Falun Gong, Revised Edition

by Li Hongzhi

China Falun Gong is an interim text in the form of Qigong summarizing the cultivation and practice of Falun Gong , the most powerful cultivation system based on the supreme truth of the cosmos "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance". --This text refers to the paperback edition of this title

Genres: Nonfiction, China

190 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Li Hongzhi (Chinese: 李洪志; pinyin: Lǐ Hóngzhì, born 13 May 1951) is the founder and spiritual leader of Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa), a "system of mind-body cultivation" in the qigong tradition. Li Hongzhi began his public teachings of Falun Gong on 13 May 1992 in Changchun, and subsequently gave lectures and taught Falun Gong exercises across China.

Reviews

[Anthony Valletta]

An interesting mix of Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese superstitions. Those who have not read the texts it derives from will find it enlightening, others might find it confusing (especially without exposure to some Chinese culture, which the author clearly warns at the beginning of the book), but those who have other Buddhist and Taoist texts will find nothing startling original (the author also states this at the beginning of the book). It is more of a clarification of Buddhist thought for a particular sect than anything startlingly original, and for such a purpose it works very well.

I cannot understand, however, the need of the Chinese government to repress the followers of this sect, as none of its teachings are particularly subversive, in fact, the Buddhist and Taoist teachings could do nothing but benefit society in general. Especially useful, in a communist society, would be the negative aspects of material seeking taught so plainly here.

A good curiosity read, but I'd honestly recommend "The Dhammapada" or "Tao Te Ching" over it.

[Samy]

Here are my highlights:

A cultivator’s degree of conformity to the nature of the universe is reflected in the amount of his or her virtue. If a person is to cultivate to high levels, he or she needs to break free from the pursuit of wants, something inherent in human beings. In other words, you should let go of all attachments and take lightly all matters of fame and gain.

If you can let go of the things you consider important and part with the things you think you can’t part with, that is loss in the truest sense. Offering help and displays of charity are only a part of loss.

An everyday person wants to enjoy prestige, prosperity, a better standard of living, more comfort, and more money. Those are everyday people’s goals. As practitioners, we are different, for what we gain is gong, not those things. We need to care less about personal gain and take it lightly, but we aren’t really asked to lose any material things; we cultivate in society and need to live as everyday people do. The key is for you to break your attachments—you aren’t really required to lose anything.

You enter the world having nothing, and you take away nothing when you leave—even your bones will be burned to ashes. It doesn’t matter if you have tons of money or are a dignitary—nothing can be taken with you when you leave. Yet since gong grows on the body of your main consciousness, it can be taken forth. What I am saying is that gong is hard to get. It is so precious and so hard to acquire that it can’t be exchanged for any amount of money. Once your gong reaches an advanced level, if one day you decided not to cultivate anymore, then as long as you didn’t do anything bad, your gong could be converted into any material thing you wanted—you would be able to have them all. But you would no longer have the things that cultivators have. You would instead have only the things that a person can gain in this world.


In our discipline we work on practicing Zhen, Shan, and Ren all together. “Zhen” is about telling the truth, doing things truly, returning to one’s original, true self, and ultimately becoming a true being. “Shan” is about developing great compassion, doing good things, and saving people. We emphasize Ren in particular. Only with Ren can a person cultivate into somebody with great virtue. Ren is a powerful thing, and it surpasses Zhen and Shan. Throughout the entire cultivation process you are asked to exercise self-restraint, to mind your character, and to not take rash actions. It’s not easy to exercise self-restraint (ren) when you run into problems.

There is a saying in China: “Cede a little ground, and you will discover a boundless sea and sky.” Give some ground when you are in a challenging situation, and you will find it a whole different scenario.

Attachments stem from human desires. The characteristics of attachments are that their targets or goals are obviously limited, fairly clear and particular, and often the person might be unaware of the attachments. An everyday person has many attachments. He might use any means necessary in order to pursue something and get it. A cultivator’s attachments manifest differently, such as in his pursuing a particular ability, his indulging a certain vision, his obsessing over a certain phenomenon, and so on. No matter what you, a practitioner, pursue, it is not right—pursuit has to be abandoned. The Daoist system teaches nothingness, while the Buddhist system teaches emptiness and how to enter the gate of emptiness. We ultimately want to achieve the state of nothingness and emptiness, and be rid of every attachment. Anything that you can’t let go must be let go.


(1) The Origin of Karma Karma is a type of black matter that is the opposite of virtue. In Buddhism it is called sinful karma, while here we call it karma. So, we call doing bad things “producing karma.” Karma is produced by a person’s doing wrong in this life or in past lives. For instance, killing, taking advantage of others, infringing upon others’ interests, gossiping about someone behind his or her back, being unfriendly to someone, and so on can all create karma. In addition, some karma is passed on from ancestors, family and relatives, or close friends. When somebody throws punches at someone else, he also throws his white matter over to the other person, and the vacated area in his body is then filled with the black matter. Killing is the worst evildoing—it is wrong and will generate heavy karma. Karma is the primary factor that causes sickness in people. Of course, it doesn’t always manifest in the form of sickness—it can also manifest as running into problems and the like. All of these things are karma at work.



As you are a practitioner, you should be clear as to why that kind of incident takes place: It’s because that thing came—you are being asked to pay for your karma. To resolve such incidents, you have to keep yourself under control during those moments and mind your character.

When your compassionate nature emerges, you will do things with much kindness (shan). From your inner heart to your outer appearance, everyone will be able to see that you are really kind. At that point no one will mistreat you anymore. If someone were to treat you unfairly then, your heart of great compassion would take effect and you wouldn’t do the same to him in return. That is a type of power, a power that makes you different from everyday people.


In order to improve your realm of mind, you have to be tested by tribulations in this world. If your character has really improved and become solid, karma will be eliminated during the process, the tribulation will pass, and your gong will develop. Don’t be discouraged if during tests of character you fail to guard your character and you did something wrong. Take the initiative to find what you learned from that lesson, to discover where you fell short, and to put effort into cultivating Zhen, Shan, Ren.


Small tests lead to small improvements; big tests lead to big improvements. I hope that every practitioner is ready to endure great hardship, and will have the determination and willpower to embrace the hardship. You won’t acquire real gong without expending effort. No principle exists that will let you gain gong comfortably without any hardship or effort. You will never 38 cultivate to become an enlightened being if your character doesn’t become fundamentally better and you still harbor personal attachments!


Lust is another kind of demon. A beautiful woman or handsome man might appear in front of a practitioner during his or her meditation or dreams. That person will entice you and seduce you by making stimulating gestures that trigger your lust for an attractive mate. If you can’t overcome it the first time, it will gradually escalate and continue to seduce you until you abandon the idea of cultivating to a high level. It’s a hard test to pass, and a fair number of practitioners have failed because of it. I hope you are mentally prepared for it. If someone doesn’t guard his or her character well enough and fails the first time, he or she should truly learn a lesson from it. It will come again and interfere with you many times until you can truly guard your character and completely break that attachment. This is a big hurdle that you must overcome, or you won’t be able to attain the Dao and cultivate to success.


Because you live amid this society, things such as emotions and desires, self-interest, personal things, and even the affairs of your friends and family come to occupy your mind too much and assume a high priority. How could you have a state of mental calm when meditating? Even if you intentionally suppress them they will still surface on their own. Buddhism’s cultivation teaches “precept, concentration, wisdom.”


Practitioners have to attain a clear and still mind, discard their preoccupation with self-interest, and let go of the greed in their hearts.


The things that are encouraged on television, in the movies, and in literature teach you to become a stronger and more practical person among everyday people. But if you can’t transcend these things you will be far from a cultivator’s character and state of mind, and you will acquire less gong.

Falun Gong cultivators can not only quickly develop their gong strength and supernatural abilities, but also acquire an incomparably powerful Law Wheel in a very short period of time. Once formed, the Law Wheel perpetually rotates automatically in a practitioner’s lower abdomen. It continuously collects energy from the universe and transforms it into gong in the cultivator’s innate body. The goal called “the Law refines the practitioner” is thus achieved. Falun Gong has five sets of movements. They are the following exercises: Buddha Stretching a Thousand Arms, Falun Standing Stance, Penetrating the Cosmic Extremes, Falun Cosmic Orbit, and Strengthening Supernatural Powers.

You should take things that are related to self-interest lightly, and keep a clear and clean mind at all times. If you could prepare and know in advance when a tribulation was coming and what it would be, then it wouldn’t be a tribulation. Tribulations mostly come suddenly and out of nowhere. If you can be firm and resolute you will definitely make it through, and that is how your character is evaluated. Once your attachments are gone, your character is improved, you no longer fight and contend with others, your animosity and grudges are forgotten, and your thinking is cleaned up, then your ability to enter into deep stillness will be better.


Student: Will people get possessed if they practice out in the park? Teacher: I’ve said it many times: We cultivate an upright way, and one upright mind will subdue a hundred evil things! In upright cultivation the mind is pure, so nothing can get on you. The Law Wheel is something incredible. Not only do evil things have no way to attach to you, they have fear when near you. If you don’t believe it you can practice elsewhere. They all fear you. If I told you how many possessing spirits there are out there you’d all be scared—many people are possessed. Those people keep practicing after they’ve reached their goal of healing diseases and improving health, so what do they hope to gain? So they bring on these problems when their thoughts aren’t right. But that said, we shouldn’t blame them, as they don’t know the principles. One of the goals I had in going public was to help correct these wrong things.


Student: What is a person with “great spiritual aptitude”? Teacher: The determining factors are as follows: the person has a good underlying base, outstanding awakening capacity, tremendous fortitude, few attachments, and takes worldly things lightly. That’s having great spiritual aptitude. A person with great spiritual aptitude is hard to find.

If you want to reach a higher level, you must abandon your bad thoughts and clean out your filthy things in order to assimilate to the requirements of the standard at that level. Only by doing so can you ascend.

Upon xinxing improvement, the matter in your body is guaranteed to transform. What kind of changes will take place? You will give up those bad things that you are attached to. For example, if a bottle filled with dirty things is sealed tightly and 33 lecture one Why Doesn’t Your Gong Increase with Your Practice? thrown into water, it will sink all the way to the bottom. You pour out some of its dirty contents. The more you empty the bottle, the higher it will float in the water. If it is emptied entirely, it will float completely to the top. In the course of our cultivation, only when the various bad things that exist on the human body are removed can you move up.

Aren’t you attached to a pursuit if you think too much about it?

We talk about “loss.” When you gain, you must lose. You will encounter some tribulations when you genuinely want to cultivate. When they manifest in your life, you might experience a little bodily suffering or feel uncomfortable here or there—but it’s not sickness. The hardships can also manifest in society, in the family, or in the workplace— anything is possible. Discord will suddenly arise over personal gain or emotional tensions. The goal is to enable you to improve your xinxing. These things usually happen suddenly and seem extremely intense. If you encounter something that is very tricky, embarrassing for you, that makes you lose face, or puts you in an awkward position, how are you going to handle it at that point? If you stay calm and unruffled—if you’re able to do that—your xinxing will be improved through the tribulation and your gong will develop proportionately. If you can achieve a little, you will gain a little. However much you expend is however much you gain. Typically, when we are in the middle of a tribulation we might not be able to realize this, yet we have to try. We shouldn’t regard ourselves as everyday people. We should hold ourselves to higher standards when discord arises. Our xinxing will be tempered among everyday people since we cultivate amidst them. We are bound to make some mistakes and to learn something from these. It’s impossible for your gong to develop while you are comfortable and not encountering any problems.


As a matter of fact, everything has degenerated precisely because the human heart has degenerated. As I said a moment ago, this Earth was created and set up for people. So if people degenerate, everything else will degenerate accordingly.
Because every one of you is cultivating, you must be compassionate and shouldn’t limit yourselves to, “If you treat me well, I will be compassionate toward you; if you don’t, I won’t be compassionate toward you.” Would that be any different from what’s found among everyday people, namely, “If you treat me well, I will treat you well.” There would be no difference. You are cultivators, so you have to go beyond the realm of everyday people and transcend that realm. With everyday people being that low and you being that high, should you regard those who are so much lower than you as enemies? When you regard that person as your enemy, haven’t you sunken that low yourself—to where ordinary people are?

[Soh-india]

Excellent Book.

[Keerthi]

I've met a lot of people who follow Falun Gong and they seem really nice so I wanted to give it a try. But I didn't like anything about this book. It's talk about supernatural abilities, about suffering to pay for karma, etc. When the book started talking about flowers floating on your head and 3 pillars touching the sky and rotating and... Well it just wasn't for me. I didn't like the way Li Hongzhi talked about it as if it is the only right and true practice and everything else like Buddhism and Doaism is not good enough, and only Falun dafa can bring you true enlightenment. Started feeling a bit cult-ish to be very honest. Irrespective, if believing in all this makes people happy and live a good life, than I support it! It just wasn't for me.

[Aaron Schuschu]

Interesting to say the least; outside of the mind control aspects and doubling down on conspiracy theories of which even Erich von Daniken recanted.

[Brett Featherstone-Price]

This book is the basic teachings of Mr. Li Hongzhi. It's about self-cultivation and contains explainations to ancient mysteries as well as current science. Every time I open it (and the next book, Zhuan Falun) I find it hard to put down. For anyone longing for the truth of the universe, you cannot overlook this. From supernatural abilities to dimensions and humankind to divinity, it is quick and easy and the content is so fresh: "It is a different discourse at different levels on the nature of the universe—to be True, Kind, and Tolerant—at different levels, what Daoists call “the Dao,” or what Buddhists call “the Law”
Here is the prologue:

ON BUDDHA LAW
Nothing is as profound as BUDDHA LAW. Of all teachings in the world it is the most wondrous and highest science. To open up this field, ordinary people have to
fundamentally change their way of thinking. Failing that, the reality of the universe will forever remain something of a myth to humankind, and ordinary people will forever grope around inside the box created by their own ignorance.
So just what exactly is BUDDHA LAW, then? Is it religion? Is it philosophy? That is just how the “cutting-edge” scholars of Buddhism see it. They merely study it on a theoretical level, subjecting it to criticism and so-called research, as if it were philosophy. The truth is, BUDDHA LAW is not limited to the little portion in scriptures, which is only
BUDDHA LAW’s initial-level Law. Instead, there is nothing that BUDDHA LAW cannot explain—it penetrates all mysteries, from those of particles and molecules to those of the universe, from small things to great things. It is a different discourse at different levels on the nature of the universe—to be True, Kind, and Tolerant—at different levels, what Daoists call “the Dao,” or what Buddhists call “the Law.”
No matter how advanced the science of today’s human race may be, it can only account for a portion of the universe’s mysteries. Once we mention specific phenomena of BUDDHA LAW, there is always someone who says, “We’re in the electronic age now, and science is so advanced. Spaceships have flown to other planets, and you still talk about those blind beliefs?” To tell it like it is, as advanced as computers may be, they
can’t compare to the human brain, which to this day is a mystery that baffles researchers.
Regardless of how far spaceships may travel, they still cannot fly beyond this material dimension in which the human race exists. The knowledge that humankind has gained today is extremely shallow and nothing more than a small part of the whole—it is
nowhere near a real understanding of the Truth of the universe. Some people don’t even dare to face up to, approach, or acknowledge the facts of phenomena that objectively exist, all because these people are too narrow-minded and are unwilling to change their
longstanding way of thinking. Only one thing can completely unlock the mysteries of the universe, space-time, and the human body: BUDDHA LAW. It can truly distinguish virtue from vice, and good from evil, and it can put an end to wrong views while providing the
right views...

Li Hongzhi
June 2, 1992

Find it all at www.falundafa.org in many languages

[Lisa]

I took a Qigong class at my local YMCA and really enjoyed it. It lit an inner light that yoga did not, so I see qigong as a practice I want to incorporate into my daily life--but I am driven to understand it more.

I read this book, because there is a small local Falun Gong community, and I questioned whether I would want to take classes with them? This book is the nine formative lectures of Li Hongzhi, who developed Falun Gong in the 1980s. In this book, Hongzhi mentioned that our modern day qigong is the result of a Cultural War amalgamation of various ancient qi-disciplines, that stripped spiritual attributes to focus on the physical benefits. Light research concurs this fact. Qigong is commonly, practiced soley as a form of energy medicine.

Hongzhi aims to reunite qigong with its spiritual half. Morality, having a good character, is emphasize for cultivation, which is the word Hongzhi prefers to confer study or practice. Although other Qigong disciplines today also address character and explore the esoteric, albeit off mainland China, Falun Gong was the first to break from the strict mold which the Peoples Republic of China initially cast for qigong.

I will not be studying Falun Gong, it struck me as having an orthodox bent of catholicism in a few key ways: the value of suffering; only masters can do; the masses are evil or ignorant or stupid by and large. In other words, I was glad to satisfy my curiosity, but I will not be practicing Falun Gong.

This book sparked my curiosity to learn about the history of qigong, so onward.

[Sky Feather]

Αν και ο σκοπός του παρόντος βιβλίου δεν είναι να μιλήσει για την ενεργειακή θεραπεία, αλλά στα πλαίσια αναφοράς στην εξέλιξη του Τσίγκονγκ, χρειάστηκε να αναφερθεί. Και εκεί, γίνεται αναφορά για την άμεση σχέση του ήθους (σίνσινγκ) και της αρετής (ντε) και του τελικού αποτελέσματος που θα έχει η εκάστοτε ενεργειακή θεραπευτική. Εκτός από την Απέραντη Αγάπη, άλλοι νόμοι που κρατούν το Σύμπαν σε συνοχή, είναι: Αλήθεια, Καλοσύνη, Ανεκτικότητα και όποιος με τη στάση ζωής του κάνει πράξη αυτές τις αρχές, τότε μπορεί να προχωρήσει σε αυτό το μονοπάτι Ενεργειακής Καλλιέργειας, διότι εναρμονίζεται με τον Πατέρα (Σύμπαν) και αυτομάτως είναι ευλογημένος να γίνει σπορέας αυτών των Νόμων.

Στο εισαγωγικό και περιεκτικό αυτό βιβλίο για το Φάλουν Γκονγκ, μαθαίνουμε για διαφορετικές διαστάσεις, για την Ενέργειας Καλλιέργειας και την εκλέπτυνση του σώματος ώστε να φτάσει εκείνη η στιγμή κατά την οποία η σύστασή του θα έχει αλλάξει. Και θα έχει αλλάξει βεβαίως πρωτίστως η συνείδηση του ατόμου, με την παρασυνείδηση να ακολουθεί, συνδράμοντας στην καθολική τροποποίηση της Ενέργειας Καλλιέργειας του ατόμου.

Και δίχως καν να προχωρήσει κάποιος στην εξάσκηση, αισθάνεται ήδη σε πολλά σημεία την ενέργεια να ρέει μέσα από το κείμενο. Η μετάφραση στα Ελληνικά είναι ικανοποιητική.

[Taylor McNeese]

Interesting outline of the principles of Falun Gong and the relations of popular religions to traditional Chinese religions and practices. Also good if you are simply interested in popular religions in China, East Asian principles and philosophy, as well as if you are a Falun practitioner as the latter bit goes in depth about the regulations and benefits of Falun exercises. The translation provided a clear, precise narrative of Li's work.

[Del Gaddie]

I didn't care for it, really. It seemed to be a bad mashup of cherry-picked Eastern philosophies with a heaping tablespoon of bad science. It's easier to relate to this book than say 'Tao Te Ching' but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking to gain insight into Falun Gong - I still don't see the point.

[Jae (Jazmine)]

After reading the first page, and the wonderful breakdown of the Buddha Fa, I found myself feeling like I had just discovered Buddhism for the first time! As a Buddhist, I believe this book will redefine my spiritual journey! ♥

[Darren]

Very advanced spiritual teacher. A lot of people aren't going to understand what he is talking about and dismiss it as nonsense. Going to practice Falun Gong and try to understand what he is talking about.

[Suryadi van Batavia]

Penasaran sama netralitas yang disebut-sebut para praktisinya. Jadi baca aja deh bukunya, biar tahu apa sih isinya...

[Maelanie]

Excellent book, opens eyes on China's history, people and culture, but much more importantly a guide to how to live/love.

[Tim Lê]

The way to comeback home. The important question who are you, why are you come here have been solved.