LAS VEGAS SUN April 5, 2000

It's banned in its native country, but a small group in Summerlin is working to keep it alive.

Falun Gong (pronounced Fah-luhn Goong), is an "energy cultivating system" involving exercise and meditation. But this peaceful practice is causing a big ruckus in China, where it originated.

The practice is so disdained by China's government that 60 million followers living in the nation are in danger of being whisked off to jail if caught practicing Falun Gong.

Misunderstood, ignored or even banned, pockets of Falun Gong groups are popping up all over the world because of the system's focus on personal growth. More than 100 million people worldwide practice Falun Gong and that number continues to grow.

While other oriental systems, such as Tai Chi, concentrate on fitness and wellness, Falun Gong focuses on guiding people to higher dimensions. The meaning of "cultivating system" is to bring the energy from the universe into the body and expel that energy with harmony.

Chinese businessman Master Li Hongzhi, who in 1996 went into self-imposed exile in New York City, founded the system in 1992 based on the Falun, or "Law Wheel," Hongzhi located in the dan tian, or lower abdomen. This constantly spinning wheel does two things: It absorbs energy from the universe and relieves the body of negative energy.

Through Falun Gong, practitioners get in tune with the natural rhythm of the universe and, therefore, bring harmony to their lives.

In China, Falun Gong is viewed as a religious cult with threatening political aspirations and was officially banned last summer.

However, the Falun faithful are banding together against the ban.

Earlier this year a group of Falun Gong followers from San Jose, Calif., flew to China and appealed to the government to lift the illegal status.

The consequences of their polite plea were far from what the group had hoped for. Police crashed their Falun Gong session in a private home and jailed the well-meaning American followers and their Chinese hosts for three days.

Acts of kindness

Their movements are slow and deliberate, their faces set in peaceful concentration as they move through the five exercises of Falun Gong to gain inner peace.

On any given Saturday 50 Falun Gong followers at Desert Breeze Park in Summerlin gather to practice the Chinese system of cultivating the mind, body and spirit.

"The major purpose of the cultivation is for the heart," said Kaijin Liang, one of two Falun Gong instructors in the Las Vegas area. "It is not just exercise."

Liang discovered the movement four years ago when his parents, who still live in China, told tales of better health and harmony in their lives through Falun Gong. He flew to China to learn the exercises and basic teachings. "

After a year or two practicing, it improved my health and spiritually helped me," Liang said. "I felt such good stuff, I wanted to share it with my friends and family."

It's not the Falun followers' beliefs that have the Chinese officials on alert, but their strength in numbers. "They (officials) are afraid," Liang said. "But they shouldn't be. We are doing this to be better people."

Liang, a Chinese native and Las Vegas resident for eight years, said that part of China's resistance is its feeling of isolation in a dwindling communist world.

"They are so lonely," Liang said. "Russia fell and now they are the last (large) communist country."

But followers think the government is over-reacting.

"There are people high in the government, doctors, professionals (who) follow Falun Gong (in China)," Liang said. "We don't have any political interest, but (officials) are worried some time in the future another government could use this large, powerful group against them."

Followers have been accused of stealing state secrets as well as other traitorous behavior. Those who appeal to the government to lift the ban are recognized as followers and are usually arrested soon after, Liang said.

"(Falun Gong) is beneficial to the government and the people because Falun Gong tells all practitioners to be good citizens and abide by the laws of their country," Liang said.

That is the paradox. Followers believe strongly in respecting the laws of their country. It goes against the basis of their belief system to continue to practice the exercises, and yet they believe strongly in Falun Gong.

The moves

There are five different exercises that make up Falun Gong. Each has its own function to tune up the body's energy level.

The session begins with the "Buddha Showing a Thousand Hands" stretching exercise intended to open the body's receiving channels and soak up the energy that the universe emits.

Next, practitioners move on to the "Standing Stance," which is done in a fluid motion. The four moves of this exercise are slow and held for along time to embrace the energy wheel within.

The duration of each exercise differs for each person. Exercises may take a half hour or more until the body feels refreshed and energized.

The third exercise, "Penetrating the Two Cosmic Extremes," brings the energy of the universe together with that of the body by pushing the hands toward and away from the Earth.

The "Heavenly Circulation" exercise combines the complementary energies of the body -- the yin and the yang -- and connects all of the energy channels through a series of slow hand movements and bending at the knees and waist.

The final exercise, "Strengthening Divine Powers," involves meditation in a classic pose with legs crossed in an Indian-style fashion.

Spreading the word

How can a few moves and deep knee bends bring peace to the world and still cause so much controversy?

"It's not understood," Liang said. "The major purpose of the cultivation is peace, to be peaceful no matter what someone says or does."

That's exactly what Sarah Townsend was looking for when she found Falun Gong three months ago through newspaper articles describing the troubles in China. She was immediately intrigued.

"If it had no value to move people, why would the Chinese government be so threatened by it? " Townsend said. "Whether or not they want to accept that it has power in itself, they see it is affecting other people and they lose (their) power over those people."

She didn't know what to expect when she met Liang at Desert Breeze Park in January, but instantly felt more at peace after the first two-hour session.

"It was more than what I'd been experiencing in Buddhism," said Townsend, a practicing Buddhist for 15 years. "I found it to be energizing and some physical (maladies) cleared up as soon as I started the (exercises). I could tell there was something spiritual, too."

Struggles in her daily life became easier to bear, she said.

"It's challenging to put into words, but I felt myself enter into a greater state of tranquility for the first time in my life," Townsend said. "I had never been able to really be OK about what was going on in my life, I could never achieve that peace of mind. I found that in Falun Gong I'm sustained. Even though I still have hardship and challenges, the way that I view these has changed."

Through the exercises and the study of Falun Gong beliefs, mainly benevolence, she can face life with more joy, she said. But it's not a complete cure for the blues.

"I can actually be tranquil. It's not always 100 percent but it seems alot easier," Townsend said. "As you practice, your own understanding (of life) is revealed."

Another newcomer, Katie Jarmain, also read about the problems and violence followers in China experienced but she decided to give Falun Gong a try. After all, the price is hard to beat, she said.

"My friend was looking for something (to do) and I heard it was free," Jarmain said. "I wanted to do something with (my) life, so it was perfect."

Its easy access to the public and openness appealed to her immediate needs, but she found something deeper after reading books by Master Li Hongzi and attending classes.

The philosophy and exercises soothed and inspired her.

"It (focuses) on raising your morality and live according to the law of the universe, which is truth, compassion, benevolence and tolerance," Jarmain said. "If we all lived like that the world would be a greater place.

"Annoying aches and pains that bothered her in the past are now greeted with tolerance and understanding, she said. "Now when I have pain, I worry less," she said.

Liang also said that Falun Gong has given him better health, as well as more compassion toward life. "I was always sick, now I am so healthy," Liang said. "And my heart, my heart is happy."

Since he began teaching Liang has brought many curious Las Vegans into the simple world of Falun Gong. He practices every day and teaches in the park each weekend for free. It is against the Falun Gong edict to charge for anything involving the cultivation system.

Liang has no intention of going back to China -- he's needed here. "There are so many people calling me who want to learn Falun Gong that I don't want to go there. I want to teach here," Liang said.

On a recent morning after her two hours of Falun Gong and meditation, Liang's former student and now fellow instructor, Jessica Huang, continued her efforts to break the ban.

Keeping the faith

Huang, who was introduced to Falun Gong during a trip to China in 1998,wrote a letter to the United Nations urging them to get involved with China's relentless persecution of Falun followers.

She continues to practice and spread the word of Falun Gong to combat the controversy surrounding this somewhat misunderstood Chinese movement. "I found it very profound, my heart was really touched," Huang said.

And then there are the added benefits, according to Huang. "You look younger than your age and (you are) free of disease when you do this for a few months. But the most important thing is to upgrade your mind."

Huang never misses a day and practices at least two hours for each session. Her favorite move is "Strengthening Divine Powers," which she said opens her mind's ability to function on a higher level.

"The last one is meditation, which reinforces your mighty powers," Huang said.

Mind reading and seeing into the future are a few powers that she said Falun Gong can offer a person who is devoted to the practice.

Huang acknowledges that some of the mystical aspects of Falun Gong may seem a bit, well, out there. "We live in this dimension where everything is (comprised of) particles," she said. "Your body will be replaced by finer, high-energy substances" through Falun Gong.

"Our goal is to reach a consummation," she said, "to become an enlightened person."