Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 210
the old forces have arranged for some people to get in, but why is it that
most people can do it now, but you can‘t? Haven‘t I taught the Fa to you?!
When problems arise, when something doesn‘t feel right, you have to look at
yourself! Look at where you were wrong and allowed the evil to take
advantage. If you were wrong you should recognize it and do better. Don‘t
forget, you are all Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples!
(http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/5/6/2003nyjiefa.html)
The members I met at our conference seem, for the most part, to be well-intentioned.
However, many of us who participated in the discussion felt very strongly that they were
―spinning‖ us, that they had a public relations agenda. Their goal seemed to be to portray
Falun Gong as a spiritual exercise aiming to promote a love of truth, compassion, and
tolerance (this triad seems to vary sometimes, for example, it is expressed as truth,
benevolence, and forbearance). I encountered resistance when I pressed them, for
example, on the nature of their relationship to Li. Their agenda seemed to be to enhance
Falun Gong‘s image so as to marshal western sentiment against the Chinese government,
an understandable agenda given the reports of human rights abuses in China, and to avoid
anything that might discomfort a western audience, such as their views on Li Hongzhi.
Nevertheless, an agenda that calls for ―spin‖ will cause some to wonder what the members
of the organization ―really‖ believe and to suspect that ―spin‖ is necessary because the truth
may not go over that well. I, for example, would like Falun Gong to answer the following
questions:
1. Do any of Li‘s teachings or the organization‘s writings on healing encourage
practitioners to take a common-sense, rather than a fanatical, attitude toward the
teachings on healing and/or provide guidelines on when to go to a doctor? If so,
which writings?
2. What has the organization done to make sure it‘s members pay attention to such
caveats, if they indeed exist?
3. Is there any internal dissent within the Falun Gong organization? When my
colleagues and I first began to dialogue with members of the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) several years ago, we were struck by the fact
that the ISKCON Communications Journal had published articles critical of events,
practices, and beliefs within ISKCON, e.g., the treatment of women and children, the
structure of the guru system. This internal dissent was an important factor in
convincing some of us that the reform movement within ISKCON is genuine, and it
strengthened our commitment to further dialogue. Dissent is an essential aspect of
any organization that permits its members to think for themselves. Is there
evidence of such internal dissent within Falun Gong, or are members only likely to
hear that all is well within Falun Gong and all ―bad‖ events are due to negative
―outside‖ forces?
4. When practitioners perform their qigong exercises, what goes on inside their minds,
and what is supposed to go on? I have heard, for example, that some practitioners
―claim that while practicing the exercises they can see gods, the F.G. paradise and
things in the other world‖ (Luo, Samuel, personal communication, June 28, 2003).
On the other hand, as noted above, Ching (2001) says that qigong seeks to cease
human thinking, implying an affinity with the mind-emptying forms of meditation in
Buddhism. Some meditative disciplines are aware of the risk of adverse
psychological effects. Has Falun Gong demonstrated any such awareness and has it
done anything to try to minimize this risk among its followers?
the old forces have arranged for some people to get in, but why is it that
most people can do it now, but you can‘t? Haven‘t I taught the Fa to you?!
When problems arise, when something doesn‘t feel right, you have to look at
yourself! Look at where you were wrong and allowed the evil to take
advantage. If you were wrong you should recognize it and do better. Don‘t
forget, you are all Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples!
(http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/5/6/2003nyjiefa.html)
The members I met at our conference seem, for the most part, to be well-intentioned.
However, many of us who participated in the discussion felt very strongly that they were
―spinning‖ us, that they had a public relations agenda. Their goal seemed to be to portray
Falun Gong as a spiritual exercise aiming to promote a love of truth, compassion, and
tolerance (this triad seems to vary sometimes, for example, it is expressed as truth,
benevolence, and forbearance). I encountered resistance when I pressed them, for
example, on the nature of their relationship to Li. Their agenda seemed to be to enhance
Falun Gong‘s image so as to marshal western sentiment against the Chinese government,
an understandable agenda given the reports of human rights abuses in China, and to avoid
anything that might discomfort a western audience, such as their views on Li Hongzhi.
Nevertheless, an agenda that calls for ―spin‖ will cause some to wonder what the members
of the organization ―really‖ believe and to suspect that ―spin‖ is necessary because the truth
may not go over that well. I, for example, would like Falun Gong to answer the following
questions:
1. Do any of Li‘s teachings or the organization‘s writings on healing encourage
practitioners to take a common-sense, rather than a fanatical, attitude toward the
teachings on healing and/or provide guidelines on when to go to a doctor? If so,
which writings?
2. What has the organization done to make sure it‘s members pay attention to such
caveats, if they indeed exist?
3. Is there any internal dissent within the Falun Gong organization? When my
colleagues and I first began to dialogue with members of the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) several years ago, we were struck by the fact
that the ISKCON Communications Journal had published articles critical of events,
practices, and beliefs within ISKCON, e.g., the treatment of women and children, the
structure of the guru system. This internal dissent was an important factor in
convincing some of us that the reform movement within ISKCON is genuine, and it
strengthened our commitment to further dialogue. Dissent is an essential aspect of
any organization that permits its members to think for themselves. Is there
evidence of such internal dissent within Falun Gong, or are members only likely to
hear that all is well within Falun Gong and all ―bad‖ events are due to negative
―outside‖ forces?
4. When practitioners perform their qigong exercises, what goes on inside their minds,
and what is supposed to go on? I have heard, for example, that some practitioners
―claim that while practicing the exercises they can see gods, the F.G. paradise and
things in the other world‖ (Luo, Samuel, personal communication, June 28, 2003).
On the other hand, as noted above, Ching (2001) says that qigong seeks to cease
human thinking, implying an affinity with the mind-emptying forms of meditation in
Buddhism. Some meditative disciplines are aware of the risk of adverse
psychological effects. Has Falun Gong demonstrated any such awareness and has it
done anything to try to minimize this risk among its followers?
