Someone I know is involved with FG, having become an unofficial spokesperson for the organization. There are many conflicting reports about abuse within Falun Gong and abuse of practitioners by the Chinese Government.

Li Honghzi's homophobic and racist remarks have been reported to be written in Chinese and not translated into English, and are reportedly only to be found in transcripts not released.

I attended a Falun Gong lecture at the local library and (as is generally the case), the practitioners seemed like lovely, caring, people. The exercises seemed rather harmless. One participant, a woman who was VP of a large financial group, claimed that the practice cures cancer, but she couldn't explain it, and was embarassed that she couldn't.

So, how does one evaluate the information that is out there?

the best article so far, covering many aspects - the history of qi gong practices and this particular one, Li Hongzhi and the followers.

[www.culteducation.com]

Some of the sharing at the seminars sounds like LEC.

I evaluate all of these things by using the principles of Critical Thinking.

Falon Gong does claim it can "cure cancer". A girl i knew had someone in her workplace, who claimed to be cured of breast cancer by Falon Gong practices, and would RELENTLESSLY try and recruit people through email, and posters, etc.

The problem is this.
There are many spontaneous remissions of cancer, that occur for unknown reasons.

I knew a nice girl who was into SGI "buddhism". [www.culteducation.com]
She got brain cancer, and had HUNDREDS of people chanting for her healing for months,and she was an advanced meditator, a new mom, and a really decent person.

She died in the timeframe the doctors said she would.

So just because someone dies, or has a cancer remission, doesn't mean that chanting, or Falun Gong/Dafa are the cause.
That is Magical Thinking.

There are certainly SOME positive effects of meditation, but i know of no scientific evidence that it affects cancer survival rates. It might help the person cope emotionally, which is great, but that is something else.

Like a girl i knew who USED to work in "wholistic healing" of cancer patients said, after she quit the BUSINESS.

The cancer patients still died.

Critical Thinking is the way to sort the wheat from the chaff.
[www.skeptics.com.au]

Coz

Cosmo, I agree. What I don't understand, though, is the huge following this particular practice has. Qi Gong is something that is thousands of years old, but Falun Gong was introduced in 1992. As the above-noted article states, it's a watered-down version of qi gong. The things this Li Honghzi has said are really nutty, too. The person I know claims she does not follow him, but does the practice. It seems there are many people making this claim, that it's just an exercise, not a religion, not a political movement and they are not involved in any plans to overthrow the government. So why, with all the traditional practices, do they choose this one?

Well, i am no expert in Falun Gong, but my guess is....

Recruiting, Recruiting, Recruiting...

Coz

I'm not so sure about it being recruiting. I think the attraction to the movement iswas different for people depending on where they live. In communist China, FD may have been an escape. In the US, where there are also thousands of practitioners, I think it is a fad. Throw in a human rights issue now and it looks good to jump on the bandwagon.

What i mean is its part and parcel of its Ideology to RECRUIT people.
Like SGI.
I knew this one girl who was into it, and she was an ok person, just quite naive. SGI taught her it was good for her "karma" to bring people into "Buddhism", so she ALWAYS tried to get people to come to meetings, and meanwhile men would think she was coming onto them, but that's another story!

You don't see classical Buddhist monks running around trying to get people to join their sect!

What i am saying is that i believe it is the "designed system" of Falun that is bringing the people in, not the "practices".

Coz