Falungong strive for another dimension in life
By Peter Kerr
JAKARTA (JP): It is a little after six in the morning, and the square around the National Monument (Monas) is coming alive.
A new sun burns through Jakarta's haze and warms the faces of a dozen people standing motionless at the base of Monas, their eyes closed and arms outstretched in the Falun Standing Stance.
This is number two in the set of five exercises of the movement.
Later, as the Monas group sits cross-legged for exercise five, or Strengthening Divine Powers, Liman Kurniawan explains the aim of these people whose faces appear so serene.
"Just make their minds empty, just do the exercise, and the universe will automatically correct any attachments they have," says the secretary of the Indonesian Falun Gong Association.
By attachments, Liman means any preoccupations such as money or career, or feelings such as hatred.
Adherents of Falungong, or Falun Dafa as it is also known, argue such preoccupations only lead to a sense of dissatisfaction or failure, which they believe is harmful.
Through meditation they aim to change these attitudes and cultivate the "higher" moral principals laid out in two books by Falungong's founder, Li Hongzhi.
The benefits, they say, include improved health, greater energy, stress relief and peace of mind. Eventual goals are also wisdom and enlightenment.
"What people want in their lives, basically, is a healthy body," says Liman.
"A lot of Falungong practitioners find that after they have been doing the exercises they change their minds, their attitudes and get a healthy body.
"They have no need to go to a doctor or take medications."
As an example he draws attention to Wong Cung Kim, sitting tranquil and perfectly poised, his palms raised upwards and hands resting on his knees.
Wong later describes, in a soft but emphatic voice, how Falungong helped him recover within three weeks from a massive stroke last November. He is convinced that his previous three years of the practices helped him survive and quickly regain all movement in his arms and legs.
"I have a sense of calm -- I feel light, my body feels light," Wong says of performing the exercises.
Hidayat, a doctor in general practice, started Falungong only a month ago and was surprised by the result.
"The change was instant. The first time I felt warmth flow through my body," he says.
"My body felt light -- my body feels lighter all the time, whether I'm running or working, and I no longer suffer from insomnia."
Having been outlawed two years ago by the Chinese government as an evil sect, Falungong has struggled to deny it is a cult, religion or political organization, insisting it is simply a group of people practicing harmless exercises.
It claims 100 million practitioners around the world, although most are in China.
Adherents insist there is no organized network, but the website (www.falundafa.org) is a sophisticated and extensive source of information about Falungong, providing access to the teachings of Li Hongzhi.
There is also an Indonesian site (www.falundafa.or.id), which last week included an apocalyptic message from Li in Bahasa Indonesia, warning that disharmony is endangering the world.
Roots
Falungong has its roots in an ancient form of qigong, a popular and varied Chinese practice of improving the body and mind through exercises and meditation.
It was introduced to the Chinese public in 1992 by the enigmatic and youthful-looking Li, 51, who has lived in New York City since fleeing China three years ago. It burgeoned in popularity China in the late 1990s.
Li has said in interviews that his teachings are a "higher level" of qigong that can provide superhuman powers, although he insists he is "an ordinary man".
In Indonesia, where Falungong began five years ago, there are now about 1,000 practitioners, with contact groups in several places around Jakarta, and in Bandung, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Medan, Malang and Bali.
Liman Kurniawan says Falungong adherents in Indonesia have been "disgusted" with the Chinese government's actions, but made no protests to the embassy in Jakarta.
"Falungong is just a group of people who want to change, to assimilate with the universe, to follow the three principles (of truthfulness, benevolence and compassion), so we can't understand how they have been persecuted by the Chinese government.
"Every day we just do our exercises, because we are not a political organization, we are not linked with the people overseas."
The Indonesian Falun Gong Association was registered last year to comply with government regulations but is an association in name only, says Liman.
There is no office, only people's contact numbers and home addresses. There are no fees, and people are free to turn up or not to the regular morning exercises held at Monas and Senayan, and weekly evening sessions at a house in East Jakarta.
People of any age, background or religion are welcome. In his own case, says Liman, Falungong deepened his understanding of how his Buddhist faith had changed over 2,500 years.
Most Indonesians practicing Falungong were initially of Chinese descent, but people from other backgrounds had been attracted since Gramedia last year published the first of two texts in Bahasa Indonesia.
Liman, whose wife and four children also practice Falungong, says he knew nothing about its teachings before traveling to Beijing in 1997 to study qigong.
"One morning we went to Tientang Park and I saw a group of Falungong practitioners sitting and doing the meditation, but I didn't know what they were doing, I just knew they were meditating.
"So I told my wife, I want to learn this kind of meditation.
"And then I waited until they had finished and I talked to them. And the next morning I went back and learned how they did those exercises."
He returned to Indonesia with books and tapes on Falungong but told no one in his qigong exercise group.
"But after I'd been doing the exercises for some time our group of exercisers said, 'What kind of medicines did you bring back from China?'
"They said my face had changed."
Falungong is different from other forms of qigong, says Liman, because it coordinates the mind and body rather than concentrating on physical exercise.
"We have one book that guides us to cultivate our minds, (which says) that we must assimilate with the principles of the universe.
"We must change our minds, or selves, so that we can assimilate with the universe."
Adherents contemplate the circular Falun motif, which they believe is a "miniature universe" existing in a different dimension within their abdomen.
Falungong helps people understand the meaning of life, Liman says.
"We come back to the true nature of ourselves. We realize that when people die, they don't die totally. They will be born again in this world.
"What we our doing this time will affect our new life."
How long do the full benefits of Falungong take to learn?
"It depends on the person and how much they want to change their minds. Our main point is that you have to change your mind," says Liman.
"It's not how long you do the exercises, but how you can change your behavior."
The Indonesian Falun Gong Association will hold a seminar on May 13 in the Anggrek Room, Istora Senayan, from 9 a.m. to noon, in conjunction with World Falungong Day. For information contact tel. 662-5043 or 566-7555 (English speaking).