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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 life14, 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

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 203
that his practitioners‘ illnesses will be cured directly by him16. 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