September 17, 2002

(Clearwisdom.net) Deep in Chinese tradition, there is a practice to cleanse the mind, body and spirit.

According to Falun Dafa practitioners, a simple set of simple exercises and the adoption of a philosophy based around the principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance, can strengthen their moral qualities, improve their physical and mental health, and overcome their shortcomings.

"Falun Dafa is about self improvement and looking inside yourself," explains Christine Loftus, a third-year Brock child and youth studies student and falun dafa practitioner. "The main purpose is to strengthen your consciousness ... [...] it can improve your health. It's a simple thing, not overly complicated, but it's powerful."

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, includes two main parts. The first is the principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance -- be truthful to yourself and others, show compassion for yourself and others, be tolerant and patient. These are studied through Falun Dafa teachings and literature put forth by its founder, Master Li Hongzhi.

[...]

The second part to practicing Falun Dafa is five-simple exercises.

There are gentle stretching movements to open channels of energy in the body, a posture enhancement position to enhance one's energy level and open up the mind to increased wisdom, gentle hand-gliding movements to channel universal energy and hand movements to circulate energy. These exercises are commonly followed by meditation.

Loftus was first introduced to Falun Dafa in 1998.

"My twin brother and I both were in a place in our lives where we wanted to improve our health and find something to improve our lives," she says. "We found a Falun Dafa teacher at a fair who was offering a simple system for us.."

After practicing regularly, Loftus and her brother soon noticed changes in themselves. "We had more energy and were accomplishing a lot more ... Our complexions changed and our bodies just felt healthier."

Both have become [volunteer assistants] in the Falun Dafa community; leading groups and introducing more and more people to the practice.

[...]

Currently, it is estimated as many as 100 million people, in 57 countries across the world, are followers of this practice. There are chapters across Canada --from Whitehorse, Yukon to Charlottetown, P.E.I. Locally, there are chapters in St. Catharines, Welland, and even here at Brock. [...]

In 1999, after originally supporting Falun Dafa and its teachings, Chinese President Jiang Zemin banned the practice.[...]

According to Loftus, Chinese citizens are not only forbidden from practicing Falun Dafa, but they are forbidden from accessing any material that is related to Falun Dafa. Books have been burned and Web sites have been banned in part of this prohibition.

[...]

Over 100,000 people have been detained in Chinese labour camps. As of June 2002, the Falun Dafa Information Center has verified the death of 420 of those protesters. However, government officials inside China report the death toll was at least 1,600.

[...]

The International Education Development report of the UN states, "The [Chinese] government, in exercise of the right to reply, attempted to justify its state terrorism against [Falun Dafa] by calling it an [slanderous word omitted] ... In our investigation, the only deaths have been at the hands of Chinese authorities."

Loftus says she believes the [Jiang regime] banned Falun Dafa because it has more followers than the Communist Party.

"In 1999, the [Jiang] government did a survey and found that 70-100 million people practiced Falun Dafa, while there were only 60 million people in the Communist party," says Loftus. "This scared [the Communist party] because they did not initiate this themselves."

Earlier this year, Loftus and two friends traveled to Beijing to protest and hand out flyers detailing how banning Falun Dafa was against their human rights.

"I wanted to clarify the truth of what was going on," she said. "I knew it was risky. I knew going as a Canadian, I would have extra security."

[...]

Loftus and her two friends were detained by Chinese officials and held in jail for 27 hours. Almost immediately, Loftus' detainment made headlines across Canada. The Canadian Embassy was forced to step in to get the protesters out of jail.

Despite her brief jail term, Loftus continues to practice Falun Dafa and maintains her efforts to fight for human rights.