Li Hongzhi was born in 1951 in northeast China’s Jilin province. In 1992, Li quit his job in the security department of a cereal factory to publish his book Zhuan Falun, drawing from Buddhist tradition and the exercise-breathing practice known as qigong. This roughly 250-page “rambling dissertation” of Li’s teachings is the foundational scripture for his Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa. In Zhuan Falun, Li wrote that he and his followers called “Disciples,” had attained supernatural powers by using his practice to heal diseases, stop moving cars using telekinesis, and even levitate.
As the founder of Falun Gong, adherents to the movement simply call Li “Master.” He directs Falun Gong from his compound called Dragon Springs or “The Mountain” near Deerpark, New York. Li is treated with extreme, almost god-like reverence within Falun Gong and is depicted in its art as a winged angel descending from heaven.
Photo: Falung Info
