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‖
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‖
