A Personal Story: My Arrest in China

By John Nania '80

I found Falun Gong by way of my doctor. An M.D. and acupuncturist from China, he recommended the book Zhuan Falun. It explained that Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are fundamental. These three words are the essence of Falun Gong. Living according to them is the basis of the practice, although it also includes five gentle but powerful exercises.

This practice was a boon for millions in China--perhaps 100 million--after it was introduced publicly in 1992. Despite its benefits, the Chinese government declared it illegal in 1999 and commenced a brutal, widespread campaign against it.

Because people in China don't have the chance to know Falun Gong as something peaceful, beneficial, and practiced worldwide, on November 20, 2001, thirty-five Western practitioners of Falun Gong from Sweden, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, France, UK, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Canada, Finland, and the U.S. assembled in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Most of us were sitting cross-legged with our hands in a gesture of compassion, while a few standing were holding a large golden banner with red letters spelling out, in Chinese and English, just three words: "Truth Compassion Tolerance."

We had planned to sit there quietly for fifteen minutes and then get up and go home, but police surrounded us within seconds of the banner's going up and hauled us away to a sleepless night of detention and interrogation. We did spend time behind bars. Among the bruises, pulled hair, and chokeholds, police broke the nose of a Canadian and the finger of an Australian, but we know that the Chinese practitioners who appeal peacefully have been treated much worse.

Although I've now been jailed in China, I still have an ordinary life in the U.S. I live in a Minneapolis bungalow near the Mississippi, run a small technology consulting business, drive an old Honda, and go out to eat with friends. Falun Gong has made profound changes in my life without separating me from the mainstream.

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