Lakeside Leader (Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada): Falun Gong finds a foothold in Kinuso
Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader, July 2, 2003, p.15 [Front page: Thumbnail photo of Bernice Smith, following text] "Some Kinuso residents say they've found a new alternative to pain killers." A few short months ago, Bernice Smith of Kinuso was suffering from a host of
ailments. They included fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, diabetes and
osteoarthritis. She got around slowly and painfully with the help of a back
brace and a knee brace. At 59-years, Bernice had known health problems most of her adult life and
wasn't looking forward to an end to it. She relied heavily on a variety of
medication, but was never free of pain or discomfort. Three months ago, everything changed. "I have healed in mind, body and spirit," she says. "I am back at work and
pain free." No more braces, no more meds, and she feels fine. "It's a miraculous thing," she says. "The most beautiful thing that's ever
happened to me in my life." Bernice credits her newfound health to her practice of Falun Gong, or Falun
Dafa as it's sometimes called. It's the Chinese art of exercise and meditation
that has been in the news in recent years due to the persecution of its
practitioners by the government of the People's Republic of China. Falun Gong
apparently has millions of followers in that country, and is growing in
popularity around the world. So what is it exactly? What in the world could have produced the kind of
results that Smith claims? It seems almost too simple. The practitioner improves his or her physical
health through a series of exercises, which include meditation. The other
component of the practice is self-improvement through studying the teachings of
the Falun Gong founder, Li Hongzhi. He urges the practitioners to let go of
harmful attachments and to strive for truthfulness, compassion and forbearance
in their lives. "We have to work on these things to be able to heal ourselves," explains
Bernice. It certainly seems to work for her. Jan Jekielek -- currently working in Slave Lake -- is another Falun Gong
practitioner. He has a similar story to tell about the powerful healing effects
of the practice. Three years ago, Jan suffered from a rare nervous system disorder called
Guillian-Barre Syndrome. It made walking difficult, caused him to be "tired all
the time," with depression as an unhappy side effect. Jan says he was fairly skeptical of Falun Gong to begin with. He tried it
with little in the way of expectations. "I got into it because I was looking for something that would make me feel
better," he says. The results surprised him. "Very rapidly I was better than 100 percent," he says. His health problems disappeared, including the depression, and he quit a
10-year smoking habit very easily. "I just didn't feel like it any more," he says. Jan typically spends at least 45 minutes per day doing the Falun Gong
exercises and/or studying. There is no prescribed amount of practice, he says,
nor is their any institutional structure that the practitioner feels obliged to
belong to or support. There is no leadership per se, Jan says, nor any Falun
Gong treasury, a factor he considers "very important." "There's a strong emphasis on finding your own path in it," he says. How fast Falun Gong is growing in Alberta and Canada is hard to tell. But
with testimonies like these, it's not hard to see why interest is perking up,
especially in places like Kinuso, where people can see the change in Bernice
Smith. The more exposure the better, as far as she is concerned. "It's all good," she says. "You just feel good. I'd recommend for people to
practice (it)."
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