Editing Falun Gong (section)

===Social practices===
[[File:Toronto Falun Gong Exercises 9.jpg|thumb|Falun Gong adherents practice the third exercise in Toronto.]]
Falun Gong differentiates itself from Buddhist monastic traditions in that it places great importance on participation in the [[secularism|secular]] world. Falun Gong practitioners are required to maintain regular jobs and family lives, to observe the laws of their respective governments, and are instructed not to distance themselves from society. An exception is made for Buddhist [[Bhikkhu]]s and [[Bhikkhunī]]s, who are permitted to continue a monastic lifestyle while practicing Falun Gong.<ref>{{harvp|Porter|2003|p=205}}</ref>

As part of its emphasis on ethical behavior, Falun Gong's teachings prescribe a strict personal morality for practitioners. They are expected to do good deeds, and conduct themselves with patience and forbearance when encountering difficulties. For instance, Li stipulates that a practitioner of Falun Gong must "not hit back when attacked, not talk back when insulted."<ref name=Penny102/> In addition, they must "abandon negative thoughts and behaviors", such as greed, deception, jealousy, etc.<ref name="Penny102">{{harvp|Penny|2012|pp=102, 170–81}}</ref> The teachings contain injunctions against smoking and the consumption of alcohol, as these are considered addictions that are detrimental to health and mental clarity.<ref name=Ownby112/><ref>{{harvp|Penny|2012|p=123}}</ref> Practitioners of Falun Gong are forbidden to kill living things—including animals for the purpose of obtaining food—though they are not required to adopt a [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] diet.<ref name=Penny102/>

In addition to these things, practitioners of Falun Gong must abandon a variety of worldly attachments and desires.<ref name="Benjamin Penny p 170"/> In the course of cultivation practice, the student of Falun Gong aims to relinquish the pursuit of fame, monetary gain, sentimentality, and other entanglements. Li's teachings repeatedly emphasize the emptiness of material pursuits; although practitioners of Falun Gong are not encouraged to leave their jobs or eschew money, they are expected to give up the psychological attachments to these things.<ref name=Ownby112/>

Falun Gong doctrine counsels against participation in political or social issues.<ref>{{harvp|Penny|2012|p=48}}</ref> Excessive interest in politics is viewed as an attachment to worldly power and influence, and Falun Gong aims for transcendence of such pursuits. According to Hu Ping, "Falun Gong deals only with purifying the individual through exercise, and does not touch on social or national concerns. It has not suggested or even intimated a model for social change. Many religions{{nbsp}}[...] pursue social reform to some extent{{nbsp}}[...] but there is no such tendency evident in Falun Gong."<ref name="Ping">{{cite book |author=Hu Ping |chapter=The Falun Gong Phenomenon |title=Challenging China: Struggle and Hope in an Era of Change |editor1-first=Sharon |editor1-last=Hom |editor2-first=Stacy |editor2-last=Mosher |location=New York |publisher=The New Press |year=2007}}</ref>

Sexual desire and lust are treated as attachments to be discarded, though Falun Gong students are still generally expected to marry and have families.<ref name="Ownby112">{{harvp|Ownby|2008|pp=112–14}}</ref> All sexual relations outside the confines of [[monogamous]], [[Heterosexuality|heterosexual]] [[marriage]] are regarded as immoral.<ref name=wildgrass/>{{rp|211}}

Li Hongzhi taught that homosexuality makes one "unworthy of being human", creates bad karma, and is comparable to [[organized crime]].<ref name=Unworthy>{{cite book |last=Vuari |first=Juha |title=Critical Security and Chinese Politics: The Anti-Falungong Campaign |date=2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York City |isbn=9781138650282 |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4rkbBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT152 |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405191340/https://books.google.com/books?id=4rkbBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT152 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name=Dictionary/><ref name="Fags">{{Cite journal |last1=Xinzhang |first1=Zhang |last2=Lewis |first2=James R. |date=2020 |title=The Gods Hate Fags: Falun Gong's Reactionary Social Teachings |journal=[[Journal of Religion and Violence]] |publisher=[[Philosophy Documentation Center]] |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=281–297 |doi=10.5840/jrv202121679 |jstor=27212327 |s2cid=233958033 |issn=2159-6808 }}</ref>{{rp|285}} He also taught that "disgusting homosexuality shows the dirty abnormal psychology of the gay who has lost his ability of reasoning",<ref name="Battle">{{cite news |last=Lubman |first=Sarah |title=A Chinese Battle on U.S. Soil |work=San Jose Mercury News |date=23 Dec 2001 |url=https://mercurynews.newsbank.com/doc/news/0F0E695A605AEBE9 |url-access=subscription |via=[[NewsBank]] |access-date=18 February 2024 |archive-date=14 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514025647/https://mercurynews.newsbank.com/sign-up?docref=doc/news/0F0E695A605AEBE9 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Dictionary/> and that homosexuality is a "filthy, deviant state of mind".<ref name=Fags/>{{rp|283}}{{sfn|Perrone|Loucaides|2022|ref=:212}} Li additionally stated in a 1998 speech in Switzerland that the gods' "first target of annihilation would be homosexuals".<ref name=Dictionary>{{cite book |last=Harwood |first=William |title=Dictionary of Contemporary Mythology |date=2011 |publisher=World Audience Inc. |isbn=9781544601403 |page=162 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UbhODgAAQBAJ |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405191342/https://books.google.com/books?id=UbhODgAAQBAJ |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chang |first=Maria Hsia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cP93NP_0kmIC&pg=PA94 |via=[[Google Books]] |title=Falun Gong: The End of Days |date=2004 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=0-300-10227-5 |location=New Haven, Connecticut |oclc=182530364 |page=94 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405191342/https://books.google.com/books?id=cP93NP_0kmIC&pg=PA94 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=James R. |title=Falun Gong: Spiritual Warfare and Martyrdom |date=3 May 2018 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=978-1108445658 |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=typyDwAAQBAJ |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405192343/https://books.google.com/books?id=typyDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Although gay, lesbian, and bisexual people may practice Falun Gong, founder Li stated that they must "give up the bad conduct" of all same-sex sexual activity.<ref name="Battle" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |last1=Lewis |first1=James |last2=Chao |first2=Huang |title=Falun Gong: Origins, Growth, Conflict |date=28 February 2020 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.677 |isbn=978-0-19-934037-8 |url=https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-677 |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 March 2023 |archive-date=30 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130193639/https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-677 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Conflicts between Falun Gong Teachings and Western Moral & Ethic Principles|journal=The Chinese Press|location=Montreal, Canada|date=9 Aug 2019|page=B12|url=https://issuu.com/chinesepress/docs/chinese_press_2019-08-09__1948b?e=2991871%2F72146325|access-date=12 January 2022|archive-date=12 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112030421/https://issuu.com/chinesepress/docs/chinese_press_2019-08-09__1948b?e=2991871%2F72146325|url-status=live}}</ref>

Falun Gong's cosmology includes the belief that different [[Ethnicity|ethnicities]] each have a correspondence to their own heavens, and that individuals of mixed race lose some aspect of this connection.<ref name=Dictionary/><ref name=Fags/>{{rp|286}}<ref name=Pennyreligion/>{{rp|217}} Falun Gong's teachings include  belief in [[reincarnation]] and that one's soul (original spirit) always maintains single racial identity despite having a body of mixed race.<ref name="Pennyreligion" /> Investigative journalist [[Ethan Gutmann]] noted that interracial marriage is common in the Falun Gong community.<ref name="Slaughter" />