(Minghui.org) (Continued from Part 1)
Mr. Zhong Weiguang, a Chinese scholar and freelance writer living in Germany, began researching Falun Gong after the April 25 appeal, when 10,000 practitioners peacefully gathered in Beijing to request fair treatment from the government. On the occasion of the 21st anniversary of Falun Gong's introduction to the public, Mr. Zhong shared his observations in an interview with Minghui.org.
The following was written and compiled based upon the transcript of the interview.
Mr. Zhong Weiguang
Fundamentally Changing the Mind and Body
Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is the core value that Falun Gong practitioners adhere to. After getting to know practitioners over the years, I do not think that it is simply a pretty-sounding slogan for them. Many Chinese people would agree with me.
I have seen a lot during the years. Falun Gong practitioners' attendance at activities is always voluntary, and they spend their own money to be a part of all the functions they attend. I have also seen the changes in many of my friends after they took up cultivation in Falun Gong: they have become more pure, peaceful, and selfless. I know that some managers prefer to hire Falun Gong practitioners because they are trustworthy and hardworking. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is in the blood of Falun Gong practitioners. It is their true life.
I have also come to better understand the positive role that faith plays for both individuals and society. I also know why the CCP hates and fears the practice: Falun Gong changes people fundamentally. Falun Gong cultivators can no longer be controlled by politics or bribery. It is spiritual and reaches a deeper and more profound level than the superficialities of politics, money, and personal gain. This is why the regime has identified the practice as its number one enemy. Practitioners do not engage in politics or fight for personal gain, so they cannot be influenced by political or economic means. This is the strength of faith and spirituality.
So, if Falun Gong poses no harm to society and has no political interests or social preferences, why is it being persecuted?
This takes us back to the issue of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The existence of lies and violence is what's considered most important by those who control China politically. However, Falun Gong emphasizes Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and its practitioners have to tell the truth and live in the truth. By their very nature, compassion and forbearance are completely the opposite of violence and deception, and the existence of compassion and forbearance shatters the pillars of existence for those in control of China.
For so many years, Falun Gong has been striving toward a very moral direction. The CCP, of course, cannot tolerate such a direction.
Inspiring and Broadening One's Understanding of the Universe
After 1989, many Westerners thought peace would follow in the collapse of totalitarian regimes. In the mid-1990s, some even proposed that future conflicts in the world would be between the eastern and Western civilizations and cultures. Then the 9/11 tragedy in 2001 forced people to re-acknowledge the existence of terrorism and totalitarianism.
What is the origin of terrorism? At least one school of thought proposes that the origin of terrorism is the same as that of communism. It originates from the extreme expansion of ego. Until this origin is eliminated, violence will occur and extremists will adopt extremism.
On this aspect, I think Falun Gong represents the most peaceful way of returning to traditional culture, beyond pursuit in the material world. It urges individuals to consider the relationships among people and the universe on a deeper and more fundamental level.
I grew up in a monistic education system, and I was quite self-centered when I was young. My thoughts centered on my individual development and the expansion of my desires. I smirked at the traditional Chinese “middle way.” Now I realize that I lost much while satisfying my desires. I then needed to rethink the general assumptions of many individual and common societal issues.
Take the free market economy as an example. I thought that free competition was universal and the only way that society should be; only amid such a system could society develop. Now I know that people should think about issues with a broader mind. If a society is completely built upon free competition and it expands people's desires and consumption to the point that everything is used up, our future generations will be unable to live in peace.
As a scholar, I have searched in the dark and taken it slowly. It took me 20 years to change from monism to pluralism and then to tradition and tolerance before converging upon my Oriental roots. If I could live my life again, I would choose the more traditional life, which is better for human existence. I would no longer rely on sheer impulse.
Falun Gong inspires new perspectives and thoughts about the relationships between humanity and nature. It also contains higher-level principles, and with its presence, we should rethink our current aims and notions.
Our ancestors made great strides with such exploration. Even the Western philosophers in earlier times were amazed by the Oriental viewpoint of the heavens, earth, and humanity. They appreciated it and hoped to learn from it.
One Westerner wrote “Modern Physics and Oriental Mysticism.” This is evidence that modern physics incorporates the way that the East understands the world. However, the Oriental understanding is not just a description of a method: at its core is another type of relationship between the heavens, earth, and humanity.
Many scholars, including Einstein and Newton, had solid backgrounds in religion. As their research went further, it inevitably landed on the platform of faith. For example, Einstein felt that it would be impossible for gods not to exist in a world so full of magic. He also acknowledged that he simply could not see the existence of gods. Additionally, he was very curious about supernormal abilities and believed in their existence. It was only that he could not explain them.
I live in Germany now, and I do not like seeing doctors. Every time I take one medication, I have to take another prescription to reverse the side effects of the previous one. All medicine has side effects. Normally I take some medicine, then later another to reverse the side effects of the medicine I took in the first place.
Modern medicine treats the human body only as a lump of physical and chemical reactions. It tries to cure your head when you have a headache and your feet when your feet hurt instead of finding the deeper reason for the symptoms. Many times, the treatment process brings about more problems.
Falun Gong probes a broader cosmology in the relationships between man and man and between man and the world. As an intellectual, I have only realized more about my “ignorance” of life after many years of research. After getting to know Falun Gong practitioners for over ten years, I would like to tell my fellow scholars that our knowledge of the universe and life may very well be far below the understanding of an uneducated, old woman cultivator.
When experiencing life and pursuing knowledge, we should first acknowledge our ignorance and the limitations of our own mental realms and understandings.
Ultimate Admiration
We modern Chinese have lost our roots, and morality and ethics in our society have slid rapidly over the past half-century.
However, Falun Gong is a mainstay. It directly resists and turns the tide, and its impact will only grow in the future. I am surprised to realize this. I admire Falun Gong. Many scholars inside and outside of China are also impressed. This is a miracle.
Much of the phenomena that Falun Gong displays also negates some popular descriptions of the current Chinese people. For example, we all say that the Chinese fight with one another wherever they go. However, large Falun Gong groups have remained calm and pure for over a decade. This is amazing.
I believe that there are some conflicts among Falun Gong practitioners of different backgrounds and personalities. However, the common values of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance unite them, and the values help them resist the temptations of the secular world.
In the face of brutal persecution, in a world filled with the lies of the CCP, in the face of distortion and misunderstandings, Falun Gong has not fallen. Instead, it has continued to develop around the world, relying on its own strength. This has again proven that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is not a slogan. It is real, and it is the basic principle of their faith.
The media entities that Falun Gong practitioners have established operate with amazing scale and form! The persecution started in 1999 amid overwhelming propaganda and slander. In 2000, practitioners founded their own media entities, and their rapid growth has been beyond one's imagination. Huge investments have come from the contributions of practitioners. Under normal circumstance, even if we leave out the tremendous investments, most individuals in this situation would have already fought for their own personal gain and status. But Falun Gong practitioners have not.
I have made an analogy between Falun Gong's resistance to the persecution and that of the Jews. In the 1930s, when the Jewish people were persecuted by Hitler, the entire world looked the other way. After the end of the Second World War, there were many investigations, and in the end, the persecution and genocide perpetrated upon the Jewish population were fully acknowledged worldwide.
Falun Gong practitioners have faced similar indifference and misunderstanding. However, they have persevered in telling people the facts of the persecution. Before the persecution ends, they will have already sued the head perpetrator of the persecution for crimes against humanity in many countries. These practitioners have set a righteous example.
In 2007, the Chinese Cultural Freedom Movement (CCFM) gave the “2007 Special Spiritual Faith” award to Falun Gong practitioners. For the first time, under the banner of historical movements in society, Chinese free scholars expressed their admiration of and support for Falun Gong, as well as their protest of the persecution.
At that time, I reached a deeper understanding of the historical significance of Falun Gong and its significance to all of mankind. As a scholar who has seen the impact of this group upon Chinese culture, Chinese society, and the whole world, I express my ultimate respect and admiration for Falun Gong.
(Continued in Part 3)
Category: Perspective
