China’s Economic and Social Renaissance: Falun Gong and The Rise Of Truth Compassion Forbearance Part 2

The New Renaissance

With the rise of Falun Gong, China was experiencing an extraordinary revival akin to Europe’s rebirth after the Middle Ages. During the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries, Europe underwent a paradigm shift in artistic, spiritual and scientific thought14. At the time, society was ruled by feudalism wherein peasants worked the lands for the nobles. For this they received protection and their small parcels of land. But between 1350-1450, life changed drastically when the bubonic plague struck and wiped out half of Europe’s population. In due course, Europe rose from its depression to experience a period of economic growth. Critical to this resurgence was Gutenburg’s ground-breaking invention of the printing press in 1445 followed by the rediscovery of the ancient Greek and Roman Classics. Ideas flourished, leading to the discovery of new technologies and even the new worlds of the Americas in 1492.

While life in early Europe was altered forever by this information revolution, the principles and practice of Falun Gong in modern China also pioneered the start of a cultural and scientific Renaissance. Notably, the teachings had widespread appeal. They were able to effectively convey to all levels of society, ancient philosophical and spiritual wisdom in the context of contemporary Western science. For some, the teachings were beautifully encapsulated by three simple words: Zhen-Shan-Ren or Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. For others, these words were also the fundamental building blocks of nature, a ‘unified field theory’ that brought revolutionary insights to their own areas of expertise.

With the sharing of ideas and experiences a common trait of the practice, exchanges between practitioners quickly accelerated the deep influence the teachings had in economic, scientific and cultural circles. From this, a kind of social entrepreneurship soon developed when practitioners from a variety of backgrounds began collaborating on projects that had both an economic and social benefit. This was important for a number of reasons. For countries like America, "compassionate capitalism" plays a critical role in education, social welfare and the fostering of the Arts and Sciences. In China however, businesses with a social conscience were still a rare concept. Whilst first and foremost a practice that focused on inner cultivation, the teachings of Falun Dafa nevertheless inspired practitioners to contribute to the longer-term betterment of the communities they lived in.

Resurgence in Health & Vitality

Initially, the most observable impact of Falun Gong was in the area of healthcare, one of China’s largest economic burdens. It reintroduced Qigong exercises, recognized as the ancient science of health, as a practice that not only harmonized the mind and body but also integrated virtue as the key to strengthening the body’s natural immune system. In the 1993 Oriental Health Expo, Mr Li. Hongzhi was honored with the award for "Advancing Boundary Science" as well as the title "Most Popular Qigong Master" 15. Very quickly, the awareness in the preventative and curative health aspects of Falun Gong began to spread.

In October 1998, some physicians of China Union Medical University did a large-scale survey among more than 14,900 Falun Dafa practitioners in Beijing regarding their health status16. The results showed that the vast majority of Falun Dafa practitioners (over 96%) reported a significant improvement in their health after learning the practice. Furthermore, the cure rate for diseases including those commonly thought to be incurable was approximately 58%. The implications of such findings led the director of the National Sports Commission to comment "If 100 million people are practicing it, that' 100 billion yuan saved per year in medical fees"17.

Economics of “Abundance”

However, the savings effect on the economy was just one by-product of the practice and teachings of Falun Gong. Like much of the thinking that prevailed amongst bureaucrats, economic theory as understood by the average person in China revolved around the ‘101’ textbook definition of economics. That is, economics is typically defined as the theory of allocating scarce resources, or the economics of scarcity. This led to the general belief that there was only so much moon-cake to divide, which in turn subliminally justified the mentality of greed. With share price manipulation a pastime of investment houses, the distinction between wealth redistribution as opposed to wealth creation was often overlooked as irrelevant or inconsequential.

In contrast, the teachings of Falun Gong indirectly supported the economic theory of "Abundance", a theory that underpinned much of the technology-driven wealth explosion during the 90s in the US and elsewhere18. To understand how the practice was a catalyst for economic prosperity, we need to take a look at the three main ideas behind this alchemic theory:

1. Technology is the major determinant of wealth because it determines the nature and supply of physical resources.

Many of the richest men in the world should thank in part the scientific and technological discovery behind converting '-cheap' sand into valuable silicon chips. More importantly however, the real force behind wealth creation today is the process of innovation or adding value. In the corporate arena, strategic insights have long been understood by management to be derived from a hybrid of analytical and intuitive thinking. Particularly, leading Western thinkers on the subject of creativity have validated the potential of the subconscious mind through techniques such as eastern meditation19.

In this regard, the remarkable nature of Falun Gong’s practice was two-fold. Firstly, while the purpose of the tranquil meditation exercises is not for generating insights or ideas (there is in fact no ‘mind intent’ or pursuit of such objectives), practitioners did however discover that their creativity was naturally enhanced as well as pure in its inspiration20. Incidentally, the skeptics have always argued creativity can’t be taught or artificially manufactured but as explained by the teachings, the truth about how inspiration comes about is somewhat paradoxical. Secondly, the practice’s ability to pass on the benefits of creativity and clarity of thought to so many millions of people in China was unparalleled. What’s more, in achieving this, it didn’t require expensive management consultants or the overhaul of the entire education system.

2. The advancement of technology is determined mainly by our ability to process and exchange information freely and effectively.

In the networked world of cyberspace, the rate at which information is exchanged in society has increased dramatically. Yet the way we interpret this information and express our opinions establishes whether relationships formed are productive or not. Here, Falun Gong’s teachings emphasize patience, sincerity and the humble communication of ideas between one another. As a result, a highly dynamic learning community was created amongst practitioners; the type which organizational theorists predicted would thrive rather than decline in the modern era21. Interestingly, over a dozen empires have disappeared already in the 20th century. Whereas multi-national companies are beginning to subcontract all but essential work, even large nation states will have to adapt and redefine themselves22. Founded on principles instead of rules, Falun Gong’s absence of bureaucracy allowed its formless organisation to grow at exponential rates.

3. The backlog of unimplemented technological advances (or the ‘technology gap’) is the real predictor of economic growth for both the individual and society.

The backlog of new technologies yet to be implemented in China is considerable. But in the knowledge economy, especially in China, the human potential is the most valuable asset or biggest ‘technology gap’. Accordingly, the main challenge confronting China is whether it can educate the hearts and minds of 1 billion people fast enough to cope with the disruptive changes of technological advancements. In China’s case nothing short of a learning revolution is required to prevent another social revolution23. Fortunately, as educationalists discovered, Falun Gong’s multi-sensory approach to mind, body, and spirit is actually a form of accelerated learning – the kind that is consistent with the last decade of brain research into how humans best learn and adapt to change. The practice therefore provided China with a solution to its enormous educational requirements. Moreover, it also did so at the important grassroots level.

Economics of “Virtue”

In theory, the economics of abundance helped rationalise the technology boom in the last decade. But in practice, as we know, the NASDAQ share market bubble burst in March 2000, having since dropped more than 65% from its peak24. This has only reinforced how in the cyber economy, trust and honesty will be the new currency. While there is more information at our disposal than ever before, collectively, our decision-making processes have not necessarily improved. Indeed, we used our creative minds and we pitched our dreams of a golden era but where did the true source of the inspiration come from? The economic theory of abundance was in reality more often than not practiced with the economics of greed.

Perhaps we have forgotten in our haste the most basic and fundamental of technologies that continues to generate all others. In many ways, language was the first technology and the most intricate of all25. Through language came stories; stories that shaped our beliefs and in turn influenced our behaviour and actions. Language therefore helped us define ourselves and one could say even caused civilization itself. Like other technologies however, language was generally misunderstood. Most people thought of it as a tool for describing the world. Some however, used language to reinvent it. The rise of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance is significant because this universal language provides the people of China the technology to create their own sustainable future. Plagued by the disease of greed and corruption, China has little choice but to apply the economic theory of ‘Abundance’ and ‘Virtue’26.

[Article continued tomorrow in Part 3]

Source: Full article can be found at http://www.pureinsight.org/sci/sci/eng/newscontent.asp?ID=14376