Practices dictating how countries accept refugees has been a hot-button issue since the November Paris attacks, but one ASU international student and her mother are hoping to change the stigma against refugees through meditation practice.
Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, is considered a "spiritual movement" that involves slow, gentle movements and meditation. It is practiced by nearly 100 million people in over 60 different countries, according to the organization's website.
Y.W., an industrial design junior and the president of ASU's Falun Dafa Club, came to ASU from China in the spring of 2013. Y.W. was introduced to Falun Dafa by her mother.
"It's an ancient Chinese meditation practice, which is based on the Buddha school tradition," Y.W. said. "It's a cultivation of the mind and body based on truthfulness, compassion and tolerance."
Y.W. said the practice was introduced to the public in 1992 and gained such a large following that it was seen as a threat to China's Communist leadership. Y.W. said in 1999, the leader of China, Jiang Zemin, began persecuting and imprisoning Falun Dafa practitioners.
"The number of Falun Dafa practitioners is larger than the number of Communist party members," Y.W. said. "The government feels threatened by these practitioners, just because a lot of people are practicing it."
At the time of the Falun Dafa persecutions, Y.W. was forced to hide her beliefs in school, for fear of getting caught and imprisoned. She recalled that in school, tests would ask how she felt about the practice.
"The tests would specifically ask you about your feelings toward Falun Dafa," Y.W. said. "I totally skipped that question, because obviously if you say you support it everyone would turn against you."
In 2012, Y.W. mother was persecuted and sent to a detention camp and later, a brainwash center.
"My mom almost got a mental disease (in the camps)," Y.W. said. "She lost the ability to judge what was right and what was wrong."
Y.W.'s mother said in order to leave the center, police officers would make prisoners sign a document saying they don't believe in the meditation practice.
"You'd have to say you gave up Falun Gong, so they could release you," Y.W. translated for her mother. "They try to mentally break you down and they even threaten you."
After nearly a month, in the summer of 2012, Y.W.'s mother was coerced into saying she gave up the practice and followed her daughter to the U.S. the following year.
Y.W.'s mother said that since they've come to America, they've felt free to practice Falun Gong openly.
"The moment I stepped onto America, I felt released," Y.W.'s mother said.
Lifang Xia, former club president and a graduate physics student, said Y.W. dedicates a lot of her time to "clarifying the truth" about Falun Dafa.
"Y.W. did a very good job with Falun Dafa club activities and constructed a Falun Dafa Facebook page," Xia said. "Introducing Falun Dafa to the world plays an important role in getting more people to know the practice."
The ASU Falun Dafa Club meets every Sunday morning from 8 to 10 a.m. at Chaparral Park in Scottsdale.
Editor's Note: This story was updated on Oct. 13, 2021, to edit the names of one of the students and her mother for protective safety measures. It was also updated with a new photo to protect the identity of the student and her mother.
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