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Leisure-Business Standard
July 15, 2000

Spiritual exile

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The Falun Gong has reached India, while it faces persecution in the country of its birth, says Maitreyee Handiqueá

Until last year, Lei Wang, who regularly visiting her hometown Beijing, had been noticing an exceptional demographic tide gripping the citys parks. The number of people out for their daily bout of morning exercise just got bigger and bigger. The surging mass swelled the park premises, then burst on to adjoining pavements. Those who walked in late simply joined at the end of the long chains of humanity winding down the roads. á

Like in India, the density of a public gathering in China shouldnt come as a surprise, but 70 million people converging for a physical session across the nations parks? Since the 40-something Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual practice to the public in 1992, its popularity has soared, rivalled only by membership to the Chinese Party of China (estimated at 60 million). The exercisers are hardly agitators but under Communist rule, they will be ticked under that head. In January 1999, the government ordered that not more than 2,000 people could assemble in a park,says Wang. á

It was the beginning of the dark days for Falun Gong practitioners, who frequently became target of state wrath harassment, police beatings, lock-ups, labour camps. And on October 30, 1999, Falun Gong, which initially received official backing, was banned, putting an end not just to the peaceful morning exercises but muzzled individual voices altogether. Books were burnt, Internet access was blocked and telephones tapped. Official notes were sent out to denounce the Falun Gong, and those who refused to comply faced the risk of salaries being held up, or expulsion from work. Punishments include the Di lao (prison in hell), a device in which the prisoner is first shackled, and then made to walk. á

These facts are detailed in the 1999-2000 survey on Extensive and Severe Human Rights Violation in the Suppression of Falun Gong by the Peoples Republic of China, brought out by its supporters. More than 20 people are said to have died of torture, and three practitioners known to Wang Li Chang, Wang Zhi and Yao Jie face prison terms of 18, 16 and seven years, respectively. Their crime? They are instructors of Falun Gong. But far from the political tinderbox, Wei Lang, a doctor practising in Sweden, along with Swedish-born Pirjo Svensson, and American-Chinese Ana Chan and Susie Truong were in India, at Shantiniketan, to spread the benefit of Falun Gong exercises. The response was good, says Chan who works as a computer analyst in Boston. We had between 35-100 people attending the workshop. We have also received inquiries from Mumbai and Bihar. á

The truth is, wherever Falun Gong, the millenniums fastest growing spiritual movement, travels (30 countries in seven years, so far), the response has been enthusiastic with the exception, perhaps, of the country of its origin. For a movement that is facing state-wide persecution, the crux of Falun Gong (falun means law wheel and gong means energy derived from cultivation practice) is simple to grasp. Drawn from the system of both Buddhism and the Tao school, the principles of Falun Gong were once taught in secret; Li has repackaged it to suit modern needs. á

Also sometimes known as Falun Dafa (or the great wheel), the movement claims no membership, no fees and its followers observe no formal form of worship. Initiates are taught the three principles of Zhen, Shan and Ren (truth, kindness, tolerance ) by volunteer-practitioners based on nine videotaped lecture series by Li, who currently lives in New York. There are five sets of exercises that can be practised from five minutes to one hour, to energise the heart, body and mind. á

It is said a person attaining the highest level of nirvana experiences the sensation, much like an electric fan, of a Falun Gong wheel (a swastika-like symbol with four yin-yang symbols) in the navel region. Falun Gong claims to have health benefits but scepticism abounds. The Falun Dafa credo is laid down in Zhuan Falun, the main text, and China Falun Gong. Li stopped giving lectures in China after he published the books, focusing instead on overseas assignments. The four maintain they have no political aim but we cannot close our eyes. It is a humanitarian issue, says Svensson. No doubt the Chinese state, by launching a crusade against its own people, is exposing its own fears. As Truong says, Through the persecution, more people will get to know about Falun Gong. You cant stop it. Its here.