Tai Chi and Discrimination

[Parkallen]

Link to Article : http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/ ... -by-church

Discrimination of Tai Chi practitioners doesn't come up often but it does occur every now and then. As with many kinds of subtle discrimination, it could be happening more often than is publicly known. What is astonishing about this case in New Zealand is the brazenness of the discrimination. The Church leader, possibly without realizing it, directly expressed the discriminatory element in the Church's decision:

"Willis said while the council understood the [Tai Chi] programme did not include any religious content, it believed tai chi conflicted with the church's teachings and threatened the church's spiritual wellbeing."

As the quotation shows, the council, at one level, understands there is no religious content in the Tai Chi class, however, despite the lack of objectionable content, the decision to eject the class was still carried through. The issue now is, under what condition were they ejected?

[T]

Frankly I am of the belief that if ones religion or spirituality is threatened by Taiji...that spiritual belief and spirituality was not all that strong in the first place.

[Jaxi]

It's the same case with the Chinese government condemning falon gong practitioners, although it has some basis, mainly that Taoist literature criticized or gave recommendations to the running of government leadership. If Taoist philosophies such as are often taught alongside tai chi chuan happen to clash with the system in play by the church, they will have problems. Taoists are somewhat known for rebelling, and disagreeing with current systems. I'm not at all surprised, but I am disappointed, as Taoists and Buddhists tend to live in a more upstanding fashion than most. Looking at situations that are 'off' and finding a solution to fix them... done well often by Taoists. Good forbid they find something wrong with the church's practices, and speak out about it during tai chi classes.

[T]

Falon Gong is not Taoist...or Buddhist......

[Jaxi]

Although the primary ideas are more confucianist in nature (right action/principled kind behavior - leading to an enlightened or higher-path spiritually), many of the specific meditations done can be considered in line with Taoist and Buddhist meditations... esp. development if considered via Bodhidharma's teachings, which was much of the root of both Buddhist and Taoist philosophies. The practices are very connected in my opinion.

[Jaxi]

"
Brief Introduction to Falun Dafa
Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) is an advanced self-cultivation practice of the Buddha School. Falun Dafa was founded by Mr. Li Hongzhi, the practice's master. It is a discipline in which “assimilation to the highest qualities of the universe—Zhen, Shan, Ren (Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance)—is the foundation of practice. Practice is guided by these supreme qualities, and based on the very laws which underlie the development of the cosmos.”

"

This is copied directly from the main page at falondafa.org

[T]

Thank You, But I know all about Fulan gong I need to know and I know all I care to know, no further information is required. Also the Fulan Gong aspect you introduced has nothing to do with the Original post.