A Chinese movement founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992 in China .It means 'Practice of the Wheel of Dharma'. Its adherents exercise ritually to obtain mental and spiritual renewal. It is a practice said to have brought better health and inner peace to its followers.

Falun Gong claims that it has 100 million members worldwide and among them 80 million in China, but the Chinese government claims that the group has only 2 to 3 million followers. It seems the figures are somewhere in between.

Founder

Little details of his life are known. Li Hongzhi indicates to have been born in 5.1951.on the same day as Siddharta Gautams birthday. But in his legal documents he is born in 7.1952.
His birth place is Changchun, Jilin a northeastern province of China. He worked in law enforcement and corporate security before he became the full-time spiritual leader of Falun Gong in 1992. Li Hongzhi took his movement abroad in the mid-1990s, settling permanently in New York City in 1998.after having fled to New York in 1996.

History of the Group
Falun Gong is also known as Falun Dafa. While Falun Gong refers to the practice, Falun Dafa refers to the teaching of the movement, but today both expressions can be interchanged, Falun Gong has claimed not to be an organization and regards itself as a practice. But it does contain teachings about the spiritual world and it has a closely connected membership achieved in large part through the Internet.

Falun Gong has its origins in Qi Gong which uses meditation techniques and physical exercise to achieve good health and peace of mind. Qi Gong has a long history in Chinese culture and religion. However most practitioners in modern China present these techniques as purely secular to escape official restrictions against independent religious activities.

As most activities in China Qi Gong is also represented by one organization which emphasizes the worldly part. This emphasis conflicted with Falun Gong's emphasis on guiding people to higher dimensions. Over the Falun Gong's spiritual beliefs and practices, Li Hongzhi withdrew the movement from the original organization in 1992
Unlike other Qi Gong groups, Falun Gong insists that its founder is the only authoritative source for determining the correct exercises of Qi and that a spiritual discipline, the cultivation of the Xinxing ("Mind-Nature") is essential to the success of the exercises.

After Li settled permanently in New York City in 1998 a massive campaign was launched by the medical establishment and the Chinese government to denounce Falun Gong as a "cult" in 1999..

Falun Gong responded on these allegations strongly and staged a demonstration of more than 10,000 followers in Beijing in April 1999, which prompted an even greater government response. The movement was outlawed by the Chinese authorities in October 1999 with the enforcement of a new anti cult law. This led to the arrest of 100 Falun Gong leaders joining 1,000 members who had been arrested earlier. Public trials began with many defendants receiving prison sentences and some were sent directly to labor camps without trials

While the Chinese government gained the cooperation of some Western anti cult groups in its campaign against Falun Gong, it was also criticized by human rights organizations who denounce the suspicious deaths, allegedly by accident, of Falun Gong members detained in Chinese jails. In the meantime, Falun Gong has attracted followers from around the world.

Why was the Chines government so massively against Falun Gong?

Several scholars have advanced different viewpoints evaluating China and Falun Gong's turbulent relation.
Some see China's fear of Falun Gong as a manifestation of their fear of the uncontrollable Internet. They forecast the groups survival in and outside of China, even though they accept that the China government's campaign against Falun Gong has been effective. Due to continued government action and intervention it is assumed that the movement will decline in China.
One of the reasons for the enormous popularity seems to be that the need for cheaper healthcare for Chinese elderly and retired population played a big part.
The Chinese government had become concerned about the popularity of the Falun Dafa. While the exact number of Falun Gong practitioners is in question, the movement probably does outnumber the Communist party. Communist party members and military officials are known to participate. In addition a large international membership is reason for the historically isolationist Chinese government to be wary.
Of very considerable significance is the fact that the Falun Gong stresses spirituality, which is incompatible with the communist doctrine. Perhaps most importantly is China's long history of religious rebellion. The Tai P'ing the most noted, even the Ming dynasty began as a religious rebellion. Its probable, that the government fears Falun Gong's implications in terms of China's own historically rebellious movements more than the Falun Gong themselves.
Another group argues that rather than feeling the historical pressures of regime toppling religious rebellion, the Chinese government is reacting as usual to any perceived threat or antagonism. For this group it is the international makeup of the Falun Gong, which makes it another point of contention for the government. Instead of religious intolerance, the government's crackdown is motivated by a need to keep face, preserve predictability and to re-establish state control and order.

Teachings

Li Hongzhi's core teachings are expounded in the Zhuan Falun (Revolving the Law Wheel) , and China Falun Gong . These teachings contain many concepts similar to those used in Buddhism and Taoism.
Falun Gong concentrates on the virtues of Zhen – Shan - Ren, or truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance, historically Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist virtues. Practitioners are encouraged to conduct themselves with these three in all situations. The goal is to become enlightened to the truth of human life and to cultivate oneself to higher levels of existence. According to Li Hongzhi there are innumerable levels and dimensions of existence.

The movement is not affiliated with any political direction. It’s focus is individual's self-examination and self-improvement rather than the development of an organization or a group
Falun Gong members have repeatedly claimed that their organization is not a religion, but a cultivation discipline of a set of practices. Falun Gong members can be of any faiths, as Falun Gong does not contradict nor preclude any faith.
The teachings of Falun Gong draw from the Asian religious traditions of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese folklore as well as those of Western New Age movements.
Although the teachings of Falun Gong contain some phrases and many concepts similar to those used in Buddhism and Taoism, it is not a branch of the Buddhist religion, just as Tai ch'i is not a branch of the Taoist religion and Hatha Yoga is not a branch of Hinduism.

In the past, the Falun Gong secrets were passed only from a master to select students. These used to be highly classified teachings imparted exclusively from master to trusted disciples since antiquity in China. Following the instructions of his own teachers, Hongzhi made the teachings public in 1992 from when they have been available to everyone.

The Falun Gong symbol is a representation of the falun itself and also a miniature of the universe. It consists of five swastikas and four yin-yang symbols within two concentric circles. It is intended to appear as if it is rotating, as the falun always is.
The swastikas represent "the Buddha School" and are also traditional Chinese symbols of good fortune. Moreover, Li teaches that a swastika signifies a Buddha's level and the higher a Buddha's status, the more symbols a Buddha has.
The four yin-yang symbols represent the Tao School. Their color has special significance.
Taiji is made of the two substances black and white, the qi of yin and yang. But Taiji has different manifestations in different dimensions. At the highest level, its colors manifest in this way.
The Tao that we commonly understand has this red color at the top and this black color at the bottom. For practitioners, whose third eyes are said to be open, the red color they see with their body eyes is green in the adjacent dimension. The Taiji with the red color at the top and the blue color at the bottom belongs to the Great Pre-Taoism, which includes the cultivation practices from the Qimen School.

Chinese religion historically has focused on the rewards of physical health, longevity, and even immortality. This tradition gave rise to Chinese medicine, which concerns the manipulation of life's basic energy ( chi) for increased health. Chinese medicine is most closely linked to the Chinese concepts of yin yang and the five phases, which appear to have pre-historic roots. The ideas and philosophies of ch'i, yin-yang, and the five phases arose independently of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism but are closely related to them.
While practitioners show respect to Master Li Hongzhi, he does not encourage anyone to worship him. Master Li has maintained that he simply teaches the principles of the universe and members should "take the Law as the teacher".

Membership is free and open to everyone. There is no hierarchy of leaders or clergy. Falun Gong maintains that they are just a loose network of volunteers where people of many different backgrounds practice together. All students are regarded as equals, no matter how long they have practiced.
Li does not allow donations, fundraising activities, or money to be accumulated in the name of Falun Gong. If a person is inspired to give a seminar or class, or print an information package, then they have to find the money to pay for it themselves.
Emphasis rests upon personal development, not organizing events.
Still researchers into the organization, who examined the movement prior to the crackdown, found an organization in China with 39 teaching centers, 1,900 instruction centers, and 28,000 practice sites, raising doubts to the group's claim of a fundamentally loose, non- structured, and unorganized nature.

Practice
Practice means doing exercises and meditation to energize the body. Its Practice refers to the improvement of one's heart and mind through the careful study of universal principles based on truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance. Focus is on individual's self-examination and self-improvement.
Today this tradition is called Chi gong. Ch'i means universal life energy; and Gong means cultivation energy. Ch'i gong consists of cultivation methods including physical stretches, meditation, and slow movements. Large numbers of Chinese practice these techniques

Falun Dafa is a practice that has brought better health and inner peace to millions around the world. It focuses on the improvement of one's heart and mind through the careful study of universal principles based on truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance.

While in traditional Chinese Buddhism falun means "wheel of law" Li uses the word to indicate the center of spiritual energy in the human body. He locates the falun in the lower abdomen and teaches that it can be awakened through a set of exercises called Xiu Lian This dispels karma that causes illness, and thus can cure and prevent disease.

Falun, is located at the lower abdomen. As an intelligent spinning body of high-energy substance, Falun automatically absorbs energy from the universe and relieves the body of negative influences and elements. The rotation of Falun synchronizes with the rotation of the universe. Possessing the same characteristics as the universe, it is the universe's miniature model. The Falun is constantly rotating, making the cultivation state 24 hours a day.

The practice of Falun Gong consists of five exercises, four standing and one sitting, which involve meditation and slow movements.

Falun Dafa is a set of five exercises specially designed to complement one's cultivation of body, mind, and spirit. Three of the exercises involve physical movements and maneuvers while the other two exercises require remaining still for extended periods of time. The exercises are considered exceptionally powerful and effective even though they are simple and easy to learn 11 .

Critic
Li Hongzhi has expressed in several interviews that he believes in the presence of alien life on earth. He considers the aliens a menace, and describes their intent as to corrupt and eventually replace humanity. He holds alien influence responsible for the rapid expansion of computers, machines, and for the advancement of technology in general.
This is ridiculed by most of the critics of the movement.

Its reliance on Xiu Lian as an alternative to official medicine is regarded by many Critics as hazardous to health. The Chinese government claims that 1,400 Falun Gong devotees have died as a result of this alleged rejection of modern medicine.
Well this reflects an ongoing discussion between school and alternative medicine.

Explanation to some used words
Ch'i: means the vital energy, the cosmic spirit that pervades and enlivens all things and is therefore synonymous with primordial energy. In the human body ch'i is accumulated in an area near the navel and must be carefully tended to prevent sickness and death. Chinese medicine originates from a worldview that understands disease as a fundamental imbalance in one's ch'i, which can be treated in many ways from herbalism to massage to acupuncture to exercise and more.
Ch'i Gong: translated as "working the energy" which are physical exercises medicine. These health exercises combine Buddhist and Taoist elements and cover a wide range of practices, such as techniques regulating the body, the mind (reducing or quieting thought activity) the breath via movement exercises; self- massage etc. In a wider sense the various martial arts are also a form of ch'i gong.
Five Phases: represent the phases of transformation or energies, that determine the course of natural phenomena. The five elements means water, fire, wood, metal, and earth are not to be understood as real substances, but rather as abstract forces and symbols for certain basic characteristics of matter. It lies in the nature of water to moisten and flow downward; of fire to heat and rise; of wood to bend and straighten again; of metal to be cast or hammered into various forms; and of earth to be fertile.
These elements not only give rise to each other but also may help conquer or destroy each other. Wood can give rise to fire, fire to earth (in the form of ashes), earth to metal, metal to water (from melting), and water to wood (through irrigation). At the same time water will conquer fire, fire vanquishes metal, metal can destroy wood, wood can conquer the earth, and earth overcomes water. With a more complicated system of correspondence, the five elements are related to the seasons of the year, the cardinal points, colors, flavors, numbers, internal organs, and other groupings.
Yin-Yang: Two polar energies that, by their fluctuation and interaction, are the cause of the universe. Yin and Yang are manifestations of the supreme ultimate, their concrete manifestations being Earth and Heaven. From the intermingling of yin and yang arise the five elements. This manifestation of all phenomena is seen as a cyclic process, an endless coming into being and passing away, as everything, upon reaching its extreme stage, transforms into its opposite. The underlying shared characteristic of yin and yang therefore consists in giving rise to this continuous change.
Originally the word yin designated the northern slope of a mountain, i.e., the side facing away from the sun- and was further associated with cold, turgid water and a cloud- covered sky. Yang denoted the mountain slope facing the sun and was associated with brightness and warmth." Yin and yang became representative of all polar relationships. Yin became "the feminine, the passive, the receptive, the dark, the soft. Symbols of yin are the moon, water, clouds, the tiger, the turtle, the color black, the north, and all even numbers. Yang corresponds to what is masculine, active, creative, bright, and hard. Symbols of yang are the sun, fire, the dragon, the color red, the south, mercury, and all odd numbers. The well known yin-yang symbol (the black and white circle) stands for the universe composed of yin and yang, which form a whole only in combination. The two spots in the symbol indicate that each of the two energies- at the highest stage of its realization- already contains the seeds of, and is about to transform into, its polar opposite." As for Chinese medicine, "the body is healthy only when yin and yang hold each other in balance. Too much yang causes heightened organic activity; too much yin, an inadequate functioning of the organs."
Zhen - Shan - Ren translated as truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance, these three Chinese characters represent three virtues to live by through Falun Gong practice.