overseas media on Falun Gong

Xinhua News Agency published Wednesday the second part of a case study of the reports on 136 suicidal Falun Gong followers, entitled "A Road to 'Nirvana' That Leads to Death."

The 136 suicides are irrefutable evidence of the brutal murder of lives and the total disregard of their human rights by Falun Gong and cult leader Li Hongzhi, according to reporters participating in the investigation.

The bloody lesson people could learn from these suicides is that the road claimed by the cult chieftain as leading to the so- called "Nirvana" and "Heavenly Kingdom" is nothing but a road that leads to death.

The facts show that it is hard to imagine how many more Falun Gong practitioners would have fallen victim to the cult and how many more families would have lost their loved ones, if the government had not banned the cult in time on July 22, 1999.

Among of the suicidal practitioners, many of them were trying hard to achieve "Shangcengci," or to ascend to a higher level of faith, according to the case study.

One of those who killed themselves to try and ascend is Sun Jie, a worker at the No.803 Plant under the power supply administration of Gansu Province.

On April 26, 1999, Sun committed suicide by setting himself on fire at home, with a tape-recorder broadcasting the ringleader's teachings in arms and a copy of Li's works.

Tang Xiaoping, Sun's widow, told Xinhua that ever since her late husband began practicing Falun Gong, their family had lost the harmony it once had because Sun was reluctant to care about his wife and their child and indulged himself in studying the cult teachings completely.

Sun often told his wife that according to Li's teachings, the followers must abandon the desires and love of ordinary people, so that they could achieve the goal of "Shangcengci" (to a higher level) and finally reach the highest level.

Beginning from the end of 1998, Sun became abnormal and often told his wife that there was little time left for him and he had to lose no time in practicing Falun Gong. Since then, Sun often stayed up the whole night by listening to tape recordings or watching video tapes, regardless of other matters.

During the whole winter, before setting himself on fire in the Spring, Sun always practiced late into the night outside the house, braving chilly snow and winds. He lost his toenails due to the harsh weather.

According to the cult leader, the human being has plunged to the lowest level from the space and are leading a moronic life, and therefore, they must try to escape as quickly as possible by ascending level by level. The only way to ascend is to practice Falun Gong.

The ringleader of Falun Gong has depicted the "highest level" like this: When the highest level is reached, one can get and do whatever he wants to, and they have everything in his world.

In addition to practicing, Li also urged his believers to " Hongfa (Spread Falun Gong)" and "Hufa (Safeguard Falun Gong)" to achieve "Shangcengci."

Referring to "Hongfa," the followers should study his teachings by reciting, listening to tape-recordings and watching video tapes, while exchanging their views. "Hufa" demands the followers to stand various sufferings in a show of their true belief, when Falun Gong is criticized by others.

Many of the followers were convinced that if they did not obey the Master's teachings, they would be killed by the "gods" that guard Falun Gong.

Among Li's teachings, "Nirvana," a term Li has stolen from Buddhism, is the most deceiving, which demands the followers to reach "Nirvana" through "Xiaoye (Eliminate Bad Things)" and " Shangcengci" (ascending to a higher level).

By practicing Falun Gong, people are turning themselves into various kinds of gods or goddesses, according to the cult chieftain.

On August 29, 1998, Wang Yuzhi, a woman from Yibin, Sichuan Province, told her husband, "I'm going to ascend to the skies and I'll start to fly after I count from one to nine."

Wang looked gawkish, after she failed to start flying after the counting. She hanged herself to death in her home the day after.

According to her husband, Wang became a Falun Gong practitioner in May 1998, and since then, she gave up all home chores and immersed herself in the practice. Wang often told her husband and parents that she was not ordinary and wanted to become a fairy in the so-called "Paradise."

The ringleader has made a promise to his followers, "I want to conduct a magnificent action when you have reached 'Yuanman ( Nirvana).' All my disciples will fly up to the Heaven with their bodies, regardless of whether they want their bodies or not. Those who don't want their bodies would have their bodies melted like a rainbow, before they ascend to the skies."

Many of the suicides believed that when they reach "Nirvana," what they give up is nothing but the body.

Feng Shaobao, a suicidal follower from Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu Province, writes in his diary, "Who are our kin? Our real parents are looking at us from the Heaven. They are calling us to return and all of us want to return."

Feng, a shipbuilding factory worker, hung himself on July 10, 1998, four years after he started practicing Falun Gong. Before he died, Feng told his wife, "If I do not come back in 48 hours, I have certainly reached the 'Heavenly Kingdom.'"

On July 22, 1999, Song Yufeng, a farmer from Wuzhi County, Henan Province, poisoned himself to death, in hopes that all his family members would enjoy his luck, after he becomes a god in the "Heaven."

On April 14, 1999, Liu Shengzhi in Mianzhu City in Sichuan hung herself, thinking that she had practiced well enough to reach " Nirvana" and the Lotus-sitting "Master Li" was coming to receive her.

On June 5, 1999, He Limin, a farmer in Tangshan City in Hebei Province, died after taking poison. Prior to dying he murmured, "I 'm becoming a god. I'm becoming a god."

During their investigation, the Xinhua reporters came to learn that many of the suicidal practitioners were convinced by the ringleader that they had been granted such magic powers as "flying high under the Sun" and "free of being hurt by bullet and knife."

"I've got many 'Fashen (Invisible Bodies)" who look alike to me and are able to do anything by themselves. They will look after and protect you wherever you are," the cult head says.

Liu Fengsheng, a villager in Sanhe Town, Hebei Province, began practicing Falun Gong in early 1998. One day in September, 1998, Liu told others that he had become a god through practicing and was able to fly across a river.

On April 26, 1999, Liu, in a pair of new shoes and with an umbrella in hand, tried in vain to fly across the river, but drowned.

Sun Wuju, a woman of Jining, Shandong Province, had practiced Falun Gong since 1997, and then the woman thought she had gained magic powers.

On February 5, 1999, Sun drank poison and said to her daughter, "I will not die as I can use the magic powers to force out the poison from my body."

Afterwards, she ate steamed bread with tea, trying to force out the poison, but failed. She died, before others could convince her to go to hospital.

Li Hongzhi's heresy has aroused anger among local experts. Zhang Honglin, a deep-breath researcher from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute of China, pointed out that Li's evil teachings have bewildered his followers and made them believe that they could get magic powers through practicing Falun Gong.

Under Li's instructions, the followers have to practice Falun Gong day and night, which would make them lose interests in their family members and friends and turn to believe in magic powers, according to the expert.

The bloody facts have exposed the nature of Falun Gong and the 136 lost lives show that the so-called "Truthfulness, Kindness and Tolerance" advocated by the ringleader are lies.

The facts have helped the people see the harm of Li's evil teachings and the nature of Falun Gong which is really a cult that has cruelly taken lives, damaged human nature, and trampled on human rights, the case study says. It warns people to be on their guard.

(Xinhua)