By Bill Donohue , STAFF WRITER

06/11/2003

(Clearwisdom.net)

Lijie Sun of Drexel Hill (front) and Wei Huang of Philadelphia meditate on the plaza at City Hall. Photo by Bill Donohue.

Last Thursday evening, Lijie Sun silently meditated under the statue of Billy Penn on the plaza at City Hall.

She meditated to reduce stress.

She meditated to give herself more energy.

She meditated to heal her ills.

She meditated to draw attention to imprisoned Chinese nationals and American citizens in Chinese labor camps for their practices.

Most importantly, she meditated because she can.

Sun, and the 15 others who had gathered at the candle light vigil, observe Falun Gong, a practice of meditation and exercises with the teachings based on the principals of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.

"Falun Gong is not a religion," explained Michael Yang, a psychology resident at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. "It is an individual practice. It does not involve any organized formalities, worship, preaching or money transactions."

Since 1999 over 100,000 have been detained in Chinese labor camps, including Yang's sister, Sun's aunt and U.S. citizen Charles Li, whom the vigil last week was in support of.

Charles Li was arrested at the Beijing airport, before he went through customs, in January for "intending to tap into Chinese state-run television," according to Yang and others.

[...].

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, was founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992 and is based on an ancient form of qigong, the practice of refining the body and mind through slow-moving exercises and meditation, similar to yoga or tai chi.

"When you have conflict, the teaching tells you to always search yourself," said Cindy Wang, a Drexel Hill resident. "It sounds so simple, but it is tough."

"The more I do this, the more relaxed I am and the more compassionate I am," said Yang.

It was common to see Chinese people practicing Falun Gong in parks before or after work. It is estimated that over 100 million people around the world practice the spiritual art.

Its' popularity may be why China's then president, Jiang Zemin, banned the practice in 1999.

"The Chinese former president, Jiang Zemin, the dictator, has a fear of anything not organized by the government," said Yang. "It is really a genocide. He wants to eradicate these people physically if he can not change their beliefs."

According to the State Department's website, the Chinese constitution affirms religious toleration, but the Chinese Government places restrictions on religious practice outside officially recognized organizations.

A lawsuit was filed in Chicago last October against Jiang Zemin and the "6-10" office, a Chinese government subdivision that the Falun Gong Information Center has called a Gestapo designed to persecute Falun Gong.

The suits argues that Falun Gong practitioners have been subject to human right violations of torture, rape and murder in the Chinese government's attempt to stop the practice.

The State Department has issued statements of concern against the Chinese government crackdown on Falun Gong.

"We call on China to respect freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to allow all persons to practice their religious faiths freely, and to end the cycle of repression on the Falun Gong," said Richard Boucher, Spokesman for the State Department in a July 2001 statement.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for Falun Gong practitioners in China.But Lijie Sun will continue to meditate for those who are not allowed to.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8284918&BRD=1725&PAG=46

Posting date: 6/12/2003
Original article date: 6/11/2003
Category: News & Media Reports

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