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Page 3 - Falun Gong: A Way of Cultivation Practice
Falun Gong answered all these questions and much more. Pieces of puzzles were put together in front of me and became a map--a multidimensional map of the universe. To me, Falun Gong is an extraordinary science that enables me to explore the truth of the universe. Doubts and disbelieves often pop to my mind while I am reading Zhuan Falun. Sometimes I thought there were contradictions in the book. When I read it again, however, I often found that it was my conventional mentality preventing me from understanding the true meaning of the words. When I follow the law, my mind nature changes followed by body changes. I have read it over and over again and each time I found that my previous understanding was shallow and wrong. I think Falun Gong is the most amazing science.
What is Falun Gong
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, differentiates itself from most other Qigong practices because it goes beyond the pursuit of health and fitness to the goal of greater wisdom and enlightenment. The practice of Falun Dafa has two components: self-improvement through the study of the principles of the universe: Zhen (Truthfulness), Shan (Compassion), Ren (Tolerance), through Mr. Li's teachings (as articulated in two books, Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun) and doing Falun Gong's five gentle exercises. Beginners should start with Falun Gong.
Falun Gong's exercises are simple, graceful, and easy to learn. It is suitable for all ages. Yet it is very powerful. For example, three out of four Falun standing stances are high position (that is, the center of palms is higher than the shoulders) whereas none of the other Qigong Schools begin with a high position. This is because practicing like this can raise blood pressure and is therefore dangerous to high blood pressure patients. However, many people's hypertension was cured after practicing Falun Gong and they are off medicine now. Falun Gong's sitting meditation requires the full-lotus position (with two legs crossed and overlapping each other) whereas other schools only practice a sitting meditation after reaching a high level. The starting point of Falun Gong is at a very high level. Falun Gong's disease-healing effects are undeniable; yet, these are just Falun Gong's side effects. "The exercises are auxiliary means of achieving perfection in cultivation."(10) One who just practices the exercises is not a genuine Falun Gong practitioner.
Mr. Li revealed that Falun Gong's goal is to genuinely bring people to higher levels. He pointed out that Qigong is a prehistoric culture made for cultivation practice--the way to achieve enlightenment. There are two reasons why many people have practiced Qigong for many years but fail to increase their Gong (cultivation energy). The two reasons are that without knowing the law (Fa or Tao) at higher levels one will not be able to practice cultivation and without cultivating one's inner self and one's Xinxing, one will not increase cultivation energy. He explains: "What is Xinxing? It includes De (virtues; a form of matter), tolerance, enlightenment quality, loss, the abandonment of ordinary people's various desires and attachments, as well as being able to suffer hardships, etc. It includes things from many aspects. Every aspect of Xinxing must be upgraded so that you can make genuine advancement."(11)
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