Swedish Practitioner, Maria Sahlin: My Experience on Tiananmen Square

Falun Gong is something that has enriched my life enormously. I did four years of peaceful practice before the crackdown in 1999. At that time I practised in a park every morning for two hours, together with my best friend. After morning practice we happily went to our jobs. That was the most wonderful time of my life, as I had just opened a new door to something very beautiful. The meditation became deeper and deeper, and brought such a peacefulness and happiness to my soul. I read Mr Li Hongzhi’s writings and helped translate them into the Swedish language. Mr Li’s writings talked about the possibilities of humans, making choices, and taking responsibility for life, as well as treasuring life as a human being. I felt that I, too, wanted to be a good person. By doing the exercises and by talking to friends who also practised, I found inspiration and saw proof that it worked, the goodness started to show itself to me…

I went to China several times before the Chinese Government persecuted Falun Gong. I met people who had practised Falun Gong for some years longer than we did in Sweden. I remember their faces, their clear eyes, their way of looking at us – Westerners; they had the same spirit – to believe in humans’ good nature and to become an example of this spirit. What I have seen in my friends’ faces and eyes over there convinced me that goodness can’t be taken away by any Communist propaganda, and nothing can make me forget this.

Falun Gong practitioners all over the world have tried to raise the public’s awareness of the terrible persecution going on in China. We have made peaceful appeals on every occasion, and we have received a lot of understanding and support in Sweden and all over the world. But the situation still has not improved for those practitioners in China. Everyday I read information coming from China, and I know that every time when some information “leaks” out, another person has risked or lost a life just to get information out. I read about women getting raped, about police brutality, torture, murder and the Communist Regime’s propaganda. The terrible thing is that the Communist propaganda also tells Chinese people that its persecution of Falun Gong is supported by the West. The terror of pressure is at all levels, and it is designed to make everybody a target. For example, in the workplace, if someone finds out that you practise Falun Gong, other employees have to pay a large fine as well.

Why did I go to China and peacefully appeal for Falun Gong on the Tiananmen Square? I wanted to cherish the right to believe in and act according to the characteristics “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” It might be strange, but isn’t that the whole thing anyway? Some people unfolded a banner that says “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” Soon afterwards, we were violently dragged into police vans by the policemen, and then were beaten. How can some people react so violently toward these words “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance?” That is a question I have been asking myself, and it is also a question I am asking others. This is one of the reasons for my going to Tiananmen Square and peacefully appealing there together with three dozen other practitioners from 12 countries.

In China, there are many people who have appealed to the regime for a dialogue, but so far over 300 of them have died as a result. Tens of thousands have been arrested and put into labour camps. For such captivity, the options are few -- giving up one’s belief in goodness, being tortured, or even death. In spite of this harsh reality, practitioners are still choosing their peaceful appeal, with all the new laws created to erase Falun Gong, by going to Tiananmen Square and making their voices heard. Another reason I went to Tiananmen Square and sat there in protest is to show my admiration for the Chinese people who peacefully keep on appealing to the world. It's a way for me to tell them – you have something important to tell the world – don’t you ever forget that.

I want to thank the Swedish Embassy in Beijing, the Swedish Foreign Minister, and everyone else who helped us return home safely. I thank my friends and my family for their support.

Maria Sahlin -- a Swedish Falun Gong practitioner