The exercises are simple. With feet hip-width apart and a tape of Chinese music playing in the background, they raise their arms over their heads and hold the position for several minutes. Like beginning ballet dancers in slow motion, they continue, holding their arms at various positions. But the exercises are a small part of Falun Gong. The most important aspect, practitioners say, is studying Li's book and applying his teachings to becoming a better person.
Followers speak breathlessly about how it has changed their lives for the better.
It's like Master Li has been there and done that when it comes to the mystery of the cosmos. After rejecting the Christianity he grew up with, Barkley said he had spent most of his adult life searching for proof of spirituality. Practicing Falun, he said, has cured him of road rage and taught him to be more patient. Devout practitioners don't take medicine or see any type of doctor. Although Li never explicitly proscribed it, that is how they interpret his writings.