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Falun Dafa Followers Hold Local Practice

A persecuted Chinese self-improvement practice finds home in Montville

Every Saturday morning a handful of residents meet in front of Montville High School.

The group, sometimes three strong, sometimes five or seven, gather with their mats at 7 a.m. and stand in a circle around a small radio, preparing for their morning Falun Dafa exercises.

Falun Dafa, or Falun Gong, is a meditation and gentle exercise practice introduced in China in 1992 meant to cultivate the three principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance within each practitioner. News of the Falun Dafa and its self-improvement teachings spread throughout the country, and by 1999 there were over 100 million followers.

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"It's a very good form of exercise," said Fang Fang, one of the volunteer organizers for the Montville group. She began practicing in 1999 and has since never needed to take a sick day.

 "A lot of people receive tremendous health benefits," she said.

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May Lee began her practice in 1998 after struggling for years with asthma.

"I tried anything," she said. After a few weeks practicing Falun Dafa, she began to get control of her asthma. She continues to practice regularly.

The group meets for two hours and follows an audio instructor through a series of poses and movements, though first-times are paired off with an experienced practitioner to learn the positions and movements for each exercise. Each stance is held for several minutes to maximize the flow of energies through the mind and body.

 "We're helping each other," said Fang, who said that the effects of regular practice can alleviate stress and ease tempers.

Six years ago the group held a Falun Dafa workshop in the library that was attended by some 50 people, and she encourages anyone who is interested to come out on a Saturday.

"People are always willing to teach you," she said.

But life is not so easy for some practitioners. In 1999 Chinese Communist leaders saw the practice as a threat to government stability and began a process of eradication through the country. Practitioners were beaten, arrested and tortured while propaganda touted the practice as a cult and denied any persecution. The maltreatment and media campaign continues to this day.

Amnesty International has condemned the Chinese government for their role in thousands of deaths of imprisoned Falun Dafa practitioners.  The U.S. House of Representatives passed two resolutions, one denouncing China's treatment of Falun Dafa and one demanding that China end the harassment of followers in the United States after reports that Chinese agents were coming abroad to thwart the movement.

Jan Ren has practiced Falun Dafa since 1995 and started with the Montville group a year ago after a move from California. She alternates weekend practices with her husband, who stayed home to watch their two children last Saturday.

Ren's parents, both in their 70s, also practice with the Montville group. Her mother, a doctor at a university hospital, and her father, a university professor, were harassed and arrested for their Falun Dafa practices in China. At one point her mother was kidnapped from their home and sent to brainwashing "re-education" classes.

With Ren's help her parents were able to immigrate to the United States.

"If they returned to campus they could be arrested," Ren said.

Ren, like many, does not understand how such a peaceful practice could be so demonized by the government.

Henry Wong, a trained engineer, began his practice three years ago after being introduced to it by a coworker.

He said he was skeptical of the practice at first, having been led astray by Chinese media perceptions of the practice. But as he started to read and learn more about the practice, he became actively engaged as a practitioner and as a vocal advocate for justice.

"It really changed me on a very fundamental level," Wong said.

It was about this time he came into contact with John Shen, a Chinese immigrant in Parsippany whose youngest son had been killed during his imprisonment for following Falun Dafa. Shen's wife and son had been proponents of the practice in central China, and after his son's unexplained disappearance, spent 11 months searching for information until he was told of his death.

Shen's daughter in law was also arrested and lost her baby during her imprisonment. She was sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp in 2003, and Shen has been working with other area Chinese Americans and government officials to free her.

Wong works with a Chinese language television station that serves viewers in the United States and broadcasts directly into China in the hopes of penetrating the media firewall that encapsulates the country.

"This is somethig really amazing," he said. "It's precious."

Though the Montville group only meets formally on Saturdays, many practice by themselves throughout the week or get together with a few other practitioners to read and study the teachings of moral character and higher principles of Falun Dafa. There are several other groups in Morris County that offer group practice on weekends, and Burnham Park in Morristown has a daily practice from 6 to 8 a.m.

For more information about the Montville practice, contact Fang at 973-229-0384. To learn more about Falun Dafa, visit www.falundafa.org.

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