Motala & Vadstena Tidning (Extracts from a Swedish newspaper) : An illustration of Falun Gong

onsdag 30 januari 2002

Vadstena.

What is Falun Gong? An exhibition informs about that in the library. On exhibition screens it is told about the movements' adherents in China.á

Mats Lindberg, who runs his own business, and Tony Lingefors, a student from Motala, have both found interest in Falun Gong. They describe themselves as searching persons.

Mats Lindberg tells about when he two years ago listened to a lecture from a Falun Gong practitioner from G teborg.

"It went to the heart. I wanted to continue with it," he says.á

Tony Lingefors also found the Falun Gong movement two years ago.

"I am interested in existential issues, and searched a lot," he says.

In Vadstena-Motala there is a handful of practitioners. In total, there are around 300-400 Falun Gong adherents in Sweden. The movement is practiced in 53 countries.á

Falun Gong's purpose is to find yourself through different kinds of meditative exercises. The movement is free from religious and political forms. The practitioners all work voluntarily and not for profit.á

"It is about cultivating body and soul," says Mats Lindberg.á

"(...) to me the consciousness is sharpened with Falun Gong," says Mats Lindberg.

The movement began in China 1992, and grew quickly. Then there were some 70 million practitioners. The Chinese government, which at the beginning supported the method, decided in 1999 to ban Falun Gong. Since that, the practitioners are persecuted.á

There are illegal detentions and torture. Many people have been sent to labour camps and prisons. Many have also been killed.

"(...) We want China to respect human rights," Tony Lingefors emphasize.á

The purpose of the exhibition that can be seen in the library in Vadstena, is both to inform about Falun Gong and to describe the persecution of the practitioners in China. (...)