Falun Gong Outside Mainland China - Organization

Organization

Falun Gong embraces a minimal organizational structure, and does not have a rigid hierarchy, physical places of worship, fees, or formal membership. As a matter of doctrinal significance, Falun Gong is intended to be "formless," having little to no material or formal organization. Practitioners of Falun Gong are forbidden to solicit donations or charge fees for the practice, and are similarly forbidden teach or interpret the teachings for others.

In the absence of membership or initiation rituals, a Falun Gong practitioner can be anyone who chooses to identify themselves as such. Students participate in the practice and follow its teachings as much or as little as they like, and practitioners do not instruct others on what to believe or how to behave.

Falun Gong can be said to be highly centralized in the sense that neither spiritual nor practical authority is dispersed; local branches and assistants are afforded no special rights or titles; they cannot collect money, conduct healings, or teach or interpret doctrine for others. The volunteer "assistants" or "contact persons" do not hold authority over other practitioners, regardless of how long they have practiced Falun Gong. As such, spiritual and ideological authority in the practice is completely centralized with Li Hongzhi. Li's spiritual authority within the practice is absolute, yet the organization of Falun Gong works against totalistic control, and Li does not intervene in the personal lives of adherents. Practitioners of Falun Gong have little to no contact with Li, except through the study of his teachings.

Falun Gong's nebulous structure and lack of membership makes it difficult to gauge the scope and size of Falun Gong communities outside China. Local groups post their practice site times on Falun Gong websites, but do not attempt to keep up with how many practitioners there are in certain areas. University of Montreal historian David Ownby notes that there are no "mid- or upper-level tiers of the organization where one might go for such information." He says that practitioners are not "members" of an "organization", and do not fill out any forms at any point.

To the extent that organization is achieved in Falun Gong, it is accomplished partly through a global, networked, and often virtual community. In particular, electronic communications, email lists and a collection of websites are the primary means of coordinating activities and disseminating Li Hongzhi's teachings. In addition to disseminating teachings, the internet serves to forge and maintain community, and is used as a medium for raising awareness of the persecution in China. Practitioners maintain hundreds of websites around the world. Most contain content in both Chinese and English, while others include German, French, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and other languages.

Falun Gong' reliance on the internet as a means of organizing has led to the group's characterization by some observers as "a virtual religious community," though other scholars are wary about overstating the significance of the internet. Scott Lowe, for instance, believes that the Internet is not a significant factor in attracting people to the practice; instead, the influence of family and friends, as well as the prospect of better health, seem far more important in establishing initial interest.

Although the spiritual practice of Falun Gong has little clear organization, practitioners of Falun Gong have organized considerably among themselves since 1999, establishing their own research and advocacy organizations, media groups, and arts companies.