Talk:Falun Gong/Introduction

Proposal for the 1st paragraph

Falun Gong, (Traditional Chinese: 法輪功; Simplified Chinese: 法轮功; pinyin: Fǎlún Gōng; literally "Practice of the Wheel of Law") also known as Falun Dafa, (Traditional Chinese: 法輪大法; Simplified Chinese: 法轮大法; pinyin: Fǎlún dàfǎ; lit. "Great Law of the Wheel of Law") is a system of "mind and body cultivation" introduced by Li Hongzhi (whose surname is Li) to the public in 1992. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, refers to five sets of meditation exercises, and spiritual teachings based on Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Mr. Li says that what he calls the cosmic characteristic of the universe, the principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance, is the criteria for judging all sentient beings. He claims that the Falun Dafa cultivation system is one of the means to provide salvation for mankind.

Please make your contribution for the 1st paragraph in this section.--Andres18 21:40, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Colipon's Compromise

Falun Gong, (Traditional Chinese: 法輪功; Simplified Chinese: 法轮功; pinyin: Fǎlún Gōng; literally "Practice of the Wheel of Law", or otherwise the "Practice of the Wheel of Dharma") also known as Falun Dafa, (Traditional Chinese: 法輪大法; Simplified Chinese: 法轮大法; pinyin: Fǎlún dàfǎ; lit. "Great Law of the Wheel of Dharma") is a controversial system of "mind and body cultivation" introduced by Li Hongzhi (whose surname is Li) to the public in 1992. Over the years it has gathered characteristics that makes it difficult for it to be classified as a spiritual movement, a religion, or a cult. The system itsself refers to five sets of meditation exercises, and spiritual teachings based on Li's principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance", which he has stipulated as the criteria for judging all sentient beings. He claims that the Falun Dafa cultivation system is one of the means to provide salvation for mankind.

Please see what you think and feel free to edit over anything. Colipon+(T) 21:43, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Hi there! well you know, for practitioners, Falun Gong is neither a cult, nor a religion or a spiritual movement so let me think about a proposal on how we could modify your idea to make it fit more neutrally into the paragraph or what i believe we could do with it and ill get back to you as soon as i can.--Andres18 04:32, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Andres, if FG is neither a cult, religion or spiritual movement, what is it exactly? Jsw663 13:00, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

We consider Falun Gong an inner cultivation system of mind and body. Mind because of the improvement of the human nature and heart, and body because of the changes of the body achieved through practice. Religions can be cultivation systems, but not all cultivation systems are religions. For example Tai chi is a cultivation system, but it is not a religion. If you notice, the focus of a religious cultivation system and a qigong practice cultivation system like Taichi is different, religion centers on heart and mind nature while Taichi nowadays merely centers itself on body cultivation. I believe that for the practitioner editors, the definition of a cult, a religion or a spiritual movement doesnt fit the criteria for defining Falun Dafa.--Andres18 22:22, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Proposal for the 2nd Paragraph

Proposal from the critics editors

Li claims to provide salvation for mankind[5] and his Dafa (great law) is judging all beings in a process called Fa-rectification.[6] In the Fa-rectification process, all beings will be judged based on their moral quality and the attitude they have towards the Fa-rectification. Li states: “Once the saved ones have attained the Fa and left, the dregs of humanity and the degenerate world that are left behind will be weeded out.” [7] In more recent speeches, Li has stressed that “the old forces are to be weeded out during Fa-rectification, the vile party (the CCP) and the evil specters will likewise be weeded out for sure and all who have a hand in what they do.” [8]

Proposal from Falun Dafa editors

Li Hongzhi has stated that by teaching Falun Dafa he is offering universal salvation to all sentient beings. Li Hongzhi has also stated that he initiated a process called Fa-rectification, which refers to the salvation, renewal, rectification and completion of the disintegrating old cosmos. In this process, all beings' attitudes toward Fa-rectification determines their position in the new cosmos, whether that is salvation or destruction; their attitudes toward the teaching of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is said to decide their future. The Fa-rectification process is said to be nearing completion. Of this, Li Hongzhi himself says: "Why did Fa-rectification have to be done? To save the beings in the cosmos - save all the beings in the cosmos, normalize bad beings and turn them into good ones, have sinful beings be rid of their sins, and have those warped beings reconstructed into good ones again. Dafa brings humankind these wonderful things, and it brings the beings in the cosmos these wonderful things. But during this persecution many beings have indeed lost their chances to be saved and have been denied salvation."

Please make your contribution for the 2nd paragraph in this section.--Andres18 21:40, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Isn't the pro-FG version a little long-winded for the pre-introduction!? I propose that we stick to a maximum of two quotes from Li Hongzhi himself in this paragraph, and that they cannot be more than 1 1/2 lines long across (25-30 words max.). We should only highlight the most basic and core teachings of FG to give a general idea. If people want to learn more, they can read on, but if you try to say so much in the beginning most neutral observers will actually be bored / turned off and look elsewhere. A paragraph of 5 medium-long or 6-7 short sentences should be sufficient for a pre-intro. Use the qigong (shorter) or Buddhism (longer) entry for reference. Jsw663 13:07, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Proposal For the 3rd Paragraph

The PRC government banned the Falun Gong for what it claimed to be illegal and seditious activities, calling the Falun Gong an evil cult which is responsible for causing deaths and morally corrupting its practitioners, thereby threatening the overall social stability of the country (footnote). Falun Gong claims that these accusations are lies and that the persecution is due to the CCP's official atheist nature, its intolerance of other beliefs, as well as Jiang's personal jealousy over the growing success of the practice and a sense that he could not control the people's hearts and minds.(footnote)

Although there has been resistance to the last proposed edit I made (basically including the word 'harmony', because that is the word Xinhua uses), are there any other objections to this (apart from HiG's attempt to extend the FG view a lot more)? Jsw663 13:02, 15 January 2007 (UTC)