June 28, 2006

Golden residents are learning the positives and negatives of Falun Gong this summer.

On the plus side, Falun Gong is a Chinese meditation reputed to induce serenity and cure medical conditions. Lisa and Andy Ellsmore are leading an introductory workshop in the practice at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 1 at Parfet Park.

Meanwhile, a group of women traveled through town earlier this month raising awareness about the Chinese Communist Party's ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. They will return to Golden to march in the Buffalo Bill Days.

Andy began practicing Falun Gong about five years ago after reading about a man who used Falun Gong to cure his narcolepsy.

Familiar with yoga and Tai Chi, Andy tried the meditative practice.

"I felt very calm and energized at the same time," he said. "It was pretty unique."

Compared to Tai Chi and yoga, Andy said Falun Gong is easier physically but can pose a greater challenge mentally.

Both he and Lisa wanted to quit drinking. After a month of meditation, Andy put down the cocktails for good. At the influence of her husband, Lisa adopted the practice and stopped smoking and drinking a week later.

"(Falun Gong) has really made me look inside at my shortcomings. It's just had such a big impact on my life," Lisa said. "I'd always been looking for some meaning of life. I read books here and there," she said, but hesitated to embrace any particular religion.

Lisa discovered that she argues less with her family and thinks more clearly from day to day.

Andy found that the practice enables him to awake easier while needing less sleep.

The couple practices in Parfet Park and along Clear Creek.

"It's nice and open and peaceful," Lisa said.

They also go to Washington Park in Denver at 9 a.m. Saturdays to practice Falun Gong with other devotees.

"The interesting thing about Falun Gong is the way it's structured," Andy said. "There's no hierarchy. People come and go freely to the exercise site."

But in China, the practice is far from 'free.'

Joy Zhao immigrated to the United States from China in 1995. Now residing in Aspen, she journeys from state to state to raise awareness about the persecution in her native country.

The Communist leadership banned Falun Gong in China in 1999. Zhao's mother-in-law and father-in-law spent a month in jail for practicing Falun Gong. They were forced to sign a paper vowing not to practice, and were released.

"She signed the paper, but it's not (with) her heart," Zhao said of her mother-in-law who now lives in the United States and continues practicing Falun Gong.

A Toronto Sun article reports that 4,500 Chinese people are executed for their beliefs, though critics claim the number is closer to 10,000. Many of those are jailed and persecuted merely for practicing Falun Gong.

Organs are harvested from many who are executed.

"That's the shocking thing," Zhao said. "That's why we've launched the car tour, we're trying to ask the people in Colorado to call the White House so our government can launch an investigation over there."

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