Religious figures and representatives of groups opposing Falun Gong have held a forum todiscuss the cult.

Master Shenghui, deputy director of the Buddhist Association of China said this is the first time a sacred Buddhist site has been chosen for a forum on the Falun Gong Cult.

Explaining the difference between Buddhism and the Falun Gong cult, he said Li Hongzhi, ringleader of the cult, plagiarized Buddhist terms to concoct his "Fa Lun Da Fa" which misled ordinary people, defrauded people of their money and even took practitioners' lives.

The cult severely profaned the spirit of Buddhism and upset all Buddhist disciples, he added.

The forum sponsored by the China Anti-Cult Association also focused on such topics as the relationship between freedom of religion and the policy of cracking down on the cult, as well as religion's role in stamping out evil cults.

China's Buddhist society was the first to oppose Falun Gong.

As early as 1996, Zhao Puchu, the late director of the Buddhist Association of China, said Falun Gong was an evil cult.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2002)