I have been doing a type of chi gong for over a year called Falun Gong. It has really helped me out a lot in my life, and if anyone is interested I would recommend going to www.falundafa.org
On their website there are books and videos that can be downloaded for free. It combines buddhist and toaist principals with chi gong. I highly recommend it!
I’ve looked into FG, and honestly don’t know enough about qigong, Buddhism and Taoism to say if ~70% of it is true or false. About ~20% I’ve heard similar stuff before and can agree with. Another 10% I’m very skeptical about, although I couldn’t prove it’s wrong.
If you know much about it, perhaps I could bounce my skepticisms off you…
I see where your coming from. When I first started, I was extremely skeptical. After doing it myself and then talking to other people, I have completely changed my attitude. If I can help with any questions, please feel free to email me m854agic@aol.com
Falun gong is a cult, plain and simple.
The way of the samurai is in desperateness. Ten men or more cannot kill such a man. Common sense will not accomplish great things. Simply become insane and desperate. - Hagakure
falun gong / falun dafa
sorry guys…
i have looked into this.
the propaganda spread by the chinese
government is not without some truth.
http://www.rickross.com/groups/falun.html
while i am CERTAINLY not a supporter of
chinese communism, i am not in support of
cults.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/fa_lun_gong/falun193.html
http://www.rickross.com/reference/fa_lun_gong/falun188.html
http://www.rickross.com/reference/fa_lun_gong/falun176.html
not that the two are related in any way, but:
i have also seen a mpeg clip of
li hongzhi teaching falun gong against
a background that reminds me much of
the graphics that heavens gate cult used to
use frequently.
be careful. chi cultivation is one thing.
cult affiliation is another.
Hi-
While the falun gong organization may be culty, the chi kung the do is fairly simple and easy to learn.
Overall, the chi kung will not do you any harm but if you go for the “company line” then you are talking about something a bit different.
They do standard chi kung exercises such as Jam Jong (ZhangZhong/ Standing Post), Carry the Moon, Lift the Sky and many other very useful Chi Kung exercises.
They are however a political hot potato and have made many outrageous claims about the powers of Chi Kung in relation to acute illness and indeed it is true that people have refused medical treatment because of membership in the organization and have died from their maladies.
You do not need to be a member of a cult poli/religio group to get benefits from Chi Kung practice which can be found, learned and practiced outside these groups.
peace
Kung Lek
But this is all primarily lots of hearsay/rhetoric/propaganda/mudslinging. That doesn’t impress me. I would like to hear actual factual misconduct or deception, or specific proven errors in the teachings. Anyone?
I’ve only heard mostly personal attacks on Li or his followers, but little specifically about the actual teachings or exercises. Lets hear about those.
I want to say just a couple of things. First of all, I don not think all people should practice falun gong. If you have been doing a type of chi gong, tai chi, or whatever and are happy, then by all means stick with that. I can only speak from my own experience. I practiced falun gong on my own for over a year before ever meeting another falun gong practitioner. I have not had a single experience to hint that this could be a cult in any way. It has had only postive impacts on my life. There are no memberships, no money is exchanged, and you can do it without ever talking to another person who does falun gong. How could a cult exist without membership? As far as the Chinese media is concerened, you have to keep in mind that the Chinese government has a bad habbit of running people over with army tanks if they voice their opinion. The media in China is controlled by the government. The reason why the Chinese government bagain persecuiting falun gong, is because there are too many people who pratice it. Li Hongzhi lectured for two years to about 20,000 people. withen a few years, several million Chinese were practicing this chi gong. The Chinese government is afraid of anything that could motivate that many people for any reason. The only way someone can be unbiased is if they give it a try themselves. If you don’t like it, don’t do it. Simple as that. In all though, I’m just trying to say that this has helped my out a lot, and I just wanted to give my opinion. People have the right to their own opinion (even if it is totally opposite of mine).
www.falundafa.org
www.clearwisdom.org
falun gong
right, chi stuff is good
cult stuff is not good.
if you can separate the wheat
from the chaff then go ahead.
go to rick ross website and see
the posts from news agencies from
all over the world.
something about… oh i dunno…
some guy claiming to be the center
of the universe? so he ripped chi gung
exercises from someplace else…
i will look for quotes and news clippings
to set y’all straight.
cuz you sure arent doing it yourselves :P~
falun gong
ok here we go…
from none other than TIME magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/articles/0,3266,28833-2,00.html
In an interview with TIME in April, Li spoke about the
joys of levitating and claimed that aliens have been
invading humanity since the beginning of this century.
TIME magazine is hardly in cahoots with
communist chinese officials, but…
hey, sounds like a kook that found something
cool to manipulate people with.
i thought different when it first happened.
like maybe something neat is brewing in the
world… freedom at last for our national chinese
brothers and sisters.
upon closer examination, i feel different.
like dangling a carrot in front of a running
horse.
only in this case, the horse gets to bite every
once in a while, blinded by whats ahead of him
enjoying the taste of the bite.
http://forum.kungfuonline.com/1/OpenTopic?q=Y&a=tpc&s=126197291&f=340190991&m=5721985601
There’s the conversation we had on this subject in kung fu forum few weeks ago.
http://clearwisdom.net/eng/weekly_category/support.html
International organizations and governments don’t support cults.
Magical Thinking
I ordered their Video and instruction manuel.
They threw in a gallon of gas and a pack of matches for free!!! 
Just kidding of course.
The chi-gung sets are basic and nothing special. The writings of the leader are magical in nature and sound delusional to me. One example is he describes seeing a naked female (vision) while meditating. He explains that this is a visit by a demon attempting to hinder your progress.
This is a very new aspect of meditation to me. I know I have a lot to learn and look forward to the day that naked females visit me. 
I am joking about that, it would scare the **** out of me to start having hallucinations.
Hmmm
Does anyone know the definition of the word cult? It means;
- a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
- an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
- the object of such devotion.
- a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
- Sociol.a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
- a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
so by definition, Christianity is a cult, Buddhism is a cult, Islam is a cult, Hinduism is a cult…Nice eh? It’s not till the 6th definition of the word cult that you guys get your meaning when applied to Falun Gong. Does ANYONE HERE have FIRST HAND knowledge of Falun Gong that is unfavorable? Don’t knock it till you try it. Let em be, if they are happy…
To the best of my knowledge, Heaven’s Gate folks and those in Jonestown are happy as clams.
Those with David Koresh are a little hot under the collar, but when the smoke clears, they are probably happy too.
The Khmer Rouge was a nice organization following their leaders…the fields were nice.
cagey vet - actually, he may be right about the aliens. But, that’s another story…
As far as levitating and other paranormal powers - I believe they may be possible but will really believe them when I see them. There was footage this Sunday night on TLC showing Lamas walking thru walls so who knows? So, I don’t think this is necesarily proof for or against.
As far as the integrity and validity of the Chinese gov’s propaganda, you gotta be kidding me. They blow so much smoke out their *ss you’d think you’re stuck in a cab with some practicing Rastafarians. Reminds me of the anti-LSD largely-BS “horror stories” you heard in the 60s. Even the recent self-burnings are highly suspicious of being faked. Like one guy’s “burned face” looks suspiciously like the latex masks used in movie-making, where it’s thicker and covers up the real hairline, creating a false one that goes straight up all around. Meanwhile, the gov has cruelly tortured countless and killed over a hundred non-resistant followers.
I don’t care if this guy’s a flake, I think the gov’s crackdown on it is horrendous. I think everyone has the right to religious freedom, especially if it’s non-violent.
Bottom line is, I want to hear the facts argued here, not baseless mudslinging. I want to hear specific facets of the teachings, exercises or Li Hongzhi debunked, or not. Again, anyone???
Orginex, I agree with you about the outright suppression of thoughts and ideas in China. I am very much a supporter of free speech and all the liberties we enjoy in the good ole US of A.
I thought I was specific when I described the visual hallucinations this guy was reporting. I did sutdy the teaching from the website for a while. I stand by my first post.
qiman - actually, I’ve heard the same advice to not be distracted by weird hallucinations or visualizations during meditation from various sources, not just FG. That was even supposedly one of Sakyamuni’s “tests” for enlightenment per legend. So, I consider that pretty standard advice, if anything…
And BTW, as far as levitation and “superpowers” - a certain HUGE mainstream “respected” religion claims its leader could walk on water, materialize things, change substances, heal and come back to life after death - yet no one uses that as proof that it’s BS or a “cult.” Can you spell D-O-U-B-L-E S-T-A-N-D-A-R-D ??
[This message was edited by origenx on 02-19-01 at 11:27 AM.]
Word up brutha…
My thoughts exactly origenx. Until someone has PROOF, then let it alone…
People think if it can’t be explained or sounds impossible, then it is. I think science and spirituality will eventually prove eachother right…