Charlotte Observer [NC]: Falun Gong's followers [Excerpt]

Sunday, June 24, 2001

Joggers, picnickers and bikers stared as they passed the circle of people under the shade trees at McAlpine Creek Park.

But Kay Oke and her fellow Falun Gong practitioners paid them no mind.

They focused instead on soothing music from the tape player, on the slow movements they practiced, and on filling their minds with good thoughts.

For much of an hour, they sat - some in the difficult lotus position, legs crossed and feet atop thighs - with arms to the side, several inches above the ground.

In the second hour, they stood, eyes closed again, moving in slow motion from one exercise to the next. They started with their hands in front of their bellies, one hand cupped on top of the other with thumbs touching.

They reached to one side - "hands pointing to heaven and earth," the voice on the tape instructed - then to the other side. They reached overhead. "Embrace the wheel," the voice said. "The palms face the ears. The whole body is relaxed."

Nine people filled the circle on a recent Sunday afternoon to practice Falun Gong (pronounced "fah-luhn gong"), an ancient and sometimes controversial Chinese discipline.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is aimed at improving mental and physical well-being. [...]

Practitioners of Falun Gong are persecuted in China, where the practice has been outlawed by the [party' name omitted] government since 1999. But in the United States, followers practice freely in parks.

Small groups meet each weekend in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Wilmington. In Charlotte, a group has gathered at McAlpine park for six months.

Earlier this month, the oldest person in the Charlotte park circle was 62, a woman from China who has practiced Falun Gong for many years. The youngest was 9, a girl who accompanied her mother and kept up with the adults until her arms got tired or when a big black ant crawled on her leg. A few were new to the group. Most adopted the practice since 1996, when it was first publicized in the United States.

"From the first time I did the healing exercises right, I felt better," said Oke, 50, who started two years ago with free classes in Charlotte.

"You feel peaceful and clean inside like you've had a spiritual shower. You just feel very relaxed."

Introduced in 1992

Although an ancient practice, Falun Gong was introduced to the public in China by Li Hongzhi in 1992. He left China in 1996, and now lives in New York state. Followers believe that by reading Li's book and following the principles, they will receive a falun - a "wheel of law" or miniature of the universe - in their abdomens, where it will spin constantly, absorbing and releasing energy.

Li's book, Zhuan Falun, and a beginner's text, Falun Gong, explain the five sets of gentle exercises and his theory that to achieve full harmony with the universe, followers must live the principles of Zen-Shan-Ren - truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance.

Like tai chi, Falun Gong is said to help heal physical illness.

Oke said her "mind and body were a mess" before she started Falun Gong. She couldn't sleep. Her heart raced. She had sinus problems that led to bronchitis, usually twice a year. Now, she said, her sinus problems are gone, she sleeps well without medicine, and her emotions are less volatile.

Magnus Lee, a UNC Charlotte junior who began attending the McAlpine park meetings two months ago, said his lifelong allergies have cleared up. "Now it's pretty much under control. I can sleep better. I have more energy. I can think better. The most important thing is overall well-being."

Joann Kao, a Taiwan native who has lived in Charlotte 19 years, began practicing Falun Gong in 1997. "I used to have very strong allergies," she said. "I had to sit up to sleep. (Now) I don't take medicine for five years."

When Kao does the exercises, she said, she can "feel something turning" inside her. "Once you get the law wheel in your body, it will turn forever," she said. "After this kind of exercise, you feel you have more energy than before. That's why it has a healing effect."

Still, Falun Gong practitioners stress that it helps in more ways than the physical.

"The exercises are the easy part," Oke said. "The Zhuan Falun book describes a pattern of how we're supposed to live and how we're supposed to think.

"If you come just with the intent to be healed, that is considered an 'attachment' and may prevent the very thing you want. If you can come to Falun Dafa with an open mind and heart, sincerely wanting to improve your spiritual being, then you will find riches beyond your wildest dreams."

Oke says this even though she is temporarily unemployed.

"It's not that I'm not having bad times now. Believe me, I am. But I'm handling them better. If I have one bad thought, I try to supplant it with three good thoughts. That's my way of trying to get my thoughts in line with what I want them to be."

Jeff Chen, who coordinates the Raleigh Falun Gong group, said he was once a "bad person." He began practicing Falun Gong in 1996 because he was ill with hepatitis B and medicines didn't help.

He said Falun Gong cured his illness - he no longer takes medicines - but the major change is in his behavior.

Before, he said, he would cheat and lie to get what he wanted.

Since practicing Falun Gong, Chen, a software engineer, said he has changed "from the bottom of my heart.

"We use anything that happens in our life as a good chance for us to examine ourselves and to improve ourselves."

Fearful of repercussions

Falun Gong followers in the United States are angry and fearful about the treatment their counterparts receive in China. For example, the 62-year-old Chinese woman at McAlpine park asked not to be identified because her daughter in China was once jailed for practicing Falun Gong. She worried about what might happen if her name appeared in the newspaper.

Falun Gong began to draw criticism in China in 1999, triggering a peaceful protest by some 10,000 followers in Beijing. After that, China declared Falun Gong an [Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted] and banned the practice.

The movement claims 70million followers in China. Web sites, magazines and brochures produced by the Falun Dafa Information Center in New York City claim that tens of thousands of practitioners have been detained and/or sent to labor camps without trial. More than 220 practitioners have died after being tortured in police custody, according to the center's Web site.

Falun Gong practitioners say they are not political. They emphasize that Falun Gong is not a religion because it has no temples, rituals or clergy, no membership and no cost.

[...]

Falun Gong practitioners note that most tai chi teachers charge for their classes and that tai chi followers focus on health benefits more than spiritual ones.

"We didn't say that tai chi is not good," Kao said, "It's just that you have to pick one. It's like you go to church if you believe in Jesus. You don't go to a Jewish church. The other kinds of qigong will interfere (with Falun Gong)."

Although they invoke the name of Master Li and talk about what he tells them to do, practitioners say the rest is up to them.

"He gets completely out of it after he tells you what to do," said Oke, who was once a Southern Baptist. "I don't see it as contrary to church's teaching at all. I don't think it lessens Christ or Buddha or other spiritual leaders. I think it's the same thing, different words and different terminology."

On the recent Sunday in the park, Oke moved around the circle to help two women who arrived late. As she demonstrated, she watched the first-timers to make sure they followed correctly.

"This last one," Oke said softly, "is to keep your mind just filled with love and compassion. It depends on how blank you can get your mind. You'll feel the power just surge up."

Resources about Falun Gong

Charlotte contacts: Kay Oke, [phone], or Magnus Lee, [phone].

http://web.realcities.com/content/rc/health/pchealth/charlotte/1955561832.htm