On August 4, Li Hongzhi delivered "Fa Teaching to Australian Practitioners", a so-called "new lection" that once again exposed daily declining of Falun Gong cult organization.
In fact, since the Chinese government declared to outlaw Falun Gong, the cult organization was then determined to go perdition. After the Chinese government launched a grand movement against Falun Gong, the organization that claimed to have 100 million members collapsed in just the turn of a hand. With the movement against Falun Gong going further,the ugly performances of Falun Gong as well as Li Hongzhi were consequently staged. With the retroactive and evil nature of Falun Gong being widely exposed, the Falun Gong cult organization declined gradually.
One thing that marks the declination of Falun Gong is that its internal strife is getting more and more drastic. The money grubber Li Hongzhi this time didn't hesitate spending much money inviting some 300 members out of 1000 Australian Falun Gong practitioners to US, for which flight tickets alone cost him 600,000 to 700,000 USD. Why did Li Hongzhi do like that? The major reason is that dogfight between "Australian Falun Dafa Association" and "Epoch Times Group" has caused negative consequence and Li Hongzhi's approach pricked up instead of ending the internal strife. Therefore Li Hongzhi intended to have such a meeting to suppress strife between the two groups by racking back them face-to-face.
It can be observed from Li Hongzhi's utterly discomfited berating and hilding imploration that strife inside Falun Gong has been very drastic indeed. The two groups-"Falun Dafa Association and and Epoch Times group that represent the early Falun Gong members and the new generation respectively"-not only denounced each other, but also appealed it to Li Hongzhi; they not only tried to depress each other in organization, but also tried to scramble financially; they not only tried to "search spies" from the other party, but also took revenge on each other with violence; they not only had dogfight internally, but also brought their strife to the public by exposing details of their internal strife to "Democratic Members" and "Dafa professors" escaped to US from Mainland China. Such strife not only seriously harmed the Falun Gong organization itself, but also made the evil nature of cult Falun Gong more and more obvious to the public and therefore greatly reduced its bewildering effect. Li Hongzhi alleged the way of alluring people to join in Falun Gong to be "saving people". He lamented, "At present, the major mission for the Dafa disciples is to save people. Saving people is indeed a hard mission since you have to try to persuade them in a way they might accept your idea. It needs much...well...much energy so that you may save one person. But if you exposed your bad things (i.e. about internal strife) to other people, you will simply lead him to hell. Is it frightful since he will then have bad impression about Falun Gong? Since such bad impression is given to him by you, a practitioners and Dafa disciple, how do you think he can be saved?!" (Fa Teaching to Australian Practitioners).
Although Li Hongzhi resorted to his last resort despite his decrepit and sick "physical body" to suppress strife between the two groups to postpone the declination of Falun Gong, he is doomed to fail given that the strife in Falun Gong has its deep root that Li Hongzhi cannot eliminate.
The external context is getting harsher and harsher
As is known to everyone, Falun Gong`s home is in Mainland China. Since Chinese government outlawed Falun Gong, the Falun Gong organization in Mainland China collapsed rapidly, and "omnipotent" Li Hongzhi escaped to US. As the movement fighting against Falun Gong developed further, Falun Gong's cult nature and its retroaction were more widely recognized and thus Falun Gong was utterly defamed in Mainland China.
In a period of time, because of Falun Gong's deceitful propaganda and the distorting report by certain states and media, some people abroad who didn't recognize the real face of Falun Gong joined in the organization. In Fact, time is the best teacher that illustrates the truth. At present, more and more countries indicated that they understand Chinese government's banning on Falun Gong. People around the world, especially those overseas Chinese whom supposed to be the major population for Falun Gong to expand its organization are more and more disgusted with Falun Gong. In 2004, Li Hongzhi has lamented, "Even though relatively speaking there are a lot of students in the New York region, including the area around New Jersey, after what has taken place over the last few years it still looks like a great many people in Manhattan are indifferent. After such a long period of doing things to clarify the truth, a lot of people still haven't come into contact with Dafa disciples." (Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York). Now, Falun Gong can only rely on few states and non-governmental organizations that are hostile to China as well as "Taiwan's pro-independence", "Tibetan pro-independence activists" and so-called Falun Gong practitioners fled from Mainland China, for which it get more and more notorious and be spited by people with conscience.
Those Falun Gong members, especially the senior members, went to Li Hongzhi with filthy purposes to share pleasant instead of adversity. When they felt their future was dimmed, they would certainly strife for the self-interest.
Illusory aureole on Li Hongzhi has come out
One feature of cult is its fanatic worship towards its founder. Such fanatic worship, however, could not last long. Li Hongzhi himself has no advantages over other cult founders but that he is shameless in puffing himself. In order to maintain his absolute authority, Li Hongzhi tried whatever he could to apotheosize himself, puffing himself to be the most superior god while other Buddha, Taoist and god being quite absurd in front of him; saying that words from his mouth were "universal Dafa" and; saying that he is omniscient and omnipotent. As time goes by, however, Falun Gong practitioners who were a little bit clear should have found that Li Hongzhi didn't speak or act like a so-called god and that he was neither omniscient nor omnipotent, since his boasts were overturned one by one and his supernatural abilities didn't ever come true. In this sense, Li Hongzhi could no longer assume his absolute authority among his followers, who no longer took Li as a sovereign god or obey him.
The most important feature in Li Hongzhi's speech is his running off at the mouth. Under some occasions he said that his physical body was his real body while under other occasions he said he had a "law body" as his real body beyond the three realms; he asked the Falun Gong practitioners to follow "master's" "new lection" on the one hand and asked them to "take Fa as master" on the other hand; he said in a while that what he said were all "lection" but then denounced his words that fabricated for certain purposes as "psduo-lection". Such inconsistency on the one hand made the ordinary Falun Gong practitioners unable to differentiate true or false, on the other hand offered those gamblers in the same vein like Li Hongzhi chances to argue. Various "Li Hongzhi" and various factions inside Falun Gong therefore came into being. They fighted against each other and argued violently, with some following physical body and some following "law body"; some taking "new lection" as teacher and some "taking law as teacher"; some believing in "real lection" and some believing "psduo-lection".
Wishes of Falun Gong members vanished
At first when Li Hongzhi trapped people into Falun Gong, he had made a lot of promises. He said that practicing Falun Gong could keep the doctors away and could cure disease without medicine; he claimed that practicing Falun Gong could help them rising to heaven to become immortal. After the Chinese government outlawed Falun Gong, in order to instigate his followers to act against the government, Li Hongzhi further intensified in spreading doomsday fallacy saying that the universe was to explode and that the universe and human being would die out; in the meantime, he declared his "Fa rectification" plan: "ten years for the universe to rectify Fa and 10 years for Fa to rectify the world". Such promises had really bewildered and instigated many Falun Gong fanatics.
Since Falun Gong appeared in 1992, up to date 15 years had passed. Time for "the universe to rectify Fa" should have ended and half time for "Fa to rectify the world" should have passed as well. What Li Hongzhi had promised, however, had not come true. On the contrary, many examples that people who believed in Li Hongzhi against seeing doctors had lost their lives were reported. The most ridiculous examples are two "senior managers" of Falun Gong- two of the earliest Falun Gong practitioners died since they didn't see doctors. No one had ever really risen to heaven despite so many people being killed by Falun Gong. The universe is still evolving in its set pace and human beings are still developing in the natural order. The kind of explosion expected by Li Hongzhi didn't take place, nor did the so-call prophet of people dying numerously. What disappointed Falun Gong fanatics most is that although Li Hongzhi said he would demolish CCP or that CCP has already be demolished, CCP is in fact sound and much stable as a ruling Party, China is getting increasingly powerful and the Chinese people are getting more and more well off. In contrast, Falun Gong is shrinking and dispersed day by day- they could hardly hire anyone to handle out flyers or make trouble in front of the Chinese embassies.
In a time when its hopes vanished and future dimmed, Falun Gong was forced into a state of disunity, and Falun Gong members were generally down in spirits and suppressed with anger. Since nothing seemed pleasing to their eyes, they cursed not only the Chinese government but also those who didn't accept their flyers, not to mention complaint of each other.
Falun Gong political materialization and economic materialization
Although Falun Gong has been an instrument used by Li Hongzhi to amass money, ways of Li's amassing money was changing instantly. When he was in Mainland China, he Falunted under the cover to keeping fit and healthy, which attracted numerous people who didn't see Falun Gong's nature to have jointed in the organization. Li Hongzhi and his complice amassed money by holding training course, selling practicing material and CDs with some fanatics donating money to Li Hongzhi as well. Since Li Hongzhi fled to US, such a means no longer worked. Therefore, "business" focus of Falun Gong changed. At present, Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong have two ways of amassing money. One is selling themselves for nabobism, which in turn making Falun Gong politically materialized. In this way they colluded with international anti-China forces in acting against CCP and Chinese government so that they may get begged for some USD. The other one is having Falun Gong materialized in economy by unveiling the mask of "practicing". They run business and do everything profitable, on which Li Hongzhi says that it should be operating in light of market rules.
Among the two ways, Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong senior members seem to be more interested in the first one as it is more direct and obvious for the existence of Falun Gong and the money obtained can be directly controlled and used by Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong members in the lower grade, however, seem to be more interested in the later since they can make concrete profit in running business. Therefore, on the one hand, Li Hongzhi requires Falun Gong members to get out to "tell the truth", and on the other hand, Falun Gong members in the lower grade prefer to work in companies to make money. It can be learnt from "Fa Teaching to Australian Practitioners" that Falun Gong members get more and more reluctant to make trouble at Chinese embassies or hand out flyers at touring sites. The fact is that for many times there are only a few hired people handing out flyers.
Compared with "practicing" and "learning Fa", both ways of making money listed above may cause strife, either for favor or for profit. Strife between Australian Falun Dafa Association and the Epoch Times group are in fact contesting for both leadership and finance -- a substantial conflict that cannot be mediated.
Change in the major work arouses conflict between "working" (for money), "telling the truth" and "practicing" as well. Those members who wish to become immortal do not want to either "tell the truth" or "work"; those members who want to cut a figure have no interest in "practicing" or "working" and; those members who want to have real benefit care nothing about "telling the truth" or "practicing". Members in such three factions argue and denounce each other fiercely.
Li Hongzhi's ambiguous altitude did nothing but pricking up the conflict. In "Fa Teaching to Australian Practitioners", Li Hongzhi severely rebuked such opinion that "I came to practice instead of working", but "saying the practicing itself contains working". On the other hand, he forced the disobedient companies to close, which caused strong criticism from the practitioners. In the "Fa Teaching to Australian Practitioners", one practitioner interrogated Li Hongzhi whether he wanted to having working or not, since Li not only rebuked those who didn't work but also forced their companies to close.
Members of Falun Gong are increasingly demeaned
With the impact of the lasting effort of Chinese government and Chinese people against Falun Gong, most of the Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China cast off the cult organization, leaving along many demeaned followers to form Falun Gong organizations. In order to develop its organizations, Falun Gong heads are too willing to recruit those morally demeaned people. In this way, morally demeaned followers increased in the Falun Gong organizations. When stowaways from Mainland China sought for political refuge in the name of Falun Gong practitioners, Li Hongzhi and his cult organization recognized them so as to enlarge Falun Gong. Therefore in the Falun Gong organization, there emerged many pseudo- Falun Gong practitioners who didn't believe in Falun Gong at all, nor did they participate in Falun Gong activities.
Since some senior Falun Gong members had been in the organization for a long time and knew many secrets in Falun Gong, they no longer felt awesome to Li Hongzhi or mysterious about Falun Gong. They felt they were almost equal to Li Hongzhi and quite powerful, therefore they looked down up any other practitioners, even including Li Hongzhi. When other Falun Gong practitioners or their superior criticized on them, they would stamp with fury. Now even Li Hongzhi himself seldom said anything against them.
In a word, while those virtuous people who didn't know the truth of Falun Gong now quitted Falun Gong, various bad and vicious people were recruited into Falun Gong. How could such a gang of mob cease internal strife?
Li Hongzhi's ignorance and inability is another source of strife inside Falun Gong
Besides, because Li Hongzhi is ignorant and inept, his interference can only prick up strife inside Falun Gong. For instance, as for the conflict between the Falun Dafa Association and the Epoch Times group, what else could Li Hongzhi do to stop the conflict? He could only resort to his general tricks. On the one hand, he imputed it to the practitioners, saying that such chaos was resulted from the fact that they had no "righteous thoughts". On the other hand, he urged them not to disclose their own scandals so that they might still have chance to cheat other people. For the third, he further debased Falun Dafa Association by saying that its heads were not superior to others and that the practitioners need not felt suppressed by them. And for the last, he gave them a carrot by saying that they might manage the money they earned as long as they didn't take exclusive possession of the donations. In a word, Li Hongzhi applied to a carrot-and-stick strategy. Could such trickery really work in clearing up strife between the two sides? I'm afraid not. On the contrary, passing the buck can only increase discontent among Falun Gong practitioners; covering the contradiction can only make it intensified; making the higher shorter can only increase fraction and result in more conflicts and; luring with economic benefit can only prick up contest for benefit.
Is it necessary to list some more examples? No. while Li Hongzhi wishes to suppress the strife by dinning exhortations into the ears of the followers and hilding imploration, how could he eliminate the roots for such conflicts listed above? Since he can't achieve that, it will be impossible for him to suppress strife inside Falun gong, nor is it possible for him to linger on the declining Falun Gong cult organization.
(Kaiwind, October 31, 2007)
