Article from a Norwegian Newspaper: Support Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners

This article was published in the newspaper Harstad Tidende on Thursday 30th June 2005.

By Gurid Ivarhus NÃss

Picture caption: Simon and Terese practise Falun Gong together with 100 million others. Chinese practitioners are persecuted by the authorities.

Peaceful method

Simon Miller and Terese Eriksen practise Falun Gong several times a week, alone or together with others. They feel it is best is to do the exercises outdoors.

Terese Eriksen from Harstad has practised Falun Gong for four years and recently received a visit from Simon Miller, an English practitioner. He is travelling in Northern Norway to spread knowledge about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

SOS

“You can call it an SOS-tour to make people aware of what is happening in China. Falun Gong has nothing to do with politics, is not a religion, and is built on the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance,” Simon said.

“I have gained better physical health after four years practising this method. Still, the mental gain is the greatest. Falun Gong is like a journey within one’s inner self and I have come to know myself better,” says Terese.

Care about this

The two practitioners hope that people from Harstad may also care about those practitioners who are being persecuted.

Today, Falun Gong practitioners in China are one of the largest persecuted groups in the world. People can support them by, for example, by writing a letter to Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. One can make him aware of the problem and send him an invitation to put pressure on the Chinese authorities. Simon Miller said that one can also send an email, letter or fax to the Chinese Embassy.

Facts about Falun Gong

Falun Gong has five powerful and peaceful exercises that cultivate the body and the soul. It is practised in seventy-eight countries. The method was first publicised in China in 1992, and was approved by the authorities. The founder has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Chinese authorities banned Falun Gong in 1999, because the number of practitioners far outnumbered the number of members of the Communist Party. Since then, several thousand Falun Gong practitioners from China have been persecuted, illegally jailed, tortured or sent to forced labour camps. Several thousand have been killed.

Published in Norwegian at http://no.clearharmony.net/articles/200507/624.html