5.4 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falun Gong | 2/19 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00 | kb-cron |
According to the Falun Gong, the Falun Gong aspires to enable the practitioner to ascend spiritually through moral rectitude and the practice of a set of exercises and meditation. The three stated tenets of the belief are truthfulness (Chinese: 真; pinyin: Zhēn), compassion (Chinese: 善; pinyin: Shàn), and forbearance (Chinese: 忍; pinyin: Rěn). These principles have been repeated by Falun Gong members to outsiders as a tactic for evading deeper inquiry, and followers have been instructed by Li to lie about the practice. Together these principles are regarded as the fundamental nature of the cosmos, the criteria for differentiating right from wrong, and are held to be the highest manifestations of the Tao. Adherence to and cultivation of these virtues is regarded as a fundamental part of Falun Gong practice. According to Li, humanity was once in harmony with these concepts (which are the fundamental characteristics of the universe) but descended to the ordinary level, in which humanity is a state characterized by unpleasantness, filthiness, and degradation. In Zhuan Falun (轉法輪), the foundational text published in 1995, Li Hongzhi writes, "It doesn't matter how mankind's moral standard changes [...] The nature of the cosmos doesn't change, and it is the only standard for determining who's good and who's bad. So to be a cultivator you have to take the nature of the cosmos as your guide for improving yourself." Practice of Falun Gong consists of two features: performance of the exercises, and the refinement of one's xinxing (moral character, temperament). In Falun Gong's central text, Li states that xinxing "includes virtue (which is a type of matter), it includes forbearance, it includes awakening to things, it includes giving up things—giving up all the desires and all the attachments that are found in an ordinary person—and you also have to endure hardship, to name just a few things." The elevation of one's moral character is achieved, on the one hand, by aligning one's life with truth, compassion, and tolerance; and on the other, by abandoning desires and "negative thoughts and behaviors, such as greed, profit, lust, desire, killing, fighting, theft, robbery, deception, jealousy, etc." Among the central concepts found in the teachings of Falun Gong is the existence of 'Virtue' (Chinese: 德; pinyin: Dé) and 'Karma' (Chinese: 業; pinyin: Yè). The former is generated through doing good deeds and suffering, while the latter is accumulated through doing wrong deeds. A person's ratio of karma to virtue is said to determine their fortunes in this life or the next. While virtue engenders good fortune and enables spiritual transformation, an accumulation of karma results in suffering, illness, and alienation from the nature of the universe. In Falun Gong teachings, karma accumulates as a black substance in the body. Spiritual elevation is achieved through the elimination of negative karma and the accumulation of virtue. Through cultivating truthfulness, compassion, forbearance and practicing qigong, practitioners can turn the black substance into a white substance, eliminating the root cause of illness and leading to Consummation. (yuanman). Practitioners believe that through a process of moral cultivation, one can achieve Tao and obtain special powers and a level of divinity. Falun Gong's teachings posit that human beings are originally and innately good—even divine—but that they descended into a realm of delusion and suffering after developing selfishness and accruing karma. The practice holds that reincarnation exists, with the cycle of rebirth shaped by the accumulation of karma—a concept somewhat analogous to the Christian notion of "reaping what one sows." This perspective helps explain the perceived unfairness of differences among individuals, such as between the rich and the poor, while also encouraging moral behavior despite these inequalities. To re-ascend and return to the "original, true self", Falun Gong practitioners are supposed to assimilate themselves to the qualities of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, let go of "attachments and desires" and suffer to repay karma. Traditional Chinese cultural thought and opposition to modernity are two focuses of Li Hongzhi's teachings. Falun Gong echoes traditional Chinese beliefs that humans are connected to the universe through mind and body, and Li seeks to challenge "conventional mentalities", concerning the nature and genesis of the universe, time-space, and the human body. The practice draws on East Asian mysticism and traditional Chinese medicine, but claims to have the power to heal incurable illnesses. Falun Gong describes modern science as too limited, and views traditional Chinese research and practice as valid. Li says that he is a being who has come to help humankind from the destruction it could face as the result of rampant evil. When asked if he was a human being, Li replied "You can think of me as a human being." In Zhuan Falun, Li states that he cultivated supernatural powers starting at age eight. Zhuan Falun also promises practitioners supernatural powers such as "see[ing] through a wall or into a human body". Meanwhile, it states that these powers are byproducts of virtue cultivation, and should neither be sought after nor misused.
=== Exercises ===