What Exactly Does Falun Gong Do? 法輪功到底是幹什麼的？
This article was prompted by a recent interaction with a friend and my observations and thoughts over the years. This is my personal understanding only, and doesn't represent Falun Gong itself whatsoever.
最近與朋友的互動，再加之我多年的觀察和思考，促使我想寫下這篇文章。只是我個人看法，絕不是法輪功的「官方」說法。
As of today, I think almost everyone who speaks Chinese has an answer to the question "What does Falun Gong do?" already. Here I do not want to refute the CCP's slander of Falun Gong, or to convince those who agree with the CCP's slander or who think they do not agree with the CCP, but have actually been brainwashed by the CCP without realizing it.
對「法輪功到底是幹什麼的」這個問題，到今天爲止，我想華人世界裏大概人人都有一個自己的答案或認知了。我今天不想去反駁中共對法輪功的「定性」，或去說服那些認同中共的「定性」，或自以爲不認同中共，實際上卻已經被中共洗腦的人。
Today, I would like only to focus on those who have a good feeling about Falun Gong. The good feeling some people have is so strong that they even want to "join" Falun Gong, but somehow just couldn't get in.
我今天主要想針對那些對法輪功有好感、有極大的好感，好感大到想要「加入」，卻又始終走不進來的人，談談我的想法。
I think that for these people, the main reason is that they do not understand what Falun Gong is all about.
我以爲，對這些人來說，他們主要是沒有搞清楚法輪功到底是幹什麼的。
So what exactly does Falun Gong do?
那法輪功到底是幹什麼的呢？
The founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi, said in "Zhuan Falun Volume II- Teaching the Fa at Lantau Island", "Religions exist for two purposes, in fact. First, they truly make it possible for those who are good and can cultivate to learn the Way; second, they can ensure that human society’s morality remains at a relatively high level.”
法輪功的創始人李洪志先生在《轉法輪（卷二）-在大嶼山講法》中說：「其實宗教有兩個目地：一個是真正使那些不錯的能修煉上去的人得道；再一個就是能夠使人類社會的道德維持在一個比較高的水平上。」
Although Falun Gong is not a religion per se, I believe that its purposes are similar to these two.
法輪功雖然不是宗教，但我以爲，他的目地與這兩個也類似。
I remember the first time I read “Zhuan Falun", what struck me the most was this statement: “We see that in this universe a human life is not created in ordinary human society; the creation of one’s actual life is in the space of the universe.”
記得第一次看《轉法輪》時，最讓我震撼的，就是這句話：「在這個宇宙中，我們看人的生命，不是在常人社會中產生的。人的真正生命的產生，是在宇宙空間中產生的。」
Therefore, according to “Zhuan Falun", human life is created in the universe, and it is because some lives become less good that they gradually drop to lower levels, until they reach the level of human beings.
所以，據《轉法輪》的說法，人的生命是在宇宙空間中產生的，是因爲變得不那麼好了，才一步步掉到人這個層次上來的，所以，「人要返本歸真，這才是做人的真正目地」（引自《轉法輪》）。
In other words, the true purpose of being a human being is to return to the cosmic space where one's life was born through cultivation, which is what the cultivation community used to call "returning to one’s original, true self”.
也就是說，做人的真正目地，應該是通過修煉，返回到產生自己生命的宇宙空間，也即以前的修煉界所說的「返本歸真」。
Therefore, fundamentally, Falun Gong is a system of practice that helps people "return to their original, true selves.” It is not about how to live a human life.
所以，最根本上，法輪功是一種修煉方法，幫助人「返本歸真」的，是教你修煉的，不是教你如何如何做人的。
Therefore, those who can not really “join” Falun Gong are basically people who still want to be human. They do not believe in cultivation, or do not want to cultivate. Their goals in life and their purposes are all about how to be human, how to make human society better, and so on. In short, the focus is on being a human being.
所以，走不進來的人，基本上是還十分想做人，不太相信，或沒有想要修煉的人。他們的生活目標和人生意義，都在於怎樣做人，怎樣讓人類社會變好一些，等等。總之重心都在做人上。
There are also some people who feel that Falun Gong is good and want to utilize Falun Gong to improve human society. So the focus is still on humans.
還有一些人，覺得法輪功好，也是想要利用或藉助法輪功，來改善人類社會，所以重心還是在人上。
For people like this, it is very difficult for them to “join”, because Falun Gong is not for those purposes.
這樣的人，就很難走進來。因爲法輪功不是幹這個的。
In addition, some of the kind of people who are smarter, more confident or arrogant, and more successful are also less likely to come in. The reason is that they have many years of experience in life and are very confident in what they have and what they know. For them, it is sometimes too difficult to give up their ego and recognize that there could be someone who might know a little bit more than them. It is equally difficult for them to recognize that there could be something that they don’t know yet, or worth exploring.
另外，有些在人中比較聰明、比較自信自負、比較成功的人士也不太容易走進來。因爲多年的人生經驗，已經讓他們對自己既有的東西十分自信。這樣的人，要他們放棄自我，認可有一個人，或有一套真理，比自己還強許多，有時比登天還難。
So the above is a little bit about the "merits" of Falun Gong, based on the first purpose of religion that Mr. Li Hongzhi talks about.
以上是比照著李洪志先生談的宗教的第一個目地，談了一點法輪功的「功用。」
As to the second purpose of religion, to “ensure that human society’s morality remains at a relatively high level”, does Falun Gong have such a “function” too?
那麼對於李洪志先生所說的宗教的第二個目地，即「使人類社會的道德維持在一個比較高的水平上」，法輪功有沒有這樣的「功用」呢？
I think this depends on the degree of acceptance and recognition of Falun Gong in society. If one day Falun Gong can reach the same scale and social acceptance as Buddhism and Christianity, then it will also be able to “ensure that human society’s morality remains at a relatively high level”.
我想，這就要取決於社會對法輪功的接受和認可程度了。如果法輪功在將來有一天，能夠達到佛教、基督教那樣的規模和社會認可程度，那麼就一定也能起到「使人類社會的道德維持在一個比較高的水平上」的作用。
But the function of Falun Gong is much bigger than that, and the issues involved are many times bigger. When I wrote the "Postscript" to my memoir "Witnessing History: One woman's fight for freedom and Falun Gong" twenty years ago, I expressed it in a more euphemistic language and manner as follows.
但是，法輪功能起到的作用，比這個更大，他涉及到的問題不知要大多少倍。我在二十年前寫《靜水流深》的《後記》，用比較委婉的語言和方式做了如下表達：
According to Mr. Li Hongzhi’s “Teachings at the First Conference in North America”, ‘every level of matter below the surface plane is composed of microcosmic matter. And when the microcosmic matter disintegrates, the matter at the surface level likewise disintegrates and disappears. The disintegration happens imperceptibly, like a dissipating mist.’
由於「物質在表面以下任何一層物質都是由微觀物質組成的，而微觀物質要解體的時候，表面的物質也就解體不見了。它的解體是不知不覺的，就像煙消雲散一樣」（注：引自李洪志先生＜法輪佛法——在北美首屆法會上講法＞） ，所以，當這種變化推進到人這層空間時，人今日看不到的一切、不相信的一切，可能都會突然令人目瞪口呆地出現。
With the changes advancing towards our human dimension, all those things people cannot presently see and do not believe in may suddenly appear, to our amazement. In fact, many changes have already been taking effect in this dimension in which we live, such as the unprecedented astronomical changes that scientists have observed and the many strange phenomena that people have seen with the naked eye.
其實有許多變化已能夠反映到我們的這個空間來了，包括科學家已觀察到的各種前所未有的天體的變化及人們的肉眼能見的許多異象。
Falun Gong practitioners are displaying banners in Tian’anmen, handing out leaflets in the streets, and sitting in meditation outside Chinese Embassies all over the world. All of these activities, however, have nothing to do with worldly power, worldly politics, or systems of government. They have a much more profound significance. There are going to be fundamental changes in all aspects of society, from the scientific to the cultural, from ideologies to the way we live, and I believe it will be Falun Dafa that brings these changes about.
今天法輪功學員所做的一切，不管是去天安門打橫幅也好，在街上發傳單也好，在世界各國的中國大使館門口靜坐也好，都跟這個世界上的權力、政治、政體沒有任何關系，而是超越這一切，有著更深遠的意義。
未來人類社會的各方面，從科學到文化，從意識形態到生存方式，都會發生全面、深刻和根本性的變化；這種變化一定是法輪大法給人類帶來的。法輪功學員今天之所以要付出許多人難以理解的那麼大的努力去「講清真相」，只為了到了那個時候，能夠無愧於自己從修煉中所獲得的，同時能夠無愧地對自己說：我確曾盡到最大的努力。
Of course, in the twenty years since then, Mr. Li Hongzhi has elaborated more on the mission of Falun Gong disciples, as well as the situations of human beings today. He has covered deeper and greater truths. But I won't go into all that here. If you are interested, please take your time and read all the books for yourself on the Falun Dafa website. If you can read them one by one in the chronological order in which they are published, you will probably have more enlightenment than me.
當然，在那以後的二十年中，李洪志先生對於今天的人類及法輪功弟子的使命，做了更多的闡述，涉及到更深更大的理。但這些，我就不在這裏說了吧。有興趣的朋友可以自己慢慢去讀，都在法輪大法的網站上。如果能按發表的時間順序一本一本讀過來，那大家可能都會有不同的體會。
In fact, Mr. Li Hongzhi also said that people in the future will not know his name, his image, or his existence, and that Falun Dafa will not be left to humankind as a culture.
Therefore, my own understanding is that after this particular period in history, it will not be possible for future humans to practice Falun Dafa.
其實李洪志先生還說過，將來的人不會知道他的名字、他的形像和他的存在，法輪大法也不會給人留下來做文化。所以我自己的領悟是，過了這一個特殊的歷史時期，未來的人類，想修法輪大法，也不可得了呢。
As a matter of fact, if one thinks about the history of human civilization, I think it is largely a history of religions. Mankind has been searching for gods "since the beginning of time". It is only in recent times that a large part of mankind does not believe in the existence of divine beings.
其實仔細想想這一次人類的文明歷史的話，我覺得它很大程度上是一部宗教史。人類「自古以來」，就在追尋神。大面積的人不信神，只發生在近代。
Among all the major religions in history, Christianity seems to be the one that has "entered the human world" the most, and the power of the church was once greater than that of the government. In many countries, it is still virtually the state religion.
從歷史上幾大宗教來看，基督教似乎是「入世」最深的，教會的權力一度大於政府，現在在許多國家，也還是「國教」一般的存在。
However, does Christianity really exist for human beings?
然而，基督教真的是爲人而存在嗎？
Perhaps the religion itself and the churches do exist for human beings, but from my superficial understanding of the Bible (I have only read it once), the teachings of Jesus are not.
也許宗教或教會的確是爲人而存在的，但是，以我對《聖經》的淺顯了解（只讀過一次），耶穌所傳的道可不是。
Didn't Jesus perform so many miracles and preach so many sermons while He was on earth for the sake of the human beings He was trying to save, so that they could have "eternal life"? To have "eternal life," to return to heaven, and to be redeemed is the purpose and destination of faith in Jesus, which is no different from "returning to one’s original, true self” in the Chinese cultivation communities.
耶穌在世時，行了那麼多神跡，布了那麼多道，不都是爲了他要救的人，能夠得到「永生」嗎？得「永生」、迴歸天國，被救贖，這才是信耶穌的目地和歸宿，這與中國修煉界講的「返本歸真」並無二致。
For me, there is no need to say which is greater or lesser, "eternal life" or a hundred years of human life.
「永生」與人生百年相比，孰大孰小，這不用說吧？
Therefore, fundamentally speaking, what Jesus passed on to humans is also the way of cultivation. Believing in Him, constantly confessing and reflecting on one's faults, is the process of correcting oneself, which can also be called cultivation. When one has cultivated well, he or she will finally return to heaven.
所以，從根本上說，耶穌所傳給人的，也是修煉之道，信他，不斷地懺悔、反省自己的過錯，就是修正自己的過程，也可稱其爲修煉。修煉好了，最後迴歸天國。
Therefore, if someone says that he believes in Jesus but does not believe that the purpose of being a human being is to cultivate in order to return to heaven, then he does not really believe in Jesus, nor does he understand the purpose of Jesus' coming to earth.
所以，如果有人說他信耶穌，卻不信當人的目地是修煉以迴歸天國，那麼他不是真的信耶穌，也沒有弄懂耶穌來世的目地。
There is nothing wrong for human beings valuing things in the human world. The human level is an essential level in the universe and will always exist.
看重人，作爲人來說，並沒有錯。人這一層次，是宇宙中必不可少的層次，而且會永遠存在。
But the purpose of this level of existence is to give the fallen life a chance to cultivate here and return. Of course, it is also a part of the prosperity of the universe.
但是，人這個層次存在的目的，就是爲了使掉下來的生命有機會在這裏修煉，再返回去。當然同時也是宇宙繁榮的一部分。
A hundred years of life will pass in the blink of an eye, and the day when we will need to leave this world will probably come soon whether we care about the "afterlife" or not.
人生百年眨眼就過，關不關心「身後事」，那一天可能都會很快到來。
Of course, those who are righteous and haven’t done much evil in the human world do not have to think too much about the "afterlife" because God will definitely have a "just and reasonable" arrangement for them.
當然，能夠在人中一身正氣，問心無愧之人，確實也不必想太多「身後之事」，因爲神一定會有個「公正合理」的安排。
However, if you really did not come down to be a human being, but are lost here and cannot return, then, when your human body (human skin) is shed and your wisdom and memory are opened, perhaps, you will regret that you have missed this opportunity that doesn’t come along in a million years.
只是，如果你真的不是下來當人的，今天卻迷在了這裏回不去了，那麼，當你的人身（人皮）蛻去，你的智慧和記憶打開的時候，也許，你會後悔你錯過了今日這萬古不遇的機緣。
二零一九年五月十八日，約五千名來自世界各地的部分法輪功學員，在紐約總督島排出「法輪圖形」和「真善忍」三個大字，慶祝世界法輪大法日。我有幸當日在也其中，我在「善 」字的第二橫當時。
4/24/2022*
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