i came across there exercises on the internet about two months back and started doing them. i found them extremely helpfully just for making me feel physically better and more relaxed but they also helped me slow my mind and reach a more tranquil state while meditating. only very recently did i find out that they are associated with a "cult". now most of what i heard of their cult status comes from chinese sources which i don't know if they are 100% reliable since their government is known to use propaganda often. does anyone know anything about them? i'm not a believer in any type of religion per say but i love their exersices, can any one point more towards some effective qi gong exercises or something that will have a similar effect? thanks in advance
I know people and friends here in Slovakia (middle Europe) who are into Falun Gong and practice exercises a lot. Mostly they are people who fight for the rights of china folks. Falun Gong are exercises for fitting your mind and body and this practising is in China prohibited. Probably because of communistic regime which don´t need healthy thinking people. People there are also making groups of their belief so maybe from there word cult became. But I´m not that cognizant of problems so I don´t want to talk rubbish here. But I will ask my good friend which is organizating Falun Gong events in Slovakia and practice it for years.
Many cults, even the church of England, use mediation, chanting and yogi theories as part of their belief structure. They claim that yoga is theirs and place their own theories to explain it. A cult just means a , sequence of beliefs, not dissimilar from the bible however is perhaps more incorrectly used to infer some sinister going ons. I am a naturist so by some this may be considered sinister. Fear of evil prevents us from exploring our full potential. Be aware that you get nothing for free but just ask is the fee fair? My 'cult; asks me to chant Om, waggle my arms and heavy breathe but I see this as normal yoga mantra/asanas and pranayama. Tai Chi / Chi Gong are oriental yogis perhaps? If it makes you feel good then it is probably doing you good... There is some bad press in the UK about Bikram yoga being a cult and trying to copyright yoga and this seems just another facet of the hundreds of yoga types on the market. Be aware that others may find you strange and accuse you of being in a cult but be true to yourself. What is your direct experience? Very informative to read the wiki article on this. wiki article
I was introduced into falun gong a few years back and practiced it pretty intensly. It is not like a cult at all from what I see, it's all about peacefulness, we met once a week for meditations. I did leave it however because of some of the ideas but it is worth looking into. you can get a book for a decent price and try to look for an older version becasue apparently when they try to make it easier to understand in english, they mix some things up. But there were a few huge signs for me that told me it might not be for me. Their main message is great but of course it is all about interpretation, so maybe i interperated things differently i donno. one thing i do know is that if you practice falun dafa they do NOT like you to practice any other religion or spirituality. You also are supposed to watch some movies explaining falun dafa before practicing and ... well i could go on and on. I have a lot of into and practiced it pretty hard core for a while. there are a lot of pros and to me a lot of cons, or questionable things that run in my brain. anyway. hope this gave some insight
