In-Depth Series: The Evolution of the Falun Gong Cult(Part 3)

Introduction:

Everything has its root, and every phenomenon its origin.

The social realities we observe are often the culmination of historical developments, arising from complex circumstances and deep-seated social causes.

Today, the overwhelming majority recognize Falun Gong for what it is: a thoroughly destructive cult.

Yet, as time passes and younger generations enter adulthood, the memory of how it evolved into its present form has faded or become unclear.

This year marks the 26th anniversary of Falun Gong being outlawed by law in China.

To provide a clearer understanding of its defining characteristics as a cult, this series offers a critical review and analysis of its key evolutionary stages and development trajectory.

Li Hongzhi followed the typical path used by self-proclaimed "masters" of the time to make his debut, cobbling together a new set of practices by piecing together elements from various existing Qigong methods.

Under the banner of "free healing" and "free instruction," he carved out a lucrative niche in the booming qigong market, amassing considerable wealth in the process.

While Li's rise was steeped in deception and falsehoods, even at this point he was not fundamentally different from other so-called "Qigong masters" who enriched themselves through trickery and illusion—his methods were simply more refined and sophisticated.

However, Li Hongzhi was well aware that the so-called "healing through practice" was nothing more than a deceptive gimmick—one that would soon fall apart under scrutiny. He knew that his followers would eventually seek out other  methods that appeared to produce more tangible results.

To avoid exposure, Li gradually ceased offering healing services and began deflecting such requests from his followers in public settings. Instead, he shifted his strategy, cloaking his Qigong practice in the guise of religion—a pivotal turning point in the transformation of Falun Gong from a Qigong group into a cult organization.

1. Cloaking Itself in the Robes of Religion

Li Hongzhi cobbled together the so-called "Falun Dafa" by borrowing content from books and periodicals that promoted so-called "supernatural abilities," as well as from martial arts fantasy novels, science fiction stories, and religious doctrines. He plagiarized elements from Buddhism, Taoism, and various folk beliefs and legends, weaving them into a fabricated belief system.

The so-called "Dafa" fabricated by Li Hongzhi

This concocted doctrine was then codified in publications such as Zhuan Falun, Explaining the Teachings of Zhuan Falun, and Falun Gong. “Falun Dafa” incorporates a range of pseudo-religious and cultic fallacies propagated by Li, including the following:

1.1 Doomsday doctrine

The propagation of "doomsday doctrine" has long been a common tactic of cult organizations throughout history and around the world. The goal is to evoke deep fear among followers, thereby laying the foundation for further brainwashing. Li Hongzhi claimed that the Earth has already been “discarded,” and that it was only through his efforts that the planet’s destruction was postponed by 30 years.

He also said, "The final stage of an Earth has always been a time when its lives were the most corrupt and its matter was the most impure, so the Earth could no longer be kept." "It would be eliminated since the whole sphere had turned into a ball of karma" "Mankind had been left in complete destruction 81 times. Only a few people survived each time... It’s extremely horrifying at the time of ‘complete extinction of body and soul’ … Nothing in the entire cosmos is more horrifying."

1.2 Eliminating Karma Doctrine

At a time when most people joined the practice primarily in hopes of curing illnesses, Li Hongzhi fabricated a theory to explain the cause of disease, the so-called "Eliminating Karma Doctrine."

He claimed that illness was not truly "illness," but rather "karma." "The fundamental cause of sickness and all misfortune is karmic debt," he said. According to Li, "birth, aging, sickness, and death are all karmically predestined - all are the result of karma."

He asserted that practicing Falun Gong was the only way to eliminate karma and achieve healing, declaring: "If the karma isn't removed, a person can never be truly cured. In order to eliminate karma, one must take the path of cultivation practice - nothing else will work."

Li Hongzhi repeatedly emphasized to his followers that "practicing Falun Gong means not taking medicine."

He claimed, "Those who truly cultivate will not fall ill or encounter danger." "Taking medicine only suppresses karma, preventing the body from cleansing itself, and therefore cannot cure disease. Only by overcoming this hurdle can one become a transcendent person."

Through the "Eliminating Karma Doctrine," Li Hongzhi found a convenient excuse for his inability to cure illnesses.

Under the guise of this so-called "only" path to healing, his disciples gradually became trapped. Many Falun Gong practitioners, having been misled by the flawed logic of the doctrine, refused medical treatment and medication - ultimately paying the price with their health and even their lives.

1.3 Hierarchy Doctrine

Li Hongzhi depicted Earth as a "dumping ground" in the universe, claiming, "…until ultimately they fall to this human world. Any being that falls to this plane should have been destroyed or annihilated."

He divided the path of Falun Gong cultivation into distinct levels, with the first level separating "practitioners" from "ordinary people," implying that those who practice Falun Gong are no longer ordinary individuals.

Li's true purpose was to sever Falun Gong disciples from normal society and family, transforming his disciples into a closed community with restricted interpersonal relationships and limited information exchange.

Furthermore, he enticed his disciples by promising that each level offers its own "benefits," such as "after a period of cultivation, the skin becomes delicate, and elderly people see fewer wrinkles." At the "highest level," he claimed, "you can have whatever you want at the snap of your fingers, and do whatever you wish."

Besides enticing disciples, Li Hongzhi also threatened those who wished to leave Falun Gong, "Once one has descended to the human realm, there is no protection, and demons may take one’s life." He said that "becoming an ordinary human means facing complete destruction — the total extinction of body and soul — which is extremely terrifying."

Under such intimidation, many disciples found themselves trapped, drifting further away from normal society. By the time they realized the truth, they had gone too deep and found it very difficult to turn back.

1.4 Consummation Doctrine

In Li Hongzhi's "Hierarchy Doctrine." he deliberately portrayed the so-called "highest level," stating that "In cultivation, the purpose is to cultivate into a god.… In cultivation the purpose is to cultivate into a god." "ascend constantly in cultivation...until reach the highest expected point in cultivation" "If you can endure it, your karma will be removed and your Xinxing will also be improved, and your cultivation energy will increase, too."

As a result, some individuals who were struggling in life, feeling hopeless, or wanting to escape the natural cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death were thoroughly deceived by this temptation, viewing Falun Gong cultivation as a rare opportunity to "escape the secular world and enter the kingdom of heaven."

However, achieving the "perfection" Li Hongzhi spoke of has proven far from straightforward. He repeatedly contradicted himself, arbitrarily changing the so-called deadline for "perfection."

Initially, he firmly promised "true cultivation perfection within two years," calling it "the last chance for perfection." When two years passed without results, he announced the "ten-year perfection" theory, claiming that as long as one believed in Falun Gong and repeatedly read his books, they could achieve "perfection" within ten years, and that "perfection" was attainable for everyone.

When the promise of "ten-year perfection" also failed to materialize, Li Hongzhi revised his statement again, saying, "Don't fear a long time. I tell everyone, Christianity was persecuted for three hundred years before it rose. Are disciples of the Great Law with a great mission any less than an ordinary cultivator?"

After repeated questioning from his followers, he stopped discussing any specific deadline for "perfection" and instead introduced the "Perfection of All Living Beings Doctrine," claiming that if one only seeks personal "perfection," they are unworthy of being a "Dafa disciple" during the "Fa-rectification period" period.

According to him, the cultivation of a "Dafa disciple" is to save all living beings; only when all living beings are "perfect" can the individual be "perfect." It is clear that "perfection" will never truly be achieved—it is simply an empty promise Li Hongzhi uses to entice his disciples.

1.5 Law Bodies Doctrine

After a series of threats and enticements, Li Hongzhi ultimately revealed his core message: that only he could rescue people—those who had ended up in the Earth's "garbage dump" and were teetering on the edge of "destruction"—and lead them to the state of "perfection," where they could "become immortals or Buddhas."

He claimed, "None of you, my disciples, or masters of other schools of Qigong, has law-bodies (Fashen) . As far as I know, I'm 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. I am the main body, but they have the ability to do things independently. They can look after you, protect you, help you to practice, and do other things. "

He boasted repeatedly that the omnipresence of his Fashen. "My law-bodies are so numerous that they are beyond calculation. Therefore, I can look after as many people as I want, maybe the entire human race." he declared. "If I cannot save you, there is no one in the world able to do so"

He has also provided what he claims to be detailed descriptions of how these Fashen function. The 'wheel of law,' which I install in a practitioner's abdomen, revolves 24 hours a day," he asserted.  I can cleanse you of all that, and install in you the bright golden 'wheels of law'(or Falun), together with many other things included in 'Falun Dafa,' so that you can cultivate yourselves and purge your hateful, dirty bodies... This is a precious chance never met before since remote antiquity and you are incomparably lucky to have it."

2.From "Divine Power" to Cult

Building upon the concept of Fashen, Li Hongzhi further deified himself by fabricating his personal history and claiming to be the reincarnation of the Buddha.

"What I teach is the very nature of the universe," he proclaimed, "It is the fundamental truth of the Buddha Fa."

With this shift, Falun Gong evolved from a body-centered Qigong practice into Falun Dafa—a movement cloaked in religious rhetoric.

Li himself transformed from an obscure qigong instructor into the so-called "Lord Buddha of the Universe," allegedly possessing limitless powers.

Under the spell of this "Lord Buddha" persona, Li's followers became increasingly unquestioning and submissive, following his every command with blind devotion.

It is evident that Li Hongzhi’s carefully fabricated Falun Dafa doctrine is intricately constructed with the sole purpose of self-deification and fostering a cult of personality.

By doing so, he has shaped Falun Gong into an increasingly closed and tightly controlled organization, which in turn secures him a larger and more stable stream of income.

However, no matter how grandiose his claims are, Li simply lacks the actual power to “get whatever he wants and do whatever he pleases.”

He boasts of possessing supernatural abilities such as teleportation, object manipulation, mind control, and invisibility.

Yet when his followers asked him to demonstrate these powers, he snapped back angrily, "No, I can’t demonstrate it! If I did, I’d just be making a fool of myself. You’re just trying to put me on display like a monkey show!"

From this perspective, Falun Dafa not only provides him with a new source of revenue but also serves as a flimsy veil that conceals his clumsy deceptions.

Gradually, he began to shift his disciples’ focus from physical exercises to studying the teachings, stressing that "practicing the exercises must be accompanied by studying the Fa" and that "practicing exercises without studying the Fa does not make one a true Dafa disciple."

He vehemently disparaged other religions, portraying Falun Gong as the one and only true path, aiming to establish its dominance.

He claimed, "Current religions cannot truly save people; they are not genuine cultivation," "At home and abroad, I am the only one currently transmitting the practice to higher levels," and insisted that "Falun Gong is the sole great Dafa in the universe."

From then on, Falun Gong practitioners transformed from ordinary “Qigong enthusiasts” amid the nationwide Qigong boom into “Dafa disciples” distinguished from ordinary people. Their practice goals shifted from the “lower-level” aims of healing and fitness to the “higher-level” pursuit of spiritual perfection and ascension.

It is clear that the key factor driving Falun Gong’s eventual evolution into a cult was not the physical exercises themselves, but the emphasis on “studying the Fa.”

This distinction also marked the main difference between Falun Gong and other pseudo-qigong groups at the time.

(To be continued)