Burlington Free Press, Vermont, Sunday, 1/28/01

Standing in rows in a room at Burlington's Fletcher Free Library on Saturday afternoon, about 20 people carefully and deliberately moved their arms around their bodies and bent their knees, looking as though each were doing a slow solo ballet.

"Stretch this way, stretch this way, then downwards," said MingMing Liu, moving with each instruction as she led the group's actions, her voice sometimes straining as she reached. "Stretch, stretch -- then relax."

An audible and collective sigh filled the room, but it didn't last, as Liu was soon ushering the group through the final steps of the first exercise.

"Your palms always facing yourself, because the palms carry great energy," she advised. Four helpers moved among the participants, sometimes molding their arms and legs into proper position like dolls.Finally, after several repetitions, the first exercise ended.

"Easy?" Liu asked.

"Oh, my gosh!" groaned Margaret Ramus of Burlington. "Wow!"

Ramus, 52, and the other participants went to the library to learn about the Chinese spiritual practice called Falun Dafa. The art, also known as Falun Gong, is called by its practitioners a relaxing and healthy way to cultivate the mind, body and spirit. The Chinese government, however, brands the group [slanderous words].

Body and mind

Peter Cirone, 32, of Burlington said he attended the nearly three-hour workshop because he's interested in anything that deals with spirituality, especially the Chinese arts of qigong, which deal with improving body and mind through movement and meditation.

Cirone, who also has participated in tai chi and other meditation activities, said he felt a connection with Falun Dafa during the exercises.

"It's like a little spark right there," he said. "That's why I'm interested in learning more."

One of the workshop coordinators was Riordan Galluccio of Boston. He said Saturday's event in Burlington, which was one of four in the state this weekend, marks the first time Falun Dafa has been taught in Vermont.

Galluccio said the appeal of the movement, which incorporates elements of Buddhism and Taoism, is that it helps individuals become better people, as it helped him. The 33-year-old carpet salesman used to be a body piercer, he said, until he started practicing Falun Dafa several years ago.

"It's my belief in creating karma for people," said Galluccio, who has also given up drinking. "I see body piercing as sort of low-level."

The movement

Falun Gong, which in essence means "the wheel of the law," began in China in 1992 when the group's founder, Li Hongzhi, wrote down ancient Chinese practices and his own teachings, said Maria Salzman, a 28-year-old workshop leader who is also from Boston.

The group says it is neither a religion nor a cult and has a loose organizational structure at best. Participants practice five movement exercises set to Asian music and study Hongzhi's teachings.

The group claims 100 million members worldwide. It existed in relative quiet and anonymity until an April 1999 rally in China's Tiananmen Square drew about 10,000 practitioners to demand official recognition by the government.

Peter Seybolt, director of the Asian Studies program at the University of Vermont, said that rally sent a chilling message to the country's leaders.

"They had no idea how many people were involved with this," Seybolt said Friday. "Their reaction was shock and alarm."

By late July 1999, the group was outlawed. Many practitioners were rounded up and an arrest warrant was issued for Hongzhi, who by then was living in the United States. The government's actions, Seybolt said, came because groups of this sort have historically been trouble for Chinese leaders.

"Mainly, they're worried about their legitimacy and what the group could do to undermine it," he said.

Salzman said she and fellow Falun Dafa adherents were appalled by the crackdown.

"This day and age, it's amazing that there is still a regime that employs such tactics," she said. "It's incredible that such a good thing is being persecuted."

A foothold

The leaders of Saturday's workshop hope their visit to Vermont is the first of many. They say they'd like to see a local group form and meet regularly, and they would return to help people learn the exercises and teachings.

Two Vermont mayors -- Charles Karparis of Montpelier and Harry Monti of Barre -- issued proclamations recently honoring Falun Dafa's first trip to the state.

Salzman said being a part of Falun Dafa helped her improve her life and be happier, and that's something she'd like to share with others.

"I am becoming a better wife, a better employee, a better neighbor," she said. "It changed me."