Buddha dharma "falun dafa" Qigong

Falun Gong or Falun Dafa (literally, "Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a modern Chinese spiritual practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises with a moral philosophy centered on the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance (Chinese:真 、 善 、 忍).

The practice emphasizes morality and the cultivation of virtue and identifies itself as a qigong practice of the Buddhist school, although its teachings also incorporate elements drawn from Taoist traditions. Through moral rectitude and the practice of meditation, Falun Gong practitioners aspire to eliminate attachments, and ultimately achieve spiritual enlightenment.

Falun Gong was first taught publicly in north-east China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. It emerged towards the end of China's "qigong boom" - a period that saw a proliferation of similar practices of meditation, slow exercise and regulated breathing.

It differs from other qigong schools in its lack of fees or formal membership, lack of daily worship rituals, greater emphasis on morality and the theological nature of its teachings.

Western scholars have described Falun Gong as a qigong discipline, a "spiritual movement", a "cultivation system" in the ancient Chinese tradition, or as a form of Chinese religion.