Li Chi, a chief doctor at the hospital, said that it was still too early to say that all the injured were out of danger. They will undergo further operations. The fire caused all of them to become physically disabled. Some of them will not be able to live on their own in the future.
(Xinhua)
Topic: Falun Gong practitioners die unnatural deaths after refusing medical treatment. (Read 1250 times)
November 25, 2015, 06:10:16 AM
November 25, 2015, 06:09:13 AM
"Give back my son," suicide victim's mother says
The mother of a 25-year-old Falun Gong follower who set himself on fire and died in Beijing Friday says cult leader Li Hongzhi is responsible for her son's death.
"It is the Falun Gong cult that has killed my son. Give back my son, Li Hongzhi," said a grieving Wu Sixi, mother of Tan Yihui, who at noon Friday doused himself with gasoline in western Beijing then ignited the fuel. He died at the scene.
Wu said her son, a shoe polisher in Changde city, central China 's Hunan province, told her on February 14 that he was going to Guangzhou to find work and asked to her give him 300 yuan.
"We got up at 7:30 a.m. the next day. He left without saying good-bye to me, as he had done in the past. I never thought he wouldn't come back," she said tearfully.
When notified Friday afternoon of her son's death, Wu collapsed. "My son is dead. Now I feel like killing myself too," she said.
Wu is disabled and has long lived in poverty. She said she has denied herself food and new clothes to provide for her son.
"Yihui used to help me with the washing when he came home from work," Wu said. "As my left leg is disabled, he helped me get downstairs whenever he was home." To support the family, Tan Yihui had been a door keeper at a local video parlor and also a shoe polisher.
Friends and family said that Tan's behavior changed significantly when he began to practice Falun Gong in 1999, making him moody and irrational. At first, he practiced Falun Gong in a local park. After neighborhood committee officials persuaded him to stop, he meditated at home.
"I persuaded him to do as the government said and distance himself from Falun Gong, but he turned a deaf ear, saying it would help him get into heaven. Moreover, he intended to make his younger brother practice with him. I stopped him from doing that," his mother recalled.
"My son has died. It is a sin committed by Falun Gong. The cult not only killed my son, it ruined my family," she said.
(Xinhua)
The mother of a 25-year-old Falun Gong follower who set himself on fire and died in Beijing Friday says cult leader Li Hongzhi is responsible for her son's death.
"It is the Falun Gong cult that has killed my son. Give back my son, Li Hongzhi," said a grieving Wu Sixi, mother of Tan Yihui, who at noon Friday doused himself with gasoline in western Beijing then ignited the fuel. He died at the scene.
Wu said her son, a shoe polisher in Changde city, central China 's Hunan province, told her on February 14 that he was going to Guangzhou to find work and asked to her give him 300 yuan.
"We got up at 7:30 a.m. the next day. He left without saying good-bye to me, as he had done in the past. I never thought he wouldn't come back," she said tearfully.
When notified Friday afternoon of her son's death, Wu collapsed. "My son is dead. Now I feel like killing myself too," she said.
Wu is disabled and has long lived in poverty. She said she has denied herself food and new clothes to provide for her son.
"Yihui used to help me with the washing when he came home from work," Wu said. "As my left leg is disabled, he helped me get downstairs whenever he was home." To support the family, Tan Yihui had been a door keeper at a local video parlor and also a shoe polisher.
Friends and family said that Tan's behavior changed significantly when he began to practice Falun Gong in 1999, making him moody and irrational. At first, he practiced Falun Gong in a local park. After neighborhood committee officials persuaded him to stop, he meditated at home.
"I persuaded him to do as the government said and distance himself from Falun Gong, but he turned a deaf ear, saying it would help him get into heaven. Moreover, he intended to make his younger brother practice with him. I stopped him from doing that," his mother recalled.
"My son has died. It is a sin committed by Falun Gong. The cult not only killed my son, it ruined my family," she said.
(Xinhua)
November 25, 2015, 06:07:07 AM
Falun Gong leads followers to suicide
Xinhua News Agency published Tuesday the first part of a case study of the reports on 136 suicidal Falun Gong followers, entitled "A Road to 'Nirvana' That Leads to Death".
At least 136 Falun Gong followers had killed themselves, before July 22, 1999, the day when the cult was outlawed by the Chinese government, Xinhua said, citing "incomplete statistics".
Falun Gong, headed by Li Hongzhi, has led numerous people to death on their way toward "nirvana", by bewildering followers with words stolen from lawful religions, such as "the doomsday", "being raised to the skies" and "nirvana".
During their investigation, the reporters found many tricks used by Falun Gong to cheat its followers.
For instance, the cult asks its practitioners not to take any medicine when they fall ill. Taking drugs would lead to accumulation of "Yeli", or bad things, in the patient's body, according to Li's instructions.
Liu Yazhen, a retired woman worker from Zhaoyuan County, Heilongjiang Province, refused to take drugs, when she was diagnosed as suffering from nerval dysfunction. "The 'Master of Falun' does not allow me to take medicine," she insisted, "He must come to my rescue when my illness becomes severe."
Later, Liu became suspicious of Falun Gong as her illness worsened, but was told by her counselor, "The 'Master' is helping you to 'Xiaoye (eliminate bad things)'. If you stop practicing Falun Gong, you'll be punished."
At mid-night June 29, 1997, the woman drowned herself for being unable to stand the pain caused by her illness.
In their study, the reporters came to learn that many of those who committed suicide started to learn and practice Falun Gong only with the motive to live a healthier and better life.
Miao Shuyun, a woman practitioner from Qidong County, Jiangsu Province, ate one of her own fingers and jumped to her death in a well on May 2, 1999. "My 'Yeli' is too heavy," she often said, "so I must commit suicide to wash off my sin."
Many of the suicidal Falun Gong followers were found to have been lured by the so-called "Truthfulness", "Kindness" and " Tolerance" advocated by the cult leader.
On August 11, 1998, Li Hongwu, a 28-year-old practitioner, plunged to his death from a hundred-meter-high cliff in the suburbs of Kunming City, the provincial capital of Yunnan Province.
Li was a university graduate and worked as translator for the provincial sports commission. Since he began to follow Falun Gong in 1997, the young man strictly followed Li Hongzhi's instructions by refusing to eat meat, allowing mosquitoes to bite him freely, stopping having sex with his wife, and distancing himself from his daughter.
Li was often found lowering his head, staring blankly, and murmuring to himself in talks to the "Master". Li prohibited any conduct that may affect his "exchanges with the Master" or hamper his efforts to reach "Nirvana".
The reporters found that one of the most fatal instructions of the cult leader is the so-called "Doomsday".
Li Hongzhi, the cult founder, has said that the human society has suffered 81 periodic changes. "Upon turning back, you will see that today's human society is very horrible. It is really horrible, " he said, "the human being will face destruction, a complete destruction, if they keep sliding down. That is to say: nothing left and very horrible!"
The cult leader has called himself the almighty "Savior" and said that he is the only one who can help raise the people to skies and that "Falun Dafa" is the "extraordinary law" to rescue all human beings. "If I don't help raise you to skies, nobody can help you do that," he has said.
On July 17, 1999, Long Gang, a restaurant owner in Chongqing City, carrying his six-year-old son, jumped off a bridge and drowned, but luckily his son was rescued by his family members and neighbors.
Long was a faithful believer of Li Hongzhi's "Doomsday" theory. Before Long's death, he often told others that the earth was going to be destroyed and that he was afraid of it and wanted to fly up to the skies to avoid the catastrophe.
Li Weidong, a farmer from Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province, and Xu Huijun, a woman worker from Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, are also victims of the "Doomsday", the reporters found.
On February 5, 1998, Li hanged himself at noon, after telling his family members including his 89-year-old mother that the Heaven was going to break down and the earth was going to sink within two hours.
on the early morning of May 31, 1999, Xu jumped to her death from the window of a sixth-floor room. The day before the morning of her suicide, the woman was out of her senses and repeated sayings like "We're in danger and I'm leaving first," and "The Earth is really going to be destroyed."
The 136 suicides are irrefutable evidence of the brutal murder of lives and the total disregard of their human rights by Falun Gong and cult leader Li Hongzhi, according to reporters participating in the investigation.
The bloody lesson people could learn from these suicides is that the road claimed by the cult chieftain as leading to the so- called "Nirvana" and "Heavenly Kingdom" is nothing but a road that leads to death.
The facts show that it is hard to imagine how many more Falun Gong practitioners would have fallen victim to the cult and how many more families would have lost their loved ones, if the government had not banned the cult in time on July 22, 1999.
Among of the suicidal practitioners, many of them were trying hard to achieve "Shangcengci," or to ascend to a higher level of faith, according to the case study.
One of those who killed themselves to try and ascend is Sun Jie, a worker at the No.803 Plant under the power supply administration of Gansu Province.
On April 26, 1999, Sun committed suicide by setting himself on fire at home, with a tape-recorder broadcasting the ringleader's teachings in arms and a copy of Li's works.
Tang Xiaoping, Sun's widow, told Xinhua that ever since her late husband began practicing Falun Gong, their family had lost the harmony it once had because Sun was reluctant to care about his wife and their child and indulged himself in studying the cult teachings completely.
Sun often told his wife that according to Li's teachings, the followers must abandon the desires and love of ordinary people, so that they could achieve the goal of "Shangcengci" (to a higher level) and finally reach the highest level.
Beginning from the end of 1998, Sun became abnormal and often told his wife that there was little time left for him and he had to lose no time in practicing Falun Gong. Since then, Sun often stayed up the whole night by listening to tape recordings or watching video tapes, regardless of other matters.
During the whole winter, before setting himself on fire in the Spring, Sun always practiced late into the night outside the house, braving chilly snow and winds. He lost his toenails due to the harsh weather.
According to the cult leader, the human being has plunged to the lowest level from the space and are leading a moronic life, and therefore, they must try to escape as quickly as possible by ascending level by level. The only way to ascend is to practice Falun Gong.
The ringleader of Falun Gong has depicted the "highest level" like this: When the highest level is reached, one can get and do whatever he wants to, and they have everything in his world.
In addition to practicing, Li also urged his believers to " Hongfa (Spread Falun Gong)" and "Hufa (Safeguard Falun Gong)" to achieve "Shangcengci."
Referring to "Hongfa," the followers should study his teachings by reciting, listening to tape-recordings and watching video tapes, while exchanging their views. "Hufa" demands the followers to stand various sufferings in a show of their true belief, when Falun Gong is criticized by others.
Many of the followers were convinced that if they did not obey the Master's teachings, they would be killed by the "gods" that guard Falun Gong.
Among Li's teachings, "Nirvana," a term Li has stolen from Buddhism, is the most deceiving, which demands the followers to reach "Nirvana" through "Xiaoye (Eliminate Bad Things)" and " Shangcengci" (ascending to a higher level).
By practicing Falun Gong, people are turning themselves into various kinds of gods or goddesses, according to the cult chieftain.
On August 29, 1998, Wang Yuzhi, a woman from Yibin, Sichuan Province, told her husband, "I'm going to ascend to the skies and I'll start to fly after I count from one to nine."
Wang looked gawkish, after she failed to start flying after the counting. She hanged herself to death in her home the day after.
According to her husband, Wang became a Falun Gong practitioner in May 1998, and since then, she gave up all home chores and immersed herself in the practice. Wang often told her husband and parents that she was not ordinary and wanted to become a fairy in the so-called "Paradise."
The ringleader has made a promise to his followers, "I want to conduct a magnificent action when you have reached 'Yuanman ( Nirvana).' All my disciples will fly up to the Heaven with their bodies, regardless of whether they want their bodies or not. Those who don't want their bodies would have their bodies melted like a rainbow, before they ascend to the skies."
Many of the suicides believed that when they reach "Nirvana," what they give up is nothing but the body.
Feng Shaobao, a suicidal follower from Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu Province, writes in his diary, "Who are our kin? Our real parents are looking at us from the Heaven. They are calling us to return and all of us want to return."
Feng, a shipbuilding factory worker, hung himself on July 10, 1998, four years after he started practicing Falun Gong. Before he died, Feng told his wife, "If I do not come back in 48 hours, I have certainly reached the 'Heavenly Kingdom.'"
On July 22, 1999, Song Yufeng, a farmer from Wuzhi County, Henan Province, poisoned himself to death, in hopes that all his family members would enjoy his luck, after he becomes a god in the "Heaven."
On April 14, 1999, Liu Shengzhi in Mianzhu City in Sichuan hung herself, thinking that she had practiced well enough to reach " Nirvana" and the Lotus-sitting "Master Li" was coming to receive her.
On June 5, 1999, He Limin, a farmer in Tangshan City in Hebei Province, died after taking poison. Prior to dying he murmured, "I 'm becoming a god. I'm becoming a god."
During their investigation, the Xinhua reporters came to learn that many of the suicidal practitioners were convinced by the ringleader that they had been granted such magic powers as "flying high under the Sun" and "free of being hurt by bullet and knife."
"I've got many 'Fashen (Invisible Bodies)" who look alike to me and are able to do anything by themselves. They will look after and protect you wherever you are," the cult head says.
Liu Fengsheng, a villager in Sanhe Town, Hebei Province, began practicing Falun Gong in early 1998. One day in September, 1998, Liu told others that he had become a god through practicing and was able to fly across a river.
On April 26, 1999, Liu, in a pair of new shoes and with an umbrella in hand, tried in vain to fly across the river, but drowned.
Sun Wuju, a woman of Jining, Shandong Province, had practiced Falun Gong since 1997, and then the woman thought she had gained magic powers.
On February 5, 1999, Sun drank poison and said to her daughter, "I will not die as I can use the magic powers to force out the poison from my body."
Afterwards, she ate steamed bread with tea, trying to force out the poison, but failed. She died, before others could convince her to go to hospital.
Li Hongzhi's heresy has aroused anger among local experts. Zhang Honglin, a deep-breath researcher from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute of China, pointed out that Li's evil teachings have bewildered his followers and made them believe that they could get magic powers through practicing Falun Gong.
Under Li's instructions, the followers have to practice Falun Gong day and night, which would make them lose interests in their family members and friends and turn to believe in magic powers, according to the expert.
The bloody facts have exposed the nature of Falun Gong and the 136 lost lives show that the so-called "Truthfulness, Kindness and Tolerance" advocated by the ringleader are lies.
The facts have helped the people see the harm of Li's evil teachings and the nature of Falun Gong which is really a cult that has cruelly taken lives, damaged human nature, and trampled on human rights, the case study says. It warns people to be on their guard.
(Xinhua)
Xinhua News Agency published Tuesday the first part of a case study of the reports on 136 suicidal Falun Gong followers, entitled "A Road to 'Nirvana' That Leads to Death".
At least 136 Falun Gong followers had killed themselves, before July 22, 1999, the day when the cult was outlawed by the Chinese government, Xinhua said, citing "incomplete statistics".
Falun Gong, headed by Li Hongzhi, has led numerous people to death on their way toward "nirvana", by bewildering followers with words stolen from lawful religions, such as "the doomsday", "being raised to the skies" and "nirvana".
During their investigation, the reporters found many tricks used by Falun Gong to cheat its followers.
For instance, the cult asks its practitioners not to take any medicine when they fall ill. Taking drugs would lead to accumulation of "Yeli", or bad things, in the patient's body, according to Li's instructions.
Liu Yazhen, a retired woman worker from Zhaoyuan County, Heilongjiang Province, refused to take drugs, when she was diagnosed as suffering from nerval dysfunction. "The 'Master of Falun' does not allow me to take medicine," she insisted, "He must come to my rescue when my illness becomes severe."
Later, Liu became suspicious of Falun Gong as her illness worsened, but was told by her counselor, "The 'Master' is helping you to 'Xiaoye (eliminate bad things)'. If you stop practicing Falun Gong, you'll be punished."
At mid-night June 29, 1997, the woman drowned herself for being unable to stand the pain caused by her illness.
In their study, the reporters came to learn that many of those who committed suicide started to learn and practice Falun Gong only with the motive to live a healthier and better life.
Miao Shuyun, a woman practitioner from Qidong County, Jiangsu Province, ate one of her own fingers and jumped to her death in a well on May 2, 1999. "My 'Yeli' is too heavy," she often said, "so I must commit suicide to wash off my sin."
Many of the suicidal Falun Gong followers were found to have been lured by the so-called "Truthfulness", "Kindness" and " Tolerance" advocated by the cult leader.
On August 11, 1998, Li Hongwu, a 28-year-old practitioner, plunged to his death from a hundred-meter-high cliff in the suburbs of Kunming City, the provincial capital of Yunnan Province.
Li was a university graduate and worked as translator for the provincial sports commission. Since he began to follow Falun Gong in 1997, the young man strictly followed Li Hongzhi's instructions by refusing to eat meat, allowing mosquitoes to bite him freely, stopping having sex with his wife, and distancing himself from his daughter.
Li was often found lowering his head, staring blankly, and murmuring to himself in talks to the "Master". Li prohibited any conduct that may affect his "exchanges with the Master" or hamper his efforts to reach "Nirvana".
The reporters found that one of the most fatal instructions of the cult leader is the so-called "Doomsday".
Li Hongzhi, the cult founder, has said that the human society has suffered 81 periodic changes. "Upon turning back, you will see that today's human society is very horrible. It is really horrible, " he said, "the human being will face destruction, a complete destruction, if they keep sliding down. That is to say: nothing left and very horrible!"
The cult leader has called himself the almighty "Savior" and said that he is the only one who can help raise the people to skies and that "Falun Dafa" is the "extraordinary law" to rescue all human beings. "If I don't help raise you to skies, nobody can help you do that," he has said.
On July 17, 1999, Long Gang, a restaurant owner in Chongqing City, carrying his six-year-old son, jumped off a bridge and drowned, but luckily his son was rescued by his family members and neighbors.
Long was a faithful believer of Li Hongzhi's "Doomsday" theory. Before Long's death, he often told others that the earth was going to be destroyed and that he was afraid of it and wanted to fly up to the skies to avoid the catastrophe.
Li Weidong, a farmer from Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province, and Xu Huijun, a woman worker from Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, are also victims of the "Doomsday", the reporters found.
On February 5, 1998, Li hanged himself at noon, after telling his family members including his 89-year-old mother that the Heaven was going to break down and the earth was going to sink within two hours.
on the early morning of May 31, 1999, Xu jumped to her death from the window of a sixth-floor room. The day before the morning of her suicide, the woman was out of her senses and repeated sayings like "We're in danger and I'm leaving first," and "The Earth is really going to be destroyed."
The 136 suicides are irrefutable evidence of the brutal murder of lives and the total disregard of their human rights by Falun Gong and cult leader Li Hongzhi, according to reporters participating in the investigation.
The bloody lesson people could learn from these suicides is that the road claimed by the cult chieftain as leading to the so- called "Nirvana" and "Heavenly Kingdom" is nothing but a road that leads to death.
The facts show that it is hard to imagine how many more Falun Gong practitioners would have fallen victim to the cult and how many more families would have lost their loved ones, if the government had not banned the cult in time on July 22, 1999.
Among of the suicidal practitioners, many of them were trying hard to achieve "Shangcengci," or to ascend to a higher level of faith, according to the case study.
One of those who killed themselves to try and ascend is Sun Jie, a worker at the No.803 Plant under the power supply administration of Gansu Province.
On April 26, 1999, Sun committed suicide by setting himself on fire at home, with a tape-recorder broadcasting the ringleader's teachings in arms and a copy of Li's works.
Tang Xiaoping, Sun's widow, told Xinhua that ever since her late husband began practicing Falun Gong, their family had lost the harmony it once had because Sun was reluctant to care about his wife and their child and indulged himself in studying the cult teachings completely.
Sun often told his wife that according to Li's teachings, the followers must abandon the desires and love of ordinary people, so that they could achieve the goal of "Shangcengci" (to a higher level) and finally reach the highest level.
Beginning from the end of 1998, Sun became abnormal and often told his wife that there was little time left for him and he had to lose no time in practicing Falun Gong. Since then, Sun often stayed up the whole night by listening to tape recordings or watching video tapes, regardless of other matters.
During the whole winter, before setting himself on fire in the Spring, Sun always practiced late into the night outside the house, braving chilly snow and winds. He lost his toenails due to the harsh weather.
According to the cult leader, the human being has plunged to the lowest level from the space and are leading a moronic life, and therefore, they must try to escape as quickly as possible by ascending level by level. The only way to ascend is to practice Falun Gong.
The ringleader of Falun Gong has depicted the "highest level" like this: When the highest level is reached, one can get and do whatever he wants to, and they have everything in his world.
In addition to practicing, Li also urged his believers to " Hongfa (Spread Falun Gong)" and "Hufa (Safeguard Falun Gong)" to achieve "Shangcengci."
Referring to "Hongfa," the followers should study his teachings by reciting, listening to tape-recordings and watching video tapes, while exchanging their views. "Hufa" demands the followers to stand various sufferings in a show of their true belief, when Falun Gong is criticized by others.
Many of the followers were convinced that if they did not obey the Master's teachings, they would be killed by the "gods" that guard Falun Gong.
Among Li's teachings, "Nirvana," a term Li has stolen from Buddhism, is the most deceiving, which demands the followers to reach "Nirvana" through "Xiaoye (Eliminate Bad Things)" and " Shangcengci" (ascending to a higher level).
By practicing Falun Gong, people are turning themselves into various kinds of gods or goddesses, according to the cult chieftain.
On August 29, 1998, Wang Yuzhi, a woman from Yibin, Sichuan Province, told her husband, "I'm going to ascend to the skies and I'll start to fly after I count from one to nine."
Wang looked gawkish, after she failed to start flying after the counting. She hanged herself to death in her home the day after.
According to her husband, Wang became a Falun Gong practitioner in May 1998, and since then, she gave up all home chores and immersed herself in the practice. Wang often told her husband and parents that she was not ordinary and wanted to become a fairy in the so-called "Paradise."
The ringleader has made a promise to his followers, "I want to conduct a magnificent action when you have reached 'Yuanman ( Nirvana).' All my disciples will fly up to the Heaven with their bodies, regardless of whether they want their bodies or not. Those who don't want their bodies would have their bodies melted like a rainbow, before they ascend to the skies."
Many of the suicides believed that when they reach "Nirvana," what they give up is nothing but the body.
Feng Shaobao, a suicidal follower from Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu Province, writes in his diary, "Who are our kin? Our real parents are looking at us from the Heaven. They are calling us to return and all of us want to return."
Feng, a shipbuilding factory worker, hung himself on July 10, 1998, four years after he started practicing Falun Gong. Before he died, Feng told his wife, "If I do not come back in 48 hours, I have certainly reached the 'Heavenly Kingdom.'"
On July 22, 1999, Song Yufeng, a farmer from Wuzhi County, Henan Province, poisoned himself to death, in hopes that all his family members would enjoy his luck, after he becomes a god in the "Heaven."
On April 14, 1999, Liu Shengzhi in Mianzhu City in Sichuan hung herself, thinking that she had practiced well enough to reach " Nirvana" and the Lotus-sitting "Master Li" was coming to receive her.
On June 5, 1999, He Limin, a farmer in Tangshan City in Hebei Province, died after taking poison. Prior to dying he murmured, "I 'm becoming a god. I'm becoming a god."
During their investigation, the Xinhua reporters came to learn that many of the suicidal practitioners were convinced by the ringleader that they had been granted such magic powers as "flying high under the Sun" and "free of being hurt by bullet and knife."
"I've got many 'Fashen (Invisible Bodies)" who look alike to me and are able to do anything by themselves. They will look after and protect you wherever you are," the cult head says.
Liu Fengsheng, a villager in Sanhe Town, Hebei Province, began practicing Falun Gong in early 1998. One day in September, 1998, Liu told others that he had become a god through practicing and was able to fly across a river.
On April 26, 1999, Liu, in a pair of new shoes and with an umbrella in hand, tried in vain to fly across the river, but drowned.
Sun Wuju, a woman of Jining, Shandong Province, had practiced Falun Gong since 1997, and then the woman thought she had gained magic powers.
On February 5, 1999, Sun drank poison and said to her daughter, "I will not die as I can use the magic powers to force out the poison from my body."
Afterwards, she ate steamed bread with tea, trying to force out the poison, but failed. She died, before others could convince her to go to hospital.
Li Hongzhi's heresy has aroused anger among local experts. Zhang Honglin, a deep-breath researcher from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute of China, pointed out that Li's evil teachings have bewildered his followers and made them believe that they could get magic powers through practicing Falun Gong.
Under Li's instructions, the followers have to practice Falun Gong day and night, which would make them lose interests in their family members and friends and turn to believe in magic powers, according to the expert.
The bloody facts have exposed the nature of Falun Gong and the 136 lost lives show that the so-called "Truthfulness, Kindness and Tolerance" advocated by the ringleader are lies.
The facts have helped the people see the harm of Li's evil teachings and the nature of Falun Gong which is really a cult that has cruelly taken lives, damaged human nature, and trampled on human rights, the case study says. It warns people to be on their guard.
(Xinhua)
November 25, 2015, 06:04:47 AM
Falun Gong leads its followers to homicides
A good woman dared to break into another person's house and hack up the people there; a good father killed his son and a good student stabbed own father.
All these are horrible acts, but they are also irrefutable evidence of the brutal deaths at the hands of Falun Gong practitioners and cult leader Li Hongzhi and expose the evil nature of the Falun Gong, which can only lead its followers along a destructive path which in turn may cause harm to innocent people.
Yuan Tianyun, a good girl who studied hard at school, lived in a village in Panyu, south Guangdong Province, and dreamed she had been insulted by few men every night after she took to the Falun Gong. Three months later, Yuan took a knife and broke into Huang Daisheng' home and killed a man, who she believes had been among those insulting her in her dreams.
On the morning of July 17, 1999, Long Gang, a self-employed small businessman in west municipality Chongqing, jumped off a local bridge, holding his 6-year-old son while murmuring Falun Gong instructions. His son was saved by neighbors but Long drowned.
Dong Ning, a worker in Weihai in eastern province of Shandong, failed in an attempt to kill his fellow worker Xiao Liu as instructed by his hallucination, resulting from his practicing Falun Gong, which instructed him to kill somebody before killing himself. The next evening, Dong tried again to kill his father with a kitchen knife, but his father narrowly escaped.
Dong, who was allegedly out of his sense, took a small knife and broke into the house of his neighbor Jiang Wencai, a 76-year-old retiree, and stabbed in his neck. Thanks to the timely arrivalof the police, Dong was arrested and could no longer hurt someone.
Li Ting, who was under 18, killed his own parents with a dagger, at 2 a.m. on March 20, 1999 and he confessed to the police as follows:
Police: Why did you kill your parents?
Li: I think they are devils and I am a Buddha, so I have to wipe them out.
Police: When and where did you learn the knowledge of devil and Buddha?
Li: I learned from Falun Gong since I graduated from my junior middle school in 1997.
According to Falun Gong instructions by Li Hongzhi, "devils are anywhere," and "humankind has become completely devil-like abnormal beings." This Falun Gong absurdity enchanted its practitioners who gave up their social responsibilities and disregarded family duties and feelings and so became destructive tools controlled by the Falun Gong cult.
On August 23, 1996, Wang Xuezhong, a young man addicted to the cult, lost his mind indicating all of a sudden that his father Wang Jirong was a devil and snatched a knife and stabbed his father 17 times in the head, neck and breast area, who later died from the injuries.
(Xinhua)
A good woman dared to break into another person's house and hack up the people there; a good father killed his son and a good student stabbed own father.
All these are horrible acts, but they are also irrefutable evidence of the brutal deaths at the hands of Falun Gong practitioners and cult leader Li Hongzhi and expose the evil nature of the Falun Gong, which can only lead its followers along a destructive path which in turn may cause harm to innocent people.
Yuan Tianyun, a good girl who studied hard at school, lived in a village in Panyu, south Guangdong Province, and dreamed she had been insulted by few men every night after she took to the Falun Gong. Three months later, Yuan took a knife and broke into Huang Daisheng' home and killed a man, who she believes had been among those insulting her in her dreams.
On the morning of July 17, 1999, Long Gang, a self-employed small businessman in west municipality Chongqing, jumped off a local bridge, holding his 6-year-old son while murmuring Falun Gong instructions. His son was saved by neighbors but Long drowned.
Dong Ning, a worker in Weihai in eastern province of Shandong, failed in an attempt to kill his fellow worker Xiao Liu as instructed by his hallucination, resulting from his practicing Falun Gong, which instructed him to kill somebody before killing himself. The next evening, Dong tried again to kill his father with a kitchen knife, but his father narrowly escaped.
Dong, who was allegedly out of his sense, took a small knife and broke into the house of his neighbor Jiang Wencai, a 76-year-old retiree, and stabbed in his neck. Thanks to the timely arrivalof the police, Dong was arrested and could no longer hurt someone.
Li Ting, who was under 18, killed his own parents with a dagger, at 2 a.m. on March 20, 1999 and he confessed to the police as follows:
Police: Why did you kill your parents?
Li: I think they are devils and I am a Buddha, so I have to wipe them out.
Police: When and where did you learn the knowledge of devil and Buddha?
Li: I learned from Falun Gong since I graduated from my junior middle school in 1997.
According to Falun Gong instructions by Li Hongzhi, "devils are anywhere," and "humankind has become completely devil-like abnormal beings." This Falun Gong absurdity enchanted its practitioners who gave up their social responsibilities and disregarded family duties and feelings and so became destructive tools controlled by the Falun Gong cult.
On August 23, 1996, Wang Xuezhong, a young man addicted to the cult, lost his mind indicating all of a sudden that his father Wang Jirong was a devil and snatched a knife and stabbed his father 17 times in the head, neck and breast area, who later died from the injuries.
(Xinhua)
November 25, 2015, 05:55:34 AM
More Falun Gong followers die after refusing medical treatment
Two more followers of the Falun Gong cult,both female, have died of ordinary diseases this year in China after refusing medical treatment.
One of them, Hu Guangying, a retired worker, died from an infection from a decubitus ulcer, while the other one, Xie Ying, a farmer, died from enteritis.
"Falun Gong deprived my mother of her life, throwing our family into perpetual pain," said Zhou Hong, Hu's son.
The 58-year-old Hu began to practice Falun Gong in 1996 and gradually became obsessed by the cult's ideas, like the belief that practitioners may achieve nirvana by practicing Falun Gong.
In August 2000, she was infected with scabies but turned a deaf ear to her family persuading her to see a doctor.
"It's a poison-excreting reaction resulting from practicing Falun Gong," Hu said to her children.
Hu's four-year-old grandson was also infected with the disease, through Hu, but recovered after using an anti-scabies ointment for about four days.
Zhou then offered the ointment to Hu, yet she turned it down, insisting that Falun Gong followers should not receive medical treatment.
Hu's conditions took a turn for the worse at the end of January and doctors said the direct cause of her death was the infection from the decubitus ulcer, which resulted from scabies.
"I hope those still stubbornly believing in Falun Gong learn a lesson from my mother's death and stop the tragedy from repeating itself," Zhou said.
Xie Ying, 30, who became a Falun Gong practitioner in 1997, began to suffer enteritis in December 2000.
Xie refused to see a doctor because she believed any disease could be cured by practicing Falun Gong.
She died on the night of February 24, 2001, while practicing Falun Gong, leaving behind two young children.
Official statistics show that in the last couple of years,more than 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners have died unnatural deaths throughout China, which has affected thousands of families.
The Chinese government banned the cult in July 1999.
Two more followers of the Falun Gong cult,both female, have died of ordinary diseases this year in China after refusing medical treatment.
One of them, Hu Guangying, a retired worker, died from an infection from a decubitus ulcer, while the other one, Xie Ying, a farmer, died from enteritis.
"Falun Gong deprived my mother of her life, throwing our family into perpetual pain," said Zhou Hong, Hu's son.
The 58-year-old Hu began to practice Falun Gong in 1996 and gradually became obsessed by the cult's ideas, like the belief that practitioners may achieve nirvana by practicing Falun Gong.
In August 2000, she was infected with scabies but turned a deaf ear to her family persuading her to see a doctor.
"It's a poison-excreting reaction resulting from practicing Falun Gong," Hu said to her children.
Hu's four-year-old grandson was also infected with the disease, through Hu, but recovered after using an anti-scabies ointment for about four days.
Zhou then offered the ointment to Hu, yet she turned it down, insisting that Falun Gong followers should not receive medical treatment.
Hu's conditions took a turn for the worse at the end of January and doctors said the direct cause of her death was the infection from the decubitus ulcer, which resulted from scabies.
"I hope those still stubbornly believing in Falun Gong learn a lesson from my mother's death and stop the tragedy from repeating itself," Zhou said.
Xie Ying, 30, who became a Falun Gong practitioner in 1997, began to suffer enteritis in December 2000.
Xie refused to see a doctor because she believed any disease could be cured by practicing Falun Gong.
She died on the night of February 24, 2001, while practicing Falun Gong, leaving behind two young children.
Official statistics show that in the last couple of years,more than 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners have died unnatural deaths throughout China, which has affected thousands of families.
The Chinese government banned the cult in July 1999.
November 23, 2015, 09:01:53 PM
Falun Gong Practice Causes Health Problems and Death
Xinhua, July 22, 1999
BEIJING, July 22, 1999 (Xinhua) -- Cases of dire consequences caused by Falun Gong to the psychological and physical health of people are innumerable, according to facts collected by certain departments.
Serious results have been reported, including sickness, handicaps, and even death from the practice of Falun Gong. Since beginning the practice of Falun Gong, many people have lost their appetites, some appeared to be disorganized in words and behavior, and some became paranoid. Still others found themselves suffering from hallucinations. A number of people jumped into rivers or off buildings, or killed themselves in other ways. Some even cruelly injured or killed relatives and friends. Ma Jianmin, a retired worker from the Huabei Oilfield in north China, was often in a trance and became distraught after two years of practicing Falun Gong.
Ma insisted that he had a "wheel of law" in his stomach. Then, one day in 1998, Ma died at home after he cut his abdomen with a pair of scissors to look for the so-called wheel of law.
Official Gao Encheng, who became a leader of a Falun Gong practicing group in Kaixian County of Chongqing Municipality in southwest China, got the idea that he had become an "immortal." Gao killed himself by jumping off a building while holding his son in his arms.
Bai Changyu, a section chief geologist at a coal mine in northeast China's Fushun City, refused to see doctor or take any medicine when he was sick after he began practicing Falun Gong in 1997.
Bai became seriously ill in April 1999, but still refused medical treatment until he finally died, still holding the belief that Li Hongzhi would come to help him.
Liu Pinqing was a senior agronomist who had won a top prize given by the Ministry of Agriculture. Liu, however, became abnormal after practicing Falun Gong. He said many times that his master Li Hongzhi asked him to burn himself so as to become a buddha.
Liu attempted to burn himself to death on February 4, 1999, at home by revolving open the gas valve. He finally committed suicide two months later by jumping into a well.
Li Ting, a graduate student from a junior middle school under the age of 18, killed his parents with a dagger on March 20. Li, inquisited, said that after two years of practicing Falun Gong, he believed that his parents were demons while he himself a Buddha. "So I got rid of the two demons," Li said.
Wu Deqiao, 36, a clerk with Wujiang supply and marketing cooperative in east China's Jiangsu Province, became a practitioner of Falun Gong in February, 1998. He then felt that he had become a Buddha, and women around would affect his practice. Wu chopped his wife to death with a kitchen knife when she tried to stop him from practicing any more.
According to initial statistics, two madhouses alone in Beijing received six patients who became lunatic due to practice of Falun Gong in 1996. The number of such patients increased to 10 in 1997, 22 in 1998, and 16 during the first half of 1999.
The perniciousness of Falun Gong has waken up many victims and their families. A female worker surnamed Jiang wanted to beautify herself by practicing Falun Gong. She attempted to kill herself, however, when she became a paranoid later.
Jiang recovered after she was compelled by her family members to receive medical treatment. "I'll never practice that Falun Gong any more," vowed Jiang with resentment.
Retired worker Zhang Yuqin, who had become infatuated with practice of Falun Gong, killed herself in 1998.
"Falun Gong broke my family, and I ask Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong to be punished and banned, " said Lu Xingchong, Zhang's husband.
Xinhua, July 22, 1999
BEIJING, July 22, 1999 (Xinhua) -- Cases of dire consequences caused by Falun Gong to the psychological and physical health of people are innumerable, according to facts collected by certain departments.
Serious results have been reported, including sickness, handicaps, and even death from the practice of Falun Gong. Since beginning the practice of Falun Gong, many people have lost their appetites, some appeared to be disorganized in words and behavior, and some became paranoid. Still others found themselves suffering from hallucinations. A number of people jumped into rivers or off buildings, or killed themselves in other ways. Some even cruelly injured or killed relatives and friends. Ma Jianmin, a retired worker from the Huabei Oilfield in north China, was often in a trance and became distraught after two years of practicing Falun Gong.
Ma insisted that he had a "wheel of law" in his stomach. Then, one day in 1998, Ma died at home after he cut his abdomen with a pair of scissors to look for the so-called wheel of law.
Official Gao Encheng, who became a leader of a Falun Gong practicing group in Kaixian County of Chongqing Municipality in southwest China, got the idea that he had become an "immortal." Gao killed himself by jumping off a building while holding his son in his arms.
Bai Changyu, a section chief geologist at a coal mine in northeast China's Fushun City, refused to see doctor or take any medicine when he was sick after he began practicing Falun Gong in 1997.
Bai became seriously ill in April 1999, but still refused medical treatment until he finally died, still holding the belief that Li Hongzhi would come to help him.
Liu Pinqing was a senior agronomist who had won a top prize given by the Ministry of Agriculture. Liu, however, became abnormal after practicing Falun Gong. He said many times that his master Li Hongzhi asked him to burn himself so as to become a buddha.
Liu attempted to burn himself to death on February 4, 1999, at home by revolving open the gas valve. He finally committed suicide two months later by jumping into a well.
Li Ting, a graduate student from a junior middle school under the age of 18, killed his parents with a dagger on March 20. Li, inquisited, said that after two years of practicing Falun Gong, he believed that his parents were demons while he himself a Buddha. "So I got rid of the two demons," Li said.
Wu Deqiao, 36, a clerk with Wujiang supply and marketing cooperative in east China's Jiangsu Province, became a practitioner of Falun Gong in February, 1998. He then felt that he had become a Buddha, and women around would affect his practice. Wu chopped his wife to death with a kitchen knife when she tried to stop him from practicing any more.
According to initial statistics, two madhouses alone in Beijing received six patients who became lunatic due to practice of Falun Gong in 1996. The number of such patients increased to 10 in 1997, 22 in 1998, and 16 during the first half of 1999.
The perniciousness of Falun Gong has waken up many victims and their families. A female worker surnamed Jiang wanted to beautify herself by practicing Falun Gong. She attempted to kill herself, however, when she became a paranoid later.
Jiang recovered after she was compelled by her family members to receive medical treatment. "I'll never practice that Falun Gong any more," vowed Jiang with resentment.
Retired worker Zhang Yuqin, who had become infatuated with practice of Falun Gong, killed herself in 1998.
"Falun Gong broke my family, and I ask Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong to be punished and banned, " said Lu Xingchong, Zhang's husband.
November 23, 2015, 08:51:45 PM
China Blames Falun Gong for Deaths of Followers
Agence France Presse/January 13, 2001
Beijing -- China on Saturday blamed the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group for causing the deaths of 17 followers, just as the group was set to open its annual meeting in Hong Kong.
The official Xinhua news agency quoted the government of northern Inner Mongolia as saying the group had caused the deaths, injured one person, and created mental illnesses in six others in the province.
The provincial government said four of the followers killed themselves, while 13 others died because they were ill but refused to be hospitalized or accept medicine under the Falun Gong doctrine, Xinhua said.
The report could not be independently verified, but Falun Gong spokespeople have insisted the group discourage people from committing suicide and advocates seeking medical treatment when ill. The group says it teaches members how to attain high moral standards and physical well-being through meditation exercises.
Members have claimed the teachings have cured a variety of illnesses without medical help. The Chinese government in the past two weeks has launched a major propaganda offensive against the group, publishing editorials and broadcasting negative reports almost daily in state-run media.
The move is likely an attempt to discourage members from protesting on Tiananmen Square on the day of the Lunar New Year on January 24. The story was also released just as the group was set to open its annual international meeting in Hong Kong on Sunday.
Since China banned the Falun Gong in July 1999, it has sent hundreds of defiant practitioners to prison and thousands to labor camps. According to a human rights group in Hong Kong, 98 have died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody. China considers the group the biggest threat to social stability since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.
------------------
Researcher Refutes Pro-Falun Gong Article E
CNN News, May 11, 2000
BEIJING XINHUA - Xinhua today published an article refuting a lengthy pro-Falun Gong thesis which was published in a recent issue of a US-based Chinese-language newspaper, and signed "Some Falun Gong practitioners from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences."
Wang Yusheng, author of the Xinhua article titled "It Is Not Science But A Real Superstition," repudiated the pro-Falun Gong thesis, which was titled "It Is Not Superstition But A Broad And Intensive Science."
Wang pointed out in his article that there are many mistakes in the lengthy thesis, though it looks like an "academic paper." The thesis was published by "stealing the name of scientists" to fabricate a "scientific" basis for the cult, he noted.
Wang criticized the pro-Falun Gong thesis by using a large number of scientific facts and theories of modern sciences.
Wang said the thesis denies astronomy by advocating Li Hongzhi, the cult leader of Falun Gong, who boasts that he is the supreme master of the entire cosmos.
The Xinhua article also refuted Li Hongzhi for his claim that he is able to postpone the explosion of the Earth by 30 years. As it takes billions of years for celestial bodies to develop, Li was talking like an idiot, it said.
The article also refuted some ridiculous views held by Li Hongzhi on the "cosmic explosion" and evolutionism.
The thesis described Falun Gong as "scientific" but it could not give scientific reasons, according to Wang's article. He asked that if all paralyzed patients could recover through practicing Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi should have quit as a cult leader and opened a hospital specialized in treating the paralyzed.
More than 1,500 people have died practicing Falun Gong, which indicates the enormous harm of the cult, the article noted.
Wang criticized the thesis for its distortion of the development of science in ancient China and its support of Li's theory that people can become aware of the cosmos through practicing Falun Gong.
Cults are a new type of terrorism, and the most serious harm to people's political and spiritual rights, and is the most serious blasphemy to the civilization of mankind, Wang said.
He urged the mass media to make just decisions and never be used as a mouthpiece for cults.
,,,
Falun Gong Derided as Authoritarian Sect by Anti-Cult Experts in Seattle
San Francisco Chronicle, April 29, 2000
By Don Lattin
Seattle -- Falun Gong, the burgeoning Chinese spiritual movement banned by the Beijing government, is under attack by the anti-cult movement in the United States.
Three critics of the sect, which has attracted thousands of new followers among Chinese Americans in the Bay Area, New York and other metropolitan areas, opened a weekend conference in Seattle on "Cults and the Millennium."
"If you want a good description of a cult, all you have to do is read what they say they are," said Margaret Singer, a Berkeley psychologist and longtime crusader against authoritarian religious groups. "They actually say 'Don't Think.' Just recite the master's teaching."
In China, Falun Gong has faced a brutal crackdown by the Communist Party and the central government. Its members have been beaten, imprisoned and forbidden to publicly practice meditative exercises that resemble such traditional Chinese techniques as t'ai chi and qigong.
Falun Gong critics at the conference say that they have nothing against the exercises but charge that the movement's founder, Master Li Hongzhi -- now living in exile in New York -- leads an authoritarian sect that is breaking up Chinese families, discouraging devotees to seek medical care and misrepresenting its true teachings.
Memorized Jargon
Singer said she has been contacted 44 times by concerned relatives of Falun Gong members, 35 of them of Chinese background. "Their children have begun talking to them in memorized jargon, reading from the words of Master Li," she said.
Falun Gong members in the Bay Area and New York deny the allegations leveled by watchdog organizations in the United States and by the Chinese government, which has called the group an "evil cult."
Joseph Beckenbach, a Falun Gong member in San Jose, said the anti-cult movement's attack may be related to "Chinese government teams going out and spreading complete misinformation about us."
Gail Rachlin, a Falun Gong member and publicist in New York, said she couldn't believe anyone was alleging that Master Li exerts undo control over the lives of his devotees.
"Ninety-nine percent of them have never even met him," said Rachlin. "People come and go as they please, and they are never asked to donate money."
Rachlin also denied that Li discourages his followers from seeking medical care. "It's a personal choice," she said. "Before I started the practice, I was taking sleeping pills and medication for depression. Now I don't need it."
While parents may notice a change in the behavior of their children after they join Falun Gong, Rachlin said she hasn't heard any complaints about it.
"It allows you to be more at peace. You upgrade your thinking and have compassion in your heart," she said. "Nobody's acting strange. That's not allowed."
Another speaker at yesterday's conference session, Zixian Deng, said the English-language translations of Li's teachings are "less harsh" than in the original Chinese. Some of his more bizarre writings have not been translated at all into English.
Vanquished By Aliens
"They talk about aliens taking over the world," said Deng, a doctorate candidate in Chinese politics and philosophy at the University of North Texas.
Deng, who left China in 1991, said he began to get bombarded with e-mail about Falun Gong in 1995, and now knows several people who have left the movement.
The third speaker at yesterday's session on Falun Gong, Patsy Rahn, studies modern and classical Chinese at the University of California at Los Angeles.
She has written several articles on the movement for "The Cultic Observer," which is the journal of the American Family Foundation, the organization sponsoring this weekend's conference.
Rahn said the crackdown on Falun Gong in China has helped the movement's reputation in the United States, because most of the news accounts here focus on the issue of human rights violations by the Communist government in Beijing.
She suggested that the true story is somewhere between the "evil cult" image promoted by the Chinese government and the American news media's depiction of Communist China as the "evil empire."
Millions of Chinese have joined Falun Gong because of the uncertainty and dislocation spawned by rapid economic and social changes in China, Rahn said.
Agence France Presse/January 13, 2001
Beijing -- China on Saturday blamed the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group for causing the deaths of 17 followers, just as the group was set to open its annual meeting in Hong Kong.
The official Xinhua news agency quoted the government of northern Inner Mongolia as saying the group had caused the deaths, injured one person, and created mental illnesses in six others in the province.
The provincial government said four of the followers killed themselves, while 13 others died because they were ill but refused to be hospitalized or accept medicine under the Falun Gong doctrine, Xinhua said.
The report could not be independently verified, but Falun Gong spokespeople have insisted the group discourage people from committing suicide and advocates seeking medical treatment when ill. The group says it teaches members how to attain high moral standards and physical well-being through meditation exercises.
Members have claimed the teachings have cured a variety of illnesses without medical help. The Chinese government in the past two weeks has launched a major propaganda offensive against the group, publishing editorials and broadcasting negative reports almost daily in state-run media.
The move is likely an attempt to discourage members from protesting on Tiananmen Square on the day of the Lunar New Year on January 24. The story was also released just as the group was set to open its annual international meeting in Hong Kong on Sunday.
Since China banned the Falun Gong in July 1999, it has sent hundreds of defiant practitioners to prison and thousands to labor camps. According to a human rights group in Hong Kong, 98 have died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody. China considers the group the biggest threat to social stability since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.
------------------
Researcher Refutes Pro-Falun Gong Article E
CNN News, May 11, 2000
BEIJING XINHUA - Xinhua today published an article refuting a lengthy pro-Falun Gong thesis which was published in a recent issue of a US-based Chinese-language newspaper, and signed "Some Falun Gong practitioners from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences."
Wang Yusheng, author of the Xinhua article titled "It Is Not Science But A Real Superstition," repudiated the pro-Falun Gong thesis, which was titled "It Is Not Superstition But A Broad And Intensive Science."
Wang pointed out in his article that there are many mistakes in the lengthy thesis, though it looks like an "academic paper." The thesis was published by "stealing the name of scientists" to fabricate a "scientific" basis for the cult, he noted.
Wang criticized the pro-Falun Gong thesis by using a large number of scientific facts and theories of modern sciences.
Wang said the thesis denies astronomy by advocating Li Hongzhi, the cult leader of Falun Gong, who boasts that he is the supreme master of the entire cosmos.
The Xinhua article also refuted Li Hongzhi for his claim that he is able to postpone the explosion of the Earth by 30 years. As it takes billions of years for celestial bodies to develop, Li was talking like an idiot, it said.
The article also refuted some ridiculous views held by Li Hongzhi on the "cosmic explosion" and evolutionism.
The thesis described Falun Gong as "scientific" but it could not give scientific reasons, according to Wang's article. He asked that if all paralyzed patients could recover through practicing Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi should have quit as a cult leader and opened a hospital specialized in treating the paralyzed.
More than 1,500 people have died practicing Falun Gong, which indicates the enormous harm of the cult, the article noted.
Wang criticized the thesis for its distortion of the development of science in ancient China and its support of Li's theory that people can become aware of the cosmos through practicing Falun Gong.
Cults are a new type of terrorism, and the most serious harm to people's political and spiritual rights, and is the most serious blasphemy to the civilization of mankind, Wang said.
He urged the mass media to make just decisions and never be used as a mouthpiece for cults.
,,,
Falun Gong Derided as Authoritarian Sect by Anti-Cult Experts in Seattle
San Francisco Chronicle, April 29, 2000
By Don Lattin
Seattle -- Falun Gong, the burgeoning Chinese spiritual movement banned by the Beijing government, is under attack by the anti-cult movement in the United States.
Three critics of the sect, which has attracted thousands of new followers among Chinese Americans in the Bay Area, New York and other metropolitan areas, opened a weekend conference in Seattle on "Cults and the Millennium."
"If you want a good description of a cult, all you have to do is read what they say they are," said Margaret Singer, a Berkeley psychologist and longtime crusader against authoritarian religious groups. "They actually say 'Don't Think.' Just recite the master's teaching."
In China, Falun Gong has faced a brutal crackdown by the Communist Party and the central government. Its members have been beaten, imprisoned and forbidden to publicly practice meditative exercises that resemble such traditional Chinese techniques as t'ai chi and qigong.
Falun Gong critics at the conference say that they have nothing against the exercises but charge that the movement's founder, Master Li Hongzhi -- now living in exile in New York -- leads an authoritarian sect that is breaking up Chinese families, discouraging devotees to seek medical care and misrepresenting its true teachings.
Memorized Jargon
Singer said she has been contacted 44 times by concerned relatives of Falun Gong members, 35 of them of Chinese background. "Their children have begun talking to them in memorized jargon, reading from the words of Master Li," she said.
Falun Gong members in the Bay Area and New York deny the allegations leveled by watchdog organizations in the United States and by the Chinese government, which has called the group an "evil cult."
Joseph Beckenbach, a Falun Gong member in San Jose, said the anti-cult movement's attack may be related to "Chinese government teams going out and spreading complete misinformation about us."
Gail Rachlin, a Falun Gong member and publicist in New York, said she couldn't believe anyone was alleging that Master Li exerts undo control over the lives of his devotees.
"Ninety-nine percent of them have never even met him," said Rachlin. "People come and go as they please, and they are never asked to donate money."
Rachlin also denied that Li discourages his followers from seeking medical care. "It's a personal choice," she said. "Before I started the practice, I was taking sleeping pills and medication for depression. Now I don't need it."
While parents may notice a change in the behavior of their children after they join Falun Gong, Rachlin said she hasn't heard any complaints about it.
"It allows you to be more at peace. You upgrade your thinking and have compassion in your heart," she said. "Nobody's acting strange. That's not allowed."
Another speaker at yesterday's conference session, Zixian Deng, said the English-language translations of Li's teachings are "less harsh" than in the original Chinese. Some of his more bizarre writings have not been translated at all into English.
Vanquished By Aliens
"They talk about aliens taking over the world," said Deng, a doctorate candidate in Chinese politics and philosophy at the University of North Texas.
Deng, who left China in 1991, said he began to get bombarded with e-mail about Falun Gong in 1995, and now knows several people who have left the movement.
The third speaker at yesterday's session on Falun Gong, Patsy Rahn, studies modern and classical Chinese at the University of California at Los Angeles.
She has written several articles on the movement for "The Cultic Observer," which is the journal of the American Family Foundation, the organization sponsoring this weekend's conference.
Rahn said the crackdown on Falun Gong in China has helped the movement's reputation in the United States, because most of the news accounts here focus on the issue of human rights violations by the Communist government in Beijing.
She suggested that the true story is somewhere between the "evil cult" image promoted by the Chinese government and the American news media's depiction of Communist China as the "evil empire."
Millions of Chinese have joined Falun Gong because of the uncertainty and dislocation spawned by rapid economic and social changes in China, Rahn said.
November 23, 2015, 08:41:56 PM
More Falun Gong Followers Die After Refusing Medical Treatment
Xinhua /March 26, 2001
Beijing -- Two more followers of the Falun Gong cult,both female, have died of ordinary diseases this year in China after refusing medical treatment.
One of them, Hu Guangying, a retired worker, died from an infection from a decubitus ulcer, while the other one, Xie Ying, a farmer, died from enteritis. "Falun Gong deprived my mother of her life, throwing our family into perpetual pain," said Zhou Hong, Hu's son.
The 58-year-old Hu began to practice Falun Gong in 1996 and gradually became obsessed by the cult's ideas, like the belief that practitioners may achieve nirvana by practicing Falun Gong.
In August 2000, she was infected with scabies but turned a deaf ear to her family persuading her to see a doctor.
"It's a poison-excreting reaction resulting from practicing Falun Gong," Hu said to her children.
Hu's four-year-old grandson was also infected with the disease, through Hu, but recovered after using an anti-scabies ointment for about four days. Zhou then offered the ointment to Hu, yet she turned it down, insisting that Falun Gong followers should not receive medical treatment.
Hu's conditions took a turn for the worse at the end of January and doctors said the direct cause of her death was the infection from the decubitus ulcer, which resulted from scabies.
"I hope those still stubbornly believing in Falun Gong learn a lesson from my mother's death and stop the tragedy from repeating itself," Zhou said. Xie Ying, 30, who became a Falun Gong practitioner in 1997, began to suffer enteritis in December 2000.
Xie refused to see a doctor because she believed any disease could be cured by practicing Falun Gong. She died on the night of February 24, 2001, while practicing Falun Gong, leaving behind two young children.
Official statistics show that in the last couple of years, more than 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners have died unnatural deaths throughout China, which has affected thousands of families. The Chinese government banned the cult in July 1999.
Xinhua /March 26, 2001
Beijing -- Two more followers of the Falun Gong cult,both female, have died of ordinary diseases this year in China after refusing medical treatment.
One of them, Hu Guangying, a retired worker, died from an infection from a decubitus ulcer, while the other one, Xie Ying, a farmer, died from enteritis. "Falun Gong deprived my mother of her life, throwing our family into perpetual pain," said Zhou Hong, Hu's son.
The 58-year-old Hu began to practice Falun Gong in 1996 and gradually became obsessed by the cult's ideas, like the belief that practitioners may achieve nirvana by practicing Falun Gong.
In August 2000, she was infected with scabies but turned a deaf ear to her family persuading her to see a doctor.
"It's a poison-excreting reaction resulting from practicing Falun Gong," Hu said to her children.
Hu's four-year-old grandson was also infected with the disease, through Hu, but recovered after using an anti-scabies ointment for about four days. Zhou then offered the ointment to Hu, yet she turned it down, insisting that Falun Gong followers should not receive medical treatment.
Hu's conditions took a turn for the worse at the end of January and doctors said the direct cause of her death was the infection from the decubitus ulcer, which resulted from scabies.
"I hope those still stubbornly believing in Falun Gong learn a lesson from my mother's death and stop the tragedy from repeating itself," Zhou said. Xie Ying, 30, who became a Falun Gong practitioner in 1997, began to suffer enteritis in December 2000.
Xie refused to see a doctor because she believed any disease could be cured by practicing Falun Gong. She died on the night of February 24, 2001, while practicing Falun Gong, leaving behind two young children.
Official statistics show that in the last couple of years, more than 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners have died unnatural deaths throughout China, which has affected thousands of families. The Chinese government banned the cult in July 1999.
November 23, 2015, 08:38:36 PM
Falun Gong follower killed by co-believers
China Daily - North American Edition/September 21, 2001
Shenzhen -- A 35-year-old Falun Gong disciple was killed by her fellow practitioners for trying to leave the cult earlier this year, local police revealed this week.
Wei Zhihua was slain in February by more than 10 Falun Gong followers, including her husband Lan Shaowei, police say. The vicious mob believed her mind was infected with evil and needed to be cured through the doctrines found in Falun Gong inventor Li Hongzhi's books.
After Wei's death, the practitioners produced fake evidence and kept the case hidden for months. A fellow practitioner finally told local police the truth in July, a judicial investigation has shown.
One witness, who took part in the hideous slaying, confessed that Lan and others bound Wei's hands and feet and read aloud Li Hongzhi's doctrines to expunge from her mind the evil of her beliefs. Wei struggled and shouted, so they taped up her mouth and nose.
"Wei was struggling at first and cried that she didn't want to be a disciple of Li Hongzhi anymore, so they sealed her mouth and nose to stop her," the witness told police. Then the practitioners read aloud until Wei stopped struggling and became comatose.
Wei's coma allegedly excited the Falun Gong mob. The witness said one, identified as Ou Yangjie, screamed, "It's OK, the evil is removed!" Wei never awoke again. Doctors said she died of respiratory failure.
Police revealed that Wei began questioning the Falun Gong creed after her mother-in-law, also a pious practitioner, died last year because she refused to see doctor for her illness. That is among the abhorrent teachings of the nefarious Li Hongzhi.
Wei continued to practice Falun Gong, but her questions overwhelmed her and she began to curse Li Hongzhi for his obvious role in her mother-in-law's death.
This honest difference of opinion was rejected by the closed- minded members of the cult, who refused to permit free dissent. Local cult leaders decided they must eradicate it in accordance to Li Hongzhi's dogma.
Wei's death stunned other practitioners in Shenzhen, a wealthy coastal city in South China's Guangdong Province.
Lan and his cronies immediately reported the death to Xu Xian, a cult superior who goes by the alias Da Shan, who told them repeatedly never to link the death to Falun Gong.
The participants were instructed to conceal the facts, and they conspired to make identical confessions to deal with the possible police investigation, police said.
China Daily - North American Edition/September 21, 2001
Shenzhen -- A 35-year-old Falun Gong disciple was killed by her fellow practitioners for trying to leave the cult earlier this year, local police revealed this week.
Wei Zhihua was slain in February by more than 10 Falun Gong followers, including her husband Lan Shaowei, police say. The vicious mob believed her mind was infected with evil and needed to be cured through the doctrines found in Falun Gong inventor Li Hongzhi's books.
After Wei's death, the practitioners produced fake evidence and kept the case hidden for months. A fellow practitioner finally told local police the truth in July, a judicial investigation has shown.
One witness, who took part in the hideous slaying, confessed that Lan and others bound Wei's hands and feet and read aloud Li Hongzhi's doctrines to expunge from her mind the evil of her beliefs. Wei struggled and shouted, so they taped up her mouth and nose.
"Wei was struggling at first and cried that she didn't want to be a disciple of Li Hongzhi anymore, so they sealed her mouth and nose to stop her," the witness told police. Then the practitioners read aloud until Wei stopped struggling and became comatose.
Wei's coma allegedly excited the Falun Gong mob. The witness said one, identified as Ou Yangjie, screamed, "It's OK, the evil is removed!" Wei never awoke again. Doctors said she died of respiratory failure.
Police revealed that Wei began questioning the Falun Gong creed after her mother-in-law, also a pious practitioner, died last year because she refused to see doctor for her illness. That is among the abhorrent teachings of the nefarious Li Hongzhi.
Wei continued to practice Falun Gong, but her questions overwhelmed her and she began to curse Li Hongzhi for his obvious role in her mother-in-law's death.
This honest difference of opinion was rejected by the closed- minded members of the cult, who refused to permit free dissent. Local cult leaders decided they must eradicate it in accordance to Li Hongzhi's dogma.
Wei's death stunned other practitioners in Shenzhen, a wealthy coastal city in South China's Guangdong Province.
Lan and his cronies immediately reported the death to Xu Xian, a cult superior who goes by the alias Da Shan, who told them repeatedly never to link the death to Falun Gong.
The participants were instructed to conceal the facts, and they conspired to make identical confessions to deal with the possible police investigation, police said.
November 23, 2015, 08:28:11 PM
Falun Dafa and ignorance
Since I’ve been here, I have witnessed the changes of Falun Dafa.
The Minnesota Daily/December 2, 2005
By Lin Wang
For the past five years as a graduate student at the University, I have been used to reading opinion pieces that criticize China on various things: human rights, torturing, massive death penalties, religious freedom — you name it. While on many issues I do agree that China, as a developing country can improve, the Wednesday editorial “Threat of the peaceful in China” on the topic of Falun Dafa is totally unwarranted. As a Chinese person, I felt highly offended by the ignorance of the Daily’s editorial board.
Does the person who wrote the piece really know the origin of Falun Dafa? How it was funded, what it originally taught people to do, why the Chinese government banned it? I can safely assume that whoever wrote it does not know much. Use your own logic; if Falun Dafa is really something like Tai Chi, “that involves meditation to give the practitioner a sense of ease and inner peace,” why wouldn’t the Chinese government ban Tai Chi too? Yet, to this day, millions of Chinese, including my mom and dad, are practicing Tai Chi almost daily. And no, they are not arrested or tortured.
Now, let me tell you about Falun Dafa from personal experience and knowledge. But before that, I want to exclaim that I am not brainwashed by the Chinese government. I am not a Communist Party member, and I do agree on a lot of the criticism toward China that regularly appears on the newspapers and television.
Falun Dafa started as a cult; a cult setup by a farmer named Hongzhi Li, whose only education was from elementary school. The original purpose of the cult was to get people involved and gather money from the believers, which was quite successful. One of my relatives who tried to get me to practice Falun Dafa told me I had to buy books and videos that were highly overpriced, and I politely declined.
However, from the books and videos I’ve seen at my friend’s place, the teaching of Falun Dafa in the early days was a mixture of almost everything from other common religions in China, namely Buddhism and Taoism. One of the things that really caused trouble in Falun Dafa teaching was that it claimed if someone got sick, he or she should not go to a hospital for help, rather he or she should meditate and let inner strength heal the sickness. A lot of people died, including children who knew nothing about Falun Dafa (because their parents would not take them to the hospital). Since Falun Dafa was so popular in its first few years, it became such a problem that the Chinese government had to intervene, and that’s when Hongzhi Li told his believers to burn themselves at Tiananmen Square in protest of the government’s ban, and a lot of them did just that.
Yet the founder, Hongzhi Li, did not burn himself or even go to Tiananmen Square to support his believers, instead he managed to come to the U.S. with his millions that he had gathered throughout the years and lived there happily after.
For the time that I’ve been here, I have witnessed the changes of Falun Dafa; a cult trying its best to wash away its sinful past and portray itself as a peaceful religion like Tai Chi. The teaching has changed a lot too; I don’t think they tell you not to go to the hospital when you are really sick anymore. It is sad that most people in the United States know nothing about the truth behind Falun Dafa. They think this is just another example of Chinese government torturing peaceful, religious people. It is such a shame! Stop bashing other countries with your ignorance!
Since I’ve been here, I have witnessed the changes of Falun Dafa.
The Minnesota Daily/December 2, 2005
By Lin Wang
For the past five years as a graduate student at the University, I have been used to reading opinion pieces that criticize China on various things: human rights, torturing, massive death penalties, religious freedom — you name it. While on many issues I do agree that China, as a developing country can improve, the Wednesday editorial “Threat of the peaceful in China” on the topic of Falun Dafa is totally unwarranted. As a Chinese person, I felt highly offended by the ignorance of the Daily’s editorial board.
Does the person who wrote the piece really know the origin of Falun Dafa? How it was funded, what it originally taught people to do, why the Chinese government banned it? I can safely assume that whoever wrote it does not know much. Use your own logic; if Falun Dafa is really something like Tai Chi, “that involves meditation to give the practitioner a sense of ease and inner peace,” why wouldn’t the Chinese government ban Tai Chi too? Yet, to this day, millions of Chinese, including my mom and dad, are practicing Tai Chi almost daily. And no, they are not arrested or tortured.
Now, let me tell you about Falun Dafa from personal experience and knowledge. But before that, I want to exclaim that I am not brainwashed by the Chinese government. I am not a Communist Party member, and I do agree on a lot of the criticism toward China that regularly appears on the newspapers and television.
Falun Dafa started as a cult; a cult setup by a farmer named Hongzhi Li, whose only education was from elementary school. The original purpose of the cult was to get people involved and gather money from the believers, which was quite successful. One of my relatives who tried to get me to practice Falun Dafa told me I had to buy books and videos that were highly overpriced, and I politely declined.
However, from the books and videos I’ve seen at my friend’s place, the teaching of Falun Dafa in the early days was a mixture of almost everything from other common religions in China, namely Buddhism and Taoism. One of the things that really caused trouble in Falun Dafa teaching was that it claimed if someone got sick, he or she should not go to a hospital for help, rather he or she should meditate and let inner strength heal the sickness. A lot of people died, including children who knew nothing about Falun Dafa (because their parents would not take them to the hospital). Since Falun Dafa was so popular in its first few years, it became such a problem that the Chinese government had to intervene, and that’s when Hongzhi Li told his believers to burn themselves at Tiananmen Square in protest of the government’s ban, and a lot of them did just that.
Yet the founder, Hongzhi Li, did not burn himself or even go to Tiananmen Square to support his believers, instead he managed to come to the U.S. with his millions that he had gathered throughout the years and lived there happily after.
For the time that I’ve been here, I have witnessed the changes of Falun Dafa; a cult trying its best to wash away its sinful past and portray itself as a peaceful religion like Tai Chi. The teaching has changed a lot too; I don’t think they tell you not to go to the hospital when you are really sick anymore. It is sad that most people in the United States know nothing about the truth behind Falun Dafa. They think this is just another example of Chinese government torturing peaceful, religious people. It is such a shame! Stop bashing other countries with your ignorance!
November 23, 2015, 07:42:29 PM
The accusation is known by this "money making killing people trough mindcontrol organization"
Perfect example:
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An American Falun Gong member: a Devout Follower or a Passive Suicide
Posted by: Joshuastone ()
Date: July 14, 2015 01:40PM
Unexplainable and horrible Stories behind ride2freedom sponsored by controversial religious movement Falun Gong
Falun Gong (aka Falun Dafa) is a religious movement defined as a destructive cult by Chinese authority. Ride2freedom is sponsored by Falun Gong, and participated by 30 high school practitioners. On the website ride2freedom.us, these young students have clarified their reasons for practicing Falun Gong and joining in this activity.
Kristine Feng,15:
Why I practice Falun Gong: I feel that from practicing Falun Gong, I live a very happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. I ride because I want to stop this crime against humanity and save innocent children from this horrible persecution.
Tanner Gao, 13:
Why I practice Falun Gong:I practice Falun Gong because that is the purpose I live by and I think that's the reason to live for to become a better person. It also has health benefits like not to smoke or drink. Identify what you do, good or bad by following Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. I also get to know new people who also practice Falun Gong. I ride because I want to help 5 children at the end of this trip. I know how they feel because my parents got taken away when I was young because they practiced Falun Gong in China.
Aila Verheyke, 11:
Why I practice Falun Gong: Because I was born with it, and it makes me feel happy and it brought my family happiness and good luck. I'm riding because I feel like I really need to help those orphans, because I have a good childhood and I want them to experience the same.
Olivia Zhang, 16:
Why I practice Falun Gong: Falun Gong teaches me how to become a better person through the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. It has given me good health ever since I was born. I found inner peace through years of cultivation practice. Falun Gong teaches me moral lessons and helps me gain a better understanding of life. I ride because I want to save 5 orphans in China and stop the persecution of Falun Gong. Everyone deserves their human rights and is able to freely believe in their faith.
So, the mission of these kids was boiled down by Ms Sara Effner, the Event Coordinator as following:
Event Coordinator Sara Effner said, "Their final mission is to rescue 5 orphans from China who lost their parents in the persecution of Falun Gong which is a meditation practice that has been brutally persecuted in China since 1999."(http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=1223876)
What these kids believe is, that practicing Falun Gong can bring "a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life". There are many many magic benefits of practicing Falun Gong can be seen in Falun Gong website of Minhui.org:
When Various Treatments Had No Effect on My Illness, I Discovered the Power of Falun Dafa: After practicing Falun Gong, withdrewing from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), and reciting "Falun Dafa is good," the author "saw a figure come out of my body and then disappear", and "Three days later, the itching stopped, the redness was gone, and my skin was no longer swollen. All signs of the illness were gone". (http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2014/3/17/145925.html)
Falun Dafa Saved My Older Brother’s Life and Returned Him to Good Health: a dying heart-attack patient was saved by reciting the words of "Falun Dafa is good".( [en.minghui.org])
Faced with a Miracle, Doctors Said, "Falun Dafa is Good!" : a patient diagnosed with leukemia recovered by reciting the words of "Falun Dafa is good". "I didn't take even one pill and had no injection or a blood transfusion. I just earnestly recited every day the nine lucky words 'Falun Dafa is Good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good'. The protagonist of this story said.( [en.minghui.org])
In fact, the stories above and the other similar stories on Falun Gong’s websites are almost the same: a desperate patient starts to practice Falun Gong after unsuccessful medical treatment, then miracle happens: he/she begins to get better and finally gets recovered even if no medicine is needed.
So almost all Falun Gong practitioners have such concept of belief healing due to the Karmar theory created by Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi:
-- On people who are sick: The root cause of their problem and all their misfortune is karma, that black-matter karmic field. ...Those bad beings are also yin in nature, they're all black, and that's why they can come onto the body -- the environment suits them. That's the root cause of people's health problems, it's the chief source of them. Of course, there are two other forms. One of them is really, really small, high-density tiny beings. They're something like a cluster of karma. The other is as if it's transported through a conduit, but it's pretty rare, and all of it is accumulated through the generations.
-- On hospitals: If hospitals couldn't heal, why would people believe in them and go there for treatments? ... It's just that their treatment methods are at ordinary people's level while illness is beyond the ordinary, and some diseases are pretty serious.
-- On ancient Chinese medicine: It was ahead of today's medical sciences. Some people think, "Modern medicine is so advanced -- CT scans can examine the inside of the body, and we can do ultrasound, imaging and X-rays." Sure, modern equipment is pretty advanced, but I'd say it's still not as good as ancient Chinese medical science. ... It'll be years before today's Western medicine catches up. (http://www.culteducation.com/group/1254-falun-gong/6874-critics-and-followers-of-falun-gong.html)
On one side, this Karma theory indicates that medical treatment does little good to health, which is just what Falun Gong researchers criticize about and also one of the main reasons why Chinese authorities claims to ban Falun Gong:
The group was outlawed in China on July 22, 1999. The Chinese government accused it of "spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances and jeopardizing social stability."
On July 29, Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Falun Gong founder Li Hung-zhi. The Ministry of Public Security said he "spread superstition and malicious fallacies to deceive people, resulting in the deaths of many practitioners."
The state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported what it said were many cases of people committing suicide, having psychiatric illness, or refusing to see doctors because they believed that Falun Gong can heal serious illness.
The government accuses the sect of leading more than 1,600 followers to their deaths by encouraging them to eschew modern medical care and deluding them into suicidal acts.(http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/07/24/china.fg.overview/)
Ironically, Sara Effner, the the Event Coordinator of Ride2freedom, and a Falun Gong practitioner has just encountered a tragedy of her father Ranadall Effner, who is also a Falun Gong practitioner, died recently, which has aroused suspicion upon the belief healing of Falun Gong:
Mr Randall Effner:
…My daughter Sara and I have benefited greatly from practicing Falun Gong over the years, and this website represents our attempt to give back, as best we can, a small portion of what has been freely given to us. On the one hand, our songs expose the wickedness and cruelty of the CCP, while on the other, they describe the peaceful resistance of the practitioners, and their dedication to their principles through long years of persecution.( [www.justicewillprevail.com])
An Obituary:
Randall W. Effner, 67, Jamestown, MO passed away on Monday, October 6, 2014 at his home. ...Randall was united in marriage to Dianna Iid on September 24, 1971 in Peoria, IL. He was co-owner of Expressions Inc., studied Chinese traditional medicine, was an activist for human rights in China and has a website www.justicewillprevail.com, was an author and writer, musician and songwriter.... He is survived by his wife; 2 daughters, ..and Sara Effner and husband Dr. Chen Hou of Rolla, MO, .... Memorial services will be scheduled at a later date. Donations may be made in his memory to Friends of Falun Gong USA (www.fofg.org)... (http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2738192&fh_id=11350)
Mrs Effner:
My dear husband had suffered his whole adult life with chronic health problems, but by clean, righteous living, Randy was able to accomplish a lot in spite of his ill health.
Randy always did what he had to do, no matter how he was feeling. One sunny autumn weekend, he spent two days cutting and hauling firewood. He wasn't feeling well after that and though he seemed to be recovering, he was taken away from us by a sudden heart attack on the morning of October 6. (http://www.californiademocrat.com/news/2014/dec/03/randall-effner/)
Mr Randall W. Effner’s medication refusal?
After he followed her suggestion of the macrobiotic diet, Randy not only changed his diet, and avoided pharmaceuticals and alcohol, he also changed his way of thinking...
(https://roundtown.com/event/3171240/Come-Join-Us-in-Celebrating-the-Life-of-Randall-Effner-Jamestown-MO)
In spite of that, after the death of Mr Randall, Li Hongzhi explained the reason why people died as follows in a preach:
Disciple: There have been three cases of practitioners around me who have exhibited reduced intellectual faculties and slowed reactions, to varying degrees, and doctors have attributed these to atrophy of the cerebellum. One of the three has passed away.
Master(Li Hongzhi): If this took place in China, then it was caused by the persecution. If this happened elsewhere, then experienced Dafa disciples know that nothing happens to Dafa disciples by chance. [To those practitioners,] I would say that it is high time you seriously examined yourselves in terms of cultivation. Don’t take so lightly those things that you brush aside and consider not that big of an issue. In terms of standards for cultivation, the things you may consider minor, [if you go] by the old forces’ way of looking at Dafa disciples, are not minor whatsoever. When you think certain things are nothing significant, oftentimes that’s based on evaluating yourselves with ordinary standards, rather than with the Fa! The truth is, all Dafa disciples are remarkable, including those in these scenarios—they were persecuted in the course of validating the Fa, as they gave of themselves to uphold Dafa and save people. That is how I look at it. But at the same time, I find it regrettable. There are only so many Dafa disciples, up against 7 billion people in this world. How many can we save? They have departed at a time when we truly need people, unfortunately. (Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference by Li Hongzhi on May 14, 2015. [en.minghui.org])
Mr Li Hongzhi attributes the death of practitioners to the persecution of Chinese authority just as Mr Ranadall would support everything that Chinese Communist Party goes against:
Daughter Sara related how her father’s way of life influenced and encouraged her to live her life "doing what’s right without expecting others to notice." Intrigued by Falun Gong, a peaceful meditation group that caused alarm for the Chinese government, he thought that if the Communist regime was against it, it must be good. He supported the group, edited a website reporting the persecutions of the people and wrote and performed songs at rallies around the U.S. At one point, Sara traveled to China to protest the persecutions.(https://roundtown.com/event/3171240/Come-Join-Us-in-Celebrating-the-Life-of-Randall-Effner-Jamestown-MO)
However, Mr Li Hongzhi still cannot explain why his western practitioners’ death of illness:
There have been many Dafa disciples who have always had problems in their cultivation over the years. Conflicts haven’t been the most serious of issues. There have been quite a few instances of sickness karma tests, with many people even passing away. But truth be told, if I’m to put it seriously, you cannot tell from the surface how a cultivator is really doing. Of course, such a person will be doing Dafa things like others, but what people see are the outward things, while in reality there are many attachments deep inside, which others cannot see. Many things that he can’t let go of are deeply hidden. The person knows himself that those things aren’t good, and so he’s afraid of others finding out about them, for fear of embarrassment. Yet he doesn’t take those things seriously as a cultivator, and hasn’t managed to work wholeheartedly on eliminating them or managed to handle them well after recognizing them. There have also been cases where someone didn’t take some minor things seriously in his cultivation, and they turned into major problems.
(Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference by Li Hongzhi on May 14, 2015. [en.minghui.org])
So we have to conclude from those teachings: it (the death) serves them right because they are not Devout Followers.
But will Ms. Sarah agree with such conclusion?
Some Falun Gong researchers, such as Helen Farley of Australia, holds the opinion that Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi is encouraging a kind of practical suicide while encourages his adherents to refuse medicine or medical treatment on the basis of Karma theory:
Yet despite Falun Gong’s stated opposition to suicide, the movement does encourage its adherents to refuse medicine or medical treatment, and some regard this refusal of treatment to be suicidal. Chinese state media seized upon Li’s writing in which he expressed that illnesses are caused by karma, and claimed that in excess of one thousand deaths were the direct result of adherents following Li’s teachings. Authorities also claimed several hundred practitioners had cut their stomachs open seeking the Dharma Wheel that turns in response to the practice of the five meditative exercises characteristic of the movement. Indeed, many of their fellow followers had been arrested in Tianjin, following condemnation of their movement by physicist He Zouxiu of the Chinese Academy of the Sciences. He had claimed that Falun Gong had been responsible for several deaths (Bejsky 2004: i9o).This chapter examines the complex relationship between Falun Gong and the Chinese government, exploring the reality behind the claims and counterclaims regarding the former’s stated opposition to suicide. This is contrasted with Falun Gong writings that encourage adherents to refuse medical treatments in order to rid themselves of karma. (Death by Whose Hand? Falun Gong and Suicide, Sacred Suicide published by Ashgate Publishing Ltd)
So, can we conclude that the death of Mr. Randall is just a passive suicide committed by a loyal Falun Gong practitioner? If yes, isn’t it appalling?
I wonder if other students know the story behind their Event Coordinator Ms Sarah Effner. Maybe even if they know, some of them still believe in the magic of Falun Gong, just as Aila Verheyke said:
Why I practice Falun Gong:Because I was born with it, and it makes me feel happy and it brought my family happiness and good luck.
http://forum.culteducation.com/read.php?12,128626,128626
Perfect example:
--------------------------------
An American Falun Gong member: a Devout Follower or a Passive Suicide
Posted by: Joshuastone ()
Date: July 14, 2015 01:40PM
Unexplainable and horrible Stories behind ride2freedom sponsored by controversial religious movement Falun Gong
Falun Gong (aka Falun Dafa) is a religious movement defined as a destructive cult by Chinese authority. Ride2freedom is sponsored by Falun Gong, and participated by 30 high school practitioners. On the website ride2freedom.us, these young students have clarified their reasons for practicing Falun Gong and joining in this activity.
Kristine Feng,15:
Why I practice Falun Gong: I feel that from practicing Falun Gong, I live a very happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. I ride because I want to stop this crime against humanity and save innocent children from this horrible persecution.
Tanner Gao, 13:
Why I practice Falun Gong:I practice Falun Gong because that is the purpose I live by and I think that's the reason to live for to become a better person. It also has health benefits like not to smoke or drink. Identify what you do, good or bad by following Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. I also get to know new people who also practice Falun Gong. I ride because I want to help 5 children at the end of this trip. I know how they feel because my parents got taken away when I was young because they practiced Falun Gong in China.
Aila Verheyke, 11:
Why I practice Falun Gong: Because I was born with it, and it makes me feel happy and it brought my family happiness and good luck. I'm riding because I feel like I really need to help those orphans, because I have a good childhood and I want them to experience the same.
Olivia Zhang, 16:
Why I practice Falun Gong: Falun Gong teaches me how to become a better person through the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. It has given me good health ever since I was born. I found inner peace through years of cultivation practice. Falun Gong teaches me moral lessons and helps me gain a better understanding of life. I ride because I want to save 5 orphans in China and stop the persecution of Falun Gong. Everyone deserves their human rights and is able to freely believe in their faith.
So, the mission of these kids was boiled down by Ms Sara Effner, the Event Coordinator as following:
Event Coordinator Sara Effner said, "Their final mission is to rescue 5 orphans from China who lost their parents in the persecution of Falun Gong which is a meditation practice that has been brutally persecuted in China since 1999."(http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=1223876)
What these kids believe is, that practicing Falun Gong can bring "a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life". There are many many magic benefits of practicing Falun Gong can be seen in Falun Gong website of Minhui.org:
When Various Treatments Had No Effect on My Illness, I Discovered the Power of Falun Dafa: After practicing Falun Gong, withdrewing from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), and reciting "Falun Dafa is good," the author "saw a figure come out of my body and then disappear", and "Three days later, the itching stopped, the redness was gone, and my skin was no longer swollen. All signs of the illness were gone". (http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2014/3/17/145925.html)
Falun Dafa Saved My Older Brother’s Life and Returned Him to Good Health: a dying heart-attack patient was saved by reciting the words of "Falun Dafa is good".( [en.minghui.org])
Faced with a Miracle, Doctors Said, "Falun Dafa is Good!" : a patient diagnosed with leukemia recovered by reciting the words of "Falun Dafa is good". "I didn't take even one pill and had no injection or a blood transfusion. I just earnestly recited every day the nine lucky words 'Falun Dafa is Good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good'. The protagonist of this story said.( [en.minghui.org])
In fact, the stories above and the other similar stories on Falun Gong’s websites are almost the same: a desperate patient starts to practice Falun Gong after unsuccessful medical treatment, then miracle happens: he/she begins to get better and finally gets recovered even if no medicine is needed.
So almost all Falun Gong practitioners have such concept of belief healing due to the Karmar theory created by Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi:
-- On people who are sick: The root cause of their problem and all their misfortune is karma, that black-matter karmic field. ...Those bad beings are also yin in nature, they're all black, and that's why they can come onto the body -- the environment suits them. That's the root cause of people's health problems, it's the chief source of them. Of course, there are two other forms. One of them is really, really small, high-density tiny beings. They're something like a cluster of karma. The other is as if it's transported through a conduit, but it's pretty rare, and all of it is accumulated through the generations.
-- On hospitals: If hospitals couldn't heal, why would people believe in them and go there for treatments? ... It's just that their treatment methods are at ordinary people's level while illness is beyond the ordinary, and some diseases are pretty serious.
-- On ancient Chinese medicine: It was ahead of today's medical sciences. Some people think, "Modern medicine is so advanced -- CT scans can examine the inside of the body, and we can do ultrasound, imaging and X-rays." Sure, modern equipment is pretty advanced, but I'd say it's still not as good as ancient Chinese medical science. ... It'll be years before today's Western medicine catches up. (http://www.culteducation.com/group/1254-falun-gong/6874-critics-and-followers-of-falun-gong.html)
On one side, this Karma theory indicates that medical treatment does little good to health, which is just what Falun Gong researchers criticize about and also one of the main reasons why Chinese authorities claims to ban Falun Gong:
The group was outlawed in China on July 22, 1999. The Chinese government accused it of "spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances and jeopardizing social stability."
On July 29, Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Falun Gong founder Li Hung-zhi. The Ministry of Public Security said he "spread superstition and malicious fallacies to deceive people, resulting in the deaths of many practitioners."
The state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported what it said were many cases of people committing suicide, having psychiatric illness, or refusing to see doctors because they believed that Falun Gong can heal serious illness.
The government accuses the sect of leading more than 1,600 followers to their deaths by encouraging them to eschew modern medical care and deluding them into suicidal acts.(http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/07/24/china.fg.overview/)
Ironically, Sara Effner, the the Event Coordinator of Ride2freedom, and a Falun Gong practitioner has just encountered a tragedy of her father Ranadall Effner, who is also a Falun Gong practitioner, died recently, which has aroused suspicion upon the belief healing of Falun Gong:
Mr Randall Effner:
…My daughter Sara and I have benefited greatly from practicing Falun Gong over the years, and this website represents our attempt to give back, as best we can, a small portion of what has been freely given to us. On the one hand, our songs expose the wickedness and cruelty of the CCP, while on the other, they describe the peaceful resistance of the practitioners, and their dedication to their principles through long years of persecution.( [www.justicewillprevail.com])
An Obituary:
Randall W. Effner, 67, Jamestown, MO passed away on Monday, October 6, 2014 at his home. ...Randall was united in marriage to Dianna Iid on September 24, 1971 in Peoria, IL. He was co-owner of Expressions Inc., studied Chinese traditional medicine, was an activist for human rights in China and has a website www.justicewillprevail.com, was an author and writer, musician and songwriter.... He is survived by his wife; 2 daughters, ..and Sara Effner and husband Dr. Chen Hou of Rolla, MO, .... Memorial services will be scheduled at a later date. Donations may be made in his memory to Friends of Falun Gong USA (www.fofg.org)... (http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2738192&fh_id=11350)
Mrs Effner:
My dear husband had suffered his whole adult life with chronic health problems, but by clean, righteous living, Randy was able to accomplish a lot in spite of his ill health.
Randy always did what he had to do, no matter how he was feeling. One sunny autumn weekend, he spent two days cutting and hauling firewood. He wasn't feeling well after that and though he seemed to be recovering, he was taken away from us by a sudden heart attack on the morning of October 6. (http://www.californiademocrat.com/news/2014/dec/03/randall-effner/)
Mr Randall W. Effner’s medication refusal?
After he followed her suggestion of the macrobiotic diet, Randy not only changed his diet, and avoided pharmaceuticals and alcohol, he also changed his way of thinking...
(https://roundtown.com/event/3171240/Come-Join-Us-in-Celebrating-the-Life-of-Randall-Effner-Jamestown-MO)
In spite of that, after the death of Mr Randall, Li Hongzhi explained the reason why people died as follows in a preach:
Disciple: There have been three cases of practitioners around me who have exhibited reduced intellectual faculties and slowed reactions, to varying degrees, and doctors have attributed these to atrophy of the cerebellum. One of the three has passed away.
Master(Li Hongzhi): If this took place in China, then it was caused by the persecution. If this happened elsewhere, then experienced Dafa disciples know that nothing happens to Dafa disciples by chance. [To those practitioners,] I would say that it is high time you seriously examined yourselves in terms of cultivation. Don’t take so lightly those things that you brush aside and consider not that big of an issue. In terms of standards for cultivation, the things you may consider minor, [if you go] by the old forces’ way of looking at Dafa disciples, are not minor whatsoever. When you think certain things are nothing significant, oftentimes that’s based on evaluating yourselves with ordinary standards, rather than with the Fa! The truth is, all Dafa disciples are remarkable, including those in these scenarios—they were persecuted in the course of validating the Fa, as they gave of themselves to uphold Dafa and save people. That is how I look at it. But at the same time, I find it regrettable. There are only so many Dafa disciples, up against 7 billion people in this world. How many can we save? They have departed at a time when we truly need people, unfortunately. (Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference by Li Hongzhi on May 14, 2015. [en.minghui.org])
Mr Li Hongzhi attributes the death of practitioners to the persecution of Chinese authority just as Mr Ranadall would support everything that Chinese Communist Party goes against:
Daughter Sara related how her father’s way of life influenced and encouraged her to live her life "doing what’s right without expecting others to notice." Intrigued by Falun Gong, a peaceful meditation group that caused alarm for the Chinese government, he thought that if the Communist regime was against it, it must be good. He supported the group, edited a website reporting the persecutions of the people and wrote and performed songs at rallies around the U.S. At one point, Sara traveled to China to protest the persecutions.(https://roundtown.com/event/3171240/Come-Join-Us-in-Celebrating-the-Life-of-Randall-Effner-Jamestown-MO)
However, Mr Li Hongzhi still cannot explain why his western practitioners’ death of illness:
There have been many Dafa disciples who have always had problems in their cultivation over the years. Conflicts haven’t been the most serious of issues. There have been quite a few instances of sickness karma tests, with many people even passing away. But truth be told, if I’m to put it seriously, you cannot tell from the surface how a cultivator is really doing. Of course, such a person will be doing Dafa things like others, but what people see are the outward things, while in reality there are many attachments deep inside, which others cannot see. Many things that he can’t let go of are deeply hidden. The person knows himself that those things aren’t good, and so he’s afraid of others finding out about them, for fear of embarrassment. Yet he doesn’t take those things seriously as a cultivator, and hasn’t managed to work wholeheartedly on eliminating them or managed to handle them well after recognizing them. There have also been cases where someone didn’t take some minor things seriously in his cultivation, and they turned into major problems.
(Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference by Li Hongzhi on May 14, 2015. [en.minghui.org])
So we have to conclude from those teachings: it (the death) serves them right because they are not Devout Followers.
But will Ms. Sarah agree with such conclusion?
Some Falun Gong researchers, such as Helen Farley of Australia, holds the opinion that Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi is encouraging a kind of practical suicide while encourages his adherents to refuse medicine or medical treatment on the basis of Karma theory:
Yet despite Falun Gong’s stated opposition to suicide, the movement does encourage its adherents to refuse medicine or medical treatment, and some regard this refusal of treatment to be suicidal. Chinese state media seized upon Li’s writing in which he expressed that illnesses are caused by karma, and claimed that in excess of one thousand deaths were the direct result of adherents following Li’s teachings. Authorities also claimed several hundred practitioners had cut their stomachs open seeking the Dharma Wheel that turns in response to the practice of the five meditative exercises characteristic of the movement. Indeed, many of their fellow followers had been arrested in Tianjin, following condemnation of their movement by physicist He Zouxiu of the Chinese Academy of the Sciences. He had claimed that Falun Gong had been responsible for several deaths (Bejsky 2004: i9o).This chapter examines the complex relationship between Falun Gong and the Chinese government, exploring the reality behind the claims and counterclaims regarding the former’s stated opposition to suicide. This is contrasted with Falun Gong writings that encourage adherents to refuse medical treatments in order to rid themselves of karma. (Death by Whose Hand? Falun Gong and Suicide, Sacred Suicide published by Ashgate Publishing Ltd)
So, can we conclude that the death of Mr. Randall is just a passive suicide committed by a loyal Falun Gong practitioner? If yes, isn’t it appalling?
I wonder if other students know the story behind their Event Coordinator Ms Sarah Effner. Maybe even if they know, some of them still believe in the magic of Falun Gong, just as Aila Verheyke said:
Why I practice Falun Gong:Because I was born with it, and it makes me feel happy and it brought my family happiness and good luck.
http://forum.culteducation.com/read.php?12,128626,128626
November 23, 2015, 07:16:15 PM
This is incredible. Did you actually go through that whole thing and highlight all that stuff?
Text of Samuel Luo is not long, and is a perfect example of how US citizens are killed, and i presume that the count of persons, wich goes to death from not seeking needed medical treatment is over 4000.
That will be interesting to create a website with foto of victims alive with this illegal organization symbols and pictures of relative gravestones with medical conclusion about death.
This will send to jail responsables of this crimes against US innocent people.
November 23, 2015, 07:02:13 PM
For Falun Gong followers, a true Falun Gong practitioner will never die. They assort the dead members into two groups, one group was not true practitioners but demons or wicked entities, the other was practitioners who were not advanced or diligent enough.
• How do the Falun Gong practitioners think of illness?
• Why did the Falun Gong practitioners refuse to take medicine or medical treatment?
• How do the Falun Gong practitioners think of the dead members?
Blog picture of Li Dayong before death
Li Dayong participates Falun Gong activity on the 20th, Oct, 2013
On the 2nd of March, Falun Gong core member Li Dayong died of acute hepatic necrosis. Li Hongzhi ordered to block the news and Falun Gong media had no report about the death.
Li Dayong was buried hastily in New York. Li Hongzhi did not send people to make arrangements for the funeral and even did not make a phone call. The funeral was desolating and deserted.
During the dharma assembly in New York on the 13th of May, one disciple challenged Li Hongzhi face to face,
'Li Dayong kept practicing Falun Gong but died eventually, what do you think of it?'
Li Hongzhi answered ruthlessly that 'aren't you coming for seeking protection? Can it be called practice?'
'There was a devil in his heart' and 'He died because of heavy karma'.
Li Dayong and his wife Liu Mingming were all addicted to Falun Gong. They believed in Li Hongzhi and thought practicing could
'achieve consummation and become immortal'.
Li Dayong showed the symptoms of liver disease but refused to see doctor. Instead, he kept reciting script written by Li Hongzhi, 'sending righteous thoughts' and using other ways to 'eliminate karma', which led to deterioration of the disease and died in 2 months.
Li Hongzhi said, 'many disciples have seen how I treat people, I do not even use my hands, people will be cured when I just take a look at them' and 'I am saving people all around the world'. For Li Hongzhi, saving people's lives is like lifting a finger, however, when Li Dayong was sick, Li Hongzhi never lend a hand to him.
Accordingly, Li Dayong was Li Hongzhi's most important partner assisting him to fabricate the big lie of '168 million people resigning from the Communist Party', as well as contributing a lot for Falun Gong's development in the US. Li Dayong couple spent all their money to support Falun Gong, even contributed their money to by the house. So far, Li Mingming lives in a small rental room, cries and regrets every single day.
November 23, 2015, 06:51:48 PM
November 23, 2015, 04:50:06 PM
Who kill more innocent people in USA and take their money and property with support of US media?
---------------
What Falun Gong Really Teaches
Samuel Luo
San Francisco, California
Abstract
In the West Falun Gong, founded by Li Hongzhi, has successfully marketed itself as an innocent victim of the Chinese government's repression. However, if one examines Falun Gong's teachings and practices closely, one finds that its image of being a spiritual exercise masks the centrality of its founder's god-like status and the cult-like use of deceptive and manipulative techniques to increase membership.
Ever since Falun Gong was banned by the Chinese government in July 1999, it has gained support and sympathy from human rights groups. By focusing just on its status as a victim of an oppressive regime, Falun Gong has also gained uncritical support from the media. As a result of all the favorable media attention, Falun Gong has been able to spread throughout the U.S., not only in the Chinese community but in the non-Chinese community as well. But what is the Falun Gong really about?
When Falun Gong was introduced to my parents in early 1999 in San Francisco, it was presented as an exercise that promised to improve health. I can’t describe how shocked I was when I heard my mother start talking about the aliens who live among us and saying that human society is bad, the end of world is coming, and Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, is offering the last chance to save mankind. How did an exercise become a world-saving religion?
Since immigrating to the United States in 1998, master Li has promoted his Falun Gong as a Tai Chi like exercise ([1]) However Falun Gong (exercise of the Dharma wheel) is just the exercise component of Falun Dafa (great law of the Dharma wheel); both terms refer to a unique system of belief and exercises that were created by Li Hongzhi and first introduced in China in 1992. The free Falun Gong exercises work as a lure to recruit people into a system of belief that Li has described as “the highest principle of the universe.” In fact, Li has made it very clear to his followers that “those who only do the exercise but do not study the Dafa they are not disciples of Falun Dafa whatsoever” ([2]).
Li’s Falun Dafa is usually taught to newcomers after they feel comfortable with the exercises. In it you learn that only Falun Gong practitioners can detect the highest moral principles of the universe ([3]), the existence of mixed races is a serious problem ([4]), modern science is destroying mankind ([5]), and homosexuality is not the standard of being human ([6]). Yet to Li the worst thing that mankind can do is think negatively towards his Dafa (great truth): “Let me tell you, when this Fa-rectification [Li’s judgment day] matter is over, humankind will enter the next stage, and those people and beings who in their minds think that the Great Fa of the cosmos isn’t good will be the first weeded out” ([7]). The enlightened master also repeatedly warns his disciples that: “A Dafa disciple who fails to achieve the effect of the safeguarding and upholding Dafa has no way of reaching Consummation (Falun Dafa paradise)” ([8]).
While heavily borrowing Buddhist terms for his Dafa, Li portrays himself as a supernatural being whose teachings are superior to those of Sakyamuni (Buddha) and Jesus ([9]). Although Li has continually denied that Falun Gong is a religion, these denials are difficult to reconcile with his repeated claims that he is providing the only hope for mankind in this “Dharma-ending period” ([10]). In Zhuan Falun, the Bible of the group, he states simply: “If I cannot save you, nobody else can do it” ([11]).
But when the press interviews Li, he tends to hide his importance. In one interview he said: “Every time I see practitioners I tell them sitting before you is just a normal person. Don’t make me into a god” ([12]). This statement contradicts what he teaches his practitioners: “If you are a genuine practitioner, our Falun [the law wheel Li installs in his practitioners’ abdomens] will safeguard you,” he writes in Zhuan Falun. “I am rooted in the universe. If anyone could harm you, he would be able to harm me. To make it plainly, he would be able to harm the universe” ([13]).
Oddly enough, since the Chinese Government’s crackdown of the group in July 1999, Li has offered the least support of all to his practitioners. While he urges his practitioners to fight for him regardless of their own life ([14]), he is enjoying a safe and presumably luxurious life in the United States. It’s painful to see innocent people putting themselves at risk and getting hurt while chasing a delusion.
A group leader claiming that he is the only one who knows the truth of the universe or that he is the only savior of the world, a group using deception to recruit new members and not allowing room for questions or alternative viewpoints—these are some of the characteristics of a cult. Cults also use mind control techniques to manipulate their followers. This manipulation is designed to disrupt a person’s authentic identity and replace it with a new identity. Individuals are deceptively and aggressively recruited, and through socialization new members learn to follow what other members do; slowly, they are influenced to think as the others do. Dependence, conformity, and obedience to the leader’s absolute authority are encouraged constantly. Looking at Falun Gong from the outside, one might think these practitioners have made their own choice. But would anyone join the Falun Gong if they knew that they were going to be taught that Li is the personal savior of the world? No, they all think that they are just joining a healthy exercise group.
One of the most important and common methods that cults use to control their followers can be called “exclusion of the outside world.” Cult members are taught not to trust people outside of the group, including family members. This component of mind control is definitely found in the Falun Gong teachings. Falun Gong practitioners are made to distrust the moral thinking of non-practitioners who are called “ordinary people.” This is done intentionally by master Li, who repeatedly teaches: “As a practitioner you cannot act according to the ordinary people’s standards” ([15]). This manipulation technique not only isolates practitioners from non-practitioners, including family members and friends, but also creates a system where practitioners only share information with other practitioners. As a result, practitioners mutually reinforce each other’s belief in the teachings, thereby eliminating any conflicting or alternative views.
By reading Cults in Our Midst, written by the leading cult expert Dr. Margaret Singer, I came to recognize that all these mind control techniques have been used on my parents. Since the beginning of 1999, they have practiced the exercises two hours a day and studied Li’s books every day. They have hung Li’s portrait in our living room, and have gotten rid of all religion and exercise books except those of Falun Gong. After the crackdown on the group, my mother not only donated money to the Falun Gong, but was also asked by the organization to distribute flyers and other materials on the streets and protest in front of the Chinese embassy. I estimate that she spent at least nine hours a day, almost seven days a week, doing Falun-Gong-related activities until January 2002, when her husband had a stroke. Falun Gong has become her life. This is also true for other devoted Falun Gong practitioners.
What worries me the most is that ever since my parents became Falun Gong practitioners they have abandoned seeking medical treatment when needed. In Zhuan Falun, Li claims that his practitioners’ illnesses will be cured directly by him ([16]). Since illness and suffering are considered opportunities to repay the debt of karma, seeking medical help denies a practitioner this opportunity. He writes: “taking medication during practice implies that you do not believe in the disease curing effects of the practice. If you believed in it, why would you take medication?” ([17]) Due to this teaching my stepfather suffered unnecessarily during previous attacks of gout and flu.
Worrying about my parent’s health and trying to protect them from this cult, I started to question Li’s teachings long before my stepfather’s stroke. In so doing, I sadly discovered how greatly their world view had changed. In stating their belief that Li has supernatural power, that the world is coming to an end, that sickness is caused by bad deeds, and that demons are everywhere, I realized that they had been brainwashed. Our discussion soon turned into debate and then argument. To my shock my mother called me evil.
After our second argument I moved out. Living at home with my parents had become painful and uneasy. It hurts me to see them hurting themselves and I can’t do a thing about it. I have even started to feel anxiety, anger, and sadness.
When my stepfather had a stroke in January; my mother, sister and I were traveling in China. He went without medical treatment for approximately five days. While he was alone in the house two friends came to visit him and offered to take him to the hospital. Although the right side of his body was paralyzed he was able to open the door for his friends. He could have gone to the hospital at that time, but he refused due to his belief in Li’s teachings. Days later my sister returned home and found him sick. She had to beg and cry for him to go to the hospital. When he finally got to the hospital, the doctor pointed out that he could have died if he hadn’t been treated for another two days. He was in the hospital for a month.
Today, Falun Gong practitioners can be seen everywhere. They have set up at least fifty permanent exercise sites throughout the Bay area, seven of them in San Francisco, one in front of City Hall. Throughout the U.S., they have hundreds of practice sites, about seventy web sites, radio shows, TV broadcasts, and their own newspaper. The Falun Gong group has perhaps become the fastest growing quasi-religious cult in the U.S.
Beneath Li’s superficial teachings of “truthfulness, compassion and forbearance” are teachings that are intolerant of dissent and homophobic, that discourage sick people from seeking needed medical treatment and that manipulate followers to blindly follow Li’s absolute authority. Unfortunately while the media has focused only on the human rights issues in China, it has failed to educate Americans about how deceptive and harmful the Falun Gong can be in our own country.
Endnotes
[1] . Li Hongzhi, “Eye of the Storm” Interview in New York Times Magazine (August 8, 1999), p.19. Excerpts from the interview:
Question: Is Falun Gong a religion? Does it require faith?
Li: It is a practice that can remove illnesses, keep people fit and make one live longer. Like Tai Chi, it’s a morning exercise. People practicing Falun Gong are expected to follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.
Question: Falun Gong has been described as a cult. Is that description fair?
Li: A cult advocates end-of-the world theories and leads people to do many bad things. I am only teaching people the practice for healing and fitness.
[2] Li Hongzhi, “What is Cultivation Practice?” (September 6, 1996) Essentials for Further Advancement, English Version
[3] See: Zhuan Falun, 2nd editio n, p. 27: "An ordinary person cannot detect the existence of the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren [Zhen-Shan-Ren is the sole Criterion to Judge Good and Bad People] 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."
[4] See: Falun Dafa Lecture (Sydney, Australia), p.29. "The races in the world are not allowed to be mixed up. Now, the races are mixed up and it has brought about an extraordinarily serious problem . . . Mixed races have lost their roots, as if nobody in the paradise will take care of them. They belong to nowhere."
[5] See: “Interview with Li Hongzhi” Time Magazine Asia (May 10, 1999). "I know that modern science is destroying mankind. Aliens have already constructed a layer of cells in human beings. The development of computers dictates this layer of body cells to control human culture and spirituality and in the end to replace human beings."
[6] See: Falun Dafa Lecture (Sydney, Australia), p. 14.
[7] Li Hongzhi, Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America (December 9, 2000, Ann Arbor, Michigan). Falun Dafa web site under “Guiding the Voyage” (www.falundafa.org/eng/books.ht.), p.5.
[8] Li Hongzhi, “Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples,” Essentials for Further Advancement II, Falun Dafa web site under “The Falun Dafa Books/Other Writings of Mr. Li Hongzhi” (www.falundafa.org/eng/books.htm), item #40. Actually, consummation has different meanings in Li’s teachings. It can mean enlightenment in this world as well as ascension beyond this world to another realm. As used here, it’s the second meaning. In this teaching Li goes on to tell his disciples: “As you consummate your own paradises you are, at the same time, eliminating your last karma, gradually getting rid of your human thoughts, and truly stepping forward from humanness. . . .So this isn’t a matter of reaching Consummation in ordinary realms, nor is it achievable in ordinary Consummation.” In item # 8 of Essentials for Further Advancement II, Li’s idea of consummation seems to parallel the Christian idea of the rapture: “When the day of Consummation arrives, the great disclosure of the truth will leave the world in amazement.”
[9] Li Hongzhi, Falun Dafa Lecture at the First Conference in North America (March 29-30, 1998, New York City), Falun Dafa website under “Books by the Master” (www.falundafa.com.hk/eng/engdefault.htm), Internet Version, March 2000, p. 14. The full quote is: “In the past, many came to teach Fa, such as Buddha, the Western God Jesus Christ, and even Jehovah. All of them gathered people together, fearing that otherwise people wouldn’t study it well or would drop down. So people were assembled to practice cultivation together. Sakyamuni required his disciples to have their heads shaved and put on kasayas. The disciples of Jesus entered monasteries. I’m telling you that the reason they did that was because the Fa they preached was lesser. They couldn’t save people without such requirements. In contrast, today we have such an enormous Fa that we certainly dare to open things up and leave everything to you.”
[10] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, 2nd edition, p.101 and elsewhere. The full quote is: “I am the only person in the world who is teaching orthodox Fa in public. I have done something nobody did in the past and opened such a large door in the Dharma-ending time.”
[11] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, 2nd edition, p. 317.
[12] J. S. Greenberg, “A ‘Passive’ Recipient: Falun Gong Leader Seems Modest – And in Control” Special to ABCNEWS.com. (August 20, 1999), p.2.
[13] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, p.44.
[14] Li Hongzhi, Essentials for further advancement ii in Eliminate your last attachment(s) he stated:
Since you are qualified, true cultivators who have met the standard, you cannot be threatened by loss of money or material interests; what is more, these cultivators can even let go of life and death: how could they fear the threat of death?. . . It is in fact time to let go of your last attachments. As cultivators, you already know that you should, and in your action you have, let go of all worldly attachments (including the attachment to the human body) and have made it through the process of letting go of life and death.. . . So as for your last attachment, you must be sure to let go of it. I know all of the suffering of my disciples. The truth is, I treasure you more than you treasure your self!
Since the crackdown, Li has repeatedly warned his practitioners that if they don’t do a good enough job in “standing up for the Dafa” in China they may suffer serious consequences, including jeopardizing their chances to reach Falun Gong paradise In Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America (Ann Arbor, December 9, 200) he stated:
Most students have, in various ways, stepped forward to validate the Dafa . . .On the other hand, those who haven’t stepped forward, have hidden themselves, and have sided in their understanding with the evil beings – how could they still be Dafa disciples? . . . For example, some students were arrested and imprisoned. When they couldn't endure the severe torture, they wrote repentance statements . . .But this is unacceptable.
[15] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun (English Version) 2nd Edition (Hong Kong: April, 1998), Lecture Four, p. 165.
[16] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, English Version, second edition (Hong Kong: Falun Fo Publishing Company, 1998), p. 126. The full quote is: “Your illnesses will be cured directly by me. Those who practice at the exercise sites will have my Fashen to cure their illnesses.”
[17] Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong, English Version, revised edition, Falun Dafa website under “Books by the Master” www.falundafa.com.hk/eng/engdefault.htm), p. 82.
http://www.icsahome.com/articles/what-falun-gong-really-teaches
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What Falun Gong Really Teaches
Samuel Luo
San Francisco, California
Abstract
In the West Falun Gong, founded by Li Hongzhi, has successfully marketed itself as an innocent victim of the Chinese government's repression. However, if one examines Falun Gong's teachings and practices closely, one finds that its image of being a spiritual exercise masks the centrality of its founder's god-like status and the cult-like use of deceptive and manipulative techniques to increase membership.
Ever since Falun Gong was banned by the Chinese government in July 1999, it has gained support and sympathy from human rights groups. By focusing just on its status as a victim of an oppressive regime, Falun Gong has also gained uncritical support from the media. As a result of all the favorable media attention, Falun Gong has been able to spread throughout the U.S., not only in the Chinese community but in the non-Chinese community as well. But what is the Falun Gong really about?
When Falun Gong was introduced to my parents in early 1999 in San Francisco, it was presented as an exercise that promised to improve health. I can’t describe how shocked I was when I heard my mother start talking about the aliens who live among us and saying that human society is bad, the end of world is coming, and Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, is offering the last chance to save mankind. How did an exercise become a world-saving religion?
Since immigrating to the United States in 1998, master Li has promoted his Falun Gong as a Tai Chi like exercise ([1]) However Falun Gong (exercise of the Dharma wheel) is just the exercise component of Falun Dafa (great law of the Dharma wheel); both terms refer to a unique system of belief and exercises that were created by Li Hongzhi and first introduced in China in 1992. The free Falun Gong exercises work as a lure to recruit people into a system of belief that Li has described as “the highest principle of the universe.” In fact, Li has made it very clear to his followers that “those who only do the exercise but do not study the Dafa they are not disciples of Falun Dafa whatsoever” ([2]).
Li’s Falun Dafa is usually taught to newcomers after they feel comfortable with the exercises. In it you learn that only Falun Gong practitioners can detect the highest moral principles of the universe ([3]), the existence of mixed races is a serious problem ([4]), modern science is destroying mankind ([5]), and homosexuality is not the standard of being human ([6]). Yet to Li the worst thing that mankind can do is think negatively towards his Dafa (great truth): “Let me tell you, when this Fa-rectification [Li’s judgment day] matter is over, humankind will enter the next stage, and those people and beings who in their minds think that the Great Fa of the cosmos isn’t good will be the first weeded out” ([7]). The enlightened master also repeatedly warns his disciples that: “A Dafa disciple who fails to achieve the effect of the safeguarding and upholding Dafa has no way of reaching Consummation (Falun Dafa paradise)” ([8]).
While heavily borrowing Buddhist terms for his Dafa, Li portrays himself as a supernatural being whose teachings are superior to those of Sakyamuni (Buddha) and Jesus ([9]). Although Li has continually denied that Falun Gong is a religion, these denials are difficult to reconcile with his repeated claims that he is providing the only hope for mankind in this “Dharma-ending period” ([10]). In Zhuan Falun, the Bible of the group, he states simply: “If I cannot save you, nobody else can do it” ([11]).
But when the press interviews Li, he tends to hide his importance. In one interview he said: “Every time I see practitioners I tell them sitting before you is just a normal person. Don’t make me into a god” ([12]). This statement contradicts what he teaches his practitioners: “If you are a genuine practitioner, our Falun [the law wheel Li installs in his practitioners’ abdomens] will safeguard you,” he writes in Zhuan Falun. “I am rooted in the universe. If anyone could harm you, he would be able to harm me. To make it plainly, he would be able to harm the universe” ([13]).
Oddly enough, since the Chinese Government’s crackdown of the group in July 1999, Li has offered the least support of all to his practitioners. While he urges his practitioners to fight for him regardless of their own life ([14]), he is enjoying a safe and presumably luxurious life in the United States. It’s painful to see innocent people putting themselves at risk and getting hurt while chasing a delusion.
A group leader claiming that he is the only one who knows the truth of the universe or that he is the only savior of the world, a group using deception to recruit new members and not allowing room for questions or alternative viewpoints—these are some of the characteristics of a cult. Cults also use mind control techniques to manipulate their followers. This manipulation is designed to disrupt a person’s authentic identity and replace it with a new identity. Individuals are deceptively and aggressively recruited, and through socialization new members learn to follow what other members do; slowly, they are influenced to think as the others do. Dependence, conformity, and obedience to the leader’s absolute authority are encouraged constantly. Looking at Falun Gong from the outside, one might think these practitioners have made their own choice. But would anyone join the Falun Gong if they knew that they were going to be taught that Li is the personal savior of the world? No, they all think that they are just joining a healthy exercise group.
One of the most important and common methods that cults use to control their followers can be called “exclusion of the outside world.” Cult members are taught not to trust people outside of the group, including family members. This component of mind control is definitely found in the Falun Gong teachings. Falun Gong practitioners are made to distrust the moral thinking of non-practitioners who are called “ordinary people.” This is done intentionally by master Li, who repeatedly teaches: “As a practitioner you cannot act according to the ordinary people’s standards” ([15]). This manipulation technique not only isolates practitioners from non-practitioners, including family members and friends, but also creates a system where practitioners only share information with other practitioners. As a result, practitioners mutually reinforce each other’s belief in the teachings, thereby eliminating any conflicting or alternative views.
By reading Cults in Our Midst, written by the leading cult expert Dr. Margaret Singer, I came to recognize that all these mind control techniques have been used on my parents. Since the beginning of 1999, they have practiced the exercises two hours a day and studied Li’s books every day. They have hung Li’s portrait in our living room, and have gotten rid of all religion and exercise books except those of Falun Gong. After the crackdown on the group, my mother not only donated money to the Falun Gong, but was also asked by the organization to distribute flyers and other materials on the streets and protest in front of the Chinese embassy. I estimate that she spent at least nine hours a day, almost seven days a week, doing Falun-Gong-related activities until January 2002, when her husband had a stroke. Falun Gong has become her life. This is also true for other devoted Falun Gong practitioners.
What worries me the most is that ever since my parents became Falun Gong practitioners they have abandoned seeking medical treatment when needed. In Zhuan Falun, Li claims that his practitioners’ illnesses will be cured directly by him ([16]). Since illness and suffering are considered opportunities to repay the debt of karma, seeking medical help denies a practitioner this opportunity. He writes: “taking medication during practice implies that you do not believe in the disease curing effects of the practice. If you believed in it, why would you take medication?” ([17]) Due to this teaching my stepfather suffered unnecessarily during previous attacks of gout and flu.
Worrying about my parent’s health and trying to protect them from this cult, I started to question Li’s teachings long before my stepfather’s stroke. In so doing, I sadly discovered how greatly their world view had changed. In stating their belief that Li has supernatural power, that the world is coming to an end, that sickness is caused by bad deeds, and that demons are everywhere, I realized that they had been brainwashed. Our discussion soon turned into debate and then argument. To my shock my mother called me evil.
After our second argument I moved out. Living at home with my parents had become painful and uneasy. It hurts me to see them hurting themselves and I can’t do a thing about it. I have even started to feel anxiety, anger, and sadness.
When my stepfather had a stroke in January; my mother, sister and I were traveling in China. He went without medical treatment for approximately five days. While he was alone in the house two friends came to visit him and offered to take him to the hospital. Although the right side of his body was paralyzed he was able to open the door for his friends. He could have gone to the hospital at that time, but he refused due to his belief in Li’s teachings. Days later my sister returned home and found him sick. She had to beg and cry for him to go to the hospital. When he finally got to the hospital, the doctor pointed out that he could have died if he hadn’t been treated for another two days. He was in the hospital for a month.
Today, Falun Gong practitioners can be seen everywhere. They have set up at least fifty permanent exercise sites throughout the Bay area, seven of them in San Francisco, one in front of City Hall. Throughout the U.S., they have hundreds of practice sites, about seventy web sites, radio shows, TV broadcasts, and their own newspaper. The Falun Gong group has perhaps become the fastest growing quasi-religious cult in the U.S.
Beneath Li’s superficial teachings of “truthfulness, compassion and forbearance” are teachings that are intolerant of dissent and homophobic, that discourage sick people from seeking needed medical treatment and that manipulate followers to blindly follow Li’s absolute authority. Unfortunately while the media has focused only on the human rights issues in China, it has failed to educate Americans about how deceptive and harmful the Falun Gong can be in our own country.
Endnotes
[1] . Li Hongzhi, “Eye of the Storm” Interview in New York Times Magazine (August 8, 1999), p.19. Excerpts from the interview:
Question: Is Falun Gong a religion? Does it require faith?
Li: It is a practice that can remove illnesses, keep people fit and make one live longer. Like Tai Chi, it’s a morning exercise. People practicing Falun Gong are expected to follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.
Question: Falun Gong has been described as a cult. Is that description fair?
Li: A cult advocates end-of-the world theories and leads people to do many bad things. I am only teaching people the practice for healing and fitness.
[2] Li Hongzhi, “What is Cultivation Practice?” (September 6, 1996) Essentials for Further Advancement, English Version
[3] See: Zhuan Falun, 2nd editio n, p. 27: "An ordinary person cannot detect the existence of the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren [Zhen-Shan-Ren is the sole Criterion to Judge Good and Bad People] 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."
[4] See: Falun Dafa Lecture (Sydney, Australia), p.29. "The races in the world are not allowed to be mixed up. Now, the races are mixed up and it has brought about an extraordinarily serious problem . . . Mixed races have lost their roots, as if nobody in the paradise will take care of them. They belong to nowhere."
[5] See: “Interview with Li Hongzhi” Time Magazine Asia (May 10, 1999). "I know that modern science is destroying mankind. Aliens have already constructed a layer of cells in human beings. The development of computers dictates this layer of body cells to control human culture and spirituality and in the end to replace human beings."
[6] See: Falun Dafa Lecture (Sydney, Australia), p. 14.
[7] Li Hongzhi, Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America (December 9, 2000, Ann Arbor, Michigan). Falun Dafa web site under “Guiding the Voyage” (www.falundafa.org/eng/books.ht.), p.5.
[8] Li Hongzhi, “Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples,” Essentials for Further Advancement II, Falun Dafa web site under “The Falun Dafa Books/Other Writings of Mr. Li Hongzhi” (www.falundafa.org/eng/books.htm), item #40. Actually, consummation has different meanings in Li’s teachings. It can mean enlightenment in this world as well as ascension beyond this world to another realm. As used here, it’s the second meaning. In this teaching Li goes on to tell his disciples: “As you consummate your own paradises you are, at the same time, eliminating your last karma, gradually getting rid of your human thoughts, and truly stepping forward from humanness. . . .So this isn’t a matter of reaching Consummation in ordinary realms, nor is it achievable in ordinary Consummation.” In item # 8 of Essentials for Further Advancement II, Li’s idea of consummation seems to parallel the Christian idea of the rapture: “When the day of Consummation arrives, the great disclosure of the truth will leave the world in amazement.”
[9] Li Hongzhi, Falun Dafa Lecture at the First Conference in North America (March 29-30, 1998, New York City), Falun Dafa website under “Books by the Master” (www.falundafa.com.hk/eng/engdefault.htm), Internet Version, March 2000, p. 14. The full quote is: “In the past, many came to teach Fa, such as Buddha, the Western God Jesus Christ, and even Jehovah. All of them gathered people together, fearing that otherwise people wouldn’t study it well or would drop down. So people were assembled to practice cultivation together. Sakyamuni required his disciples to have their heads shaved and put on kasayas. The disciples of Jesus entered monasteries. I’m telling you that the reason they did that was because the Fa they preached was lesser. They couldn’t save people without such requirements. In contrast, today we have such an enormous Fa that we certainly dare to open things up and leave everything to you.”
[10] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, 2nd edition, p.101 and elsewhere. The full quote is: “I am the only person in the world who is teaching orthodox Fa in public. I have done something nobody did in the past and opened such a large door in the Dharma-ending time.”
[11] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, 2nd edition, p. 317.
[12] J. S. Greenberg, “A ‘Passive’ Recipient: Falun Gong Leader Seems Modest – And in Control” Special to ABCNEWS.com. (August 20, 1999), p.2.
[13] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, p.44.
[14] Li Hongzhi, Essentials for further advancement ii in Eliminate your last attachment(s) he stated:
Since you are qualified, true cultivators who have met the standard, you cannot be threatened by loss of money or material interests; what is more, these cultivators can even let go of life and death: how could they fear the threat of death?. . . It is in fact time to let go of your last attachments. As cultivators, you already know that you should, and in your action you have, let go of all worldly attachments (including the attachment to the human body) and have made it through the process of letting go of life and death.. . . So as for your last attachment, you must be sure to let go of it. I know all of the suffering of my disciples. The truth is, I treasure you more than you treasure your self!
Since the crackdown, Li has repeatedly warned his practitioners that if they don’t do a good enough job in “standing up for the Dafa” in China they may suffer serious consequences, including jeopardizing their chances to reach Falun Gong paradise In Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America (Ann Arbor, December 9, 200) he stated:
Most students have, in various ways, stepped forward to validate the Dafa . . .On the other hand, those who haven’t stepped forward, have hidden themselves, and have sided in their understanding with the evil beings – how could they still be Dafa disciples? . . . For example, some students were arrested and imprisoned. When they couldn't endure the severe torture, they wrote repentance statements . . .But this is unacceptable.
[15] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun (English Version) 2nd Edition (Hong Kong: April, 1998), Lecture Four, p. 165.
[16] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, English Version, second edition (Hong Kong: Falun Fo Publishing Company, 1998), p. 126. The full quote is: “Your illnesses will be cured directly by me. Those who practice at the exercise sites will have my Fashen to cure their illnesses.”
[17] Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong, English Version, revised edition, Falun Dafa website under “Books by the Master” www.falundafa.com.hk/eng/engdefault.htm), p. 82.
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