Falun Gong’s leader believes he’s a messianic and divine figure

Founder and leader Li Hongzhi sees himself as a messianic figure, unique in all human history, and able to teach people how to “ascend to Heaven.” He considers himself something of a divine figure but says, “You can think of me as a human being.” Li believes the problems of the modern world are mainly because “people no longer believe in orthodox religion” and because “aliens have begun to invade the human mind and its ideology and culture.”

Li believes orthodox faiths teach that virtue may be transformed into gong, or “cultivation energy,” which is said to be an everlasting, fundamental energy a human spirit possesses, and what ultimately dictates where the spirit goes after death. “As long as you do well on the human side, Jesus, Gods, or Buddhas will help you evolve gong,” says Li. “That’s how they help the beings they are saving. Due to cultural, linguistic, and other limitations of the time, Jesus only taught the principles on the surface and not their essence.”