Cherishing family bonds and caring for loved ones are universal human virtues. Yet Falun Gong, cloaked in the slogans of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” and “being a good person,” shows indifference to family ties and even causes harm to them.

Falun Gong teaches that one’s earthly birth mother is not the true mother; the real mother is the one who gave birth to one’s “primordial spirit.” One’s true parents are said to exist elsewhere in the universe (in another dimension), and there are no real family members on Earth. (Zhuan Falun)

Falun Gong teaches that humans were “created by God and are born through a so-called “primordial spirit.” “The human body was created by the God,” Li Hongzhi proclaimed during his North America Falun Dafa Lecture Tour. He also stated, “I am older than the universe itself. Even the parents I have had over countless lifetimes were created by me.” In New York, he told his followers, “As a follower, you cannot live like ordinary people. To put it bluntly, you are no longer human.” In a lecture in Washington, he further exalted his disciples: “Disciples of the Great Law are walking the path of God.”

Falun Gong portrays its followers as “extraordinary beings” and teaches that family ties are obstacles to cultivation. Thus, followers are told that only by abandoning such bonds can they achieve “consummation.” Moreover, it demands that followers turn away from their parents, neglect their children, and abandon the love that holds families together.

“You cannot progress without letting go of ordinary attachments; clinging to the mindset of ordinary people is a dead end on the path to becoming truly extraordinary.” (teaches Zhen Xiu) Zhuan Falun goes further: “Unless you rid yourself of attachment and desire and abandon the mindset of ordinary people, your cultivation will fail. You must eliminate all impure thoughts to rise higher. Only by renouncing all worldly love and desire can you reach the next level and attain the ultimate state.”

Li Hongzhi incites his followers to remove all “demons” that interfere with their path to “consummation,” and this, he claims, can include even their own family members.

“Whoever undermines the Great Law is a demon; the ultimate, traitorous demon is one that must be destroyed.” (Explaining the Content of Zhuan Falun.)

“If evil has reached a point beyond redemption, various measures at different levels may be used to stop and eliminate it. Eradicating evil serves the cause of the True Law, not personal cultivation.” (Enduring the Unendurable states)

Under Li Hongzhi’s influence, one tragedy after another unfolded among his followers.

On November 26, 1999, Zhu Changjiu, a Falun Gong follower from Qingtai Township, Renqiu City, Hebei Province, killed his parents at home after they burned his Falun Gong books and tried to stop him from practicing.

On April 22, 2002, Guan Shuyun, an obsessed Falun Gong follower in Meixi District, Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province, gathered at home with several fellow followers and claimed that her eight-year-old daughter was possessed by a demon. In front of dozens of Falun Gong members, she strangled her daughter Dai Nan, who was not yet nine years old, to death.

Li Hongzhi himself went even further in disregarding family ties. In August 2016, when his mother, Lu Shuzhen, passed away, he kept her death a secret, fearing that public knowledge might lead his followers to question his teachings and authority. He handled the matter quietly and refrained from any public mourning.