Author:
benjamin guile
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Date Posted: 21:33:26 01/07/04 Wed
>>>>I am just curious abt their actions in China. What
>>>>makes them have this idea of burning themselves for
>>>>their religion.
>>>
>>>Hi, I am melody,a student in Douglas college, B.C.
>>>Canada. After I read the core books of Falun
>>>Gong,Zhuan FaLun, I found it is questionable.please,
>>>give me a feedback after reading the argumentation
>>>below, thanks.Email Add.:panhongyan@hotmail.com
>>>
>>>"Qigong is not exclusively a product of our
>>>country(China). It exists in foreign countries as
>>>well,
>>>
>>>but they don’t call it Qigong. Western countries,
>>>such as the United States, Great Britain, etc.,
>>>
>>>call it magic. David Copperfield, a magician in the
>>>US, is a master of supernormal abilities who
>>>
>>>once performed the feat of walking through the Great
>>>Wall of China. When he was about to pass
>>>
>>>through the Wall, he used a white cloth as a cover,
>>>pressed himself against the Wall, and then
>>>
>>>proceeded to go through it. Why did he do that? Doing
>>>it that way would lead many people to
>>>
>>>consider it a magic show. It had to be done like that
>>>since he knew there are many people in
>>>
>>>China with great supernormal abilities. He was afraid
>>>of interference from them, so he covered
>>>
>>>himself before he went in." ------ Chapter I
>>>Introduction FALUN GONG by Li Hong zhi
>>>
>>> Wow, David Copperfield possesses supernormal
>>>abilities! Is that striking to you? No matter
>>>
>>>what, the paragraph is quoted exactly from the Book
>Fa
>>>Lun Gong, wrote by Mr. Li Hong Zhi,
>>>
>>>the founder of Fa Lun Gong. One may be wondering what
>>>Fa Lun Gong is? Based on its own
>>>
>>>definition, Fa Lun Gong (also called FaLun DaFa),
>>>founded in 1992 in China, is an ancient form
>>>
>>>of QiGong, the practice of refining the body and mind
>>>through special exercises and meditation.
>>>
>>>Like tai chi. It also claims that there are seven
>>>hundred thousand practitioners in China, and three
>>>
>>>hundred thousand oversea practitioners. Mr. Li Hong
>>>Zhi, the founder of Falun Gong , living in
>>>
>>>America, used to be an office clerk in China. He
>wrote
>>>two books as the core texts. One is Fa
>>>
>>>Lun Gong, the other is Zhuan Fa Lun. An article on
>>>Timesasis.com says,"Li's rambling
>>>
>>>dissertation, Zhuan Falun, has only added to
>>>accusations that Falun Gong is a cult. Li writes he
>>>
>>>can personally heal disease and that his followers
>can
>>>stop speeding cars using the powers of his
>>>
>>>teachings. He writes that the Falun Gong emblem
>exists
>>>in the bellies of practitioners, who can
>>>
>>>see through the celestial eyes in their foreheads. Li
>>>believes "humankind is degenerating and
>>>
>>>demons are everywhere"—extraterrestrials are
>>>everywhere, too—and he boasts there is a 2-
>>>
>>>billion-year-old nuclear reactor in Africa. He also
>>>says he can fly." Is Fa Lun Gong a cult? It is a
>>>
>>>super controversial topic. In order to answer this
>>>question, this essay will be focused on testing
>>>
>>>FaLun Gong's credibility by intensively analyzing
>>>lecture one to Seven of the book Zhuan Fa
>>>
>>>Lun.
>>>
>>> The origination of Fa Lun Gong
>>> On this topic, Mr, Li repeatedly
>emphasizes
>>>on the vast and profound history of FaLun
>>>
>>> Dafa. For example, in Characteristics of Falun Gong
>>>,lecture one, Mr. Li claims," Our Falun
>>>
>>>DaFa is one of the eighty four thousand cultivation
>>>ways in the Buddha school. During the
>>>
>>>historical period of this human civilization, it has
>>>never been made public. In a prehistoric
>>>
>>>period, however, it was once widely used to provide
>>>salvation to humankind. In this final period
>>>
>>>of last Havoc, I am making it public again.
>Therefore,
>>>it is extremely precious." In The Issue Of
>>>
>>>Pursuit, section 5, lecture two, Mr. Li further
>>>indicates, "It has taken us many generations, an
>>>
>>>extremely long period of time, and a frightening
>>>number of years to form this FaLun." Moreover,
>>>
>>>in Energy Field, lecture three, he repeats that a
>>>genuine cultivation way is always passed down
>>>
>>>from a prehistoric time. It has been preserved from
>>>quite a remote age and has successfully
>>>
>>>cultivated numerous great enlightened people. Such a
>>>thing can only take place in this Dharma-
>>>
>>>ending period of ours. These things have never
>>>occurred throughout the history.
>>>
>>> Arguments appear here. According to the
>>>passage above, Mr. Li carelessly makes two
>>>
>>>paradoxes. First of all, he says," FaLun DaFa has
>been
>>>used once broadly in a prehistoric period.
>>>
>>>However, latter, he says Fa Lun Da Fa never happens
>>>throughout history, and it can only take
>>>
>>>place in this Dharma-Ending Period. Secondly, he
>>>claims that FaLunDaFa can be derived from
>>>
>>>Buddha school, and in a prehistoric period, it used
>>>once. Can anything be used before being
>>>
>>>produced? In the prehistoric period, which at lease
>>>ten thousand years ago, FaLun Gong was
>>>
>>>used once, unfortunately, the historical Budda,
>>>Shakyamumi, was born twenty five hundred years
>>>
>>>ago in North Central India(Rob Nairn.3).
>>>
>>>The paranormal abilities of Mr. Li
>>> Based on the lecture one to lecture7 of the
>>>book Zhuan FaLun, Mr. Li not only saves
>>>
>>>mankind but also possesses large numbers of
>paranormal
>>>abilities, including flying, predicating
>>>
>>>with his celestial eyes, healing, making precognition
>>>and retrocognition appearing in enormous
>>>
>>>numbers of Fa Shen(A body made of paranormal power)
>>>ect.. In QiGong Is Cultivation Practice,
>>>
>>>lecture one, Mr. Li asserts that over ten thousand
>>>genuine supernormal abilities exist. In
>>>
>>>addition, in QiGong is prehistoric culture, lecture
>>>one, he seriously says," I made a careful
>>>
>>>investigation once and found that humankind has
>>>undergone complete annihilation eighty one
>>>
>>>times." Another example of his powerful abilities is
>>>the omnipotent Fa Shen. In Fa Shen, lecture
>>>
>>>five, Mr.Li explains that FaShen is born in one's
>>>Dantin area and is made of paranormal power.
>>>
>>>FaShen itself is also a complete, independent, and
>>>realistic individual life. He further states the
>>>
>>>capabilities of Fa Shen in Section 1, Lecture three,"
>>>My FaShen are so numerous that they are
>>>
>>>uncountable. Besides these practitioners, no matter
>>>how many more people there are, I am still
>>>
>>>able to take care of them." Furthermore, in section 8
>>>, lecture four, Mr. Li reveals, " Your illness
>>>
>>>will be cured directly by me. Those who practice at
>>>exercise sites will have my FaShen to cure
>>>
>>>their illness. Those who study Dafa by reading the
>>>book on their own will also have my FaShen
>>>
>>>to cure their illness." He adds, " As a practitioner,
>>>your path of life will be changed from now on.
>>>
>>>My FaShen will rearrange it for you." In the same
>>>section, he further states," We have told you
>>>
>>>here that I can do it because I have numerous FaShen
>>>who possess my mighty divine powers.
>>>
>>>They can demonstrate great supernatural powers." A
>>>further example of his abilities is flying.
>>>
>>>Take, Transcending The Five Elements and Three
>Realms,
>>>lecture two, for example. A
>>>
>>>practitioner wrote a report to Mr. Li that he has
>>>reached many levels of Heaven and seen some
>>>
>>>scenes. Mr. Li told him to climb up further. Mr. Li
>>>even confirms," He have found that some of
>>>
>>>those Qi Gong masters in the past had very high gong
>>>column that reached beyond the Milky
>>>
>>>Way; they far beyond the three realms."
>>>
>>> Arguments rise here again. If he had power to
>>>predict, how come he did not stop the tragedy
>>>
>>>on Sept. 11? If he had celestial eyes, how come he
>did
>>>not tell his protector, President Bush,
>>>
>>>where Bin Ladin is? If he had the ability of flying,
>>>if he had the numinous FaShen, how come he
>>>
>>>did not bring Bin Ladin back to justice. If he had
>>>ability of precognition, how come he did not
>>>
>>>change the result prior to FaLun Gong's being Banned
>>>by Chinese government in 1999 as an evil
>>>
>>>cult. If he could heal illness, how come 1,600 his
>>>followers were killed by driving them insane or
>>>
>>>telling them to reject medical help when practicing
>>>the FaLun Gong(cnn.com).
>>>
>>>Paranormal abilities of Fa Lun Da Fa
>>> Like Mr. Li, Fa lun Da Fa also possesses
>endless
>>>powerful paranormal abilities. For example,
>>>
>>>in lecture two, there are five basic paranormal
>>>abilities: celestial eye, clairvoyance,
>precognition,
>>>
>>>retrocognition. FaLunDaFa insists everyone practicing
>>>DaFa can have paranormal abilities. For
>>>
>>>example, in section 5 , lecture one, Mr. Li says,"
>>>Think about it, every one; one can develop
>>>
>>>supernormal abilities through cultivation practice."
>>>The practitioners can gain celestial eye,
>>>
>>>compound eye, and clairvoyance. For instant, Mr. Li
>>>writes about the celestial eye in section one,
>>>
>>>lecture two," we are opening the celestial eye for
>>>everyone here." In addition, he also explains,"
>>>
>>>the celestial Eye that we refer to is, in fact,
>>>located slightly above and between one's eyebrows,
>>>
>>>and it is connected to the pineal body." He also
>>>explains how normal eye works: the images are
>>>
>>>formed in the brain. That is what we see through the
>>>eyes is sent to the pineal body in the rear of
>>>
>>>the brain via the optic nerve and then reflected as
>>>images in that area. Namely, the actual
>>>
>>>reflected images are seen in the pineal body of the
>>>brain. Modern medication also recognizes
>>>
>>>this. Another paranormal ability Fa LunDaFa has is to
>>>prolong practitioners' life. In section 7,
>>>
>>>lecture one, Mr.Li says, " Yet some people have
>>>limited time left in their life, our FaLun DaFa
>>>
>>>can solve this problem and shorten the course of
>>>practice. With consistent practice, your life will
>>>
>>>be constantly prolonged." Mr. Li also says," Elderly
>>>women will regain menstrual period when
>>>
>>>practicing FaLUn DaFa, which is also a common
>>>phenomenon."
>>>
>>> Arguments boost here. First, what Mr. Li
>>>explains the function of pineal body shows he
>>>
>>>does not even have the basic medical knowledge. Based
>>>on the book Human Anatomy, Pineal
>>>
>>>body is a gland controlling a hormone called
>>>Melatonin, which helps control period of sexual
>>>
>>>maturation in male (Eldra Pearl Slomon, 141). Where
>>>the actual reflected images are formed on
>>>
>>>the retina, and then nerve impulses must be
>>>transmitted to the visual areas of the cerebral
>>cortex
>>>
>>>(121). Furthermore, it 's abnormal for elderly women
>>>to regain menstrual period. In fact, most of
>>>
>>>women cease menstruation at about age 50(285). If Mr.
>>>Li could prolong practitioners' lives, how
>>>
>>>come he did not prolong the life of 12 year old
>>>practitioner who died from a suicidal arson with
>>>
>>>her mom and four other practitioners on Tian An Men
>>>Square in year 2000.
>>>
>>> Although the fakes exposed in this essay
>>>reflect just a tiny part of the huge iceberg, they
>>>
>>>manifest convincingly the evil nature of Fa LunGong
>>>and its founder, Mr.Li Hong Zhi. It is ease
>>>
>>>to draw an assured conclusion that Mr. Li Hong Zhi is
>>>an ignorant liar. FaLun DaFa is a sham Qi
>>>
>>>Gong Organization. On this vast world, the shams,
>like
>>>Mr.Li Hong Zhi, are enormous. How can
>>>
>>>one distinguish the wolf covered with the skin of
>>>sheep? Mr. Hans Christian Andersen, a famous
>>>
>>>author, has provided an answer in his meaningful
>story
>>>Emperor's New Clothes. In this live play,
>>>
>>>the Vain Emperor is played by the practitioner of
>>>FaLunGong; the Scoundrel Tailor is played by
>>>
>>>Mr. Li Hong Zhi. Dear readers, do you want to play
>the
>>>role of Outlookers to obey the falsehood,
>>>
>>>or play the role of the little Boy, a hero to smash
>>>the falsehood.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>>> Work Cited
>>>
>>>
>>> Li, Hong Zhi. FaLun Gong. 4th .
>>>www.falundafa.org
>>>
>>> Li, Hong Zhi. Zhuan FaLun .
>.www.falundafa.org
>>>
>>>
>>> Nairn, Rob What Is Meditation.Shambhala.
>>>Boston.
>>>
>>> Solomom, Eldra Pearl. Introduction to Human
>>>Anatomy And Physiology. W.B. Saunders Company.
>>>
>>> Timesasia.com." Special Society Or Evil
>Cult?"
>>>Vol.157. No. 26.July 2.2001
>>
>>I have been practicing Falun Dafa for about 6 months
>>now and the effects have been quite profound, I have
>>stopped smoking doing drugs and drinking, amazingly
>>most easily as well. I deal with people with
>>compassion, I speak with the truth and I will forbear
>>tribualations with a smile.
>>
>>Melodie, you speak with anger agianst Falun Dafa, why?
>>Yuo have not read Zhuan Falun thourally because if you
>>had you would not ask the questions you have asked
>>about Bin Laden and Bush.
>>
>>Please read the book with a clear mind and a calm
>>heart before you make this accusations, as you know
>>not what you do.
>>
>>thank you
>
>START START START
>
>of this answer
>
>>I am somewhat dismayed at the poorly (so far as I can
>see) thought out reasoning in the above attempt at
>showing Li Hongzhi to be a liar. There are certainly
>better efforts available to any competent and sincere
>reader than the superficial, severely biased wash
>presented. Here are potential, and arguably
>unanswerable rebuttals to some of the points, and some
>different approaches to Mr. Li's work that I have
>experienced as more fruitful than what look to me like
>mere protests:
>
>First, has anyone asked Mr. Copperfield if indeed Mr
>Li's claim about him is false? Or has Mr. Copperfield
>publicly, credibly stated that he is NOT capable of
>paranormal feats (as did, for example, Mr. Houdini)?
>It is clearly the agonist's assumption, and prejudiced
>presumption that Mr. Copperfield could not possible
>have powers greater than the agonist's, and that "Of
>course Mr. Li Hongzhi is nuts..." that appears to me
>to be at work in his criticism, or more accurately,
>complaints.
>
>But, joking aside ...(although it would have been much
>more effective/interesting for the agonist to have
>pointed out any public statements etc. by Mr.
>Copperfield, otherwise one is kind of "stuck" with Mr.
>Li's statement as standing uncontroverted except by
>bias -- If Christ is putatively able to do all this,
>why not anther of God's Lovely Creations, eh?), [but,
>joking aside] ...it appears the reader had only
>thought linearly, or from a "I am next to this tree,
>which is next to that tree, which is next to this
>other tree" viewpoint, without exercising the charity
>necessary to avoid Beta-statistical error, commonly
>known as paralysis by analysis, low-power experimental
>design, and considering whether (1) the trees were
>mere images in mirrors, (2) there might be a forest,
>or a planet, or a purpose in between, or (3) do I have
>to be literal minded in everything down every line of
>thought and consideration?, or (4) other
>possibilities, once one leaves the
>yuk-yuk-laugh-at-that-with-pointing-derogatory-finger
>superficial argumentation at all costs point of view.
>
>To wit--If one wanted to plant a "psychological
>device" or "spiritual device" into a receiving
>conscious translating device, how to succeed?
>Hypnosis is one fairly well established, though not
>well understood, technique. Screaming and shouting at
>underlings, such as children, is another well known
>but not so well recognized technique. These, however,
>are about the extent of what our very primitive
>knowledge in the Western Academic World contains.
>Therefore, it would be wise, from such abysmal
>simplicity and ignorance, to have more respect and
>circumspection before scoffing at propositions and
>self-announced techniques for implantation offered by
>someone claiming knowledge deriving from a
>civilization/culture/tradition generally ceded by the
>West as late as the 1970's to have much more
>sophistication and subtlety in the traditions of
>religious and psychological knowedge. (It is worth
>note that the agonist has glaringly omitted any
>knowledge of at all, beyond the approximate birthdate
>of what he appears to believe to have been Mr. Buddha,
>Gautama himself, the manufacturer-indeed of the truths
>he propounded, much like Isaac Newton manufactured the
>laws of gravitation and calculus, etc.)
>
>From this more respectful (even as one might respect a
>Sumo wrestler) position, I note circumspectly that the
>agonist, not at all unlike myself, has automatically
>gotten all-fired-up over the book. Indeed, perhaps he
>has already made the first step towards opening his
>mind or abdomen (that is where the traditional seat of
>feelings and certain kinds of thinking is in some
>traditions, such as ancient China) for reception of
>the proposed
>implant-for-his-health-if-he-is-willing-to-accept-from-
>spiritual-surgeon-Li-Hongzhi. Bombastic statements
>and claims made which violate deeply held "realities"
>have been so deeply impaled into the agonist's psyche
>that he finds himself unconsciously railing and
>raving, without recognizing how automatic and
>not-of-his-own-independent-conscious-consideration are
>his reactions. It appears, from a position I could
>easily posit for Mr. Li, the the agonist is pursuing
>some attachment, and in the process, is unable to
>reach the Iron Candlestick at the end of the Aladdin's cave of treasures.
>Rather than seeking what is true in Mr. Li's
>teachings, he is reacting to his own baggage of
>"knowledge", which I suggest is almost 100% unverified
>hearsay in the agonist's habitual make-up.
>
>As to why Mr. Li does or did not change the course of
>events, one has only to read the books to get an
>irrebuttable answer, from my own position of
>ignorance. Mr. Li says that changing the fate of
>mankind, and certain people, is wrong... it takes
>their karma and postpones it, and this kind of
>activity is generallly, or often, neither good for the
>other person, nor for the practitioner. From this
>point of view, I would gather that Mr. Li claims
>knowledge from a "higher" perspective than mine, and
>would know which ones to meddle in. I guess it could
>be compared to a primitive who hears that "fire" can
>be used to improve metal, and wood-hardness, and many
>other things, and then concludes that the "prophet"
>who is telling this ridiculous bullshit does not know
>what he is talking about because he does not improve
>everything with this fire, or because fire burns, or
>the like. The analogy is not very apt, but I think
>the relative positions of the "prophet" (Mr. Li???),
>vis-a-vis the "primitive" (myself, the agonist, the
>reader???) are not far from what I depicted in the
>analogy.
>
>As to the function(s) of the pineal gland, I believe
>it is associated, in Western thinking, with the
>endocrine system. But that does not remove it from
>Mr. Li's description at all. I have noted that if I
>see just the right shapes (female curves, pretty
>smiles on women, horrific faces, etc.) I immediately
>get an endocrine mediated reaction. This has been
>experimentally demonstrated in babies, in
>face-recognition and face-reaction experiments.
>Certainly we Westerners are very cerebrally oriented,
>believing unconsciously that all things are either
>"blind belief/faith", or logically true, and all else
>is non-existent gobbledygook. Belief is one of the
>links between perception and the endocrine system.
>Could belief have aytning to do with what we see? I
>say yes indeed, when we see a man with a cocked gun
>pointed at us, we see something very believable,
>albeit not necessarily true, to which we react, rather
>like the agonist did to Mr. Li's book, even.
>
>Does the reader really insist and believe that
>paranormal capabilities (perhaps a misnomer) cannot,
>do not exist in humans? I sincerely doubt it, and
>feel some genuine sadness and compassion for those who
>do so insist. Evidence seems to point to the contrary.
>
>If one does hold that possibly such capabilities
>exist, does the reader then insist and believe that
>they cannot be developed? based on what? We can
>develop all of our other capabilites, such as physcial
>strength, patience, forebearance, kindness, honesty,
>thinking clarity, writing skills, visual creativity,
>etc.
>
>Does the reader hold, inisist or believe that in all
>the thousands of years of known existence of humans
>capable of religious thought no one or group has
>developed their capacities in such activity, such that
>it is more developed in them than in those who have
>not developed such? Or even that such development may
>have taken place in several places at several
>different times, analogous to the development of
>physical prowess by the British civilizations and the
>Japanese so clearly seen in the wrestling competitions
>between the Japanese and Commodore Perry's crew?
>
>If the reader can accept that some other culture, or
>tradition, has indeed developed a "technology"
>"superior" to our own clear paucity, then why judge so
>automatically from such a postion of ignorance in the
>subject, starting from the position that one "knows"
>about the subject about which one is so ignorant?
>
>Please understand that I am not arguing that Mr. Li,
>or Falungong is accurate, but rather, that
>consideration of such issues requires more than merely
>getting emotional and shouting aloud how wrong it is,
>all the while claiming one is being logical.
>
>
Bye the bye, Have you encountered the following story in Mr. Li Hongzhi's writings? Consider it seriously!
A fellow caught a bird, who begged to be released, saying he was no use to the man as a captive and promising to give the man three pieces of valuabel advice if set free, the first while still in the captor's grasp, the second when he reached a branch, and the third when he reached the top of a mountain. The man agreed, and received the following:
"If you lose something, even if it be valued by you as much as life itself -- do not regret it"
upon hopping to a branch,
"Never believe anytning which is contrary to sense, without proof"
upon flying to the mountain top,
"Oh, unfortunate one! In me are two huge jewels, and if you had only killed me, they would have been yours!"
The man was in anguish at the thouht of what he had lost, but still managed to ask for the third piece of advice.
"what a fool you are, asking me for more advice wen you have not given thought o the first two pieces I gave you. I told you not to worry about what had been lost, and not to believe in something contrary tosense. Now you are doing both! You are believing something ridiculous and grieving because you lost something. I am not big enough to have inside me huge jewels!
"You are a fool. Therefore you must stay within the usual restrictions imposed on man."
ACTUALLY, I AM ALMOST CERTAIN THAT LI HONGZHI HAS NOT WRITTEN, TAGHT, READ OR EVEN CONSIDERED THE ABOVE STORY...
I only suggested that he had in the hopes that some reader(s) would have the fun of getting to see how the pedigree of the story might change its flavor.
This story is purported by Idries Shah in "Tales of the Dervishes" (from which it comes in the above paraphrase) to come from a tradition much more sophisticated in psychological and religious subtelties, Sufism (a branch of Islam?)
I look forward to any comments.
>
benjamin guile -- benguile@earthlink.net
>END END END of this answer
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