Editing Falun Gong (section)

===Central teachings===
{{Cleanup rewrite|2=section|date=November 2023}}
[[File:Falun Gong Meditation in Manhattan New York.jpg|thumb|upright|Falun Gong adherents practice the fifth exercise, a meditation, in [[Manhattan]].]]
According to the Falun Gong, the Falun Gong aspires to enable the practitioner to ascend spiritually through moral rectitude and the practice of a set of exercises and meditation. The three stated tenets of the belief are truthfulness ({{lang-zh|c=真|p=Zhēn|label=none}}), compassion ({{lang-zh|c=善|p=Shàn|label=none}}), and forbearance ({{lang-zh|c=忍|p=Rěn|label=none}}).<ref>{{harvp|Ownby|2008|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Bwqkwx4SWS0C&q=ownby+falun 93, 102]}}</ref> These principles have been repeated by Falun Gong members to outsiders as a tactic for evading deeper inquiry, and followers have been instructed by Li to lie about the practice.<ref name="kavan">{{Cite conference |last=Kavan |first=Heather |date=July 2008 |title=Falun Gong in the media: What can we believe? |url=https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/Colleges/College%20of%20Business/Communication%20and%20Journalism/ANZCA%202008/Refereed%20Papers/Kavan_ANZCA08.pdf |conference=2008 Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference |access-date=12 October 2020 |archive-date=12 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012202848/https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/Colleges/College%20of%20Business/Communication%20and%20Journalism/ANZCA%202008/Refereed%20Papers/Kavan_ANZCA08.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|6}}<ref name="Lewis 2017">{{cite journal |author=James R. Lewis |author-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |title='I am the only one propagating true Dharma': Li Hongzhi's Self-Presentation as Buddha and Greater |date=2017 |journal=Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities |volume=II |number=2 |publisher=Colombo Arts}}</ref> Together these principles are regarded as the fundamental nature of the cosmos, the criteria for differentiating right from wrong, and are held to be the highest manifestations of the [[Tao]].<ref>{{harvp|Porter|2003|p=29}}: "According to the Falun Gong belief system, there are three virtues that are also principles of the universe: Zhen, Shan, and Ren (真, 善, 忍). Zhen is truthfulness and sincerity. Shan is compassion, benevolence, and kindness. Ren is forbearance, tolerance, and endurance. These three virtues are the only criteria that truly distinguish good people and bad people. Human society has deviated from these moral standards. All matter in the universe contains Zhen- Shan-Ren. All three are equally important."</ref><ref>{{harvp|Ownby|2008|p= 93}}: "The very structure of the universe, according to Li Hongzhi, is made up of the moral qualities that cultivators are enjoined to practice in their own lives: truth, compassion, and forbearance."</ref><ref>{{harvp|Penny|2012|p=133}}: "For Li, as he often repeats in Zhuan Falun, the special characteristic or particular nature of the cosmos is the moral triumvirate of zhen (truth), shan (compassion), and ren (forbearance). He does not mean this metaphorically; for him zhen, shan, and ren are the basic organizing principles of all things{{nbsp}}[...] it is embedded in the very essence of everything in the universe that they adhere to the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance."</ref> Adherence to and cultivation of these virtues is regarded as a fundamental part of Falun Gong practice.<ref>{{harvp|Penny|2012|p=124}}: "In addition, in Falun Gong cultivation adherence to the code of truth, compassion, and forbearance is not just regarded as the right and responsible course of action for practitioners; it is an essential part of the cultivation process. Lapsing from it will render any other efforts in cultivation worthless."</ref> In [[Zhuan Falun]] ({{lang|zh|转法轮}}), the foundational text published in 1995, Li Hongzhi writes "It doesn't matter how mankind's moral standard changes{{nbsp}}[...] The nature of the cosmos doesn't change, and it is the only standard for determining who's good and who's bad. So to be a cultivator you have to take the nature of the cosmos as your guide for improving yourself."<ref>{{harvp|Penny|2012|pp=124–125}}</ref>

Practice of Falun Gong consists of two features: performance of the exercises, and the refinement of one's {{transliteration|zh|xinxing}} (moral character, temperament). In Falun Gong's central text, Li states that {{transliteration|zh|xinxing}} "includes virtue (which is a type of matter), it includes forbearance, it includes awakening to things, it includes giving up things—giving up all the desires and all the attachments that are found in an ordinary person—and you also have to endure hardship, to name just a few things."<ref>{{harvp|Penny|2012|p=169}}</ref> The elevation of one's moral character is achieved, on the one hand, by aligning one's life with truth, compassion, and tolerance; and on the other, by abandoning desires and "negative thoughts and behaviors, such as greed, profit, lust, desire, killing, fighting, theft, robbery, deception, jealousy, etc."<ref name="Benjamin Penny p 170">{{harvp|Penny|2012|p=170}}</ref>

Among the central concepts found in the teachings of Falun Gong is the existence of 'Virtue' ({{lang-zh|c=德|p=[[De (Chinese)|Dé]]|label=none}}) and 'Karma' ({{lang-zh|c=業|p=[[Karma#In Falun Gong|Yè]]|label=none}}).<ref>{{harvp|Penny|2012|p=172}}: "Transforming karma into virtue is fundamental in the cultivation practice of Falun Gong"</ref><ref name="Ownby110">{{harvp|Ownby|2008|pp=110–12}}</ref> The former is generated through doing good deeds and suffering, while the latter is accumulated through doing wrong deeds. A person's ratio of karma to virtue is said to determine their fortunes in this life or the next. While virtue engenders good fortune and enables spiritual transformation, an accumulation of karma results in suffering, illness, and alienation from the nature of the universe.<ref name=Ownby110/><ref name="Pennyreligion">{{Cite book |last=Penny |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Penny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P6Z6fQ7Fg3QC |title=The Religion of Falun Gong |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-226-65501-7 |pages=217 |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=23 September 2016 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405191258/https://books.google.com/books?id=P6Z6fQ7Fg3QC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Li Hongzhi, "Zhuan Falun", pp.&nbsp;27–35, 362–65</ref> Spiritual elevation is achieved through the elimination of negative karma and the accumulation of virtue.<ref name=Pennyreligion/><ref>{{harvp|Ownby|2008|p=93}}: "The goal of cultivation, and hence of life itself, is spiritual elevation, achieved through eliminating negative karma—the built-up sins of past and present lives—and accumulating virtue."</ref> Practitioners believe that through a process of moral cultivation, one can achieve [[Tao]] and obtain special powers and a level of divinity.<ref name="penny">{{harvp|Penny|2012|pp=158, 201}}</ref><ref name="timeint">{{Cite magazine |last=Dowell |first=William |title=Interview with Li Hongzhi |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053761,00.html |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001083402/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053761,00.html |archive-date=1 October 2018 |access-date=1 September 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Falun Gong's teachings posit that human beings are originally and innately good—even divine—but that they descended into a realm of delusion and suffering after developing selfishness and accruing karma.<ref name=":0">{{harvp|Penny|2012|p=135}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Ownby|2008|pp=103–05}}</ref> The practice holds that [[reincarnation]] exists, with the cycle of rebirth shaped by the accumulation of karma—a concept somewhat analogous to the Christian notion of "reaping what one sows."<ref name="auto">{{harvp|Ownby|2008|p=110}}</ref> This perspective helps explain the perceived unfairness of differences among individuals, such as between the rich and the poor, while also encouraging moral behavior despite these inequalities.<ref name="auto"/> To re-ascend and return to the "original, true self", Falun Gong practitioners are supposed to assimilate themselves to the qualities of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, let go of "attachments and desires" and suffer to repay karma.<ref name=Pennyreligion/><ref>{{harvp|Ownby|2008|p=93}}: "One finds few lists of do's and don'ts in Li's writings, nor are there sophisticated ethical discussions. Instead, followers are advised to rid themselves of unnecessary "attachments", to do what they know is right, and hence to return to "the origin", to their "original self".</ref>

Traditional Chinese cultural thought and opposition to modernity are two focuses of Li Hongzhi's teachings. Falun Gong echoes traditional Chinese beliefs that humans are connected to the universe through mind and body, and Li seeks to challenge "conventional mentalities", concerning the nature and genesis of the universe, time-space, and the human body.<ref name="Schechter">{{harvp|Schechter|2001}}</ref><ref name="Chou">{{cite book |last=Chou |first=Kai-Ti |title=Contemporary Religious Movements in Taiwan: Rhetorics of Persuasion |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7734-5241-1 |location=Lewiston, NY}}</ref> The practice draws on East Asian mysticism and traditional Chinese medicine, but claims to have the power to heal incurable illnesses. Falun Gong describes modern science as too limited, and views traditional Chinese research and practice as valid.<ref name="zhao">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Zhao |first=Yuezhi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiFY59xGHBkC&pg=PA209 |title=Falun Gong, Identity, and the Struggle over Meaning Inside and Outside China |encyclopedia=Contesting Media Power: Alternative Media in a Networked World |editor-first1=Nick |editor-last1=Couldry |editor-first2=James |editor-last2=Curran |location=Lanham, MD |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7425-2385-2 |access-date=23 September 2016 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405191339/https://books.google.com/books?id=tiFY59xGHBkC&pg=PA209 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Li says that he is a being who has come to help humankind from the destruction it could face as the result of rampant evil. When asked if he was a human being, Li replied "You can think of me as a human being."{{sfn|Allen-Ebrahimian|2017}}<ref name="Time World 1999">{{cite magazine |last=Dowellc |first=William |date=10 May 1999 |title=Interview with Li Hongzhi |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053761,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=30 January 2021 |archive-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001083402/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053761,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bbc2001-05-08">{{cite news |date=8 May 2001 |title=Who is Li Hongzhi? |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1223317.stm |access-date=20 May 2010 |archive-date=5 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505225343/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1223317.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the founder Li in his book, ''Zhuan Falun'', he claims to have cultivated supernatural powers starting at age eight.<ref>{{cite news |title=For Whom the Gong Tolls |author=Peter Carlson |date=27 February 2000 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/02/27/for-whom-the-gong-tolls/bab9382d-0b90-44da-b4ae-cef517460652/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=30 April 2023 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812131858/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/02/27/for-whom-the-gong-tolls/bab9382d-0b90-44da-b4ae-cef517460652/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [[Radio France International]], ''Zhuan Falun'' also promises to teach practitioners to cultivate supernatural powers such as <nowiki>"see[ing]</nowiki> through a wall or into a human body".<ref>{{cite news |title=Were human organs stolen in 20-year conflict between Beijing and Falun Gong? |date=25 April 2019 |author=Jan van der Made |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/asia-pacific/20190418-were-human-organs-stolen-20-year-conflict-between-beijing-and-falun-gong |publisher=RFI |access-date=30 April 2023 |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213013618/https://www.rfi.fr/en/asia-pacific/20190418-were-human-organs-stolen-20-year-conflict-between-beijing-and-falun-gong |url-status=live }}</ref>