57岁的陈斌是原陕西省轻工业联社办公室主任，中共党员、大学文化，曾担任西安交通大学“法轮功”练功点辅导员。经过党和政府的大力帮教，2001年陈斌与“法轮功”组织彻底决裂。

　　近日，陈斌动情地对记者说：“我是一个高学历、办事并不盲目的人，但受李洪志及邪教‘法轮功’的蒙骗，栽了一个不该栽的大跟头。”

　　转化以后，陈斌写了15万多字的揭批材料，字里行间充满了对这段弯路的无尽忏悔和对李洪志的愤恨；他亲历的一件件事情，无可辩驳地证明了“李洪志是人不是神，而且不是个好人”的真面目。

　　他曾经将李洪志作为心中最崇拜的“圣人”；然而，从小小的法轮像章开始，他逐渐认清了李洪志的真面目

　　1996年6月，陈斌抱着强身健体的善良愿望开始练习“法轮功”。我国政府依法取缔邪教“法轮功”后，他顽固坚持“法轮功”立场，多次非法滋事，2000年12月，因非法印刷“法轮功”邪教宣传资料被处两年劳教。

　　出乎记者意料的是，陈斌曾作为一名李洪志的忠实追随者，他的转化竟是从小小的法轮像章开始的。陈斌说：“进入陕西省枣子河劳教所后，我发热的大脑冷静了许多。我是一名受党和国家培养教育多年的干部，为什么成为强制教育的对象？静下心来，我开始看一些揭批材料。”

　　这时，原“法轮功”北京辅导总站站长汤学华揭露的事实真相对陈斌产生了很大的影响：李洪志让汤学华订做1万枚法轮像章，做好后汤学华请示李洪志，李洪志指示将每枚0．45元订做的法轮像章卖成每枚3元，每枚净赚的2．55元交给李洪志。

　　无独有偶，陈斌担任西安交通大学“法轮功”辅导点辅导员期间，一项重要任务是负责为“法轮功”学员购买资料。他亲历的一些事正好佐证了汤学华的揭批。

　　陈斌说：“前几年，我利用去湖南开会的机会，转道武汉购买了数百枚法轮像章。当时我背回来大半袋子。到现在还记得很清楚，是每枚3元买的，然后以同样的价格卖给了学员。我对汤学华的揭发材料深信不疑。因为我是搞经济技术协作的，北京证章厂等许多单位我都很熟悉，法轮像章一枚0．45元的成本是绝对真实的。但是对于价格的高低，作为一名‘真修弟子’，以前不敢产生任何置疑。”

　　小小的法轮像章动摇了“师父”在陈斌心目中“神”的地位。陈斌发现，原来李洪志也是一个爱财的人，而且得财之道很是卑劣。可他在国外还辩解：“我有一亿多弟子，我只要说每人给我一元钱，我马上成为亿万富翁……但是我不会跟你要一分钱的。”这是何等的虚伪！

　　陈斌说：“全国那么多‘法轮功’练习者，每个弟子一枚法轮像章，李洪志能挣多少钱？特别值得一提的是，每个人还不止一枚，法轮像章有各种样式、各种颜色的。我自己就有至少五六枚。仅靠一枚小小的法轮像章，他就挣大钱了。”

　　还有一件事进一步加深了陈斌对李洪志真实面目的认识。陈斌说，他担任“法轮功”辅导员期间，“法轮功”教功磁带特别紧俏，通过上级“法轮功”组织的特批，允许他们购买“法轮功”教功磁带的母带并自行复制200盘。当时买的母带是每盘57元，然后陈斌到市场上买了200盘空白带，每盘18元，录制费每盘5元，加起来才23元，这是多么大的差价！陈斌说：“难怪李洪志要‘法轮大法’研究会下发紧急通知，严格禁止辅导站买盗版资料，因为购买盗版就等于银子流到别人的口袋里去了！”

　　李洪志曾宣扬“义务奉献，弘传大法”。陈斌说，他当时就是冲着这一点练习“法轮功”的。但没想到现实中的李洪志是那么贪财。陈斌气愤地说：“由此看来，他是人不是神，而且还不是个好人！”

　　他曾经担心，脱离“法轮功”后会“形神全灭”；后来他发现，那只是李洪志实施精神控制的手段，转化后活得好好的

　　陈斌说，以前他之所以难以跳出“法轮功”的圈套，主要是因为李洪志在他心中一直是“神”：信则能“圆满”，不信则“形神全灭”，由不得自己。

　　李洪志曾蛊惑说，他有无数的“法身”，“法轮功”练习者想什么、做什么，“法身”都知道。他还警告说，如果学员不再练习“法轮功”，祛掉的病就全部给推回来，如果做“破坏大法”的事，罪大如天，就会“形神全灭”。

　　但是，李洪志真的“法身”无处不在，脱离“法轮功”就会“形神全灭”吗？答案显然是否定的。陈斌亲历的一件件事，更加坚定了他与邪教“法轮功”决裂的信心。

　　2001年4月底，“法轮功”劳教人员、西安交通大学硕士生刘殿勋嘴边生了口疮，其间陈斌的嘴边也生了一个口疮。

　　刘殿勋得意洋洋地对陈斌说：“你看，让你背叛了‘师父’，‘师父’在惩罚你了。你早晚会形神全灭的！”陈斌反问他：“那你得了口疮怎么解释？”刘殿勋说：“我这不是病，是师父在给我‘消业’。不信你看，我很快就会好了。”

　　陈斌对记者说：“那时我已经基本转化，不再相信李洪志的邪说。生口疮后积极服药，几天后就好了。但是刘殿勋坚信‘师父’有神通，拒绝就医。”

　　当时，“五一”长假将至，在劝刘殿勋就医遭拒绝的情况下，劳教所的赵大队长对他说：“这样吧，五一过后，如果你的口疮还不好，就必须去看医生。”

　　“五一”长假结束了，刘殿勋的口疮不但未好，反而愈加严重。他坚持不去医院，说“再给我三天时间吧，‘师父’在考验我呢！”三天以后，刘殿勋小小的口疮已肿成了大脓包，不停地流着脓水。最后，病情不断发展。在劳教所帮教人员的劝说下，刘殿勋服药不到一个星期即痊愈了。

　　通过这件事，陈斌更加坚定了与李洪志决裂的信心。他说：“我用李洪志自己说的‘神’的标准来对照他的所作所为，有理有据地得出了李洪志不是‘神’的结论。你看，李洪志说‘破坏大法’的人会‘形神全灭’，那么多的转化者都工作生活得很好。按照李洪志的说法，我对‘大法’的破坏是罪大如天，我活得也挺好，李洪志能把我怎么样？”

　　原“法轮功”劳教人员于存多刚入枣子河劳教所时相当痴迷，认为李洪志是“神”，连李洪志的名字也不敢叫。转化后的陈斌对他做了大量帮教工作，列举了大量事例揭露李洪志是人不是神，所谓的“法身”、“法轮”全是骗人的鬼话，终于使于存多幡然醒悟。转化后，于存多画了许多幅漫画，揭露李洪志“上层次”、“求圆满”的骗术和邪教“法轮功”的危害。

　　在陈斌的帮教下，卫普云、祝辉等30多名原“法轮功”痴迷者彻底脱离了“法轮功”邪教，过上了正常人的生活。

　　他说，练习“法轮功”后的确有一种“无病感觉”，但这不是李洪志的“神通”，而是得益于有规律的生活

　　陈斌说，他以前痴迷于“法轮功”的另一个重要原因是，感觉练习“法轮功”后身体状况的确出现了一些好转。因此，对李洪志的“神通”深信不疑。

　　但是，陈斌通过自己以及家人的经历深有体会地说，即使“法轮功”练功者身体出现“无病状态”，那也只是一种感觉，其实“无病状态”不等于没病，往往只是掩盖了病情。

　　1996年6月，患有高血压的陈斌抱着祛病强身的目的开始练习“法轮功”。陈斌说：“当时我整天诵读《转法轮》、定时打坐练功，业余时间基本都放在练功学法上，一天最起码要4个多小时。一段时间下来，身体的确感觉好多了。”陈斌80多岁的母亲患有糖尿病，在他的影响下也练起了“法轮功”，而且非常痴迷，坚信“师父”能治她的病，也说练功后身体感觉好了，拒绝打针吃药。

　　实际情况如何呢？陈斌心有余悸地对记者说：“转化以后，我到医院检查身体，实际上血压并没有降下来。前不久，我母亲心脏病发作，在医院顺便查了一下血糖，不但没有降下来，反而升高了，血糖还是四个加号。”

　　那么，为什么有些“法轮功”练习者感觉练习“法轮功”后身体好了呢？转化以后，陈斌认真学习了包括气功科学在内的一系列书籍，真正明白了自己身体“好了”的原因。陈斌强调，良好的生活习惯和平和的心态有助于身体健康状况的好转，自己就有这方面的亲身体验。

　　陈斌说：“有一次，我在单位原本可以评上先进，但因为一些程序上的问题没有评上，当时我不但不感到沮丧，还暗自高兴：我‘一失’有‘四得’，离‘圆满’更近了一步。现在回想起来，看似放下‘名利情’，其实是很自私的，只要自己能够‘上层次’、‘求圆满’，什么事都能想得开。”

　　定时有规律的动作锻炼，也有助于身体健康，但这不是李洪志的神通，而是自己锻炼的结果。陈斌打了一个比方，就像做广播体操，伸伸胳膊伸伸腿，坚持锻炼就会使身体明显受益。有些“法轮功”练习者得的是常见慢性疾病，相信“师父”李洪志能为“真修弟子”清理身体，这种心理暗示作用也一定程度使他们产生了一种“无病感觉”的错觉。

　　陈斌认为，“法轮功”练习者此时得到的好处，往往误认为是李洪志及其“法轮功”的威力，进而逐步相信“上层次”、“求圆满”，从而逐渐被李洪志所控制。重症病人一旦拒医拒药，就会出现不治而亡的悲剧。全国上千名“法轮功”练习者因此致死致残的案例就是最有力的明证。陈斌说，如果不是政府依法取缔邪教“法轮功”，拒医拒药导致死亡的结局在等着每一个痴迷者。

　　过上了正常人的生活，陈斌对生活充满了无限的热情。目前他正在西安某老年大学学习，已帮助30多名“法轮功”痴迷者脱离邪教“法轮功”的桎梏，获得新生。

（新华社北京2002年7月21日电）

Former Falun Gong follower speaks up

Any number multiplied by zero is always zero. To most, this is a simple mathematics rule, but to Chen Bin, a former Falun Gong follower, it is the only way to adequately explain the five years he spent with the cult.

"The cult is the 'zero' and when your life and spirit are multiplied by it, all of that become zero, no matter how good they once were," Chen said.

"You become a blind follower and all the knowledge you had learned before becomes useless."

Chen, 57, graduated from Renmin University of China in 1968, and was a government official in the local light industry bureau in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province for more than 30 years. In 1996, he began practicing Falun Gong.

The cult spread the word among its followers that doomsday was imminent and humans would become extinct and that they had to accept its leader, Li Hongzhi, as the sole savior.

Chen said he and other followers received instructions, that any illnesses would be cured by practicing Falun Gong and that they should not seek medical treatment when they got sick.

Government statistics show that more than 1,700 people have died as a result of this instruction by Falun Gong.

Chen said he "woke up" from the lies of cult after 11 months at a local re-education-through-labor program after he was sentenced to two years in a camp in the provincial capital of Xi'an in October 2000 for producing and selling Falun Gong materials.

This is a common punishment for people guilty of minor crimes. Sentences range from one to three years.

Falun Gong was banned in 1999 after it began to show characteristics of a heretical cult that endangered lives and disturbed social stability.

"Li Hongzhi is not a god. He is just human and he is not even a good one," Chen said in an article describing his five-year "nightmare" as a Falun Gong practitioner.

Chen is also volunteering time to work with former followers. He has already helped 30 other practitioners to free themselves from the cult.

Recently, Chen was invited by News Probe on China Central Television to tell his Falun Gong story where he shared why he joined, how he suffered under the cult and how he finally broke free.

Q: How did you start practicing Falun Gong?

A: It was in early 1996 when I first met some people who were promoting Falun Gong in a park near my home. I thought it was just a derivative of qigong (a system of deep breathing exercises). Falun Gong was also the only sort of qigong that was offered free of charge. After weeks of practicing, I felt my health had improved.

Q: How had it improved?

A: Some of my small illnesses had disappeared. Take my nose for example. I used to have chronic rhinitis but later I was able to breathe smoothly.

Q: Did you see a doctor?

A: It was impossible for me to go to the hospital for a consultation at that time. Why? Because Li Hongzhi wrote in his "scripture" that having a disease meant that someone had to "repay debt." Once he or she paid off the debt, he or she would then upgrade their physical and mental capabilities. Going to the hospital would betray Falun Gong. By doing so you could never reach the "height" set by Li Hongzhi.

Q: Feeling better is the reason you began to trust Falun Gong?

A: Yes. But the biggest difference between Falun Gong and other qigong exercises is that Falun Gong requires its practitioners to study the "scripture," which was called "dafa." If you don't want to learn "dafa," you have no chance of being a real disciple of Falun Gong and your illness will never be cured.

Furthermore, Li asked us to add "master Li says" and "teacher Li says" to each sentence we quoted in his "scripture" during our meditation, practice and discussion in order to receive the special power in his original sentences.

Li especially emphasized "dafa" by asking us to spend more time studying it than practising qigong. It took at least four hours to finish both kinds of assignments each day.

Q: At least four hours on Falun Gong each day?

A: Yes. Being a Falun Gong practitioner means your spare time is filled with nothing but Falun Gong. There is almost no time for anything else.

Q: Did your way of thinking change after learning the "scripture?"

A: Yes. Gradually, I no longer regarded myself as an average person. For example, in 1999 I was nominated for the annual Best Civil Servant Award but I didn't win the award. Naturally, I should have felt upset. However, I secretly felt happy because losing the award would bring me some "de" (merit), "which was the only thing you could take with you to heaven," according to Li.

Someone would say that "standing aloof from worldly strife" is a sign of moral improvement. It is actually just an egoistical way of thinking, since we only wish to lift our "height" and some day achieve nirvana through this.

Q: What was the image of Li Hongzhi at that time?

A: The top Buddha of the universe, who was a person with supreme power. In the end we only had four sentences in our minds: Read what Li Hongzhi writes. Listen to what Li Hongzhi says. Do what Li Hongzhi asks. Serve as Li Hongzhi's good disciple.

Q: How did you feel when you were required by law to serve two years in the re-education-through-labor camp?

A: Honestly, I wasn't upset and angry at that moment. Instead, I felt peaceful because I believed it was a special test that "Master Li" offered me. If I could pass this test, my spirit would reach another "height" and I would go to a nearer stage of nirvana.

Q: Was life in the re-education-through-labor camp the same as you had imagined?

A: I'd heard a lot from some fellow practitioners about the camp, such as many kinds of torture, water cells or dark rooms, but I didn't find anything like that after I entered. All of the wardens gave me warmhearted care and I was very grateful to them.

Q: How did you change your ideas about Falun Gong?

A: It was the small Falun Gong badge that finally changed my mind.

Li claimed many times that he would never take any money from his disciples. He also said if his 100 million disciples were to each give him 1 yuan (US$0.12) he would have immediately become a millionaire.

But in actuality, it cost us 3 yuan (US$0.36) to buy a badge which costs only 0.45 yuan (US$0.054) to produce. That meant Li earned at least 1.5 yuan (US$0.18) from selling just one badge. Every one of us bought at least one. Take me for example, I bought six! You can count by yourself how much money he earned.

I am very sure about the original price because I was very familiar with the factory that made the badges due to my work with the light industry bureau. I had sold many badges to practitioners for 3 yuan (US$0.36) each.

Q: Was there any chance the money went to other people and not Li?

A: Absolutely impossible. At that time all the practitioners, including me, thought about nothing but Falun Gong. Money meant nothing to us and we believed money should belong to and should be turned in to Li Hongzhi, our "master."

Video tapes is another example of how he made money. One Falun Gong video tape was sold at 57 yuan (US$6.87) but the cost of producing one was only 18 yuan (US$2.17). He also forbade practitioners to copy the video tapes on their own.

Q: When did you finally free yourself from the cult?

A: During the 2001 Spring Festival. I insisted on staying at the camp instead of joining my family because I thought it would be a good time for me to read some books to find out why practising Falun Gong could improve my health.

Q: What did you find out after your reading?

A: First, I found it was Chinese traditional qigong that actually helped improve my health. Activities such as "sitting in repose with eyes closed" and "sitting in mediation" were not created by Falun Gong. It has remained the main prescription for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine and in Buddhism and Taoism from which Falun Gong took ideas.

It was not Li Hongzhi who cured my disease. It was me who practised qigong. Li had done nothing. But when I was a blind follower, I credited all the improvements in my health to him and thought of him as a god.

Q: How do you feel now that you have changed your ideas about Falun Gong?

A: I felt deeply hurt. I had trusted Li Hongzhi so deeply but I found he had lied to me. Is there anyone who wants to make friends with a charlatan? No. I chose to break with him firmly and forever.

Trust is the most important thing to most practitioners. So when I began to persuade other people to get out of the cult, the first thing I convinced them of was to trust me, to trust what I said.

Q: Are there some people who try to persuade you to rejoin them?

A: Yes. Especially some acquaintances. They warned me that if I didn't stop criticizing Falun Gong, the "master" will punish me some day.

Q: Have you been punished?

A: (laughing) This question reminds me of a story. In April this year, I suffered from excessive internal heat which caused a small ulcer in my mouth.

Liu Dianxun, a follower and a graduate student from Xi'an Jiaotong University, also developed an ulcer but he laughed at me and said it was punishment from the "master."

I asked him why then did he have the same illness? He said he was "paying a debt" from "Master Li" and that the "master" would cure his illness. I went to see a doctor and recovered from it within a few days. But Liu refused medical treatment and his ulcer grew larger and larger. When the camp wardens asked him to go see a doctor, Liu asked for three more days so he could wait to be cured by Li Hongzhi. Three more days passed and Liu's ulcer grew even larger. Finally, he had to go to a hospital and it took a week before he fully recovered.

Q: Do you feel different now that you are free from Falun Gong?

A: I am studying computer science at the local university now. I have walked a misguided path for the past five years. My heart still feels hurt when I think of those days as a follower. I fell. But I was able to stand up again.

(China Daily, September 18, 2002)