Broomfield Enterprise: Transforming Mind and Body

December 16,2000

Twenty mats on the grass. Perfectly straight columns and rows.

Snow flurries flecked the air at the opening ceremony at the Civic Center in Denver celebrating Falun Dafa Week Dec. 10. Practitioners met in freezing temperatures to demonstrate the Chinese form of qigong (pronounced "chee-gong"), a system of exercises and teachings that followers say transforms mind and body.

A huge yellow sign with red lettering stood near the mats: "China: Stop Persecuting Falun Gong." Truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance are the guiding principles of Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice rooted in ancient Chinese culture.

More than 100 million people in 40 countries, including China, as well as other parts of Asia, Europe, Canada and the United States practice it today. On Monday, Broomfield Mayor Bill Berens proclaimed Dec. 10-17, 2000, as Falun Dafa Week in Broomfield. Practitioners of Falun Dafa laud its five exercises in relieving stress, creating harmony, strengthening the energy circulation, purifying the body by exchanging energy with the cosmos, attaining a clear and pure mind, and returning to the true self. Practitioners say the exercises are easy to learn and suitable for all ages.

"Many have found Falun Dafa a worthwhile and enjoyable investment in health, happiness and meaningful living," said Mark Pearsall, who has practiced the exercises since August 1999. "We call it a cultivation practice, a way to improve both the mind and the body."

But human right groups report that in China more than 50,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested or detained, some being sent to labor camps without trial, and forced into mental facilities where they are abused with drugs and electric shocks.

Many are beaten and some have died from injuries due to police brutality, and millions of books, video and audio tapes about the practice have been destroyed.

"What makes that even more abhorrent is the fact that Zhuan Falun (a book about the exercises) was the No.1 best-selling book in China in 1996," Pearsall said. "The only crime these people have committed was their attempt to exercise their rights to freedom o belief, assembly and speech."

Broomfield resident Jie Sun, who led workshops about the exercises at the Broomfield public library this week, was detained during a visit to China.

"When we went back, everybody, eight of us in this group, was arrested," Sun said. "I was let out two days later because I'm an American citizen. Some other people who were local who were in the same room with me were beaten up."

Pearsall said that is because they told the truth.

"They spoke out in support of their practice, their life experience and their hope for humanity," he said. "If anyone asks us, 'Do you believe in Falun Gong?' A practitioner's answer is always yes, even though it may have been banned in their country."