Classical music has a cult following


Classical music and an "evil cult" are unlikely bedfellows. But my fun story Stockhausen, chaotic music and communism about the oboeist of the Divine Performing Arts Orchestra proved to be a bit more serious than I thought. Several readers have pointed out that the orchestra and The Epoch Times newspaper which ran the story are closely connected with Falun Gong.

A BBC website is headed 'Falun Gong - an evil cult?' and goes on to say 'Claiming to be an ancient technique of self-development, Falun Gong is an eclectic mixture of Taoist and Buddhist principles with a sprinkling of extraterrestrials ... On 22 July, 1999, Falun Gong was declared an 'evil cult' by the Beijing authorities, and totally banned, meriting 'a serious ideological and political struggle that would have a bearing on the future of the Communist Party and the State ... in terms of typical cult techniques, Falun Gong is given a 50:50 Yes/No rating by Time Asia. While it is led by a charismatic leader, fosters an 'us versus them' attitude, and uses jargon that outsiders don't understand, it does not exert pressure on people to join, its believers do not remove themselves from society, nor are they required to donate large sums of money, their homes, jobs, and so on, to a central organisation.'

An unconnected bit of trivia is that I was in Guyana shortly before the dreadful Jonestown mass suicides in 1978. On a much more positive note Georgetown, Guyana, which we were visiting, was the birthplace of the Berlin Philharmonic's first black conductor.
Header image showing Falun Gong members is from a useful article in The Johnsonian, newspaper of Winthrop University. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Comments

Pliable said…
Theosophy? -

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2007/11/dane-rudhyar-music-and-mysticism.html
Rose said…
I am unsure if this is supporting the idea of Falun Gong being a cult or not.
So I would like to clarify some facts for people who read this.

Firstly, I would like to tell you that Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is not "evil", nor is it a "cult". It is a cultivation practice which is part of the Buddha school, it's guiding principals are "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" which are universal in meaning, the practice works on the mind and the body consisting of 5 basic exercises.

Falun Gong is now practised in over 100 countries world wide. We ask for no money and are happy to teach anyone who would like to learn, we do not fight back when attached but will clarify the truth about things, like what I am doing now.

Secondly, in China, July 1999 practitioners peaceful protested (They sat meditating and holding banners that read 'Falun Dafa is Good' or 'Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance is Good' ) asking for their right to practise Falun Gong. In response the Chinese Communist Party sent out their arm to arrest the practitioners, this was the start of the suppression of Falun Gong. Over the last 13 years police have illegally arrested and jailed people who have either practised, sheltered or opposed the CCP, they have then beaten, raped, induced forced miscarriages, and sent people to brainwashing centres for rehabilitation. Many families have been torn apparent, children have been orphaned and made homeless due to this persecution.

Many innocent people have suffered due to lies from the CCP, but also the people of China have been lied to, the world has been lied to by the Chinese Communist Party. With the events now unfolding in China the truth about what the CCP has been doing is coming to light.

Please do not believe what the CCP has been saying about Falun Gong.
For more information on Falun Gong and the persecution visit: http://en.minghui.org/

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