Acolytes of a persecuted spiritual movement breathe free in Brooklyn.
Communist China has persecuted practitioners of Falun Dafa for more than a decade because it perceives the mix of Tai Chi and new-age religion as a challenge to its political authority. But followers proudly meditate in a Manhattan Beach park thanks to the land of the free’s commitment to religious tolerance, said one Chinese-born refugee.
“The [Chinese] persecution started targeting those Falun Dafa practitioners, so I’m afraid, I stopped practicing and didn’t dare to tell anyone that I practiced before,” said Ariel Tian, who moved to the United States six years ago. “And then 10 years later, I came to the United States. Because the Internet is not censored as in mainland China, I go online and searched all the information about what happened. And in China, there’s no way for us to know the truth, and I feel like I have to do something, so I stayed in the United States and I start to practice again.”
The Chinese government has claimed Falun Dafa is a cult that eschews science and modern medicine. The movement’s inventor told Time Magazine in 1999 that aliens are corrupting mankind and magician David Copperfield really levitates. United Nations monitors have confirmed the Chinese government tortures adherents by gruesome means including electric shock, suspension from handcuffs, and submersion in sewage.
The Brooklyn group started meeting at the Holocaust Memorial Park a year and a half ago. Every evening — rain or shine — they practice beside plaques commemorating those lost to another persecution. They work through Falun Dafa’s exercises and movements to traditional music for about two hours as they try to block out the world around them and focus on achieving harmony — and the health benefits are real, said organizer Roman Balmakov.
“It’s benefited my life, just extremely, in so many different ways — health-wise, the clarity of my mind, I’ve improved my relationship with my family a lot,” he said.
And knowing the adversity fellow believers face thousands of miles away made one local even more grateful to be able to practice here in Brooklyn.
“A lot of people have been thrown into jail … for doing the same thing — sitting in a park,” said Christine Lin.
