Appearing in China since 1992, introduced to Vietnam since 2010 and appearing in Nghe An since around August 2011, Falun Gong is a spiritual practice, combining meditation and qigong exercises based on a moral philosophy focusing on the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance”.
However, besides some positive aspects of practicing (improving health, balancing emotions, reducing stress, increasing energy, relaxing), in the propaganda content of Falun Gong there are some unscientific views such as: "Practising Falun Gong helps people reach enlightenment, perfect success, immortal soul; anyone who stops them is a devil"; or "the cause of illness is due to bad deeds from previous lives, if you believe in practicing, stop taking medicine immediately, no need for examination, treatment will naturally be treated...".
In fact, according to the current understanding of the authorities, in Nghe An province, there are currently 659 people practicing Falun Gong, with 32 points in 18/21 districts, cities and towns, mainly concentrated in Vinh city (with 10 group points with more than 300 participants) and 6 other districts, cities and towns with many participants: Dien Chau (65), Quynh Luu (59), Cua Lo town (47), Hoang Mai town (47), Nam Dan (32 people); Thai Hoa town (24 people).
The majority of participants are elderly people with health problems who join Falun Gong with the purpose of improving their health, curing diseases and cultivating their character according to “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance”. It is worth noting that according to the authorities, some leaders have established the Heavenly Country Band Association in a youthful direction, increasing exchanges and connections with members of the “Hong An” art troupe in other provinces and cities to operate, taking advantage of cultural and social events in the localities to infiltrate and perform programs to promote, introduce and propagate Falun Gong.
In particular, in previous years, taking advantage of the Covid-19 epidemic situation, in some localities, many subjects went to places such as schools, markets, hospitals, and public entertainment venues in the province to distribute free documents, masks, and "Peace" cards to propagate and entice people to practice Falun Gong with the argument: Practicing Falun Gong has the ability to prevent and treat serious diseases; that preventing and treating the Covid-19 epidemic with Falun Gong will not require going to hospitals and medical facilities for examination and treatment!... Notably, some extremist subjects thoroughly adhered to the motto "Do not say, do not know, do not write, do not sign, do not pay fines" when the authorities discovered and handled the violations of the subjects. Regularly creating excuses, causing resentment, finding loopholes and shortcomings of the authorities to write petitions and complaints with the aim of shaking the will to fight of the authorities, allowing the subjects to operate freely.
In addition to Falun Gong, from 2023 to present, in Nghe An, a number of groups of people have emerged (through social networks) participating in Original Energy classes (also known as Dong Son Original Energy, New Era Cosmic Spiritual Light Original Energy, etc.). Initially, some people from the southern provinces were lured into joining Original Energy and some local cases learned and participated on the internet. Up to now, in Nghe An, about 200 people have been discovered following Original Energy, in 6 localities (including Vinh City and Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu districts). Among the participants in Nghe An, a closed group with the abbreviated name "NLG LQVT KNM - NA" has been established...
According to research, the Original Energy organization was founded in 2016 by Le Van Phuc, a Vietnamese American. To attract more participants, Le Van Phuc vaguely told about his life: “In 1978, I (Le Van Phuc) followed my family to settle in the United States. 25 years ago, after a near-death illness, I was cured by the energy transmission method. Then, on the night of September 21, 2009, thanks to good fortune, I met a special teacher. Since then, the teacher has taught me for 5 years with a lot of knowledge about Original Energy, the applications of the subject…”.
The Original Energy Organization also prints and publishes the books: “Common Denominator” (price 950,000 VND), “Heart of Soul” (price 1,100,000 VND), “Stem Cell” (price 750,000 VND), all compiled by Le Van Phuc, with content including online lectures on the Internet. The Original Energy Organization mainly operates in cyberspace, using the trick of curing all diseases, from cancer, depression, stomach diseases, bones and joints, diabetes, to infertility, sterility... through the method of taking energy from extraterrestrial civilizations and transmitting it to participating members by looking at Le Van Phuc's forehead at each livestream session. The participating members only need to study online from grade 1 to grade 5 to "be able to cure incurable diseases"...
Le Van Phuc and the Original Energy group continued to promote and attract people to participate in advanced classes in Malaysia, Thailand and the US at costs ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of VND. Many people who participated in the Original Energy group in Nghe An shared that after studying online classes 1, 2, 3 on the internet, they were invited to participate in advanced classes in Thailand for 1 week at a cost of tens of millions of VND, including airfare, food, and hotel. Not to mention buying 3 books as mentioned above at high prices. In addition, they were also invited to buy "clean food" such as chicken, goose, and pork from a company named DP, located in Long Thanh (Dong Nai)...
Currently, in the province, there is also a spiritual belief group, also known as Hoang Thien Long religion, with about 95 participants, mainly concentrated in Vinh city (Trung Do and Le Loi wards and Hung Chinh commune). This group infiltrated Vinh city in 2007, starting from a woman living in Trung Do ward who was sick and was introduced to "Hoang Thien Long Temple" of Ms. Nguyen Thi Dien in Ung Hoa (Hanoi) for treatment and then believed in this religion. After returning to the locality, this person propagated and attracted many people to participate, causing complications in security and order in the area.
The main subjects of the Spiritual Belief Activity Group (mainly women) also took advantage of the deification of President Ho Chi Minh to propagate many superstitious and unscientific contents such as that people with illnesses will be cured by themselves after reading “Scriptures” and drinking “Holy Water” every day without needing treatment… In addition, the leaders also sold scriptures, worship items, parallel sentences, incense bowls… to make a profit. These illegal activities not only have a significant impact on security and order, but also affect the social life, beliefs and religions of the people.
While Falun Gong and Original Energy often incorporate extreme, unscientific views, the Church of God the Mother – which appeared in Nghe An since early 2016 – propagates things that are completely contrary to Vietnamese customs, traditions, and moral and cultural standards. Although not permitted by Vietnamese law, this organization still operates secretly.
From about 28 people at the beginning, by 2018 there were about 90 people and currently there are 16 gathering points, with about 250 people following the Church of God the Mother mainly in the districts of Tan Ky, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Yen Thanh... In Vinh City alone, the Church of God the Mother has so far formed 2 gathering points, with about 70 participants, most of whom are students, retired officials, gullible people, and people lacking social understanding.
The Church of God the Mother in Vinh City requires its members to go out and evangelize (attract) others with the argument: The more believers you spread, the more blessings you will receive from God. The leaders of the Church of God the Mother often use content cut from the Bible "New Testament", "Old Testament", "New Song", "Guest from the Angelic World", about "Doomsday" from which members must believe, discuss to be "saved"... The activities of this organization are mainly superstitious, causing negative social effects and showing signs of taking advantage of personal gain, affecting the lives of families with followers and causing confusion among the masses, negatively affecting security and order in the area.
The Diệu Âm Dharma organization was founded by Trần Văn Tâm, a Vietnamese American citizen, and is concentrated in Vinh City and a small number in the districts of Tân Kỳ, Đỗ Lương, Yên Thành, Quỳnh Lưu, etc. In recent times, followers of Diệu Âm Dharma mainly live at home, meditate and listen to sermons through Diệu Âm Dharma websites and travel to Thailand and Cambodia to attend “Zen Halls” to participate in “Truận tâm an” and “Bệ quan” courses preached by Trần Văn Tâm. In addition, in the province, there are also activities of some people who claim to believe in and follow Protestant organizations such as the “Truận Giáng Gospel” (Propaganda of the Gospel) and “Jehovah’s Witnesses”), etc. and a number of “private shrines” have been built in various forms and sizes, operating as religious establishments for the community, but have not been promptly prevented by local authorities, causing difficulties for State management.
It can be seen that the emergence of new religious phenomena, "strange religions", "evil religions" disguised as activities to improve health, cure incurable diseases... but incorporating deviant, extreme, superstitious thoughts has attracted many members to participate. After a period of practicing activities, some "believers" have distanced themselves from modern science, denied social progress, and even shown extreme behavior, affecting the great solidarity of the people and security and order in the area. There have been individual cases of death during the Covid-19 pandemic due to blindly believing in the superstition that, just by diligently practicing and performing rituals, making offerings to the gods, one can be cured of the disease, without getting vaccinated. Some cases have refused to go to medical examination and treatment facilities because they believe that if they truly believe and follow, they will cure incurable diseases.
