Combining Falun Gong with other Cultivating Exercises.

[Subam]

I'm not sure if this particular topic has been covered in this forum before, but since I haven't been able to find any discussion about it in any great length and depth (just a few mentions here and there), I'm guessing no one has really touched upon it yet.

I've been hearing about Falun Gong/Falun Dafa over the years. The name or the methods didn't really strike my interest at the time since I was preoccupied with other practices -- mainly meditation and yoga. It wasn't until recently that I began incorporating basic Qi Gong exercises into my spiritual practices. I benefited greatly from these new exercises and I thought I could take it a step further with other Qi Gong methods.

 

This eventually lead me to Falun Gong, which I began to take seriously for the first time.

 

I started reading all the free material about Falun Gong on the internet. The exercises looked so simple and easy to learn. And the many positive results I've heard from other practitioners really encouraged me to take up the practice. But then, when I read the Falun Gong ebook written by Li Hongzhi himself, I was left kind of bummed out that you couldn't practice Falun Gong with other cultivating exercises. Li Hongzhi clearly points out (in a sort of cocky way) that his methods are far superior to other methods and that combining other methods with his would muddle up any progress. He also comes off as extremely holier-than-thou with a cult like persona in the way he talks and he has all these weird and twisted views about the universe. But I guess that's another topic for another time.

Having said that, I could care less what kind of B.S. that Hongzhi preaches. I'm more interested in the Falun Gong exercises and their benefits.

Has anyone ever practiced Falun Gong along with their other cultivating/spiritual practices such as meditation, yoga, tantra, etc?

What was your experience like? Did practicing them together interfere with your progress or did it help?

 

I'd really like to know. I really want to try Falun Gong, but at the same time I don't want to give up my other cultivating practices. Any testimony or insight would really help.

 

 

 

 

 

[Vajra Fist]

Deleted

Edited September 4, 2023 by Vajra Fist

[Vajra Fist]

Deleted post

Edited September 7, 2016 by Vajra Fist

[SoverMan]

If I may ask Varja, why did you stop practicing? No drama...but very curious. 

[Vajra Fist]

Hey buddy, no worries. I just felt like I wasn't making progress anymore. 10 years is a long time. Sometimes it's difficult to cultivate a beginners mind, which is essential for continued progress, when you're so familiar with a practice.

 

I may return to it eventually, but for the past couple of years I've been exploring different paths and broadening my knowledge.

[SoverMan]

I asked because I found the practice about 2 years ago. I met some good people who I admired. I went in full blast and seemingly enjoyed it. The camaraderie and such. It seemed to exacerbate some illnesses and calm others. But it's the rhetoric that began to alarm me. more talk of political agendas and organ harvesting and doing the three things well or Masters law bodies will leave you. I began to feel more like a slave than a practitioner. Afraid to be myself. To hear someone stopped after 10 years with no hardships is encouraging. 

[Vajra Fist]

No I havent had them show up at my house with video cameras. Its one of those practices where your heart really has to be in it, and I think everyone who practices for a while realises that. It felt very natural to leave the practice. A lot of my good friends still practice and it really works for them.

 

The thing I liked about Falun Gong was that you cultivated based on your own understanding. Different levels have different understandings of the truth. There were no hard and fast rules about what you needed to do. You just tried to be a better person.

 

When I first started practicing I felt like I needed to do the three things or else I wouldn't be a good practitioner. After a while I realised I only needed to act within the limits of my own conscience. You can't force compassion.

 

It's a deep system, and I'm grateful for the many profound experiences I've had with it over the past decade. I hoped it would take me all the way, but I think it has still left me with a good foundation to explore other paths.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Vajra Fist

[SoverMan]

I am grateful for the dialog. Your kindness comes thru. It is refreshing to be able to share with someone who knows Dafa well and also doesn't have the normal contempt for it. 

 

I feel I started out to fast perhaps. To gungho. so to speak. Wanting to be a good practitioner. Truth is I was never into supernormal powers or some such, just an awareness of self. To find some answers to personal challenges. Depression, anxiety and such. Yet I found somehow, these things became worse as I went on. The JOY of it began to escape me. I began to resent the elitist aspects. I cringed each time I heard the phrase 'everyday people'. Perhaps I read too many other things besides Zhaun Falun. 

[Elftor]

Hello people,

 

So i am aware of the warniings against practicing falun gong together with other qi gong methods.

 

But i would like to ask some opinions wether is would be sound to practice it with more western systems.

 

I am going to start practice the middle pillar exercise toger with stuff like qabbalistic cross and the LBRP, so i was wondering if people think these practise will interfere or not ?

 

Much thanks allready.

[Fa Xin]

If the system master says flat out, "don't practice other energy stuff with this", I would include it to mean things like hermetic Kabbalah stuff such as MPR and qbl cross. Those are a form of energy manipulation for sure. There's probably a reason he advises against it.

 

Also the Qabalistic exercises prescribe to a certain energetic current which may be counter to that of particular qigong systems.

 

My advise is to not mix systems.

[Subam]

Alright, I'm finally back! Sorry for the extremely long hiatus. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything by not replying back to everyone's posts. When I posted this topic back in September of last year, I wasn't able to go on the computer a lot due to some personal issues that I had to deal with. (That's life for you, I guess). But, now that everything has calmed and settled, I just want to let everyone know that I recently attempted to combine and practice Falun Gong with several other cultivating exercises.

I wanted to experience for myself what it would be like to combine Falun Gong with my meditation, yoga, and tantric practices. So I went ahead and did it! Unfortunately, the results ended up being disastrous! Within the first few days of practice, I felt these weird painful cramps in my stomach and random parts of my body would suddenly go slightly numb for no apparent reason. I would also experience these brief fainting spells where I would suddenly (almost) lose consciousness for like a second or two. Fearing that I would end up dying if I continued to do this, I immediately stopped practicing Falun Gong for good with the negative symptoms disappearing a few days after I discontinued the practice.

So, now that I had to learn this very painful lesson for myself, does anyone know of any safe alternative to Falun Gong? I'm still interested in incorporating Qi Gong exercises into my other spiritual practices like meditation, yoga, tantra, etc, but I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA which exercises to pick from out of the countless Qi Gong exercises I've seen. If anyone can recommend an effective Qi Gong system that can be safely practiced along with other cultivating exercises, I'd be willing to try it out.


 

[nyerstudent]

Hey Subam, 

 

I also followed the Falun Dafa teachings for awhile. I definitely wouldn't recommend combining it with any other cultivation techniques! 

 

For the past year I've practiced Pangu Shengong: http://www.pangu.org/. It's a very powerful system but doesn't have the same restrictions that many other systems do. You can freely practice alongside other forms (it may even help normalize a qigong 'deviation'). However, Master Ou does recommend practicing it solo for at least a month at first to properly evaluate its effects.

 

Hope this helps!

[akasuna123]

On 6/12/2017 at 4:00 PM, nyerstudent said:

Hey Subam, 

 

I also followed the Falun Dafa teachings for awhile. I definitely wouldn't recommend combining it with any other cultivation techniques! 

 

For the past year I've practiced Pangu Shengong: http://www.pangu.org/. It's a very powerful system but doesn't have the same restrictions that many other systems do. You can freely practice alongside other forms (it may even help normalize a qigong 'deviation'). However, Master Ou does recommend practicing it solo for at least a month at first to properly evaluate its effects.

 

Hope this helps!

Where did you hear it can help normalize a Qigong deviation.