"If Human beings are able to take a fresh look at themselves as well as the universe and change their rigid mentalities, humankind will make a leap forward."
-Li Hongzhi.
“There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.'
No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.”
No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.”
-Tenzin Gyatso/Lhamo Dondrub/14th Dalai Lama.
This is an article I have been debating for quite some time, and following as well. It is among one of the more recent, and relatively unheard of, exterminations of a group in modern times. That is, the widespread extermination of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and the harvesting of their organs.
I would be the first to say that martial arts, at a certain point, surpasses being a physical pursuit (though it will always be that) to blossom into a mental endeavor, and eventually in one's own time, a spiritual one.
When I practice martial arts, I perform the closest mechanism I engage in to religion. There are rites involved, such as bowing and our ceremony of advancing within the system, and when I do a form, call it kata or poomsae or what you will, it is the purest state I can be in to perform meditation. I take pride in this, and while calling it a religion is in its own right a tad extreme concerning the practice, such as calling Buddhism or Taoism a religion, it is a philosophy of life like those.
But I am not the only one to consider some martial arts, in a way, religious. In certain styles and sects it shares many commonalities. Martial artists of one particular style or another have faced extermination in various parts of the world. In the last 150 years martial artists in China have faced a very real holocaust, the first being those who participated in the Boxer rebellion in the early 20th century, and the latest being those of the Falun Gong sect.
The Boxer's involved in the early rebellion were inaccurately named. China has never truly been renowned for boxing as a fighting art, and really they earned that name because the martial artists involved desired to revolutionize China. These martial artists, because of their spirit to fight, were known as 'Boxer's in the west, the closest the west could to describe who they were. A boxer being one willing to fight. But they may have been just as adequately described, in all its shortcomings, as fighter.
These martial artists of the Yihequan movement, 'The righteous and harmonious fists' did indeed practice martial arts, but as much so Buddhist and Taoism. Their uprising was eventually crushed, and most died as a result, greatly damaging the Chinese martial arts community for decades thereafter.
However, unlike the Yihequan, the Falun Gong, who combined Buddhist and Taoist spiritual practices with Qigong, breathing, and meditation practices, did not uprise at all. Yet nevertheless as of 1999 have been systematically hunted down, and for the large part killed. If that was all that befell them, that would have been terrible enough. But it has been found in numerous sources that although only a few thousand died as a result, in actuality tens of thousands were slaughtered- their organs also harvested.
The practitioners of Falun Gong espoused Taoist and Buddhist principles to ascend spiritually through moral rectitude and the practice of exercises and meditation. Their three primary tenets are truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. The practice emphasizes humans are connected to reality through the mind and body, and only the development of one's moral temperament, alongside virtue and karma can one become sublime within existence.
Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Dafa, the Great Law of the Wheel of Dharma, on 13 May 1992 at the fifth Middle School in Changchun, Jilin. He would spend the next few years traveling China spreading his teachings and the practice, which would quickly gain widespread acceptance and following throughout China until the start of the new millennium.
He lives today in the United States as a permanent resident since 1998. The Zhuan Falun, the central text of Falun Gong was published in 1995 and is still in wide circulation today. (Here it is online http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/pdf/zfl_new.pdf)
Falun Gong aspirants practice a set of five qigong associated exercises, four standing, and one sitting, often in groups ranging from a few members, to hundreds.
They often practiced in natural settings, most commonly in community parks.
It seems a tad extreme to call it a 'holocaust', but coming from a family of survivors of that incident in Europe, it seems appropriate to me. The term holocaust derives from the Greek word 'holos' meaning whole, and 'kaust' to burnt. The Boxer's, and especially Falun Gong practitioners were targeted specifically because of their practice, and at least in China, were largely eradicated. The practice of Falun Gong is now illegal as per in Chinese legislation.
"According to the Law on Gatherings, Parades and Demonstrations, said the spokesman, public demonstrations must have prior approval from the public security department. Falun Gong activists’ recent gatherings at the Tian’anmen Square were not approved and are illegal."
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/ppflg/t36589.htm
For this reason, beginning on the 20th July in 1999, hundreds of practitioners of Falun Gong were dragged from their homes and imprisoned by the Chinese government. The reported number of those imprisoned range from a few hundred to 5,600 officially. One Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong reported as many as 50,000 abducted. On June 10th the '610 office' was established for the elimination of Falun Gong.
The main purpose of the 610 party was coordinating anti-Falun Gong propaganda, surveillance and intelligence collection; the punishment and "reeducation" of Falun Gong practitioners. The office was involved in extrajudicial sentencing, coercive reeducation in camps, the torture, and oft death of Falun Gong practitioners.
Horrifically, many of those executed resulted in their organs being harvested for use by the Chinese government. In this extreme, it would seem the Falun Gong's persecution did escalate to the brutality many Jews experienced in the concentration camps in their own rights.
I do not bring this up to state that what the Falun Gong practitioners went through was the same as Jews during the holocaust. It is wrong to equate any injustice to another justice, as everything exists within its own context. But I do see parallel lines between the sufferings of groups of people, especially when it is in this manner. It is true that nowhere near as many died as those did in Europe, but the brutality and horror of the situation is marked in its own right.
Extermination of any group based on the perceiving that their practice is innately wrong. Criminal. Especially when such people lead peaceful existences.
Thousands have died as a result of the persecution, and largely in China the sect has been wiped out. There are some positives however; the practice is still alive in the United States, and continues to grow to this day. I myself practice the art once a week, so this is something close to my own heart.
I hope truly to see these people again widespread in parks. It was a sign to me that martial arts does not have to be used for violence; that it can by its own right when used for such purpose, to grow one spiritually. And in that right was the allure of the style which attracted me.
I content myself that even if practicing it alone, on occasion in public, perhaps someday others will join me. I do not consider it a religious practice, but rather spiritual. I think that an err in perception to consider it a codified religion as the Chinese government perceives it, even labeling it as a cult.
The point of this post is to note how martial arts, in its own right, is a spiritual practice. That its practitioners whom often do not view it religiously, can pay the same price as any religious or ethnic group can when targeted for persecution. That deserves a mark of respect toward it, at least for me. Granted, if one idolizes the practice, and holds Li Hongzi as a kind of savior, then it has crossed that threshold, but by and large most do not do this.
I hope in writing this post to increase awareness, and in my own small effort, propagate the art and practice so it continues to survive, and thrive.
And it is the sad truth of the world; any group of people at various points in its existence will face persecution, ranging from discrimination to death. And it is a sadness to me, that martial artists experience that as well now and again. This was not the first time, and it will certainly not be the last. But at least if taking in mind such events in history, one can prepare for it when it does occur again. And perhaps with that knowledge, one can prevent it occurring again.
If it is one thing martial artists do, and do well; it is persevere. That alone makes me respect the pursuit of such arts.
"In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in
order to mobilize us."
-Thich Nhat Hanh
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