(Minghui.org) Twelve students and their professor from Rochester University came to observe Falun Dafa practitioners doing the exercises at the practice site in Troy on October 22, 2022. Professor Carol Cooper and her students from the World Religion class learned the exercise movements, and about the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa in China.

Students from Rochester University in Michigan joined practitioners at the practice site in Troy, and learned how to do the Falun Dafa exercises.

Professor Keith Huey at the Department of Theology and Ministry has invited Falun Dafa practitioners to his World Religion class every year for the last 16 years. The practitioners talked about their faith and answered the students’ questions about Falun Dafa. Professor Huey and his students have previously gone to the practice site in Troy to observe the practitioners as they did the exercises, and to learn them. The students said they enjoyed the trip and the experience.

Professor Huey decided that inviting the practitioners to his class once a year was not enough, and decided to have the practitioners over twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. The following semester Professor Carol Cooper, who substituted for Professor Huey’s class, invited the practitioners to her class to talk about Falun Dafa. Four days later on October 22, 2022, she took the students to Troy to learn the Falun Dafa exercises.

Practitioners introduce Falun Dafa to the World Religion class in Rochester University and demonstrate the exercises.

The Exercise Experience

After doing the exercises with the practitioners at the park, Professor Cooper said she was able to calm down and relax despite a noisy environment. “At the beginning the traffic sound from the highway irritated me. A few minutes later it stopped bothering me. I started to relax, close my eyes, balance my body, and feel the movements,” she said.

Professor Carol Cooper

It was the first time sophomore student Marcus Vizzaccaro tried the exercises. “It was hard at first. After I did the exercises I felt very calm, relaxed, and warm. During the exercises I felt the energy flow, which was great. It was very pure energy. I like doing the exercises, and will keep doing them,” he said.

Student Marcus Vizzaccaro

Marcus told the practitioners that he had never one hundred percent recovered from his prior illness. He lost a lot of weight and couldn’t eat. “After doing the exercises today, I feel much better and more energetic,” he said.

Sophomore Benjamin Stewart said that he normally would still be asleep this early in the morning. “On the way here I almost fell asleep. After I did the exercises, I feel very relaxed and I am very awake,” he said.

Student Benjamin Stewart

Sofia Leduc said, “Coming here and exercising with a big group of people is a very nice experience.” She felt very relaxed afterward, and so did Jorean Rhea. “I felt relaxed and calm after I did the exercises. It’s a peaceful environment, and I feel definitely more energetic than when I got here,” said Jorean, “Even though it’s early in the morning, I am not tired after the exercises. I like Falun Dafa.”

Students Jorean Rhea (left) and Sofia Leduc (right)

Jorean and Sofia stayed to learn the fifth exercise, the sitting meditation. “The exercises will become part of my life. The simple exercises make me feel a lot better. For me it’s a novelty and I definitely enjoy it.”

Support Falun Dafa and Freedom of Belief

Professor Cooper understood how brutal the persecution of Falun Dafa was, as well as the efforts to end it put forth by practitioners during the past 23 years. She said, “I understand quite well how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes people with beliefs. The persecution of Falun Dafa should be paid attention to.”

The students condemned the persecution and wanted to find out more about it. They also expressed interest in joining the practitioners and doing the exercises the next Saturday.

Benjamin said that he wasn’t aware of what was happening in China. “Growing up in America it is easy to take many things for granted. For example we can freely do the exercises here,” he said, “I have never experienced anything similar to what the practitioners in China have. It meant a lot to me to know what they have done to end the persecution.”

Jorean said that students in America needed to become more educated about religious freedom. “I didn’t know that there was a persecution, and that it is still happening. People have the right to practice what they want. The Chinese communist regime defamed Falun Dafa, which is terrible because Falun Dafa is a very peaceful practice. The practitioners have not hurt anyone in their practice. It’s not like what the Chinese regime claimed.”

Sofia said that everyone should be able to practice their belief, “The persecution is unfair for the practitioners who just want to practice what they believe.”

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.