Falun Gong (ritual, moral, tradition, followers, dogma)

[Master Vigil]

Originally Posted by Doktormartini

I believe the Swastika was used long ago in India and Japan and is used to represent happiness...correct? Sometimes you will see a statue of Buddha whit hime holding his palm out, and on his chest is a Swastika.

It has meant many things in many cultures. The only time I believe it was used in a negative tone is with the nazi's.

[koan]

I tend to think that Falun Dafa, is a cult. The spiritual side of the teachings, tends to be about the teacher and not where the teachings come from.

[FacelessMage]

Originally Posted by FacelessMage

well first of all i do falun gong and i can tell you that the swastika symbol of the falun is not actually a swastika
a swastika is black and turned the other way
what's used in falun dafa is called a wan or srivatsa symbol
it was used in ancient times to symbolize good fortune.
the wan is something buddhas have which smbolize a buddha's level.
buddhas or higher levels have more or those symbols and some at extremely high levels have them all over their body.
----hope this helps if you were wondering why

I'm just posting this to let anyone who read my other posts know that whatever is in them WAS ONLY MY PERSPECTIVE ON THINGS, they may be correct or may not be correct or may even have messed up things in them ( my understanding is that one is supposed to follow only one cultivation way until enlightened and you won't be able to become enlightened if you cultivate by adding in messed up messages to your cultivation ) due to me drifting away from the topic i was discussing or perhaps me not paying enough attention to what i was doing. I don't think i said enough earlier on those posts being the way i understand things etc and i just remembered i posted on this website a few days ago, so don't regard any of those posts i made as being what falun dafa teaches, get your own understanding through your own study of the practice of falun dafa, it's all free on the falun dafa website Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) - falundafa.org

[FacelessMage]

Originally Posted by Green Gaia

What is Falun Gong?
Falun Gong refers to five sets of movements, which include physical exercise and meditation, that practitioners believe heighten their physical well-being, spirituality, and moral awareness.

Falun Gong motions are done to rotate the falun, a spinning body of energy said to be located at the lower abdomen. Followers believe that performing the exercises stimulates energy within the body and absorbs energy from the universe, which releases negative elements from the body and remedies abnormal conditions within the body.

Falun Gong stems from the Chinese tradition of qigong, an ancient tradition of exercise and meditation. The Falun Gong movement was formerly affiliated with the Qigong Research Association of China, a national federation of qigong groups. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, withdrew from the movement in 1992 because his Falun Gong practice had a more spiritual focus than the other groups, which focused primarily on physical well-being.

What does Falun Gong mean?
Falun means "law wheel," and Gong means "the cultivation of energy and capabilities." Falun Gong is the name for the actual practice; its followers and practitioners typically were called Falun Dafa. However, Falun Gong has come to refer to both the practice and the movement.

The Falun Gong emblem is a mixture of Taoist and Buddhist symbols. In the center is a swastika, or "wan," surrounded by spinning swastikas and yin-yang signs. Li Hongzhi describes the emblem as a miniature of the universe, with the swastika representing the rotating universe.

For this quote i'm doing it becasue according to the way i understand things, one is supposed to use Mr Li Hongzhi's ( The founder of falun dafa ) original words when one is talking about falun dafa or say that what is being discussed is only your understanding of Falun Dafa and that it doen't represent falun dafa so as not to cause damage to Falun Dafa. So everyone should check out Falun Dafa themselves to understand what it is all about.
It's FREE on the website Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) - falundafa.org

[FacelessMage]

Originally Posted by Master Vigil

I agree, I felt traditional Chi Gong has much more to offer.

I know this, Faceless Mage said that buddhas had these markings all over their bodies. Which I disagree with.

I was speaking about Falun Dafa according to the way i understood things but i forgot to say that in some of the posts i made.
What i said was simply the way i understand things, so don't regard it as being the teachings of Falun Dafa. If you want to truly understand falun dafa it's best to get your own understanding of it. Falun dafa is free on the website Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) - falundafa.org


As for that buddha thing with what you called the swastika symbol , here is a quote from Lecture 5 of a Falun Dafa book called Zhuan Falun


"Our human society began to know this symbol widely twenty-five hundred years ago in Sakyamuni’s time. It has only been several decades since Hitler’s time during World War II. He appropriated it, but the color he used was different from ours. It was black and pointing upwards, and was used in the upright position. I will only address so much regarding this Falun, though I have only mentioned its superficial form. Then what does this srivatsa symbolize in our Buddha School? Some people say that it stands for good fortune, which is an interpretation of everyday people. Let me tell you that signifies a Buddha’s level. It only exists at the Buddha level. A Bodhisattva or an Arhat does not have it. But senior Bodhisattvas, the Four Senior Bodhisattvas, have it. We have found that these Senior Bodhisattvas have far surpassed the level of ordinary Buddhas, and they are even higher than a Tathagata. Beyond the level of Tathagata, there are numerous Buddhas. A Tathagata has only one symbol. Those who have reached beyond the level of Tathagata will have more symbols. A Buddha whose level is twice as high as a Tathagata has two symbols. For those who are still higher, they have three, four, five srivatsas, and so on. Some have so many srivatsas that they are all over their bodies, including on their heads, shoulders, and knees. When there are too many of them, they will even appear on their palms, fingers, foot arches, toes, etc. As one’s level continually increases, one will have more and more symbols. Therefore, the symbol represents a Buddha’s status. The higher a Buddha’s status, the more symbols a Buddha has."

[Master Vigil]

Originally Posted by FacelessMage

As for that buddha thing with what you called the swastika symbol , here is a quote from Lecture 5 of a Falun Dafa book called Zhuan Falun


"Our human society began to know this symbol widely twenty-five hundred years ago in Sakyamuni’s time. It has only been several decades since Hitler’s time during World War II. He appropriated it, but the color he used was different from ours. It was black and pointing upwards, and was used in the upright position. I will only address so much regarding this Falun, though I have only mentioned its superficial form. Then what does this srivatsa symbolize in our Buddha School? Some people say that it stands for good fortune, which is an interpretation of everyday people. Let me tell you that signifies a Buddha’s level. It only exists at the Buddha level. A Bodhisattva or an Arhat does not have it. But senior Bodhisattvas, the Four Senior Bodhisattvas, have it. We have found that these Senior Bodhisattvas have far surpassed the level of ordinary Buddhas, and they are even higher than a Tathagata. Beyond the level of Tathagata, there are numerous Buddhas. A Tathagata has only one symbol. Those who have reached beyond the level of Tathagata will have more symbols. A Buddha whose level is twice as high as a Tathagata has two symbols. For those who are still higher, they have three, four, five srivatsas, and so on. Some have so many srivatsas that they are all over their bodies, including on their heads, shoulders, and knees. When there are too many of them, they will even appear on their palms, fingers, foot arches, toes, etc. As one’s level continually increases, one will have more and more symbols. Therefore, the symbol represents a Buddha’s status. The higher a Buddha’s status, the more symbols a Buddha has."

That's lovely, but I don't agree with it. Especially because I have never seen any depictions of Siddhartha with the simple all over his body. So I believe this is only a Falun Gong concept. I do not believe that buddhists believe in what was written here.