A NEWLY published book claims that Li Hongzhi, founder of the Falun Gong cult, repeatedly preached his heretical ideas and fallacies to deceive his followers.
The book, entitled "Li Hongzhi and His Falun Gong _ Deceiving the Public and Ruining Lives," disclosed that on many occasions Li Hongzhi had told his followers, "the human race has experienced many destructive catastrophes," and "the next complete destruction of the world will come soon."
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 he was the one who had postponed the destruction of the Earth by 30 years.
While hawking the "doomsday" theory, Li Hongzhi cursed the human race and regarded the Earth as a rubbish heap.
When preaching to practitioners of Falun Gong, Li repeatedly told them that mankind was very dreadful.
"If you look around, you will find that the world today is extremely terrible, really terrible, full of vicious people," he said. "There are devils everywhere. 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 anymore."
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.
"Those who have descended to the level of ordinary people are destined to be destroyed," he added.
The book also exposed Li Hongzhi's absurd attitude towards modern science.
Li proclaimed to practitioners of Falun Gong that "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."
Li said that "the science of today is, in fact, developed from a wrong basis; its understanding of the universe, mankind and life is all wrong. So, in our circle of practitioners we never acknowledge modern science, holding it to be erroneous."
While preaching the "doomsday" theory, Li Hongzhi claimed that only he and his Falun Dafa can save mankind.
He repeatedly told practitioners of Falun Gong that Falun Dafa had, for the first time since creation, enlightened human beings to the characteristics of the universe (Law of Buddha), 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."
He also said to his followers: "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."
My law-bodies (supernatural replicas of himself existing in the ether) are so numerous that they are beyond calculation. Therefore, I can look after as many people as I want, maybe the entire human race." A part of the book introduced Li Hongzhi's fallacies about diseases and medical treatment.
He claimed that diseases are "karma retribution" and forbade 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 material." He continued saying, "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."
"If one cannot get one's karma dispelled, one's illnesses can never be cured completely," he said. "Only by practising Falun Gong can karma be dispelled. No other means will do."
Furthermore, "those who sincerely practise Falun Gong will not fall sick or encounter danger."
The power achieved by practising 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."
To further deify himself and be more appealing to his followers, Li Hongzhi advocated that he himself has "law-bodies" and has installed "Wheels of Law" in the abdomens of his followers.
Li claimed to his followers of Falun Gong, "None of you, my disciples, or masters of other schools of Qigong, has law-bodies. As far as I know, I am 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 practise, and do other things.... That's how I can protect you."
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.... You are incomparably lucky to have it.
"The 'wheel of law,' which I install in a practitioner's abdomen, revolves 24 hours a day," he said. It automatically helps the practitioner in his or her practice. In other words, although the practitioner is not practising all the time, the 'wheel of law ' is cultivating the practitioner non-stop.
In the guise of the "Law of Buddha," Li Hongzhi usurped some religious terms and distorted Buddhism, and his heretical ideas are in essence anti-religious, said the newly published book.
Li 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 anymore. They cannot help you attain self-cultivation, and so are on a low plane."
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."
He said, "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 relieve 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.
(Xinhua 09/14/1999)
