Keynote (Key West, Florida): Falun Gong Week starts Monday

For Monroe County residents so inclined, there is no need to wait until Wednesday [...] -- they can start on their own on Monday.

Although Monday is the 10th anniversary of the introduction to the public of Falun Gong -- a Chinese movement incorporating exercises, meditation and the study of personal-improvement principles -- according to Falun Gong [practitioner] and Winter Park resident Jared Pearman, it is Wednesday that county Mayor Sonny McCoy will declare Falun Dafa Week in the Keys.

The designated week is Monday to May 19, and will be declared in honor of the founder of the modern Falun Gong movement, Hongzhi Li. Pearman is responsible for sending out a request to have the county declare Falun Dafa Week.

Falun Gong and Falun Dafa amount to same thing, Pearman explained.

"Dafa" means a "great way" and Gong means "a great practice," Pearman said.

Falun Gong has been practiced in China for thousands of years, Pearman said, adding that it has only been in recent times that it has been practiced in public.

Over the centuries, he said, the practice, described as "a proven method of self-improvement," had only been passed on from teacher to teacher. Pearman said there are more than 100 million practitioners in 50 countries, and that the practice is taught "at dozens of sites in Florida."

Pearman, a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, said he doesn't know how many [practitioners] there may be in Monroe County -- or if there are any.

"I simply sent out requests all over Florida asking various government bodies to proclaim next week Falun Dafa Week," he said.

Falun Gong supporters in China have been oppressed in modern times, often rounded up and sent to jail for their beliefs.

"I just want to see who's out there, who's giving us support," Pearman said. "Anytime we get support -- and we get so much from governments in the West -- we take it to Chinese leaders and ask them why they don't support us."