has anyone else here heard of falun gong/falun dafa??? my girlfriend and i saw a program on TV that talked all about it, and how the chinese government has made it illegal to be a practioner of falun gong, and they try to say that they're an evil cult and all this, and blaming them for all the bad things happening in china. i was just wondering if anyone knew more about it?? i'm kind of a buddhist. by that i mean that i agree with and follow alot of the buddhist teachings and beliefs. but this falun gong thing also looked really interesting, and the practices that they do look really neat, and i was wondering if i were to look into this and try to do it, would that mean that i was going against buddhism??? i mean, i know that buddhism teaches to embrace all other cultures and beliefs, but would it make me less of a buddhist or anything? just wondering. peace.
Well, from what I've read, Falun Gong is a form of exercise similar to Qigong and Tai Chi which requires a certain mental behavior/attitude in order to become effective. As for if it goes against Buddhism ... ??? Buddhism, in my opinion, compliments any religion because its a path to the true nature of reality through mental training. I visited http://www.falundafa.org and viewed the three-minute video clips and its very similar to Tai Chi in many aspects. Buddha never really spoke against other religions, but asked that you not follow his teachings blindly and without examination. He also abmonished one to continue in their religious practices. Darrell
I first learned of Falun Gong when my friend told me about a Falun Gong protest in New York when he went to Chinatown there. He informed me of how they are sent to certain "camps" for following the practice, and that the government uses propaganda to discourage others from practicing it. It was odd that one day after my friend had spoken to me, there was an episode of Law and Order about on tv. And then, when I went to the library that week and checked out the Buddhist section as always, I was so surprised to find this book that I had briefly looked at a month ago was titled "Falun Gong". At the time when I had first looked at it, I had no idea what they were talking about. But this time, I was so surprised at the coincidence I looked at the book once more with interest. One of my friends who is actually from China was with me, and completely freacked out when she saw me with it. Suffice to say I decided not to check the book out. As far as I know, it is a very interesting practice, which combines spiritual and physical excercizes. I might look into it myself, but for me, Buddhism is more than enough for now. In love, Diana
Certain types of tai-chi and chi gung are banned aswell in China and people are only meant to learn the government approved tai-chi. I think they are afraid that due to the highly meditative aspects of the internal martial arts that they have religous undertones and religion is posion in the eyes of the communists.
Fa Lun Gong was banned in China mainly because there were too many followers, the meetings they had were too big, and the followers were completely devoted to the Master. As far as the teachings go, it is basically as synthesis of Taoist and Buddhist Spiritual Qigong...mostly Buddhist, but with it's own "unique" teachings (such as the idea that, as soon as you practice it to a certain level, the Masters' Dharma Law Body installs a revolving wheel of law inside your energy body which turns continually untill you are purified and enlightened).
