Falungong strive for another dimension in life

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).