Tens of millions of people with diverse spiritual and cultural backgrounds have embraced the guiding virtues of “to be true, good, and endure.”
These people—who are from almost every professional and educational field—believe that this moral philosophy is the foundation of humanity, and if applied in practical life, it can make our world a better place.
‘Falun Gong Has Achieved a Miracle’
Chinese native Tom Leung fled to New Zealand in 2003 after being persecuted and detained multiple times in China. Leung, who began practicing Falun Gong in the early 1990s, says the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance give people a moral compass to lead their lives in “the right direction.”“‘Truthfulness-compassion-tolerance’ is the foundation of the world,” he said, adding that living by these values can benefit society.
Leung says the Chinese communist regime has employed all and every means to persecute Falun Gong.
“They have money, they have all the troops, and they control all the media at home and aboard to persecute Falun Gong. They also coerce or buy off Western media companies, IT companies, and even governments. So [these governments] then turn a blind eye to the persecution.”
However, Falun Gong practitioners “never gave up, and they never resorted to violence,” he said. Instead, they peacefully stepped forward to resist this persecution and awaken people to the imminent threats of communism.
‘If Everyone Followed These Principles, Would There Be Wars?’
A Russian native who moved to the United States 30 years ago, Marina, 67, had spent her adulthood living in the Soviet Union during the rule of the communist party.Marina, who has been practicing Falun Gong for 25 years, says it’s “so important” for the world today to follow these principles and teachings—which “do not have any religious form, but its adherents do believe in the divine origin [of humanity].”
“Just imagine if everyone followed these principles, would there be wars? Would people need these terrible weapons? We would then live in a beautiful clean world,” she said.
Contrasting the virtues of Falun Gong with the horrors of communism, Marina said that “the basic principles of Falun Gong are completely opposite to what the communist party teaches.”
“Arrests, torture, dark lies, that’s the way the communist party operates—regardless of what country it rules. It does not change its methods!” she said.
“Since my childhood, I remember well all the methods that [the] communist party used to brainwash its citizens. Newspapers, radio, and television constantly brainwashed people that the Soviet Union is the most powerful and fair country in the whole world, all supposedly thanks to the ideas of communism. … I love the country in which I was born and raised, and with all my heart, I want Russia to choose a righteous and peaceful path. I wish you never again take the bloody communist path.”
‘If an Educated Person’s Mind Is Not Right, Then a Dacoit Is Better Than Him’
Dr. Utpal Kumar Bit, 65, the head of the plastic surgery department at the Kolkata Medical College, West Bengal, India, has decades of experience working in the field of medicine. But it saddened him that as a doctor, who deals with emergency cases almost daily, he couldn’t heal his own multiple health problems, which ranged from different allergies to hypertension and chronic osteoarthritis to aggravated asthma.He was nearing death when his bronchitis asthma became terminal. Due to his extreme discomfort, he had to sleep sitting upright, even walking for him was painful.
“I was dying and could do nothing. I had been repeatedly admitted to hospitals, and sometimes, my condition was so bad that I might have died any moment. I was on heavy steroids and in very bad shape,” Dr. Bit said. “That is when I came across Falun Gong. It gave me a new life.”
One of his old acquaintances, residing in the United States, introduced him to the practice over a phone call after experiencing the health benefits himself. Dr. Bit was a bit reluctant to give it a try thinking that there was no hope as he might be put on a ventilator soon. But seeing how confident his colleague was, he purchased the book “Zhuan Falun” and went to a nearby practice site to learn the meditative exercises.
“That night, I had a very good sleep. Surprisingly, from the next day on, I didn’t have any asthma,” he said. “I was totally free of my illnesses. I was happy like a child. It really is a new life for me.”
Dr. Bit—who has helped translate the Falun Gong books into the Bengali language—says the teachings go beyond the surface-level healing methods taught in other alternative therapies, and the practice’s moral principles can truly guide humanity back to the path of traditional wisdom. “If people follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, their mental health will be good, the society will be good, and the real advancement of society will occur.”
Dr. Bit believes in moral integrity as much as he does in being professional. His heart goes out to the victims who lost their lives in the Chinese regime’s forced organ harvesting. “You can call those Chinese doctors a doctor, but they are worse than criminals. What they are doing is truly heinous,” he said.
‘It’s Simply Impossible to Work in the Medical Profession Without Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance’
“A healthy lifestyle cannot be spontaneous or temporary,” says Swetlana Arhipenko, a senior anesthetist and resuscitation nurse from Russia with over 29 years of experience.A graduate of the Moscow Department of Health’s program “Mentoring in Health Care,” the renowned medical psychologist received a laureate in 2022. Arhipenko says she has devoted her entire life to “the most compassionate profession”—medicine.
For Arhipenko, a “healthy lifestyle is life itself.” She always wondered how to maintain her health and youth, and, most importantly, find the answer to one of life’s core questions: why do we exist?
“I have always believed that mental health is an important component of human health, and in all my work, I put mental health first. But, despite my fairly deep knowledge of psychology, I did not find the answers I needed for myself,” she said.
In 2007, she came across the book “Zhuan Falun,” and after reading the first few sentences, she realized that this is what she had been looking for, for all the years. “Since then, this book has been my guide to life. Everything that was incomprehensible to me was revealed to me,” she said.
‘Are These Moral Values Really Not Practical in Today’s World?’
Victor Sia, 51, works in the field of cyber security presale in Singapore and has been practicing Falun Gong since 2005.He says our modern world is already in chaos, where the concept of right or wrong has been distorted: the criteria now are based on what one gains or loses, or if others align with our personal views. While people in the past had moral integrity and faith in the divine.
Reflecting on if Falun Gong’s moral values really are not practical in today’s world, he said that it seems the advancement of sophisticated CCTV surveillance, AI, and machine-learning technology would enable us to keep law and order in society. But, he asks how does one stop someone who is stubbornly and intellectually bent on plotting to evade all these technologies?
He said: “On the contrary, what if people can start to conduct themselves morally—little by little, day by day, working towards truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance? Do you think there’s still a need for never-ending upgrades to technologies to keep up with the sophisticated threat actors, and implementing comprehensive law and policies?”
Twenty years ago, before Sia understood the facts about Falun Gong, he, like most of his fellow citizens, was misled by the Singaporean media’s rebroadcast of the hate propaganda by China’s state-run Xinhua News agency. Later on, he learned the real reason behind the propaganda and persecution:
A Guide on Character Cultivation
Mårten Hernebring, 37, works as a programmer at an IT company in Gothenburg, Sweden, and has been practicing Falun Gong for 13 years. He says the teachings of Falun Gong can guide anyone on how to become a good person.“Today’s world doesn’t provide many good role models, so the book ‘Zhuan Falun’ can take that guiding role,” he said. “Truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance can guide us when we feel down and are looking for hope. They can make you see things from other people’s perspective and smile even when facing troubles in everyday life.”
Being an IT professional, Hernebring understands the data security threats posed by totalitarian regimes. He believes there is a dire need for alternatives to the “Made-in-China” apps like TikTok.
“When I was a consultant at another IT company, they were forcing everyone to sign that they allowed pictures taken to be sent to mainland China. I refused to sign it at the reception and he said I would need to sign many non-disclosure agreements later, so we decided to stop our cooperation due to those issues,” he said.
‘It Totally Changed My Perspective of the World for the Better’
A mobile app developer, Jin Ang, 38, from Singapore, took up the practice three years ago. He also has a unique story to tell. He says he now experiences “higher energy levels” when performing his everyday tasks.“When I first read ‘Zhuan Falun,’ it gave me deep insights into the universe and the true meaning of being a human. It totally changed my perspective of the world for the better. On subsequent reads, it unveils its deeper meanings little by little. It’s really a book on self-cultivation, enabling a person to cultivate goodness,” he said.
“With society and human morals deteriorating day by day, it’s important that everyone has ’truthfulness, compassion, tolerance' as their guiding light. Doing so would greatly benefit society as people will align with the truth and be more kind and tolerant to one another.”
‘I Went From Being Self-Absorbed to Thinking of Others First’
Elliott Rodriguez, 27, a software developer from St. Louis, based out of Boulder, Colorado, became fascinated with philosophy and research on the mind during his college years and did an in-depth study of many famous philosophers and religions.He stumbled upon the book “Zhuan Falun” while surfing the internet in 2021. “Every word and every sentence moved me, and I felt that this book contained answers to everything I could ask for, and more,” he said.
Rodriguez says that the three words of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, though seemingly very simple on the surface, contain boundless principles at deeper levels.
“My understanding of practicing truthfulness is learning what is true and living by it. It can be difficult to discern truth and falsehood amidst a society filled with false information. Only by valuing and preserving the truth can we maintain a functioning society. This requires one to live honestly and stand up for the truth even when met with opposition,” he said.
‘Those Who Can Align With Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance Are the Most Fortunate Beings’
Visual artist Duong Pham, from Vietnam, experienced unimaginable health benefits with regular practice of the five meditative exercises of Falun Gong.Pham had injured his spine in an accident, resulting in hemiplegia. He was bedridden due to multiple herniated discs. He was looking for traditional alternative therapies.
“After learning that Falun Gong was a qigong practice with five simple exercises, which didn’t take much time to do, I felt excited and started to practice. In around three months, my health suddenly improved. My sinusitis became less severe, the herniated discs in my back and neck were pain-free, and my body movements improved,” he said.
His mother, who suffered memory loss and paralysis from a stroke, “recovered completely only within 10 days.”
Narrating how he came across Falun Gong, he said he saw a social media post about it in 2015, with the caption that read: “For predestined people.”
He said: “Out of curiosity, I clicked on and learned about the qigong (energy) practice of Falun Gong. The author’s [Mr. Li Hongzhi] easy-to-understand and profound explanations about the mysteries of the universe and humanity impressed me. My mind was unwound and I had a sense of peace after reading the book.
‘Everything That Is Contrary to Virtue, Will Surely Get the Retribution It Deserves’
Prema Narayani, 19, from Indonesia, says her entire family started practicing Falun Gong in 2011 after witnessing how it improved her mother’s health.“My mother had heart disease and appendicitis and had been treated everywhere but there was no significant improvement in her condition. She was very thin and pale, and her legs trembled every time she walked,” she said.
However, after two weeks of practicing the meditative exercises, her mother “could already drive herself to the practice site.” “Since I was the one who always accompanied my mother when she was sick and also accompanied her to the practice site after school, I was very surprised to see such a drastic change.”
For Prema, “Zhuan Falun” is a book that can guide her in a righteous direction while trying to build a future for herself amidst the corrupt materialistic society. And the young college girl is well aware of the reality of authoritarian regimes.
“Communism is always followed by brutality and lies to cover up its evil guise. Today, the CCP may still be able to manipulate, spread lies, and hide facts, but in the end, people will find out [the truth].”
