8.18.5. Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet)

Falun Gong people call him "master" (师父), which is a common traditional term used to respectfully address experienced teachers in a disciple (弟子)/teacher relation, e.g. Kung Fu or other crafts.

However they also believe that he has many many God-like powers and is comparable figures such as Jesus and Buddha himself.

Notably they believe that he has superpowers, and that everything that he says is the absolute truth of the universe, see also: Is Falun Gong a religion? 法轮功是一个宗教吗?.

The term "master" is also used for example in the fictional film The Master (2012), which is likely inspired in Scientology.

Ciro Santilli (三西猴, anti-CCP fanatic, 反中共狂热, stupid cunt, 傻屄, CIA agent, CIA特工, 肏你妈的) however prefers to call him prophet, since he feels LHZ is indistinguishable from any other religion. Guru/cult leader could also apply.

It’s funny that even though Falun Gong only came up recently in the 80’s, we still know relatively little about Li. One is kind of reminded of Jesus! See also Li Hongzhi’s family (李洪志的家庭) and Li Hongzhi’s hagiography (李洪志的圣徒传记).

One should note however that this is partly by design: at some point in the 90’s, Li relatively stepped away from public view. This is because once you reach a critical mass of followers, it is better to let them to the preaching for you, while you hide your obvious human defects in a corner. See also comments at Vissarion.

Li Hongzhi footage:

Li Hongzhi
Figure 127. Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet) is Falun Gong’s prophet/cult leader/living God. He’s a cute North-Westerner 东北人 like Ciro’s wife. Source.
Li Hongzhi stone garden
Figure 128. Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet) practicing one of his exercises with one of his cute prophet outfits in an extremely nice Chinese rock garden (假山园林), see also: stone garden. TODO exact location and date. Source.
Li Hongzhi blue
Figure 129. Li in front of a light blue background (similar to CCP official portraits) with a halo suggestion around his head. Lower quality version on The Epoch Times (明慧网, Falun Gong media). Source.
Li Hongzhi lotus
Figure 130. Li going Super Saiyan (超级赛亚人) while casually sitting on a giant Lotus flower with a halo (圆光) on his head. Text at bottom: 法轮修炼大法-李洪志 (TODO confirm 3rd and 4th characters, transates something like Falun Practices Dafa - Li Hongzhi). Source on Minghui (明慧网, Falun Gong media).
Li Hongzhi Buddha
Figure 131. Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet) really turning into a proper Buddha, including physical signs such as the Ushnisha (肉髻) on the head and the "ears as longs as lotus petals". He also has a super powerful Aureola. On the top right corner we see an New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD, NTDTV, 新唐人電視台, Falun Gong media) watermark. On the bottom left we see a few Western Catholic and Roman looking divinities, representing Falun Gong’s syncretic beliefs. The subtitle on center bottom reads in traditional Chinese: "真的有这样光辉形象" (there truly is such a glorious image) Source on bannedbook.org (禁闻网, pro-Falun Gong media).
Li Hongzhi vs Goku Super Saiyan
Figure 132. Side by side comparison of Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet) vs Super Saiyan (超级赛亚人) Goku from Dragon Ball (孙悟空_(七龙珠)). There is more than just visual similarity to this comparison, since Goku is based on Sun Wukong from Journey to the west (西游记): they have the exact same name in Japanese/Chinese, Goku is monkey like with a tail and giant monkey form, has both have an extending stick weapon (The Power Pole, 如意棒, full Chinese name 如意金箍棒, lit. "as [large as] one wants Golden stick). Notably, the orange color of Goku’s clothing is likely inspired from Buddhism, and so are their Aureolas. Ciro Santilli (三西猴, anti-CCP fanatic, 反中共狂热, stupid cunt, 傻屄, CIA agent, CIA特工, 肏你妈的) watched Dragon Ball Z this when he was 10 years old.
Li Hongzhi dubstep
Figure 133. Dubstep Li can liangong (练功) at dubstep speed. Source.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7JK576nxm0 音乐视频:《师尊的手》Falun Gong (法轮功, Qigong new religion/cult) music video "The master’s hand" contains some a bit of good old time Li Hongzhi (李洪志, LHZ, Falun Gong prophet) footage.