The Charlatan (Canada): [China] Manufacturing Dissent - Falun Gong

Oct. 2001, Vol. 1, Issue 2

In a cold and poorly lit mini-gymnasium, Zhi stands with her eyes closed, ready to perform her daily Falun Gong exercises.

Zhi, 34, has been practicing Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) since 1998, after visiting her mother in China.

"I experienced a great change in my heart," she says. "I deal with everyday life better. My body has changed. I don't feel illness and I am always energetic."

Zhi begins the first of five sets of exercises by moving her hands slowly and purposefully in all directions as if pushing out against something unseen. Her muscles stretch and relax as she goes through eight motions. She repeats these three times.

"You just relax and breathe naturally with no control," she says. People arrive for the weekly Wednesday meeting to study Zhuan Falun, a guide written by Master Li Hongzhi. They set up tables as Zhi begins the second exercise called holding the wheel. Zhi grasps her invisible wheel moving it gradually above her head.

"I always practice with traditional Chinese music," says Zhi.

More people have arrived and their voices echo in the empty hall. Zhi proceeds to the third motion, alternating her right and left arms up and down. Her hands then come together and pass over her face like the lowering of a curtain. Her hands circle her stomach and come to a rest.

"This is to retrieve energy," she says.

Despite the recent media attention, little has been revealed about the actual practice of Falun Gong. Falun Gong literature points out it is not a religion, but a means cultivating spiritual and physical well being.

"It used to be an ancient practice passed on from generation to generation secretly," says Zhi. "It is new to this society, but has an old history."

Falun Gong has been gaining in popularity since 1992 and has practitioners in over 30 countries.

Zhi begins her fourth exercise, which is repeated nine times, by forcefully sweeping repeated her hands just above the dirty floor. Her hands then travel around her body, never touching it, but encasing it in an invisible shell. "It is not difficult; you do as you wish," says Zhi. "It is not an imposition."

For the final exercise Zhi removes her shoes and moves to sit on the floor. She grabs two chairs and, with little effort, sits contorting both her legs so that they rest over her thighs.

"Some people find this (position) difficult in the beginning," she says.

Briefly, Zhi's hands move like butterflies, then come to rest in mid air, out to the side. Zhi meditates.

"I usually meditate for half an hour. Some people do it for an hour," she says. She emphasizes that there are no restrictions in Falun Gong. While she performs the exercises once a day, others may do so more or less, and devote varying amounts of time to the exercises.

The group of 20 reads from the Zhuan Falun, alternating between reading passages in Chinese and in English, The three non-Chinese-speaking members stumble over the Chinese names, but manage to read in unison. Zhang, his wife ShuMei and their daughter LinDi quietly enter and join the group.

Zhang made headlines when he was detained in China for his affiliation with the Falun Gong. Though Zhang returned to Canada last month, his wife was only able to come back on Feb.15. This is the first meeting the family has attended together since their ordeal.

Despite all the publicity, the precise origins of Falun Gong remain unclear. Falun Gong literature acknowledges similarities to the religions of Buddhism and Taoism and to meditation methods like Tai Oi and Yoga. But Zhi says Falun Gong has essential differences.

'We have our principles to guide us in our daily lives," she says. "We upgrade our moral nature.''

The term Falun Gong arises from the Qi Gong school, and has to do with the five exercises that promote spiritual and physical health. Falun Dafa refers to the principles of truthfulness benevolence, and tolerance. The Wednesday meetings primarily focus on the Falun Dafa principles.

"All of us follow one principle. Sometimes in daily life there are differences in understanding things. Here we can share our experience," Zhi says. "'The exercises have no effect if not done with the heart. You must read the principles and make the heart good first, then change the body. You will get more out of the exercises."

The group continues their lengthy readings. They talk about jealousy, desire and worldly attachments. They also talk about the myth of equality and the need to change elements in Chinese culture and highlight the differences between East and West.

It is precisely these kinds discussions that the Chinese government is worried about. Allegations that some government officials are involved with the group have been especially alarming. [...] Children ran around the gym as the readings end. Zhang begins to relate her recent experiences in China. She speaks passionately of a woman she says was sent to a mental institution for her affiliation with Falun Gong and of others who endured the torture of electric shocks. Various members of the group loosely translate for Zhang who says one man had a snake held to his throat by Chinese officials, ''They are very cruel," Zhang says.

Zhang's husband and daughter sit quietly with-their heads bowed and hands folded as she describes how practitioners are often sent to be educated until they retract their views. What is education for China, she considers brainwashing.

As the night wears on more stories are shared, and a child, crawls sleepily onto his father's lap, closing his eyes. Zhang claims that Falun Gong can't distribute literature in China because many printers refuse to print it, out of fear. Outside China, however, there is no shortage of literature and websites. Zhi has an armful of colorfully produced pamphlets, book, newsletters, bookmarks, posters, and leaflets. Falun Gong practitioner Kathy Gillis sports a bright yellow jacket with the principles of Falun Dafa embroidered boldly in red. "As soon as I tried the exercises I knew it was for me," says Gillis, who has been practicing for three years.

Gillis is not alone in Falun Gong's international following. Zhi says Falun Gong appeals to people of all walks of life, even to children. "When children are pure they can understand our principles very well," she says.

Falun Gong does not appear to be waning in popularity. The next order of business at the meeting is an announcement of cheap flights to Geneva where a Falun Gong conference will be held in mid-March. Zhi reports that the annual Canadian Falun Gong Experience Sharing Conference will be in Ottawa this May.