Li Hongzhi has
preached his heretical ideas and fallacies on every possible
occasion, and included these absurdities in several books,
such as Zhuan Falun and Falun Fofa. These books have been
widely circulated. The following fallacies, which Li Hongzhi
has repeatedly preached to the practitioners, are all from
the books he and his principal followers wrote and sold as
well as from the cassette and video tapes of his
speeches:
(1) Hawking the
theory of "doomsday" by declaring that mankind has
come to the brink of
destruction
On many occasions
Li Hongzhi told his audience: "The human race has
experienced many destructive catastrophes," ...
"the next destruction -- complete destruction -- will
come soon. It will be destruction of both the form and the
spirit, and will be really horrible." He said during
one speech, "Please tell everyone around you that the
present time is near the point of extinction for the human
race. All the devils will emerge this time, according to
Sakyamuni." He told his followers, "I have found
that mankind has experienced 81 calamities in the past, and
each time there were only a few people who survived."
He declared, "Mankind on this Earth faces inexorable
doom. Our planet should have been totally destroyed last
year, according to my calculations." He said it was he
himself who had made the destruction postponed by 30
years.
(2) Cursing the human
race and regarding the Earth as a rubbish
heap
When preaching to
practitioners of "Falun Gong," Li Hongzhi
repeatedly told them that mankind was very dreadful. He
said, "If you look around, you will find that the human
world today is extremely terrible, really terrible, full of
vicious persons." Again, "The human race, as a
whole, is deteriorating, and there are devils
everywhere." He further explained this view by saying,
"The human race, while developing to the present stage,
has become distorted and is full of evil. Hence, the gods
have completely lost confidence in mankind. This is one of
the major reasons why the gods do not care about human
beings any more." He also told his followers, "The
reason why you were born on the Earth was not merely to be
human. You should have the goal of gaining complete
understanding about the world, as well as the rest of the
universe, so as to escape confusion and return to the other
world. However, there are some people who cannot do this. As
a result, they have to be born into the world again and
again according to the doctrine of samsara, until the world
comes to an end. That's why the Earth has experienced many
catastrophes." Li also said, "Usually, bad people
fall down in the universe, dropping into the central part of
it, which is the Earth. Consequently, the Earth serves as
the rubbish heap of the universe." He added,
"Those who have descended to the level of ordinary
people are destined to be
destroyed."
(3) Negating
modern science and urging his followers to eschew
science
Li Hongzhi proclaimed
to practitioners of "Falun Gong", "Science
today is not science in the real sense ..., because you can
never use this science to probe into the profound mysteries
of the universe." And, "The (science and)
technology of mankind cannot reach a high plane of
understanding.... Yet, we practitioners (of "Falun
Gong") can, and Buddha is a scientist at the highest
level." Also, "The science of mankind today is, in
fact, developed from a wrong basis; its understanding of the
universe, mankind and life is all wrong. So, in our circles
of practitioners we never acknowledge modern science,
holding it to be
erroneous."
(4) Claiming
that only he himself and his "Falun Dafa" can save
mankind
Li Hongzhi repeatedly
told practitioners of "Falun Gong" that
"`Falun Dafa' has, for the first time since the
Creation, enlightened human beings to the characteristics of
the universe (Law of Buddhist), which is tantamount to
providing mankind with a ladder to Heaven." He said,
"Now I am the only person in the world who can spread
the orthodox Law of Buddha. Therefore, I am doing a deed
that has never been done by our predecessors. Indeed, I am
doing something people have never done before -- propagating
the fundamental law of the universe, which you cannot read
in any book, past or present, Chinese or foreign. The theory
I propound is related to the nature of the universe; it is
the fundamental Law of Buddha." He also said to the
practitioners, "I am here to save you from this
miserable world. If I cannot save you, there is no one in
the world able to do so." "Existing human society
has deteriorated to its extreme point. Hence, no one cares
about you, except me; the others just watch you being
destroyed." "My law-bodies [supernatural replicas
of himself existing in the ether, apparently -- Tr.] are so
numerous that they are beyond calculation. Therefore, I can
look after as many people as I want, maybe the entire human
race."
(5) Claiming that
diseases are "karma retribution" and forbidding
his followers to consult doctors or take
medicine
"Karma" is a
Buddhist term, basically having neither good nor bad
connotations. Li Hongzhi, however, used it to express the
concept of retribution for sin. He preached to the
practitioners of "Falun Gong", "The basic
cause of all illness and misfortune is `karma'."
Illness came from a kind of "field of karma formed by
black materials." He continued, "Karma is the
fundamental cause and the most important source of
illness."
"Birth, old
age, disease and death are preordained," he claimed.
"They are karma retributions. Once you owe debts, you
have to repay them." "Illnesses are caused by
karma. If one cannot get one's karma dispelled, one's
illnesses can never be cured completely. Only by practicing
`Falun Gong' can karma be dispelled. No other means will
do." He also said, "The essence of illness is the
problems in another space reflected in this space. For
instance, if pathogenic bacteria live in another space, how
can man deal with them? So we practitioners do not talk
about illnesses, because they are all the results of
karma."
Furthermore,
"Those who sincerely practice `Falun Gong' will not
fall sick or encounter danger." "The power
achieved by practicing `Falun Gong' can automatically
eliminate viruses and karma. Taking medicines merely presses
back karma, making it impossible to cleanse one's body; so
medicines are not able to cure diseases. One who passes this
barrier will become a
superman."
(6) Claiming
that he himself has "law-bodies" and has installed
"wheels of law" in the abdomens of
practitioners
Li Hongzhi
claimed to practitioners of "Falun Gong",
"None of you, my disciples, or masters of other schools
of qigong, has law-bodies. As far as I know, I'm the only
one in the world who has law-bodies." "I have
countless law-bodies, who look exactly like me. They are in
another space, and can change their sizes limitlessly and
freely." He went on to say, "I am the main body,
but they (the law-bodies) have the ability to do things
independently. They can look after you, protect you, help
you to practice, and do other things. They are actually
embodiments of me. That is how I can protect you." Li
Hongzhi added, "Most of my law-bodies wear the kasaya
[Buddhist robe -- Tr.], and they have curly, blue hair, as
blue as a
sapphire."
"Today,
human society is extremely chaotic and dirty," he told
"Falun Gong" practitioners. "Human beings are
stained with too much karma and evil thinking. But I can rid
you of all that, and install in you the bright golden
`wheels of law,' together with many other things included in
`Falun Dafa,' so that you can cultivate yourselves and purge
your hateful, dirty bodies.... This is a precious chance
never met before since remote antiquity; you are
incomparably lucky to have
it."
He said, "The
`wheel of law,' which I install in a practitioner's abdomen,
revolves 24 hours a day. It automatically helps the
practitioner in his or her practice. In other words,
although the practitioner is not practicing all the time,
the `wheel of law' is cultivating the practitioner
non-stop."
(7) Distorting
and belittling religion and claiming that "Falun
Dafa" is the "orthodox
law"
In the guise of
"Law of Buddha," Li Hongzhi usurped some religious
terms and distorted Buddhism. His heretical ideas are in
essence anti-religious. Li Hongzhi called his "Falun
Dafa" the "highest Law of Buddha" and the
"orthodox law" superior to all religions. In order
to make the practitioners of "Falun Gong" have
total faith in "Falun Dafa" and abide by the
doctrines of his heretical cult, Li Hongzhi forbade the
practitioners to believe in any religion. He said, "The
existing religions cannot save people from torment any more.
They cannot help you attain self-cutivation, and so are on a
low plane. Why should you want to adulterate the "Falun
Dafa"? You must shun the things on a low plane because
they will cause confusion in the body you have cultivated or
the things you will get from practicing "Falun
Gong". In that way, you will not be able to return
home, but will undermine the road for your advance." He
further claimed, "As for Buddhism, Christianity,
Judaism and some other religions, I admit that they have
been orthodox religions in history. However, in this
historical period and in this society, when the concept of
mankind is being modernized, it has become impossible for
people to understand the true concept of the nature of man
from ancient ideas.... You cannot understand the old
religions, and of course you cannot be converted by them.
Consequently, they will not care about you." "I
tell you this because I'm afraid you may be led astray by
the religions that cannot relief people of their
torment."
He also said,
"Some religions have come into being in this century.
No, not only this century, over the past few centuries many
new religions have appeared. Most of them are
fake."
Leaders of China's
religious circles pointed out that not only do Li Hongzhi
and his "Falun Dafa" have nothing whatsoever to do
with religion, their heretical ideas are directly opposed to
religious doctrines, and are therefore anti-religious.
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