Dresden: Meditating far from the official route

By Heidrun Hannusch

(Clearwisdom.net) -- April 10, 2002 [...] They sit in on a lawn in "Grossen Garten" (Grand Garden) and move gracefully and slowly. " They are Far-East exercise movements, somewhere between yoga and Tai Chi," some speculate, but they miss their mark by a mile. What is being practiced here is called Falun Gong. Some people on roller blades, racing up to the meditation spot, stop abruptly, to stand and watch. [...]

"I merely want to become a good person, that's why I practice Falun Gong," said Mr. Rong Zhao. Eyes closed, wearing a signature Falun Gong yellow sweatshirt, the young Chinese man obeys the instructions sounding from a cassette player sitting on the grass. The young Chinese man had studied electronics and is presently employed at Dresden's Technical University. He had obtained Falun Gong in 1998, not in China, but in Berlin where he had begun his university studies. "There are many in Berlin who practice Falun Gong," he said.

There are fewer of those in Dresden. One of the members is a German, Mr. Andreas Opfermann, an independent project developer who is married to a Chinese woman. He had always been enchanted by the Far East, long before he had met his wife who studied in Dresden. Why this interest? "Why not," he responds. "Some prefer soccer or watch television," he adds. He has practiced the meditation system of Falun Gong since 1999. This 34-year-old meditates daily. It has helped him to get along better with people, to experience less stress, to cooperate better. But his interest in Falun Gong reaches beyond the personal. "In China, followers of the movement have been executed and murdered; they are thrown into Forced Labor Camps and prisons," said he. That is one reason for him to bring their plight to the attention of the public, with events such as to organize an SOS March.

Tomorrow, when Chinese President Jiang Zemin is expected to visit Dresden, Mr. Andreas Opfermann and others will protest against human rights abuses in China. Originally they had planned to set up their information table at the "Zwinger" (Dresden's famous zoo), located along the official visitation route. But this plan was foiled because no one is allowed to get that close to the Chinese head of state. German authorities are trying to keep all unpleasantness, such as internal conflicts [in China] and pesky press inquiries away from him. The Falun Gong practitioners had to change their plans. They will instead meditate in front of the Culture Palace, out of view of the foreign visitor.

(Original text in German)

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