Progressive Health News

The Healing Power of Falun Gong: Beyond Mind and Body

 

Had anybody told me what radical transformations in mind, body and spirit I would undergo with the practice of Falun Gong (also called "Falun Dafa"), I would have been most skeptical. Yet after doing this remarkable qigong practice for but two weeks, I could only marvel at my newfound health: I had regained my life, free of charge.

As of January 1999 I was what you might call one of the "half-healthy": I was sick enough to enjoy nothing, yet healthy enough to attend school and look "normal." I was exhausted from suffering for years with severe irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, Wilson's Syndrome (chronic, mild hypothermia), sleep difficulties and mild depression, to name but a few. I didn't feel like doing anything, be it socializing, exercising, studying, or even going out to eat.

My suffering was compounded by an ever-increasing frustration, for I had tried just about every promising treatment out there -- conventional and alternative -- yet made little progress. I had seen physicians of all sorts, including those of Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naturopathy, and Western medicine (seven doctors here alone, in fact). I had even tried colonics, megavitamins, food combining, raw food diets, metabolic-type diets, qigong therapy, chiropractic, numerous herbal programs, fasting, and yoga, among others. Surprisingly, in the end there was little to show for them, save for some frighteningly large bills.

I was a prisoner of illness at only twenty-four years old. I had nearly abandoned thoughts of recovering my athletic vigor, as aspiring to just feel "normal" seemed ever further out of reach. I had learned to doubt -- even resent -- things making health claims. I considered myself "wisely selfish," feeling that if I wasn't preoccupied with my self-interests, my health might decline yet again.

Enter Falun Gong.

I discovered Falun Gong at a University of Pennsylvania cultural fair, and was immediately intrigued. I was struck by how this qigong practice was unlike anything I had studied. Despite my having practiced and studied several qigong forms over several years and having read many dozens of books on it, I had never seen anything like this.

A week later I attended a Falun Gong nine-day video seminar in Philadelphia, having been told correctly that this was the best introduction to the practice. Over the course of the ensuing nine evenings, I would watch nine lectures by Master Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong's founder, and learn Falun Gong's exercises. I was deeply moved by its principles, and found its graceful exercises a joy to practice.

Merely nine lectures and five exercises later, I found myself in a new body, experiencing it with a new understanding. I found myself not merely free of sickness, but brimming with an energy and warmth previously completely foreign to me. My health complications had completely disappeared, liberating me. My digestion became perfect, my sleep deep, and my mood terrific. In just over one week, Falun Gong had accomplished what thousands of dollars and countless hours of effort could not. Simply put, Falun Gong gave me my life back. Since then, it has given me so much more. As incredible as it may sound, I've since met many others whose Falun Gong experiences are similar.

So what, exactly, is Falun Gong? And how has it spread largely by word of mouth to over 100 million people (in some 30 countries) in just seven years? Falun Gong is an advanced "cultivation practice," meaning that one not only refines the body through qigong exercises, but also upgrades the heart and mind through self-cultivation in daily life. Together, this dual-cultivation of mind and body accounts for Falun Gong's remarkable effects.

Master Li's training began at the age of four under a senior Buddhist monk. For over 40 years Master Li trained with dozens of masters from different schools, being imparted with the best of their instruction and many extraordinary things. Master Li later collaborated with his teachers to distill what he had received into a form accessible to all.

In 1992, Master Li was ready to bring Falun Gong to the general public, having tested it with several apprentices over three years. He lectured in China for over two years, and since has lectured around the world by invitation at conferences; he continues to refuse payment or gifts for his work, preferring to keep the practice undefiled by profit. His teachings are summarized in two books: China Falun Gong, an introductory book, and Zhuan Falun, a compilation of his lectures.

Unlike other qigongs and energetic arts, Falun Gong refuses to separate the arena of daily life from one's practice of the exercises and meditation. They are interwoven, informing one another. Master Li speaks of "cultivating xinxing," or "heart/mind nature," and teaches that without understanding and assimilating to the essential principles of the universe -- truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance -- one will only be practicing exotic aerobics.

A second unique attribute of Falun Gong is that its practitioners need not spend exorbitant amounts of time practicing the exercises, nor practice everyday. One practices according to one's schedule, without fear of "losing ground," as in other systems. Even when one doesn't practice, one still improves one's health and energy after beginning the practice. This is because with Falun Gong, "the Way (Fa) refines the practitioner," rather than the practitioner refining the Way or intentionally storing qi (vital energy).

Looking back just one year, I stand in awe of Falun Gong's healing power. I no longer have any concerns about diet, sleep, stress, or sickness, enjoying the immunity conferred by practicing Falun Gong. This winter I've witnessed two rounds of the flu and a harsh cold go around my house, yet remained unaffected. Better yet, I finally know how to live according to higher principles, thus not undermining my health with my thoughts and behavior. I sincerely hope you discover the practice for yourself.

To learn more about the practice, visit our website at: [ http://www.falundafa-pa.net, or call Terri Morse at 610-566-8138 ]. All activities are completely free and without obligation. Falun Gong is suitable for people of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of fitness.