(Clearwisdom.net) On the 5th and 6th of February 2005, Falun Gong practitioners held a Falun Gong class in Joensuu. Ten people attended the introduction class. The participants were interested to learn the movements and almost everyone asked for an introduction video so as to learn the practice and a book to understand more deeply about Falun Gong. A local reporter from Karjalan Heili interviewed participants and took photos to use for her article. Her article was published on the 23rd of February in Karjalan Heili.

In her article she says that today Falun Gong can be seen in Finnish parks. It was very popular in China but since 1999, Falun Gong has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party and it is now completely banned. The practice of Falun Gong brings warmth to the body even when the weather is cold. The three principles of Falun Gong are Zhen, Shan, Ren or Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. This is combined with five sets of exercises; four of them are standing exercises and the other is done by sitting in meditation"

The reporter wrote how Mr Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Gong in 1992 in China and now it has spread to over sixty countries and how the Chinese Communist Party supported it in the beginning and suddenly began to persecute it. The report mentioned that the persecution of Falun Gong in China has already led to more than 2,781 verified deaths.

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200509/28869.html

Originally published in Finnish at: http://fi.clearharmony.net/articles/200503/2509.html