Persecution Watch

Tag: gong

  • The Spiritual Community That Cast Out Its Own – Part II

    The Spiritual Community That Cast Out Its Own – Part II

    In Part I, Mythcore documented how MindCoeur (MC) was excommunicated and silenced by the Slovak Falun Gong Association, led by Marek Tatarko and his associate Peter Kubovič.

    Part II examines the trigger event and motive behind this purge: the 2016 New York Falun Gong Conference. According to MindCoeur’s documentation, this event set in motion a chain of retaliatory actions that ultimately culminated in a full-scale excommunication and global blackout.

    A Decade of Denial

    For more than ten years prior to 2016, Marek Tatarko systematically refused to invite MindCoeur to major Falun Gong gatherings, including the prestigious New York Conference. MindCoeur had built a reputation for serious cultivation work and global engagement, yet Tatarko consistently ignored their requests to participate.

    This prolonged neglect created resentment but went largely unchallenged — until 2016.

    The 2016 NY Conference — Catalyst for Retaliation

    Finally, in 2016, MindCoeur received an official invitation to the New York Conference. According to MC’s own notices:

    “Tatarko, visibly ashamed for having ignored us for over a decade, realized the oversight publicly. The invitation exposed his long-standing negligence and left him in a position where he felt he had to ‘correct’ the perceived embarrassment.”

    Instead of acknowledging MindCoeur’s legitimacy, Tatarko retaliated. Using his authority within the Slovak Falun Gong Association, he orchestrated a campaign that would label MindCoeur practitioners as mentally ill — turning personal shame into institutional punishment.

    Psychiatry as Cover for Humiliation

    MindCoeur’s statements describe psychiatric labeling as Tatarko’s primary tool of retaliation. What began as personal embarrassment evolved into a weaponized institutional narrative: MindCoeur members were publicly and formally characterized as unstable, delegitimized, and socially ostracized.

    Peter Kubovič, Tatarko’s close associate, is documented in MC records as an active participant in executing these measures, enforcing both the psychiatric smear and broader social exclusion.

    From Retaliation to Full-Scale Excommunication

    The initial acts of retaliation escalated over the next several years:

    • 2018–2020 – Slow ostracism and subtle exclusion of MindCoeur from local activities.
    • 2021–2022 – Denial of public venues, blacklisting in communications, and international isolation.
    • January 2023 – Formal excommunication, public labeling of practitioners as mentally ill, and enforcement of a global blackout across Falun Gong networks.

    This progression, MindCoeur argues, was personal retaliation disguised as institutional governance.

    The Czech Silence and Complicity

    Even as the purge unfolded, the Czech Falun Gong Association and local practitioners were aware that “something” was happening. According to MindCoeur, they never examined the reasons for departure, never questioned leadership, and never engaged with MindCoeur. Their silence enabled Tatarko’s retaliation to metastasize from personal vendetta into collective erasure.

    Lessons of the Retaliation

    1. Personal vendettas can become institutional persecution: Tatarko’s embarrassment over a 2016 oversight became the justification for years of suppression.
    2. Psychiatry weaponized as cover: Mental health labels masked personal motives as moral or doctrinal authority.
    3. Transnational repression: The retaliation extended beyond Slovakia, silencing MindCoeur across networks, parliaments, and human rights channels.
    4. Complicity of bystanders: Czech associations and practitioners’ refusal to act exemplifies how silence enables abuse.

    Mythcore’s Observations

    The MindCoeur case demonstrates that spiritual authority can be weaponized to settle personal grudges. When combined with institutional power, transnational reach, and psychiatric framing, this can result in profound human and spiritual harm.

    The evidence, as documented by MindCoeur, points directly to Marek Tatarko and Peter Kubovič as the orchestrators of a retaliation-driven purge.

  • The Spiritual Community That Cast Out Its Own

    The Spiritual Community That Cast Out Its Own

    Falun Gong has long portrayed itself as a victim of persecution in China. Yet the same movement has exported its own tools of repression to silence dissenters inside its ranks worldwide. The case of MindCoeur in Slovakia is not an isolated event — it is the latest chapter in a disturbing pattern of internal purges.

    A Pattern of Suppression

    For years, individual practitioners in Europe and North America who questioned or expanded beyond official Falun Dafa doctrine were quietly excommunicated, smeared, and cut off. These cases were typically invisible: isolated individuals, labeled “mentally unstable” or “unfit,” their voices erased before they could reach wider audiences.

    In Slovakia, however, this template of repression escalated. An entire community — MindCoeur — was targeted in January 2023 by the Falun Gong Association of Slovakia, under the leadership of Marek Tatarko.

    Psychiatry as a Weapon

    The Association’s first move was to weaponize psychiatry. MindCoeur practitioners were branded unstable — a label designed not only to stigmatize but to delegitimize their very humanity.

    The irony is brutal: Falun Gong has spent decades decrying psychiatric abuse in China, where practitioners were institutionalized to break their faith. And yet in Slovakia, Falun Gong leaders recycled this same tool of repression — not against the Chinese state, but against their own.

    Collective Erasure

    The purge did not stop at stigma. MindCoeur members faced:

    • Barring from public spaces where they once held group practice.
    • Communication blackouts — orders circulated across Falun Gong networks to cut all ties.
    • International isolation — a coordinated effort to ensure MindCoeur could not find solidarity abroad.

    What was once applied against lone individuals became, in Slovakia, a collective punishment.

    From Excommunication to Movement

    Suppression backfired. What was intended to destroy MindCoeur instead catalyzed its transformation. Cut off from Falun Gong’s rigid structures, MC evolved into a loose spiritual movement, committed to independent exploration of consciousness and freedom of belief.

    What Falun Gong leaders cast out as deviance has become, instead, a new current of spiritual resistance — one that documents every abuse and refuses silence.

    A Wall of Silence

    In the wake of its persecution, MindCoeur appealed widely:

    • To Falun Gong Associations in Europe and the Americas.
    • To human rights lawyer David Matas and the Independent China Tribunal.
    • To every member of Slovak and Czech parliaments, members of the UK Parliament, and even US Senators.
    • To Human Rights Watch and allied NGOs.
    • To individual Falun Dafa instructors.

    The response: near-total silence. A few polite requests for clarification. Some bureaucratic deflections about jurisdiction. But overwhelmingly, a refusal to engage.

    This silence is not apathy. It is complicity in transnational repression.

    The Hypocrisy Exposed

    Falun Gong cannot credibly demand sympathy for persecution in China while enacting its own purges in Europe and North America. The case of MindCoeur makes the hypocrisy undeniable:

    • The same psychiatric tactics they denounce are used internally.
    • The same exclusion they condemn is enforced globally.
    • The same silencing they resist from Beijing is applied to dissenters within.

    Mythcore’s Judgment

    What began as a community expelled has become a movement reborn. MindCoeur’s survival is proof that repression breeds resilience.

    But the stain remains: Falun Gong’s persecution of MindCoeur is not an anomaly — it is part of a systemic pattern of silencing, one the world has ignored too long.

    Until that hypocrisy is confronted, Falun Gong’s calls for justice ring hollow.

  • Behind the Curtain: How Falun Dafa’s Associations Police Thought and Loyalty

    Behind the Curtain: How Falun Dafa’s Associations Police Thought and Loyalty

    Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual practice that emerged from China in the early 1990s. While it is depicted as focusing on meditation and exercises, the organization behind the practice has been scrutinized for its internal dynamics regarding thought control and loyalty to its doctrines.

    The Role of Falun Dafa Associations

    Falun Dafa Associations are the organizational structures that guide practitioners worldwide. These associations are responsible for spreading the teachings of Falun Gong and ensuring that members adhere strictly to it’s doctrines.

    • Enforcement of Teachings: The associations play a critical role in policing the thought patterns of adherents, emphasizing the sanctity of Falun Gong teachings as immutable truths.
    • Guardians of Loyalty: Members are encouraged to prioritize their adherence to Falun Dafa over other allegiances, including familial and societal bonds.

    Mechanisms of Control

    The Falun Dafa Associations employ several mechanisms to ensure loyalty and compliance among practitioners:

    1. Group Cohesion and Surveillance

    • Study Sessions: Regular study sessions reinforce Falun Gong teachings, creating a collective environment where dissent is subtly discouraged.
    • Peer Monitoring: Practitioners are encouraged to observe one another and report deviations, fostering a culture of internal surveillance.

    2. Information Control

    • Centralized Messaging: Official publications and communications are tightly controlled, ensuring a consistent narrative that aligns with Falun Gong ideals.
    • Isolation from External Criticism: Practitioners are often cautioned against engaging with criticism or alternative viewpoints about the practice.

    Challenges to Internal Dissent

    While outwardly promoting peace and harmony, the organization maintains strict control over deviations in thought or practice:

    • Disciplinary Measures: Members perceived as straying from the path can face ostracism or demotion within the community.
    • Fear of Spiritual Consequences: There is a strong belief instilled that diverging from the teachings can have dire spiritual consequences, further deterring dissent.

    “Within such organizations, the group’s ideology often becomes a rigid framework through which all life experiences are interpreted and understood,” notes Dr. Steven Hassan, an expert in cult behavior. “This can create a powerful mechanism for controlling thought and behavior.”

    Global Expansion and Adaptation

    Despite the controversies, Falun Dafa has grown internationally. Its global spread has brought about adaptations in its techniques to exert influence:

    • Localized Practices: Adaptations respect cultural variances but retain the core doctrines.
    • Media and Advocacy: International media, such as The Epoch Times, promote Falun Dafa’s narratives while countering negative portrayals.

    Conclusion

    While Falun Dafa offers a pathway to spiritual enlightenment for many, its underlying systems of thought control pose critical questions to practitioners and critics alike. Understanding its associations’ roles and methods highlights the complexities behind a movement often publicly articulated in the language of freedom and spiritual growth.

    As with any spiritual or ideological group, discerning the balance between individual autonomy and organizational loyalty remains an intricate dance. For current practitioners and potential adherents, these dynamics warrant cautious exploration.