Seemingly oblivious to the curious passersby, the pair sat in lotus position, eyes shut, gracefully moving their arms.
The tranquil cultivation exercise, believed to strengthen one's divine powers, was conducted outside Vernon Hills village hall Tuesday. The exercise is one of five practiced through Falun Gong, a path followers say promotes improved mental and physical health and higher spiritual attainment.
But on top of raising awareness of the practice, the pair of Falun Gong practitioners said they are two of many followers now launching a grass-roots campaign to educate Americans on the Chinese government's clash with Falun Gong.
"We hope to raise awareness of what is going on," said 25-year-old Andy Darin of Joliet. "But the urgency now is about the U.S. citizen who is being detained."
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the principle of "truthfulness-compassion-tolerance." [...] Founded in 1992 in China by Li Hongzhi, who is now [living] in New York, it emphasizes both physical [health] and moral character.
While the Chinese government initially ignored the practice, the quickly growing numbers of people who embraced it got the attention of the Communist Party, then led by President Jiang Zemin. Falun Gong claims to have a membership of 70 million in China and 30 million in more than 50 other countries.
In July 1999, Falun Gong was officially outlawed in China. Since then, there have been allegations that tens of thousands of followers have been detained or sent to psychiatric wards, labor camps and prison, even tortured. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, more than 700 people have died, with others claim more than 1,600 deaths attributed to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
For Dr. Shaoling Huang, who joined Darin outside the village hall Tuesday and who grew up in southern China, the persecutions hit close to home. Right around the time the Falun Gong crackdown began, she came to the United States to take a position in the bio-chemistry department at Northwestern University in Evanston.
"The Communist Party controls everything," she said, adding similar harassment has targeted the nation's Christians and Tibetan Buddhists. "It was just a change overnight; they started putting people into jail without cause. Zemin was a dictator. People still fear him," Huang said.
The grass-roots campaign has taken on a more fervent beat in recent weeks, as followers rally for the freedom of an American citizen imprisoned in China earlier this year. Dr. Charles Li of California was taken into Chinese police custody in January for [he is Falun Gong practitioner]. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
Falun Gong followers are also discussing a federal class-action lawsuit against Zemin filed in Illinois last year by individual plaintiffs. It includes charges of genocide, torture, crimes against humanity and a conspiracy to commit violations of civil rights against Falun Gong followers in the United States. It's one of many international legal actions filed against Zemin in recent years.
In the meantime, followers like Darin and Huang will continue to raise awareness of Falun Gong with demonstrations across the Chicago area, including stops in Waukegan, Elgin, Geneva and Aurora.
For more information on Falun Gong, you can visit www.faluninfo.net.
http://www.dailyherald.com/cook/main_story.asp?intID=378045
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