Potomac News: Falun Gong stresses self-improvement

Former Woodbridge resident Lisa Fan glanced over to see what her neighbor on the Metro was reading. What Fan saw, she said, changed her life.

"The lady was reading a Chinese book on truth, compassion and tolerance," Fan said. "The book talked about morality and it hit something deep down in my heart."

The book Fan peeked at was Zhuan Falun, the bible of the spiritualist movement Falun Dafa,also known as Falun Gong.

Introduced to the public in 1992, it is one of the hundreds of practices based on Qigong, a Chinese term meaning to transform and develop one's body and mind.

The practice, whose goal is to assist people attain a higher moral, spiritual and mental level, gained notoriety in 1999 when it was outlawed in China. The Chinese government cited the group for spreading fallacies and creating disturbances that jeopardized social stability.

The world looked on, concerned that once again the communist government was repressing civil liberties of its people. In Novermber 1999, the United States government criticized the Chinese government for its crackdown on the Falun Dafa.

The movement, based on the writings of its ousted leader living in New Youk City, Li Hongzhi, has more than 100,000 million [should be 100 million] practitioners worldwide, according to the official Falun Dafa web site. The message is spread only by word of mouth and materials paid for by local volunteers.

Followers say that the focus of the movement is on self-examination and self-improvement, not the development of a political organization or group. Those who practice the mental, spiritual exercises do so out of their own free will, for their own benefit, Fan said.

Practitioners are regarded as students and everyone is equal, no matter how long they have practiced. The writings and practices are open to anyone and there are no secrets, according to the Web site.

Falun Dafa is a spiritual practice, but not a religion, Fan explained. "We believe a person's morality will ascend when they practice Falun Dafa. This leads to spiritual growth."

Fan, 36, who lived in Triangle before moving to Springfield last year, hopes to introduce it to Prince William County. She organized a seminar introducing Falun Dafa and teaching the exercises at the Chinn Park Library and plans more in August and September. Several groups already practice in the United States, including Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.

At the root of Falun Dafa is the Qigong fundamental principle that you cannot separate the mind from the body, Fan said. Practices like Tai Chi or Yoga are both based on Qigong practices, Fan said. "You work on a higher level, a mental level. You not only have to practice relaxation and physical exercise, you have to have a tranquil heart. A heart that is truthful, compassionate and tolerant."

To attain this, each participant strives to improve his or her own body, mind and spirit. This is called cultivation. The Web site uses the comparison of a person cultivating their qualities like a garden, planting seeds of goodness and not letting goodness be damaged by circumstances or events.

Fan acknowledges that Americans who are not familiar with Oriental life may find it difficult to comprehend Falun Dafa. "It is a package wrapped in Chinese culture, but it delivers a universal message." She said.

In other words, first-time readers of the teachings of Falun Dafa may not understand the terminology, but Fan encourages the curious to be persistent and to keep an open mind.

In addition to the mental exercises in Falun Dafa, physical movements are incorporated. There are five exercises that are fairly simple to learn and practice, according to Falun Dafa literature.

Three of the movements, "Buddha Showing Thousand Hands," "Falun Standing Stance" and "Penetrating the Two Cosmic Extremes," are physical and two require remaining still for extended periods of time.

The physical movements can be performed anywhere at any time, Fan said. "There are no rituals, you just read a book and practice."

She started practicing Falun Dafa two days after her first exposure to its teachings on the Metro. "I looked around and started to understand the world around me."

"I've always been a spiritual person," Fan said. "But since I came to the United States I have been caught up in my studies and my job. Spiritual matters were forgotten for a long time."

Yet, because Falun Dafa is not a religion, and does not conflict with any religion, Fan said it actually helped her better understand the teachings of Jesus Christ and Christianity, which she practiced since moving to the united States.

She also found the message of Falun Dafa in other places-including Hollywood.

In the movie "Groundhog Day," the main character keeps waking up on the same day. It is not until he improves himself that he is allowed to live the next day. Falun Dafa teaches that we are on this earth to learn lessons, Fan said. It is not until we have learned that we can move on to higher levels of ourselves and truly cultivate our true being, she said.