Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) is an advanced practice of Buddhist self-cultivation, 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." Master Li's teachings are set forth in a number of texts, among which are included Falun Gong, Zhuan Falun, The Great Perfection Way of Falun Dafa, Keys to Diligent Progress, and The Grand Verses. These and other works have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and are published and distributed worldwide.

The focus of Falun Dafa practice is the mind, with the cultivation of one's mind and thoughts, or "Xinxing," being singled out as the key to increasing Gong energy. The height of a person's Gong is directly proportionate to that of his Xinxing. The concept of "Xinxing" encompasses the transformation of virtue (a white form of matter) and karma (a black form of matter). It also includes forbearance, discernment, and abandonment—that is, forsaking ordinary human desires and attachments, and managing to endure the most trying of ordeals. Much is encompassed by the concept.

Falun Dafa also includes the cultivation of the body, which is accomplished by performing specific exercises. One purpose of the exercises is to strengthen the practitioner's supernatural abilities and energy mechanisms by means of his or her powerful Gong force. Another purpose is to develop many living entities in the adherent's body. In advanced practice, the Immortal Infant will come into being and many abilities will be developed. The exercises of Falun Dafa are necessary for the transformation and cultivation of such things. A comprehensive mind-body cultivation system such as this requires both self-cultivation and physical exercises, with cultivation taking priority over exercises. A person's Gong simply will not increase if he or she merely does exercises while failing to cultivate Xinxing. The exercises are thus a supplemental means to achieving spiritual perfection.

Falun Dafa involves the cultivation of a Falun, or "law wheel." The Falun is an intelligent, rotating entity composed of high-energy matter. The Falun that Master Li Hongzhi plants in a practitioner's lower abdomen from other dimension rotates constantly, twenty-four hours a day. (True cultivators can acquire a Falun by reading Master Li's books, watching his 9-session lectures on video, listening to his 9-session lectures on audiocassette, or studying together with students of Falun Dafa.) The Falun helps practitioners to practice automatically. That is, the Falun refines the practitioner at all times, even though he or she isn't performing the exercises at every moment. Of all practices made public in the world today, only Falun Dafa has managed to achieve a state in which, "the Fa refines the person."