Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 112
There can be no room for doubt, no room for questions, no room for complaints. You must
accept it all to be considered a true practitioner. Any feelings of doubt are seen as a trial, a
test of your faith that you must overcome. In essence, you are asked to drop personal
evaluation and critical thinking and to accept his version of reality.
Since Li‘s teachings contain a number of irrational and strange ideas, coming to believe in
these and accept them as truth becomes part of one‘s initiation. This may be a particularly
meaningful test for western practitioners when they come upon Li‘s teachings about
demons, animal spirit possession and aliens, to name a few. Although Li insists that Falun
Gong practitioners must not reinterpret his teachings or modify them in any way, it is
possible that American practitioners may begin to do so. As one practitioner said of Li‘s
demon warnings, they can be likened to Western medical concepts such as multiple
personality disorders.7 Another practitioner admitted that she was initially ―wary‖ of these
aspects of Falun Gong and at first chose to believe only the parts she liked and to ignore the
others. But, as she says, she has since ― ‗refined her understanding‘ ‗so that now ―I accept
everything totally. It all makes sense to me now‟”8 (italics added for emphasis).
As an example: to be a true practitioner, one must not only believe that the three principle
characteristics of the universe are Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance, but one
must also believe that there are people living in the ocean who are half-fish and half-
human.9
There are often references in the teachings to being a ―true‖ practitioner as opposed to
someone who is not, and there are consequences for failing to live up to the requirements.
If you somehow fail to be a true practitioner,10 Li will take back all the good things he has
given you and return the bad things. You will become susceptible to illness again, you will
lose the instantly high level of enlightenment he gave you, and you will lose his guaranteed
protection from harm and his unconditional love. If you fail to be a true practitioner and fall
back down to the level of the ―ordinary person,‖ then you have no hope of ever being
saved.11
The Us/Them Split and the Negation of Ordinary People
Li says all non-practitioners are ―ordinary people.‖ These ordinary people are degenerate,
likely to be bad, likely to disturb you, and likely to contaminate you. Li tells his practitioners
that after reading his book or watching his videotape, there will be a great gap between
themselves, the practitioners, and ―ordinary people.‖ He warns that if you have contact
with a non-practitioner you run the risk that he may possess something ―evil,‖ so ―you had
better not have contact with him‖.12 One of the potential effects of a strong negative ―us
verses them‖ distinction is the possibility of isolating practitioners from family and friends as
well as non-practitioners in general. It can also help create a feedback loop in which
practitioners only relate to other practitioners, thereby mutually reinforcing belief in the
teachings, identification with the group, and eradication of any conflicting or alternative
views.
Li‘s strongly negative view of ordinary people is also found in his talk about the Last Days of
Havoc, the Ending Period of Catastrophe, and the annihilation of humans.13 Li‘s theory is
that humans were originally all kind and composed of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and
Forbearance, but through association with others into communities they became bad and
dropped down to lower and lower dimensions until they reached the earth and ―this
dimension of ordinary people.‖ In the lecture ―Degeneration of Mankind and Appearance of
Enlightened Beings‖ Li says,
You are expected to become enlightened and return as soon as possible ...
This is what the enlightened beings think, so they have opened a gate for
you. If you fail to return, you have to continue to live in the cycle of birth

Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 113
and death until you have accumulated so much karma that you have to be
annihilated. Therefore, the Earth has to go through many catastrophes. To
put it in another way, the Earth is a rubbish center of the universe. ...
Those who can go up will go up ...Those who are left behind will become
more and more corrupt and there‘s no way out for them but to be
annihilated. The rubbish has become rotten. So it has to be annihilated lest
it should pollute the universe.14
Medical Care
As Falun Gong practitioners will point out, Li does not specifically say anywhere in his
writings that you must not take medicine or receive medical care. However, the teachings
create an environment that is conducive to abandoning medical care. Illness becomes a
test, and the refusal of medicine or medical care becomes the sign of a true practitioner.15
To begin, Li suggests that once you have become a Falun Gong practitioner, ―you will never
be sick‖.16 He tells people that ―in order to be responsible to cultivation students, we [Li]
must adjust your bodies to the state where there is no more illness. Only then can you
cultivate toward a higher level‖.17 Having been adjusted by Li so that you will no longer be
sick, Li tells people that ―After awhile it is not permissible for you to have diseases‖.18 When
you feel sick, he says, you are not really sick but experiencing a trial and tribulation.19 He
tells them that ―Taking medicine during cultivation implies that you do not believe in the
disease-curing effect of cultivation‖.20 Illness becomes a test of your faith in Li, and a
―disease-karma tribulation‖ and ―karma elimination process‖ along the path of
enlightenment.
This environment is particularly a concern when it involves children. One eight-and-a-half-
year old girl from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania spoke in a testimonial on the Falun Gong Web
site. In it she describes how she could not eat lunch for several days but did not tell her
parents because ―I knew it was Master purifying my body.‖ Another time she had a fever for
two days and ―felt very uncomfortable‖ but she said she was going through ―another
disease-karma tribulation.‖ In another instance, she cut her hand but said ―I knew there
was nothing to worry about‖ because she was a practitioner. When going to Falun Gong
group practice in the park with her parents, she reports that ―I even threw up and cried
twice because of the cold. When holding the wheels, my hands got frozen. But whenever it
was really cold, I could feel a Falun Rotating between my hands‖.21 For this eight-and-a-
half-year old girl, ―pain is karma dissolution. Without getting rid of the negative things in my
body and not enduring pain I would not be able to return to paradise.‖
In another testimonial on the Falun Gong Web site, one eight-year-old girl tells of her four-
year-old brother who refused medicine at school saying, ―I fell over today. Teacher wanted
to give me medicine, and I refused it. I endured.‖ His mother replied that he was a ―true
practitioner.‖ The eight-year-old girl then tells us that she had a sister who died of a high
fever and how ―Once I had a high fever. Because my father did not cultivate, he forced me
to go to hospital and take medicine.‖ But her mother, a practitioner, asked her ―Do you
think you are ill?‖ And she said ―No, it is my karma elimination process. I won't go to
hospital.‖22
Misinformation
I am concerned that the Falun Gong organization may be using misinformation in order to
influence or manipulate practitioners. A specific case in point is the Falun Gong's use of
―Awards‖ and ―Proclamations.‖ In November of 1999, some FLG practitioners in China sent a
letter to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.23 In it they state, ―Many US city and state
governments have acknowledged and awarded Falun Dafa.‖ What they are referring to are
several dozen documents listed as ―Awards‖ on the Falun Gong Web site. These ―Awards‖