Teachings of Falun Gong - On Science

On Science

David Ownby writes that one of Li Hongzhi's "favorite themes" of discussion is modern science. He says that Li often "returns to the limitations of the scientific paradigm and the blind arrogance of the world scientific community", at the same time without imparting an explicitly antiscientific or antimodern message. Without the internet for example, Ownby opines, "Falun Gong most certainly would not have achieved its present form." Instead, Li's teaching is directed toward attempting to show that "Falun gong offers the sole avenue toward genuine understanding of the true meaning of the universe, which he often labels the 'Buddha Fa'."

In Zhuan Falun Volume II, Li says "The axioms set forth by today’s empirical science are quite narrow, and acknowledge only that which is visible and tangible; anything indiscernible to the eye or touch is not acknowledged. Its scientific axioms are not scientific whatsoever, and have completely boxed man in. When a person discovers via scientific means things normally invisible and intangible, is that not science?"

Ownby says his fieldwork demonstrates that Li's discussions of and challenges to modern science struck a chord with many Chinese intellectuals who took up Falun Gong practice. They say that in explaining the relationship of science "to larger cosmic structures and existential questions", that Li has made science more relevant than before. Li’s ultimate aim in talking about science is to "illustrate the limitations of scientific knowledge so as to make space for his own vision, which transcends science and returns it to a secondary, subservient role in our understanding of cosmic and human forces." He attempts to do this with a number of strategies, Ownby says, including purported evidence from ‘parascientific research’. This includes claims of archaeological findings from hundreds of millions of years ago which undermine the theory of evolution. Li is suggesting, Ownby says, that "scientific paradigms are historically and culturally bound and thus epistemologically incapable of validating their own claims to authority."

Again in Zhuan Falun II, Li says "Living beings are complex, and the structure of the universe is extremely complex. The knowledge possessed by man today has reached its peak. Having peaked, it has become something that limits the development of man’s science. For example, many accomplished scientists have set forth axioms in the fields of physics and chemistry. Within the confines of those axioms, what they say indeed holds true. And it’s fine to build upon them. However, truth is a many-tiered thing. When you surpass their axioms, you will find that the axioms have in fact served to limit people."

Ownby says that according to Li, one of science’s major shortcomings is its inability to understand the idea of multiple dimensions, that the universe exists at "many different levels simultaneously and that the process of enlightenment consists of passing through these levels to arrive at ever more complete understandings." Li tells his disciples in Falun Buddha Fa: Lectures in the United States, that "The cosmos is extremely complex...Earth is nothing but a speck of dust, and it is insignificant. Yet within this expanse there are innumerable and complex structures of dimensions. What are these structures of dimensions like?...Which level of dimension does our humankind live in? We live in the surface matter comprised of the biggest layer of molecular particles; we live in between molecules and planets—a planet is also a particle, and within the vast cosmos, it, too, is a trivial speck of dust. The Milky Way Galaxy is also a trivial speck of dust. This universe—the small universe I just described—is also but a trivial speck of dust. The largest particles that our human eyes see are planets, and the smallest particles visible to humankind are molecules. We humans exist in between the particles of molecules and planets. Being in this dimension, you think it’s vast; from a different perspective, it’s actually extremely narrow and tiny." He says "The Buddhas, Daoist deities, and Gods we speak of exist in other dimensions that man cannot touch or see."

Ownby says that overall Li's discussion on the topic is simple, and attempts to sum up it up: "He invokes apparent anomalies in the archaeological or geological record to call into question the authority of the scientific consensus. On the basis of that challenge...he goes on to suggest a less human-centred view of the universe composed of hierarchically linked levels...Through cultivation, humans can transcend the level into which they were born" Ownby regards Li's arguments unconvincing, and believes that Li is not particularly interested in scientific debate, or those who do not believe or doubt him, "his concern is rather to illustrate, to those who are attracted to such a message, that Falun Dafa both contains within it and transcends the modern scientific viewpoint."