03/03/01

Last September, when Shawn Lin and his new bride boarded a plane in Birmingham to visit his gravely ill father in China, they didn't realize some literature in their luggage could have cost them their freedom - even their lives.

Upon the Lins' arrival, Chinese police discovered the literature on Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, an ancient meditative practice for the mind, body and spirit.

''It was pretty scary, but there was no physical abuse,'' Lin said in a telephone interview from Birmingham last week. ''They just interrogated us and threatened us."

Lin credits the news media and some congressmen with helping secure their release after 24 hours. "They let the (Chinese) police know they are being watched.'' After being released, Lin learned his father had died shortly before he left Birmingham.

Workshop in Huntsville

Lin, an AIDS researcher studying microbiology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, has visited Huntsville on several occasions. A local software engineer, Bill Lozier, invited Lin to teach the practice of Qigong to the Golden Dragon martial-arts group in Hazel Green, and at the Peaceful Spirit Center at 3315 S. Memorial Parkway.

Lozier also asked Lin to conduct a workshop on Falun Gong at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library earlier this year. Although Lin was unable to come, he asked Will Wu, also a UAB graduate student, to lead the workshop.

Lin, 30, learned about Falun Gong after moving to the United States seven years ago. He met his wife, Hua Du, at a Falun Gong gathering in Birmingham in 1997.

He was taking Falun Gong literature to China to explain the practice to his family and friends. He said some friends have been ''brutally beaten'' or jailed for practicing Falun Gong. Chinese police told Lin that his family would be watched closely.

''If I was in China now," Lin said, "I would probably be in jail.''

Lozier, who had studied Qigong, said he was intrigued by the practices of Falun Gong.

''Falun Gong ... will empower you as a person,'' he said. ''It doesn't conflict with the Judeo/Christian beliefs. I'm Protestant, and I think it has enhanced my Christianity.''

Lin said Falun Gong should be practiced daily, or as much as one's schedule allows. He said he practices Falun Gong meditation about an hour each day. ...

Although its concept has been been around for many years, spreading quietly from one follower to another, Falun Gong was publicly introduced in China 10 years ago by its founder, Li Hongzhi. It is a blend of ... with slow-motion exercises. It now has an estimated 100 million practitioners in more than 40 countries.

Falun Gong doesn't claim to be a religion, but nearly 150 Falun Gong practitioners have lost their lives in the Chinese crackdown ...

Many followers have been driven from their homes and schools, lost their jobs or been sent to labor camps without a trial, according to Falun Gong literature. At least 22 practitioners have died while in police custody during the last year, the group claims.

''Many innocent people are being persecuted," Lin said. "We hope to raise awareness of the persecutions of Falun Gong and many religious groups in China. It's a terrible situation.''

He said more than 3,000 churches and temples have been destroyed in one province. Lin said that although there have been several reports of Falun Gong followers committing suicide to protest the persecutions, the practice does not encourage or condone it.

Energy and stamina

One local workshop participant, schoolteacher Leigh Ann Mize, was looking for something to relieve stress.

"So many people have been healed from ailments through it. It gives you more energy and stamina,'' said Mize, who joined several others at the workshop in learning the five sets of exercise of Falun Gong. "It has health benefits as well as spiritual benefits.''

Mize said she was unaware of the persecution of Falun Gong followers in China before attending the workshop, which featured several displays of pictures of Falun Gong followers who were beaten for their beliefs.

''I'm shocked and had no idea that they would go so far to persecute an exercise and this type of practice,'' said Mize, who attends the Church of Religious Science's Center for Conscious Living.

On the other hand, Jennifer Ballard said she attended the workshop because of the news reports of Falun Gong followers being killed or persecuted.

''What intrigued me was that it was banned in China,'' said Ballard, a stay-at-home mom who does free-lance television production work. ''I had to see what the uproar was all about.''

Wu, wearing a school-bus-yellow T-shirt with the words ''Truthfulness,'' ''Compassion'' and ''Forbearance'' on the back, said Chinese leaders have insisted that no practitioner of Falun Gong has been killed. Wu said he and others such as Lin are ''trying to let people know the truth.''

Wu and Lin hope to start a Falun Gong group in Huntsville. Lin said there's no way to determine how many Falun Gong practitioners live in Alabama, but he said he knows of people in the state's four largest cities - Birmingham, Mobile, Huntsville and Montgomery - who are interested in it.

Lin has scheduled another Falun Gong workshop at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library next Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m.

Since it will be difficult for Wu or Lin to make the 200-mile round trip from Birmingham more than once a month, Lozier has agreed to be the local contact for the group. He can be reached at 859-9733 or by e-mail at [email protected].

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/?Mar2001/3-e2707.html