Sunday, September 07, 2003

Falun Gong prohibits killing, suicide

As a Western practitioner of Falun Gong, a Pennsylvania resident and a former newspaper reporter, I am very concerned about the Aug. 17 Post-Gazette article, "What is Falun Gong?" by M. Ferguson Tinsley.

First, I believe the article seems to give credence to the ridiculous lie that practicing Falun Gong can lead to suicide or murder. That is propaganda originating from the regime that rules China, a regime with a horrific and brutal human rights record.

Falun Gong, a cultivation system based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, strictly prohibits killing or suicide. In fact, with a deep respect for human life, practitioners are nonviolent.

Hundreds, more likely thousands, of Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death in China. To my knowledge, not a single practitioner has ever struck back at one of the persecutors.

There are Falun Gong practitioners in more than 60 countries. The only accusations against practitioners come from a brutal regime that has a media monopoly in its own country.

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is an ancient cultivation system that was quietly passed down from teacher to student. In 1992, the current teacher of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi, made the practice public, wishing to help the world.

The primary practice of Falun Gong is studying to improve one's moral character. The practice also contains five gentle, easy-to-learn exercises to purify the body.

Cultivation systems, like religions, strive to increase virtue. However, unlike religions, cultivation practices do not have worship or rituals. Another example of a cultivation system is the well-known tai chi.

Students of Falun Gong refer to Mr. Li as "Teacher Li" or "Master Li." In the East, "master" refers to a respected teacher who has mastered a practice.

Mr. Li taught his first lecture in China in 1992 to about 200 people and then toured China for about two years. By 1999, at least 70 million Chinese citizens were practicing Falun Gong. That number was determined by a Chinese government survey.

There were only 60 million people registered in the Chinese Communist Party, and Jiang Zemin became insanely jealous and launched the brutal campaign against the practice.

I have been practicing a little more than two years. After only six or seven weeks, a more than decade-long neck and back problem left me forever. I am also happier, more at peace and more productive than I have ever been.

More important, one of the reasons I was attracted to Falun Gong was because I found practitioners to be honest, kind and constantly trying to improve themselves.

PHILIP RANDELL
Levittown, Bucks County

Propaganda covers up persecution

As a Falun Gong practitioner, I felt hurt by the article, "What is Falun Gong?" (Aug. 17).

I believe this article misleads readers to believe that Mainland Chinese leader Jiang Zemin has a reason to persecute the peaceful Falun Gong practitioners. The article states the government's position that Falun Gong can lead to suicide and murder. That is propaganda from a totalitarian regime that is trying to cover up its mass murder and torture of Falun Gong practitioners.

I do not understand why the article did not state that an unalterable principle of Falun Gong is a prohibition against killing, including suicide.

Here are the opening sentences of chapter seven of the primary text of Falun Gong, Zhuan Falun: "The issue of killing is very sensitive. For practitioners, we have set the strict requirement that they cannot kill lives."

Many Falun Gong practitioners have died since the persecution began in July 1999. They have been tortured to death. By Aug. 25, the known death toll was 772; the actual count must be many times higher since the regime has been concealing its crimes. Here is a statement issued in 2001 by Amnesty International:

"Torture and ill treatment is prevalent during high-profile political campaigns, such as the ongoing crackdown on the banned Falun Gong organization. Reports continue of deaths of detained practitioners following torture and extreme ill treatment. Whereas officials responsible for deaths in custody during normal police operations may be investigated and prosecuted, in all cases where the victims were Falun Gong practitioners, the government has denied any wrongdoing, even in the face of multiple eyewitness testimonies."

Jiang Zemin issued an order to "eliminate Falun Gong practitioners" and count the deaths as suicide. Many policemen shouted this order when they were beating and sexually abusing Falun Gong practitioners. Jingfang Yang, a Mainland Falun Gong practitioner and the sister of a Philadelphia psychiatrist, has been enduring brutal mental and physical abuse. Currently, many Pennsylvania officials are trying to help rescue her.

A previous Post-Gazette report, "Pitt researcher hopes to free wife jailed in China for practicing Falun Gong," published on Feb. 16, awakened people's conscience and made them aware of the need for justice. The Aug. 17 article had the opposite effect. My heart was trembling in pain when I read it. I believe the report isolates us from people with other beliefs, portraying us as a weird group that promotes suicide. Isn't this what the persecutors in China have been doing for the past four years?

Falun Gong is practiced in more than 60 nations, and the only negative stories about it come from a totalitarian regime. Isn't the truth obvious?

YING WAN
Monroeville

http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_north/20030907nletters0907p8.asp