Xin Peng: The Rise of the "New Age Movement" and "Falun Gong"
Xin Peng: The Rise of the "New Age Movement" and "Falun Gong"
I. What is the "New Age Movement"?
(1) "New Age" and the Spiritualist Movement The "New Age movement" is a global trend. Opinions vary regarding its origins and connotations, and its content is complex and multifaceted. Generally, it can be classified into two categories: The first involves advocating for spiritual transformation, the elevation of individual spirituality, and the cultivation of the personal mind and body. This includes various aspects of mysticism such as unorthodox medicine, Eastern meditation, chan [1] stillness, the development of human potential, mediumship, psychic movements, and parapsychology. The second category is based on the perceived harms caused by modern science and technology, as well as the emptiness of spiritual life. It utilizes these grievances to enumerate the "evils" of science and technology, thereby proposing anti-science, anti-rationalist, and anti-logical stances. By returning to a primitive irrationalism, it constructs "post-modernism" and "neo-humanism." Their so-called ecological environment movement, holistic health movement, and Greenpeace movement are concrete manifestations of this trend of thought.
Looking at this content, the timeline can be traced back over a hundred years to the "spiritualist movement"—moving from superstition toward science—until the emergence of the "crisis of material civilization" and "neo-mysticism" in the 1960s and 70s. Although its ideological threads are highly complex, involving religion, theology, science, philosophy, and psychology, all changes remain centered on a core theme: the "New Age movement" pursues the oneness of all things, asserting that everything possesses divinity and that man is himself god. It seeks a great transformation of human consciousness and a major evolution of conscious human nature; it emphasizes the spiritual realm and mysticism; it opposes rationality in favor of intuition, where the dominance of reason conflicts with individualism. It is driven by a sense of crisis arising from the excessive development of technology, excessive economic development, and a culture of hyper-consumption. Its characteristics include countering existing cultural systems, alienating itself from the pace of modernization, and emphasizing the soul, the internal, and a seamless identification with nature. It values meaning, nostalgia for antiquity, and the autonomous thinking of humanistic humanitarianism.
Nevertheless, I believe the direction of this trend can be considered along at least two lines of inquiry: one is the entry of psychical research into the halls of science, originating in the 19th century; the other is the postmodern anti-scientism trend that originated in the middle and late periods of the last century.
(2) "New Age" and the Anti-Science Trend When we shift our perspective of the "New Age" from the world of "mediumship" to science as a cultural phenomenon, we find, not without surprise, how identical the "New Age" is to the "mediumistic" thinking of its proponents in terms of being anti-science, anti-rational, and anti-logical.
"New Agers" detest those devotees of science who cling to the sacred language of "scientific rationality." They claim that the philosophical and scientific conviction of "rationality" is increasingly faced with challenges from "free will," an interest in "self-exploration," and similar interests proliferating like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. This indicates that modern people have shifted their attention from material aspects to the exploration of "self-processes." This movement is accompanied by skepticism toward reason and science; more and more people view reason as the enemy of individuality, feeling, and human emotion. The rational process of decision-making based on logic and objective data is seen as an infringement upon the human spirit and dignity.
Those rationalists are viewed as "shrewd and tenacious" individuals with hearts of stone—transcendental figures indifferent to human values. It is said they possess only an irrepressible craving for knowledge and an excitement for revealing the mysteries of nature; that to which they are devoted is merely a tighter integration of nature and the universe. However, regarding the mysteries of humanity itself and supernatural phenomena, they hold vulgar and antagonistic concepts. Parapsychologists even go so far as to blame science for the problems existing in the world today: pollution, resource depletion, the population explosion, and the threat of thermonuclear war. They claim these are all products of scientific thought dominating society and the result of technological fanaticism. They argue that contemporary science creates as many problems as it solves. To escape this dilemma, parapsychologists present a world of "spiritualist" power to rational skeptics and those doubtful of science and technology. In this world, there is no need to follow the "laws of nature" provided by science. Parapsychology provides us with a kingdom that defies reason; it builds a bridge for us from science to religion.
"New Agers" use vague, extreme, and subjective "mediumistic" modes of thinking to demonize science, attacking and ridiculing so-called "material science" while proposing an opposing "occult science." They say that science shows man is nothing more than skin, flesh, blood, and bone—a fleshy automaton with the illusion of free will. In occult science, you do not need to understand the nature of what is happening through tedious experiments or meticulous observation. All you need to do is close your eyes and meditate on the problem that interests you. This "occultism" that indulges "free will," along with its asymmetry with "material science" regarding the criteria of truth, leads "New Agers" to distrust the scientific enterprise. Consequently, they can arbitrarily rely on "free will"—"self-creation" and "self-development"—to invent "disciplines" one after another. For example, they can write "occult chemistry" based on clairvoyant perceptions of atoms and molecules; they can imagine ancient civilizations or extraterrestrials out of thin air using similar "mediumistic" methods; likewise, they can use the perspective of past-life regression to understand previous incarnations. If these methods were truly effective, they would represent a scientific revolution! We could destroy all our expensive research equipment and learn everything through clairvoyance and meditation.
In short, as a trend of thought and a social movement, one characteristic of the "New Age"—viewed from a humanist perspective—is the pursuit of transformation in individual values and lifestyles, and subjective psychological experiences ("of the soul"). It utilizes techniques such as sitting in meditation, chan stillness, contemplation, qigong [2], fortune-telling, mediumship activities, human potential training, and practicing vegetarianism and chanting Buddha's name, all to achieve a balance of the individual body and mind. This aims for a state of "man as god," where the soul attains tranquil equilibrium, establishing a picture of the individual being at one with the universe and nature. Therefore, the "New Age movement" is a movement that pursues mysticism. Another characteristic, viewed from a scientific perspective, is that the "New Age" is not concerned with exploring precise models of the natural world or the explanatory power regarding the universe. Instead, it focuses on personal psychology and subjective experience: such as astrology, reincarnation, psychotherapy, and crystal energy. These vague things that do not truly exist are precisely the collection of features that Crookes once called the "spiritualist movement" of the "scientific revolution."
In the 1980s and 90s, China's qigong masters, relying on their supernatural powers and extraordinary abilities, gathered millions of followers, driving the spread of mysticism in China and the extensive development of the Chinese New Age movement. This spiritualist and anti-scientific New Age movement manifested in the health field, where its focus was more on the individual's spiritual transformation—a kind of religious experience. Taking medical treatment as an example, they criticized orthodox medicine for overemphasizing disease while neglecting health. They stressed that to understand the "ins and outs of mind-body energy," one must study a new discipline: "consciousness science." "Consciousness science" aims to solve the theory of how to use "consciousness" (spiritual, of the mind) to produce various desired "existences" (material, of the body). In other words, it aims to solve theories regarding various psychokinetic movements (material movements caused solely by the spirit) (see the American Science Year, 1974).
Chinese qigong masters claimed: "Qigong can enhance the ability of the human spirit to govern the physical form (i.e., it can promote beneficial changes in the spirit factors of people); it stimulates and strengthens the latent functions of the human body (such as certain supernatural abilities)—a function that enlightens wisdom, allowing one to achieve a high degree of unity and relative balance between body and mind, ultimately realizing the core union of heaven and humanity [3]." They argued that "humans have the ability for self-balance of the body and mind; as long as the soul attains tranquility and equilibrium, reaching the oneness of body and mind, it will lead to physical health. This is by no means something that can be achieved by the medical practice of 'treating the head when the head aches and the foot when the foot aches' [4]." It was precisely under the guidance of such "New Age" theories that Chinese "qigong masters" invented healing and health concepts such as "power-transmission reports" and "special medical" treatments. In this regard, Zhang Xiangyu, Zhang Hongbao, and Shen Chang were the "outstanding" figures; they were also representative figures of the Chinese New Age movement in promoting "mysticism."
II. Chinese "Qigong Masters" and the "New Age"
(1) Indistinct and Shadowy: Zhang Xiangyu’s "Paranormal" World Zhang Xiangyu claimed that in 1985, under the guidance of a "Grand Master," she suddenly developed a supernatural ability. Through the "Cosmic Language," "Cosmic Songs," and "Cosmic Script" taught by the "Grand Master," this ability allowed her to peer through the human body, see through the earth, speak with all things, communicate "information" between any substances, and even interact with the dead. She could subdue lonely souls and wild ghosts; she could receive protection from the Jade Emperor, the Queen Mother of the West, and Guanyin Bodhisattva; she could talk to ghosts and spirits; she could block earthquakes, repel floods, and call for wind and rain. She could bring blessings to humanity or cause people to suffer. The "Grand Master" told her this practice was the "Natural Center Gong," which "emerges only once every one or two thousand years and can only be taught to one person, who then passes it on to others to benefit humanity."
This passage vividly displays Zhang Xiangyu’s "paranormal" world. Zhang Xiangyu told people: her supernatural abilities were guided by "immortals" and endowed by heaven. Whatever she performed was the will of heaven; her kung fu was a divine and peerless skill that appears only once in a millennium or two. "Believe in me," she urged, "for this power is boundless!" Zhang Xiangyu's paranormal propaganda indeed proved effective. In the eyes of her followers, she was a "sage," an "immortal," and a "savior." In short, she was omniscient and omnipotent. Precisely because she placed herself at the pinnacle of the altar, sublimating the modern superstitious "cult of personality" to a peak, her behavior became a benchmark of devout belief. The "Cosmic Language," "Cosmic Songs," and "Cosmic Script" she claimed were deified as supernatural forces from another world sent to redeem humanity. Thus, her "indistinct and shadowy" [5] mediumistic performances—speaking, singing, dancing, and moving—were vitalized as extraordinary skills for saving the world. To receive her redemption, followers from over a dozen provinces across the country stood in long queues day and night, waiting for the medium's mysterious healing. In less than half a month, 70,000 people received healing through Zhang Xiangyu’s power-transmission. Zhang Xiangyu played the old tune of spiritualism in a three-step process:
First was the promotion of the spiritualist creed: "sincerity brings efficacy" (cheng ze ling). This is the foundation of spiritualism; without it, spiritualism would cease to exist. If you did not believe in Zhang Xiangyu’s power-transmission healing, there would be two consequences: first, your illness would not be cured; second, you would suffer punishment from the spirits—retribution through possession by various spirits (animal or plant spirits). These included python spirits, fish spirits, snake spirits, fox spirits, cat spirits, frog spirits, hedgehog spirits, dog spirits, locust tree spirits, pine tree spirits, flower spirits, etc., forcing you to depend on her. (To be continued)