Albany Times Union, NY: Freedom to Discover Inner Peace

It was 9:30 at night. Jeffery and Sophie were sound asleep. I put Peter Rabbit back on the shelf and tiptoed out of their bedroom. In the hallway, light shined from the study room, where my husband, Ron, was working on his computer.

After working as a computer analyst in a lab at the Wadsworth Center in Albany and spending time with my kids comes the routine I look forward to each night. It is peaceful, relaxing and spiritual as I read my favorite book, Zhuan Falun, and do the Falun Gong exercises.

I was born in China during the Cultural Revolution and brought up as a typical atheist. We were educated to believe that religious theories were made up by rulers to manipulate people's minds and maintain their political power.

I came to this country in 1996 as a graduate student at the University of Albany. A few months after I arrived, a lady approached me outside a post office in Latham. When she offered me a religious pamphlet and asked if I believed in God, I proudly answered, "No!"

I can never forget the shock and pitying expression on her face. She said, "You don't believe in God? You don't believe that God created human beings?"

I found that idea inconceivable and pitied her for thinking that way.

One day in 1997, my best friend showed me a book she recently got from her parents in China. It was titled Zhuan Falun (Turning the Law Wheel) by Li Hongzhi, founder of a traditional Chinese spiritual practice known as Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa. I opened it and could hardly put it down. Page after page, my lifetime questions were being answered one by one. I recalled my encounter at the post office, thought about the true meaning of life, and moved away from atheism. The world became new to me. I finished reading the book in two days—the happiest days in my life.

In the book written in 1994, Mr. Li tells readers how to follow the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance" to become better people by emphasizing the improvement of their hearts and minds, which leads to enlightenment. The book became a bestseller in China in 1997 and was banned soon after [by the Chinese Communist Party].

In 1999, the Chinese authorities claimed that at least 70 million people were practicing Falun Gong, outnumbering the Communist Party membership. Feeling threatened, Jiang Zemin, the party leader, launched a brutal persecution that has claimed thousands of innocent lives and put many more in prison and labor camps.

In 2005, the parents of my friend, Wenli Zheng, a software engineer in Cooperstown, both in their 70s, were arrested in their hometown in Shandong Province for practicing Falun Gong.

Last month in Washington, investigators told a congressional committee that Falun Gong practitioners who committed no crime have been secretly put to death in Chinese hospitals and their organs sold "on-demand."

For me, the horror of that persecution didn't hit home until this summer when my elderly parents in China, who do not practice Falun Gong, told me that national safety agents had found them and talked to them for having a daughter practicing Falun Gong overseas. So my daily routine is not simply a routine. It is a cherished freedom for which many others risk their lives.

On a typical day in autumn, I go outside at lunchtime where people are relaxing on the lawn under the warm sun. With the gentle meditation music playing, I close my eyes, stretch my body, breathe in the fresh air, and let the noise drift away. I have a small sign that I put next to me, "Falun Gong, Free Class," welcoming people to join me. These exercises help me relax and keep me energetic, making it possible for me to have a full-time job, raise two toddlers, take care of some housework, and still have time to read and exercise, as well as help my friends like Wenli to raise awareness of their personal plight and call for a stop to the senseless persecution.

Sophie made a sound. I went to check on her. She was just stretching herself. Looking at her sweet face, I felt a huge sense of joy and relief. She does not need to be scared that someone may break into her house and take her Mommy away just because of her belief. When she and Jeffery grow up, they can choose who and what they want to be, and what they want to believe.

Yu Chen lives in Albany. For information about Falun Gong, email her at [e-mail], or go to http://www.FalunAlbany.org.