SAN FRANCISCO—Lily Zhang, a Chinese-American woman in her 50s, said that while growing up in communist China, she used to be “a classic Ironwoman.” The idea connotes a flinty disposition, a hatred of class enemies, and a willingness to sacrifice for the “revolution.”
But in a conference held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in downtown San Francisco on Oct. 24, Zhang and thousands of others, of various ethnicities and from all around the United States and the world, reflected on what it means to have embraced a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline.
Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is the name of the practice that the attendees came to discuss. It involves practicing a set of meditative exercises and living according to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Every year, Falun Gong practitioners on the west coast of the United States hold an experience sharing conference of this kind, where they reflect on how they have grown in their spiritual practice.
Falun Gong was the most popular meditative practice of its kind throughout the 1990s in China, with the regime estimating that there were 70 million citizens practicing it by the end of the decade, including many influential government officials; Falun Gong sources have pegged the number at over 100 million. The practice spread rapidly by word of mouth, as those who took it up reported extraordinary improvements in their health, sense of morality, relations with family and co-workers, and stress levels. Many experienced a better sense of purpose in life.
The large number of people practicing Falun Gong scared former Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin, who set out to eradicate the practice and began one of the most severe, ongoing human rights crises in the world today.
