Article from Swiss Newspaper “Nouvelles”: A Chinese Practice for Healthy Living

The practice of Falun Dafa, with its origins in Buddhist and Taoist traditions, likes to see itself as an art of living based on movements similar to yoga. [Editor’s Note: Falun Dafa is not based on and does not originate from Buddhism, Daoism or Yoga.] Practitioners say it brings about a lowering of stress and an increase of energy within. To be beneficial, it is always taught free of charge and without obligation. It is not even necessary to register one’s name and everyone should feel free to practise according to his or her own situation. The philosophy is based on human values by means of three fundamental principles: truth, benevolence, tolerance. Falun Dafa is seen by its adherents as a path leading to wisdom and spirituality.

Body and Mind

A traditional practice of body and mind, Falun Dafa became popular in China at the beginning of the 1990s. The government began to support the movement as it was known to have positive effects not only on the level of health but also on that of morality. Because it spread with such passionate interest, this quickly became intolerable in the eyes of the same government, which tried to block it in the worst possible manner: suppression, including through torture.

One cannot, it seems, accredit anything bad or illegal to Falun Dafa. The practice’s principles are now recognized in 60 countries. An official enquiry in 1999 revealed that there were 70 million practitioners.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced this persecution as an attack on human rights. On the 24th of October 2002, the Parliament of the Canton of Geneva passed a resolution against persecution in China, particularly against that of Falun Dafa practitioners. Some 15 countries have instituted legal proceedings against those who are covering up what is considered to be one of the most large-scale persecutions in the world since 1945.

At Home

In Switzerland, a Falun Dafa Association has been formed and Falun Dafa is taught, always free of charge, in different places to people of all ages and all religions who are searching for harmony in their lives. Practitioners are never told to stop having recourse to medicine or the beneficial effects of medicine. The movement likes to think it is able to draw the human being closer to a healthy and balanced life without imposing any kind of pressure.

In Geneva, Falun Dafa courses are given at Quai Charles Page, l’école Marcelly in Thônex, l’école Hugo de Senger and the Parc des Bastions.