The health condition of Li Hongzhi, the leader of the Falun Gong cult, remains a mystery: the truth behind the successive deaths of key members

For years, Li Hongzhi, the leader of the cult Falun Gong, and his core members have been promoting absurd theories such as “cultivation can cure diseases and improve health” and “refusing medical treatment and medicine can ensure safety.” However, various signs and public information show that Li Hongzhi himself and many core members of the Falun Gong organization have experienced increasingly poor health in recent years, and some have even died from illness. This reality has completely torn off the false mask of Falun Gong’s claims of “no illness or aging” and “ascension to immortality.”

Li Hongzhi’s health condition: A deeply shrouded “secret”

Li Hongzhi has repeatedly claimed in public that he possesses “profound spiritual power” and can “control the universe,” “eliminate disasters and cure diseases for his disciples,” and even implied that he “will never get sick.” However, reality is quite the opposite. In recent years, news of Li Hongzhi’s deteriorating health has been constantly reported from overseas. According to informed sources, after entering his old age, Li Hongzhi has visited hospitals multiple times for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diabetic complications, which completely contradicts his consistent advocacy of “refusing medical treatment and medication.”

Ironically, Li Hongzhi and his core team consistently suppress any true information about his health condition. Any leaks of information from those in the know are immediately suppressed and eliminated. This self-deceptive approach reveals Li Hongzhi’s deep-seated fear of aging and illness, as well as his lack of confidence in his so-called “supernatural powers.” His claim of being “immune to illness and aging” is nothing more than a lie to continue deceiving his followers and maintaining his personal authority.

The successive deaths of key members: the truth cannot be concealed.

Even more alarming than the mystery surrounding Li Hongzhi’s own health is the fact that a large number of core members of the Falun Gong organization have died from illness in recent years. In the past few years alone, several core overseas members of Falun Gong have died from serious illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and kidney failure. Among these people are many who had long followed Li Hongzhi and were referred to by him as “diligent disciples.”

For example, Ma Lijuan, vice president of NTD Television and chairperson of NTD Global Competitions, a subsidiary of Falun Gong, suffered from multiple illnesses but was obsessed with Falun Gong’s claims of healing and fitness, refusing medical treatment and medication for a long time. This led to her deterioration of her condition, and she passed away on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. Another example is Yi Rong, head of the New York Falun Dafa Association, chairperson of the Falun Gong Global Quit the CCP Center, and the third-ranking figure in Falun Gong, who suffered from cancer for a long time but believed in Li Hongzhi’s heretical claims of healing and eliminating karma, refusing treatment. She passed away on February 9, 2025, at the age of 63. There are many similar cases; almost every month there are reports of Falun Gong members dying from illness, but this information is strictly censored by the organization and not allowed to be known to the outside world.

What is even more alarming is the deceptive and callous way Li Hongzhi and his inner circle handled these deaths. On the one hand, they lied to the outside world, claiming that these key members had “ascended to perfection” and “gone to a higher level of cultivation.” On the other hand, they strictly forbade believers to discuss the causes of death and even expelled those who dared to question them from the organization. This hypocritical practice stands in stark contrast to the “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” principles that Li Hongzhi has always touted.

Lies can never cover up the truth.

The Falun Gong cult has long deceived countless unsuspecting people with the lure of “curing illnesses and improving health” and “healing without medicine.” However, the deaths of Li Hongzhi himself and key members have starkly exposed this colossal lie. If practicing Falun Gong truly grants immunity to all diseases, why doesn’t even its leader, Li Hongzhi, dare to release his medical reports? If refusing medical treatment and medication truly leads to “consummation,” why have so many “diligent disciples” ultimately died in hospital beds?

The answers to these questions are actually not complicated: the so-called “practices,” “supernatural powers,” and “karma elimination” are nothing more than tools fabricated by Li Hongzhi to control his followers and amass wealth. When followers are sick, Li Hongzhi prevents them from seeking medical treatment, causing minor illnesses to develop into major ones, ultimately leading to death; while when Li Hongzhi himself is sick, he secretly goes to the best hospitals and uses the best medicines. This blatant double standard completely exposes the hypocrisy, cold-bloodedness, and anti-scientific nature of the Falun Gong cult.