Was I In A Cult? - SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT & Shen Yun/Falun Gong is Still a Cult! Pt1 [UPDATE]

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

**PLEASE NOTE: This episode originally aired in Oct 2024. Since, there have been quite a few updates to both the cult and story. Tune into the episode to hear more.**____When her mother fell sick, young Angela had no idea that she would spend her childhood growing up in a dangerous cult. Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement-slash-religion-slash-cult, known for its Shen Yun dancers and its ties to 'The Epoch Times’ entangled her family in its facade of meditation and enlightenment. In this two-part episode, Angela recounts her experience in a world where karma is not just a bitch, but a force that can dictate life and death… with suffering seen as a path to salvation and modern medicine demonized as an obstacle to spiritual purity. And just when you think it can’t get any wilder, the Capitol Insurrection storms into the story… This is Part 1 of Angela's powerful story. _____FOLLOW US  → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacultSUPPORT THE SHOWJoin our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude)HAVE A CULTY STORY?Email us → [e-mail] Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The views, information, or opinions expressed by the guest appearing in this episode solely belong to the guest and do not represent or reflect the views or positions of the hosts, the show, podcast one, this network, or any of their respective affiliates. Hi, listeners. We just want to let you know that Tyler and I were currently moving homes and packing up the vans as we speak. She doesn't mean literally we're moving homes. We are moving. Yeah, I'll make sure you double wrap the china list. I don't have China. I don't have China either. But we are moving distribution companies for the podcast to a new place that will... Very excited.

Love us. And we'll be there at the beginning of May, and we're going to have a housewarming party. Guess who's invited? You. You are. Bring wine and flowers. We'll have hors d'oeuvres. We won't.

We're just going to release a podcast episode, and you get to listen to it. You guys can have a nice party and listen to it together. Yeah, they could do that. Or they could just listen to it as they commute. Scrub the floor. Or they do dishes. Right. More likely.

That's what's going to happen. But in the meantime, you guys, today is not just a re-release because the cult covered in these episodes has been quite busy since we released these episodes about a year and a half ago. And we are going to get into that in just a second. So stick around. And then in May, we'll be back with all new episodes. So until then, hug your loved one. ones and we'll see you very soon. Shinyun is everywhere. The epic times is growing and they seem to have a really large influence over people and there are a lot of people who are interested in

Wall and Gong as well like joining the cult not even realizing what it is. It seems a little dangerous and I want to warn people. Hey everyone. Welcome back to was I in a cult. I'm I'm Liz Ayakousie. And I'm Tyler Meissum. And some cults on this show. And in life. Exist only in the past. Right?

The leader dies. The compound gets turned into condos. But some cults are more successful today than they perhaps have ever been. Some are drowning your mailbox with pamphlets. Some are stopping you at the farmer's market. Some are touring five continents. And they're in your local performing arts. Center right now. We released Angela's story in October of 2024, and we are re-releasing it today

because in the 18 months since, the world has spent every single day confirming what she has told us, and then making it worse, of course. So before you listen, we kind of wanted to update you because this isn't a story about something that happened. It's a story about something that is happening right now, as in tonight, tomorrow night, at a theater right near you. Let's start with tomorrow night, shall we? Yeah, because actually as we're recording this, you guys, Shen Yun, the dance company, your aunt keeps sending you the links to. Yeah, the one that's plastered on every billboard in America with the tagline, China before communism. Shen Yan is performing tomorrow night at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

It's one of the most prestigious venues in the world. Obviously, you knew that. Obviously. Our listeners are prestigious. Very refined. It's also the home of. of the New York City Ballet. So just for kicks, we pulled up the seating chart for the tickets.

And nearly every seat is gray, meaning sold out. The theater holds 2,586 seats. Tickets range from 112 to 312. So let's just call it an average 180 a seat. Okay? So 180 times 2586, that's about a half a million dollars in a night. And one theater in one city. But these dancers aren't just doing one night.

No, no, no, no. They're doing 18 nights at Lincoln Center this year alone. 18. Do that math, Liz. I can't. No, because that's potentially $8.5 million fucking dollars. One venue, one city, this season. And where does that money go, you ask?

Oh, we're going to tell you where that money goes. I'm going to guess. I'm raising my hand. The followers. Call on me. You, Tyler. You Tyler. It goes to the dancers, the people who work for them.

And then they give the rest to charity. Yeah, charity. Wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. Okay. I should have left my hand down. It is a cult, so it goes to...

It goes to a man named Lee Hansi, who claims he created the universe. He claims he can walk through walls and levitate. He claims that his spirit bodies are watching. your children. At all times. Right now, which is creepy. Of course, we are talking about Falun Gong leader. Fallingong is the cult that is behind Shenyan.

And according to the New York Times investigation, he has used Shenyon's revenue to sell his followers $3,850 garnet necklaces. That was a really nice, really worth every penny. So, yeah. $925 earrings because you need. that for enlightenment? Yes. A $120 jacket that practitioners are told they must buy for public events and a $200 annual subscription fee just to watch the damn Shenyan videos online.

To be fair, it is cheaper than Netflix. But it's just one thing, Tyler. Dancing that you've seen before. The money also goes to the Epic Times. If you've heard about this, lucky for you. This is the far-right propaganda machine whose CFO has been charged with conspiring to launder $67 million through cryptocurrency and stolen identities. It also goes into a COVID relief fund loophole that Shen Yun exploited to pull in tens of millions of pandemic dollars meant for struggling arts organizations. Like us.

Why didn't we get it? Yeah, like every arts organization, basically, except for these fuckers. And all of that, while they are also you guys sitting on hundreds of millions of cash. Yeah. And according to federal investigators, some of it goes into the hands of the dancers themselves. So they are paying their dancers. No, no, no, Tyler. No, they're paying their dancers.

That's all. It literally goes into their hands, not their pockets. Oh, I get it. Okay, fill me in. They are allegedly. Allegedly, and I'm using that word, they have to physically care. they have to physically carry large amounts of cash across international borders. The dancers.

To hand over. Yes. So they're given money to carry, like mules. Yeah. Oh, God. You guys, but the Lincoln Center is just one venue in one city on one continent because these dancers, this season alone, have eight touring companies running all at the same time. There's a lot of numbers.

this intro. Bear with us. Bear with us. People who like words, better than numbers. So in 2006 alone, they are hitting 170 cities, 21 countries on five continents with more than 730 performances over five months. I mean, France alone has 99, 99, 99 performances. They love their culture in France. They do. Yeah, and they're already pre-selling 2027. So let's just for shits and gigs. If you do the math, again, conservatively.

Okay, that's 730 performances averaging roughly 465,000. That's 730 performances averaging roughly about 465,000 per show. Give it a to me. Gross, of course, is a net. Give it to me. You're looking in the neighborhood of about 300 million. That's in one season. Gross.

In five months, the five-month season. $300 million. $300 million. Well, God bless them too, Tyler, because they pay zero taxes on any of it. Okay, so here's the part that should make your head explode. It's a good thing I have headphones on because they're holding my brain in. Shen Yan, of course, is registered as a, say it with me, it's a religious non-profit, like a church. Like a church, it's church.

So they pay zero federal income tax, zero state income tax and zero payroll tax. Guess who paid more in all of those this year? Me and you and basically everyone. And I didn't make $300 million on my show. Close, but they have the revenue of a global entertainment empire and the tax exemptions of a small church. So their tax record show that they have $266 million in cash that's just sitting there. Yeah, tax-free as a nonprofit.

You know, Liz, how are we not yet a church? I'm sorry, a religious nonprofit. Sure. I'm going to investigate this, Tyler. Okay. I'll get back to you on how we should do that. But you guys, put this in perspective, okay? The New York City Ballet, a legitimate nonprofit that actually pays its dancers.

They struggle for funding every single year, and they share that building at Lincoln Center with Shen Yun. They pay their dancers, and they pay. their taxes. And then Chen Yung comes in, waltz is in for 18 nights and walks out with eight and a half million dollars. That no government. I'm sure that it's less than that because they probably do have to pay the Lincoln Center and I'm sure they have to pay unions and whatever. But regardless, they're coming out of there. Seven, seven and a half million. No, no, it's not seven, but probably at least four to five. That's a lot. That's a lot of money for a dance company. For one venue. And no. No government will see.

a dime of that. So the dancers who make this all possible, let's talk about that. Because according to a federal lawsuit filed in November 25th at 2024, the performers generating that million, almost half million dollars every night are actually paid. Let's break it down, Tyler. Year one on tour. There's a lot of numbers in this part. It's actually the easy number list. Okay, what is it? What is it? Zero. They're paid zero for year one. Do you want me to do the math on that? No, I can actually handle. I can actually handle this math. Your two, guess what they're paid? I mean, I...

$500 a month. That must feel like just like getting the biggest raise. That's winning the lottery. And once they graduate and become these so-called professional dancers... What is it, Liz? $1,000 a month. It's well worth it. It's well worth all the training.

$1,000 a month, $12,000 a year. So one dancer's contract said, It was $1,000 a month for 25 hours a week. But she said she actually worked 65 hours a week. So now you do... No, you do the math. No, I'm not doing the math. You do it.

Okay, fine. It's about less than $4 an hour. Yeah, what's minimum wage? I'm higher than that. At least double. Yeah. And now there are some lawsuits. So one lawsuit, there's some former dancers who are finally suing them in federal court currently.

So one lawsuit is a woman. who was recruited at the age of 11. She danced with him for 13 years and was paid nothing her first year, 500 a month after that. She got measles at 14, wasn't allowed to see a doctor and was only permitted to see her mother

for two weeks out of the year. She is suing for forced labor and human trafficking. And guess what the Shenyan response was? They just gave her the money, right? They just said, you're right. Sue her back. Sue her back.

Counter-suer for defamation. That's an... Oldest, cold. Religious nonprofit. Fueva. Another lawsuit is two dancers from New Zealand, both of them recruited as teenagers who alleged that instructors physically force them into splits, causing internal bleeding and torn muscles. Shen Yan filed to have that one dismissed, of course, and it is still currently pending.

However, the U.S. government. Oh, the U.S. government. They're doing everything right now, so let's just put it in their hands. Rest assured, folks. They're going to really get to the bottom of this. They'll take care of this. The U.S. government is conducting a separate criminal investigation into Cheyenne for visa fraud, cash smuggling, and labor violations. And the New York State Department of Labor has opened a separate inquiry into child labor practices.

All of this, but they're still selling out the Lincoln Center. And I'm sorry, I just have to also say this part because if a student tries to leave, okay, here's how they get them. They're told they owe back the cost of their so-called scholarships, okay? Scholarships. Oh, they're given scholarships. I didn't know that. Yeah. And they put a number on this, a stamp on it, that it's $50,000 a year.

That's not a scholarship. That's Harvard. That's Columbia for a year. And tell them, explain what this is, because this is super fuck. Okay, so it's not really a scholarship. So what this actually means is Shenyang recruits children as young as 11 years old. They bring them to the compound in upstate New York, which is called what? What is it called?

Dragon Springs or something like that? Yeah. Stop me if this is sounding like a cult. They house them, feed them, train them relentlessly over and over and over and over and over. And they call that a scholarship. Yeah, $50,000 a year. This is something that the child never actually agreed to, by the way, or asked for. So if someone who has been there for 13 years, like the dancer in the current lawsuit,

they're told they owe $650,000 when they leave. Against their total lifetime earnings from being a Shenyan dancer of maybe, I don't know, what, 60,000? This just, I just got hit with that feeling of like, what is fucking wrong with people that they think that's okay? What is wrong that no one has marched in there? Yeah, it's not a scholarship. It's indentured servitude. It's, it's, it's modern slavery. Okay, so where was I before I got riled up?

this particular dancer, she left owing more than half a million dollars, 24 years old. So fucked up. She's got PTSD. She's got a confiscated passport and monitored family content. And don't even forget the religious trauma

that now she has to deconstruct that, you know, told her for 13 years leaving will mean karma will essentially kill her. So now she's constantly in fear of her life and dying and whatever bad happens to her, she's going to blame on herself. But you,

folks who bought $212 tickets for tomorrow's night. Dance show. Dance show. Oh, it's so pretty. Have a wonderful time. Enjoy the show. I hope you enjoy it.

I hope you enjoy the show. Or they have no idea. Likely they have no idea. No, they have no idea. But this is why we are telling you, this is what is behind those pretty billboards with the leaping dancers and the colored ribbons. And Angela told us all about this

back in October 2024. Before the lawsuits, before the investigation, before any of them. She told us about the medicine that was poison, about the dance company that was a propaganda machine. She told us the truth when no one else was really saying it out loud. And now 18 months have gone by and everything she says has been proven right. So the next time you're driving and you see that billboard. And you will see that billboard because here's a sorry, one more. They spend tens of millions a year on everything.

advertising, okay? Tyler, where do you think that advertising money comes from? The 266 million that they're sitting on a hill somewhere? Probably grants, right? Grants, sure. No, according to a San Francisco Chronicle investigation into their tax returns, it comes from their followers, okay? So true believers are donating their own money to buy billboards, to pay for TV spots, to stuff your mailbox with pamphlets because Master Lee told them that spreading Shen Yun is a holy act that will help them reach enlightenment. So they're funding their own recruitment machine with their fucking life savings. And I just want to vomit. Do you need a minute?

I just like, it's shocking. You go on TikTok and you type in Falun Gong cult or Chenyan cult and it's like there's nothing. And there's people being like, so what is this a cult guys? And you're like, are you? Hi? Are you insane? Yes. What are you talking about?

What do you mean is this a cult? Yeah. It's not a dance company. This is not just a dance company. And it's not even probably that good of a dance company, frankly. I mean, you put it up against the New York City of ballet. It's probably not even close. Those are the best dancers in the world.

No offense to the Paris ballet or the Houston ballet or anyone else. And it's probably like bringing in people who don't even like ballets. They're like, oh, we should go to a dance. Because New York City. ballet doesn't have $10 million to market, Liz, that's why. They're not sending postcards to everyone in the world. Okay. This is not a dance company. No, it's not a cultural celebration of anti-communistic China. No. It's a cult. That's what it is. It's a $266 million, tax-free financial empire built on the backs of children who were abused and paid nothing. Okay.

Whose passports were taken, whose injuries went untreated, and who were told that leaving would bring them debts. Selling out the goddamn Lincoln Center tomorrow night while they're simultaneously dancing around a current federal criminal investigation. And if your aunt wants you to buy tickets... Don't buy tickets. Don't. Don't. Now, let's all take a deep breath. You mean me.

Everyone exhales. Here you guys go. Here is Angela's story. Angela, I grew up in Roland Heights, California. It's a small town, but it's in the suburbs of Los Angeles. My mom is from Shanghai, and my dad is from Taiwan. They immigrated to the United States and went to Pasadena College together. Go Lancers, Pasadena College Lancers.

That's in your book. backyard, isn't that? I do drive by the Pasadena College every once in a while. It's rather small, but nice. They also worked at the same place. I believe it was a news company at the time, and my mom was an anchor, and my dad was the cameraman, and that was a really cute love story. I was an only child. At first, I spoke Mandarin exclusively with my parents, but they also taught me English, so I would speak to them in English and they would speak to me in Mandarin when I was five years old. My mom was in and out of hospitals. She had really bad stomach aches and she was losing weight rapidly.

The doctors would not give her any diagnosis. They didn't know what was wrong. They called it a modern disease. Which is basically doctors speak for we have no goddamn idea what's wrong with you. Here's some morphine and call me in the morning. And it was just chronic pain. She went to the hospital and got three shots of morphine from the nurse, which is when she decided that maybe she was not going to last very long.

So my mom went back to China to see her family one last time, since she believed it was such a dire situation. I went back to China with them at the time, and it was an interesting experience. I was watching all that happen with her. So it was pretty rough, I'd say. And when you have a serious illness with no answers from doctors, well, you might be willing to try just about anything. Like your grandmother's cure-all, vinegar and hot pepper garlic rub.

An Epsom salt. Don't forget to take an Epson salt bath. I do take lots of Epson Salt baths, actually. Do you? I do. I don't even know what that is. You don't? I just think it's a funny word. No.

I don't. Love an Epsons salt bath. I don't take baths. That's why you're so uptight. Because I don't take baths? That's possible. It is possible. I would say that most men don't take baths.

Oh, I know why you don't take baths because you take all your time sitting on the toilet taking a shit. What in the fuck are you guys doing? Get it out and move on with the day. You don't know what we're doing in there, Liz. It's kind of a guy's secret. We kind of keep things together. in our little secret laboratory called the bathroom. I mean, that's when I manage my correspondences generally.

Mm-hmm. It's literally every single man. It doesn't matter. I'm glad that I know that I'm not the only man who spends an inordinate amount of time. Every single man. You know what's so funny about that is I actually made it a goal to spend less time sitting on the John. That's literally an action item for me, less time on the John. So.

This is why men. the world. My mom went to as many places as she could seek treatment. She went to Chinese medical clinics, all sorts of doctors, tried every chigong in China when a relative introduced her to Falun Gong. And it was free. Guys, we've said it how many times? Nothing in life is free.

The books are free. exercises were free. And so she actually started practicing in China, where it was illegal at the time and still is. So that was very dangerous. She could have been found out. But luckily, she wasn't. That's correct, guys.

Fallong, the quote peaceful spiritual movement that blends meditation, Qigong with some Buddhism and Taoism beliefs, started in China in the 1990s. But today, it's banned from the country. But don't worry. We'll get more into that. in a bit. And one of the key tenets of this religion slash movement slash cult is a strong disbelief in modern medicine. Every time she took medicine, she felt like it was a poison in her body. And she took that as a sign to stop going to hospital, stop taking medicine, and to believe

Falun Gong fully. So she took that leap of faith and started practicing Falun Gong by itself. Her diagnosis was karma. That's what we called a substance that you get when you do bad things and it comes to bite you later on. And any illness or bad luck that you had was a result of karma. So let me get this straight. You're telling me, I got the flu because I cheated on a French test in high school, not because some asshole coughed on me on the plane. Yeah, it's not germs, Liz.

It's solely because you are a morally bankrupt human being and you deserve, like the rest of us, no joy in life, this long slog of an existence. This is why you need a bath. It's really hard to identify where your karma comes from. All you have to know, it's all your fault. And the reason why you have this illness in the first place is because you did something and you need to get rid of it.

And you do that by suffering and not taking medicine. But here's the tricky thing about cults. When the pitch for the cult actually works, it's game over. So she stopped taking medicine while she was in China. And eventually she got better. They never really figured out what the disease was. She didn't feel pain anymore. so there was no reason for her to go back to doctors for a diagnosis.

I wanted to believe that Falun Gong healed her. Otherwise, why would my mom be so invested in this? She put Falun Gong over me, over my dad. Why would she give her whole life to this, unless this really did save her life and brought our family together instead of tearing it apart? I believe that Falun Gong gave her something to hold on to, and I think it saved her in that aspect.

Medically, I don't believe it saved her. Nevertheless, she came back to the States, a full practitioner. On the surface, Falun Gong is advertised as a peaceful meditation practice. It's kind of like Tai Chi. You can do these exercises that are very slow and soft, and it helps you calm down. Sounds harmless, like some stretch in, some deep breaths. It's like yoga without that one. one sweaty guy in the back corner making back farts the whole time, you know what I mean?

He needs a bath. That guy, and he doesn't mean to, and then he pretends like his back's not farting. And then you're just like, hey, back farter. Can you keep it down, man? I'm trying to get my zen on. I don't know what a back fart is. Because his back suction to the yoga mat. So when he comes up, it's like,

sure it's his back? No, we're not sure. We got to ban the back farder from yoga. You know what I mean? I don't think he means to do it. Now you're defending the backfarter? I mean, how do you control a back fart? You're sweaty.

Your back's got a little bit of girth to it. Back girth. Ladies love the back girth. The principles are truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. But on a more deeper level, they believe in a lot of weird conspiracies, like that the Communist Party of China is actually a demon from hell coming to battle. Fall and going practitioners. They believe that they themselves are gods here to rescue humanity from reincarnation.

They believe that illness is a test and that if you take medicine, then you are failing that test. Hey guys, let's be real for a minute, shall we? Shit can get difficult. Life can be hard. Extemporaneous events. can ruin your day, your week, your month. And we all just want to be mentally healthy, you know? I know I do.

I do. Yeah, so you turn to your therapist. Good choice, right? But then what happens when you have to swim in all the nonsense of finding a therapist who you can actually afford who works with your insurance? Because many don't work with insurance at all, which means you're stuck paying full cost out of pocket. However, Rula, they do things differently.

They partner with over 100 insurance plans. they make the average co-pay just about $15 a session. That's real therapy from licensed professionals at a price that actually makes sense. And Rula isn't just affordable. It considers your goals, your preferences, your background, or whatever you provide them. They will then curate a list of licensed in-network therapists who are actually aligned with what you're looking for. You know, we care about you listeners. We actually do.

We like our listeners. We want to keep you mentally healthy and listening to us. So get the help you need, make it easy by using Rula. You can go to Rula.com slash in a cult to get started today. That is RULA.com slash in a cult for quality therapy that is covered by insurance. Thousands of people. They're already using Rula to get affordable high quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Again, Rula.com slash in a cult to get started.

And after you sign up, you will be asked how you heard about them. Please support our show. Let them know we sent you. That's rula.com slash in a cult. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. Truth. There's a book called The Turning Wheel. So I remember my mom, she introduced me to The Turning Wheel when I was five years old.

And she opened up to the first page, is this chubby little Chinese man with soft eyes and a blue tie and black suit. And she said, this is Master Lee. He has all the superpowers. He has law bodies that look after us. Law bodies are projections of Master Lee. So he's with us in spirit. Can you see him? And I looked around the room. No, I can't see him. Where is he? She says, that's because you're not supposed to see him. But he can see you. He can see everything that you do. So you better behave. You better not lie to me because Master Lee knows everything, like Santa Claus.

Except this guy doesn't come down a chimney. No, he's just in your room chilling, sitting on your bluey chair watching you at all times. He's a pedophile's dream. Being raised Mormon, I remember being taught in church. Don't masturbate because your ancestors are angels and they're watching you do it. So now I can't even get an erection unless I summon up my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great pioneer grand. Ant watching me from the corner of my room. Also, like, why are all the dead ancestors just, like, creepy?

Like, do something else with your dead person time. Yeah, you're in heaven. Don't you have something better to do? Right. They've never even been able to binge watch Game of Thrones or Oz or anything. Like, do that. Can't you time travel? Like, heaven is great.

I get to watch my descendants jack off. So I'm going to go do that. That's one of the reasons you work hard to get to heaven, Rob. Another win for the Mormons. Hey, there are some perks. At the time, I was five, so I wasn't really creeped out by it. I already had imaginary friends, but now I had one that had all these cool superpowers, and he can read my mind.

So I used him as a little mental diary, so I would talk to him in my mind. So this mysterious creeping, peeping, peeping, Tom with superpowers, Known as Master Li is Li Hong Zhu, a founder of Falong Gong. Master Lee is a very mysterious man in my eyes. He was very hush-hush about his past, people asking about where he came from or who his parents were, and he would be like, we don't talk about that. From what I know, he was a big Qigong master in China in the 1990s,

and of course his practice was the most popular at festivals or events. He had great healing powers and a lot of people flock to him to treat illnesses, but he was very adamant about self-cultivation rather than seeking healing from him himself. Master Lee started Falun Gong in 1992. It was actually praised by the Chinese Communist government. There was a huge boom in Qigong practice in the 1990s. There was an estimate of 10 million people following him in China. It's a pretty big estimate, though. It's from the Falun Gong members themselves, so I'm not exactly sure.

I think it was huge. I'm sure it was huge. If they're saying it's huge, it's huge. The people are there, and they're doing spiritual things. I'm sure it was big, and I think it was in China, and I'm pretty sure we're in China. I've spoken to the biggest crowds. Nobody's spoken to crowds bigger than me. But it seemed like Falun Gong was taking over China.

And of course, the Chinese government can't have that, so they outlawed Falun Gong. July 21, 1999. That's a big date for Falun Gong. On that date, a lot of practitioners worldwide will hold candlelit memorials for Falun Gong members still in China who are being arrested. China was like, wait, hold up, get the hell out of here. there's only room for one mega cult in this country, and that's me. The seat's taken, motherfucker. Of course, Falun Gong members are very vocal about protesting the Chinese government,

which is why they are such a problem in China as well. Falun Gong is willing to do anything to say their truth. So they have hacked into TV channels and set balloons adrift, where after the balloons popped, thousands of paper flyers would come raining down onto the city so people can read, oh, Falun Gong is good.

It's a great meditation practice. Why would you outlaw it? And then the crackdown began, and a lot of them reportedly got arrested. And now for the holy shit this is fucked up portion of our show. There's rumored to be re-education camps. They're actually tortured.

When I was seven, my parents took me to Santa Monica, the Palisades Park. That's where we hold a lot of the protests, actually every week on Sunday, to talk about the persecution of Falun Gong. And there are very graphic images of people with black faces because they had been electrocuted in the face for hours by Chinese officers. more traumatizing is organ harvesting. They believe that the Chinese government is allowing doctors to take the organs of practitioners

and sell them to high-paying customers on the black market. I believe all of it. I do too. They had a little skit put on in Santa Monica Park for years where practitioners would drive. dress up as Falun Gong members. And one practitioner was, like, laying on the table. While another practitioner was pretending to be a doctor,

the practitioner on the table had a blanket over them, and the doctor was pretending to, like, take the organs out. And that was our form of protest for a really long time. You might be cringing right now, but imagine me at seven years old taking all this in. Ugh, just horrifying. Yeah, why play on the swings or go down the slide when you can instead learn about harvested kidneys on the black market. Hey, guys, you tired of me talking about quince yet?

Are you? Well, too bad. Because I'm going to keep talking about it because they're great. And I know I sound like that friend who just keeps going on and on about the thing they love and you're like, I get it, I get it. But guys, we're friends. And I'm buying lunch this time. So you're going to have to hear me out, okay?

Because I really do love quince. Their prices, their quality. I bought one of their sweatshirts recently, like their whatever every day. I've washed it twice. This thing is like quality. Honestly, they feel amazing. Casimir sweaters at very reasonable prices. Or you can also go in a different direction.

You don't have to get clothes. They've got bags, candles. They've got suitcases. Do something nice for yourself. That's what I say. Quince makes beautiful everyday pieces using premium materials. And their styles start around, I don't know, $30 to $50. Treat yourself.

Refresh your spring wardrobe with Quince. Go to quince.com slash cult for free shipping and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada to go to Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash cult for free shipping, 365-day returns, quince.com slash cult. So these followers of Falun Gong call themselves practitioners. So we believe that if practitioners were very good, they could have powers as well. A lot of practitioners could levitate and,

see into other dimensions too. I've never seen anybody levitate, and I was really disappointed, but of course they had a way to explain that away, like, oh, people who levitate will never show you that they levitate, because otherwise it would be too easy for you to believe

in fall and gone. You need to pass that test first, and then you will levitate, and then you will understand not to show people that you levitate. And I believed in it. I was like, wow, that's so deep. I guess I'll never levitate because I would want to show everybody.

But getting to the point where you can levitate isn't easy for Falun Gong members. You must do everything that is required. What we have to do every day is the exercises. There are four standing ones. It includes a lot of stretches, moving our arms about, keeping our arms up or down, kind of like Tai Chi, very slow movements, very boring. And one meditation exercise where we would sit down, put our legs up in this lotus position, and we would meditate for about an hour.

And we had to read Masterly's teachings every day. Some people read one lecture a day, and some people would read the whole book. In the beginning, it was pretty normal aside from this thing called sending righteous thoughts, where we sit down and we basically kind of, it's kind of like praying, sending out good vibes for 15 minutes four times a day, including at midnight, which my family and I decided to skip. But a lot of practitioners actually get up in the middle of the night and send righteous thoughts for 15 minutes. Now, if I'm getting up in the middle of the night, it's to have a threesome with Roger Federer,

Michael Jordan, and Anthony Rizzo. I know that's a foursome, but I threw it in the first. I'm not. I throw an MJ in there because why not? Four fingers up. Yeah, you got your two Chicago boys. That's a mental image I don't need. Thank you, though.

Don't pretend like you wouldn't get in on the Rizzo action, Tyler. I mean, 2016 World Series winning Chicago Cubs Rizzo, but not Pinstripe Rizzo. Thank you, though. But there were certain rules that my mom was willing to break for the comfort of our home. Other than that, she was very devoted. Like, we weren't allowed to have pets because we believe that having pets within a very spiritual home would cause the pet to become demonic and try to ruin our lives. Because all living things want to reach enlightenment.

And if the dog found out about cultivating, it would want to reach enlightenment and accidentally become a demon. Oh, well, that makes no sense at all. Right. Because being a demon is basically. much more likely to come from a cat. You know what I'm talking about, cat owners. They do have those demon eyes. And the last thing that we had to do, at least weekly,

was to do some kind of volunteering for Falun Gong. We called it spreading awareness or telling the truth. We did a lot of advertisement at parades. There was always a Falun Gong float, like Fourth of July parades, Thanksgiving parades. would hand out brochures to people who watched. We would go to parks and do the meditation practices and people would be interested and be like, who are these people? They look so peaceful and happy I want to try. And that would get a lot of people to sign up as well.

And like every cult, there isn't us versus them. We thought non-practitioners were people to be saved. We pitied them a little bit because they didn't know the truth, and we wanted to save them by any means possible. So saving would mean either you become a Falun Gong practitioner and you become one of us gods, and you can have your own little universe once you become enlightened, or you can interact with Falun Gong related contact and be saved and become a citizen in one of our universe. verses. You can still go to heaven, but I will be the king of that heaven. And you will be one of my little civilians. If I save you, that is. Hold on. I thought I was just doing some breath work, working on cultivating more tolerance and compassion. And now you're saying that I can only go to

heaven if you save me? You, Liz, did not read the fine print. You've got to read the fine print of these cults, man. Falun Gong members of themselves do not consider it a religion. It says explicitly in the teachings that we're not a religion, but it is a religion. We believe in a god and we follow the teachings of that God very closely. So in my eyes, it is a religion. So the fun thing about Falun Gong is that you can practice it from the comfort of your own home. At first, there was no community that.

that we went to in the beginning. We would do the exercises and read the book together. But Angela's mom. Eventually, she read the lecture that says, you should go to a community. So we found the community, and we went to this little office warehouse in the suburbs of Los Angeles. And that's where we would read the book and do group sharing.

The group sessions were once a week, every Saturday, in the evening about three hours long. The adults went and did their thing, read the book, did the group sharing. The book is, like I said, the turning wheel. It was the series of lectures that Master Lee had transcribed. And it was basically just about cultivating yourself, devoting yourself to Falling Gong, how Falling Gong is the only way to reach enlightenment, things like that. Sorry, folks, this one will not be added to Tyler's Boring Book Club.

No, it is not something we will end. add to Tyler's Boring Book Club. But if we did add something to Tyler's Boring Book Club, it would be the book, how we got to now, Six Innovations that made the Modern World by Stephen Johnson. It's a great book. Why bring it up now? Why are you plugging this book right now? Because it's a great book.

It's what I'm reading right now. It's a great book. I've read another book called Wonderland. That's a good one as well. Well, I'm glad I learned to read last week. I before E except after C. How's it go? The purpose of the exercises is to cleanse yourself spiritually.

They described it as what you wanted to achieve was basically sitting in an eggshell. You want to get rid of all your thoughts, all your feelings in that moment. Enlightenment comes from getting rid of your attachments or worldly desires, your emotions, all likes and dislikes, a robot of a person, essentially. The exercises were two hours long, and of course, that was really boring. I didn't want to do them anymore because I was in the little warehouse playing with my friends, who were also kids of the cult members. We were just climbing on the warehouse walls, no adult supervision, stealing coffee from the lounge.

But of course, we're practitioners' kids. We're also held to this high moral standard that our parents are constantly. constantly beating into us. We have one leader for each group. They don't really have much power over the group directly, but they are trusted people who have a direct line to Masterly. In our minds, we were dealing with him every day. His law bodies are right there watching us.

So whatever he's telling us is through his teachings. And he's constantly putting out new, lectures online. Of course, Master Lee is held at a very high regard. He is the god of the universe. We all wanted to be like him. I'm not sure exactly how the adults talked about him at the time, but I remember I was with my group of girls hanging out in the meeting room while the adults were a group sharing in the other room. We were watching the B-movie, and I was listening to this new Taylor Swift song that had just come out. And this girl I had known for years, We were both 12 at the time.

She, like, turned around and glared at me while I was listening to the song, and she was like, you shouldn't be listening to Taylor Swift because she's demonic. Hugh Swifties across the world, suiting up, ready for battle. Not a fight I want to engage. Can you imagine Master Lee listening to We Are Never, Ever, Ever, Ever Getting Back Together? I don't think so. A lot of sass. And I had nothing to say to that because, like, she was kind of right.

Like, he would not listen to Taylor Swift. I started to think about it because what can masterly do? I can't imagine him shopping at Gap Kids or going to Target or eating a Big Mac. Like, what does he eat anyways? He was just a guy with no interests or hobbies. He just sat around meditating and giving lectures all day. It sounds like the human equivalent of a beige wall. I prefer tope.

I don't think he's deservative of tope. Tope is kind of a pretty color. I didn't want to be like him, but I couldn't tell her that because that's what everyone wanted to be. And we will be right back. All right, everyone, 420 is coming up. This is the International Day for Smoking Weed. And why 420, you ask? Why is it called 420?

Some people say that it's a police code for marijuana. It is not. The short version of, of the story, which is actually a really good story, back in the 1970s, a group of high school kids from San Rafael, California, who called themselves the Waldo's. They'd meet every day at 420 after school. You know, school's over, practice is done, parents aren't home yet. It's perfect. Teenage mischief time. They started using 420 as a code for smoking weed, so they could talk about it without getting caught. Want to meet at 420, they'd say? Now, somehow, this dumb little code went global.

See, one of the Waldo's had a connection to the Grateful Debt, and the term spread through that scene, the renowned scene for smoking, pot, pot, I'll use the term pot, deadheads picked it up, eventually places like high times helped turn April 20th into the unofficial marijuana holiday. So yeah, a bunch of teenagers accidentally created an international tradition, which feels right on. And now the question is, how are you? celebrating 420. Well, I have an idea for you. Into cloud.

Yes, Inde Cloud. It's a fully legal online cannabis dispensary for gummies, exotic flour, premium pre-rolls, and zero-sugar T-HC sodas. Did somebody say, Inde Cloud? Oh, hey, Liz. Okay, I'm going away. She perks up when she hears... 420. Just was curious.

You got your sleep gummies. You got your low-dose gummies for staying regulated. You got your THC sodas, which are pretty cool for relaxing. clarity, and then beast mode, when you don't really want to be subtle. Into cloud, pretty groovy. I'm going to use this 1974 vernacular by saying groovy, and I'm going to try and bring that back, groovy and foxy. Everything is federally legal, hemp THC, it's lab tested, and shipped discreetly to your door.

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What the story is great. 40% off is a better stat. All right. I buried the lead. That's fine. Okay, 40% off your first order. That's into cloud.co. Code in a cult, 40% off all month long.

Ship discreetly to your door, plus free shipping on orders over $50. And I know you're going to order more than $50, Todd. I can smell it on your clothes. Scrivy. And get $30 and free gifts on qualifying orders. Also, don't forget to fill out the quick survey when you order to support the show. So when I was seven years old, my parents took me to see this show.

It was called New Tong Dynasty TV's New Year's Spectacular Show. Most of the people who went to see the show at the time were practitioners. It was a very shabby show, to say the least. Very handmade props and not so great costumes. Pretty good dancing, I'd say. And a lot of kind of folk tales and skits put on by practitioners. So basically a middle school production. And of course there was the token persecution dance that we had, the propaganda dance,

where a mother got ripped away from her daughter by the Chinese government. Except for the propaganda part. Eventually, Master Lee heard about this performance and started Shen Yun. Shen Yun dancers. Now, this is the part that was fascinating to me. I have seen the banners, I've seen the billboards, the commercials, but I had no idea that it was linked to a cult. You do now. The dance company tours annually and has grown in popularity over the years,

but many don't know the truth behind the dance and the hidden messaging within the performance. So Shen means God or goddess, and Yun is like the feeling behind a movement. The feeling of movements behind gods. Like, only gods can move like this because they are so morally righteous and pure. There's no overall plotline to the performance. It's a bunch of little performances, probably four to five minutes long, of, like, dances with props, like sleeves and fans, traditional Chinese dance. And sprinkled in, there are some skits, and of course, also the property

propaganda pieces that talk about the persecution of Chinese practitioners in Falun Gong. It's always like there's a Falun Gong practitioner. They're peacefully practicing this meditation, and suddenly communist police decide to beat them up and harvest their organs. Oh, it's an absolutely beautiful performance besides the persecution part. Besides that small detail. The dancers are, of course, very well. trained, they've been dancing since they were little kids. There's a live orchestra with both Chinese and Western instruments. The whole thing is beautifully put together. But there's also like

a weird undertone to it though. They do opera singing and they're all lyrics written by Master Lee and it talks about the end of the world. Science is fake. The theory of evolution is fake. It's like not subtle, but it's sprinkled in. There's like a double goal here. The first one is of course to make money for the cults. There's the propaganda aspect to it. They want to get people to become more aware of what's going on in China and the fact that China has banned them.

Shin Yun is a touring company. All of the dancers practice together and do all the choreography in New York. And then there are five groups that tour the world at the same time. There's like a North American group. And that's where Master Lee usually is. He tours with the company while they're dancing, usually, because he's the art director. But isn't he already at every show in Spirit, Tyler, just creepily watching the young female dancers break their bodies in the name of, wait, what is this one in the name of again? I forgot.

I honestly, I've lost the three. Red. Still thinking about a bath. Oh, spiritual enlightenment. A lot of people have gone to see the shows who aren't practitioners. I'd say most people now are not practitioners.

In the early years, it was mostly us buying our own tickets, filling up the seats. But because of the excessive advertising everywhere, people are curious and want to go see it. Experience art with

5,000 years of history, inspired by the divine. Experience Xen Yun. And what about Angela? Was she too one of those trained dancers? When I was nine, my mom signed me up for a dance class. An ex-Shen Yun teacher had come to Los Angeles, and she decided to hold a class for little girls and little boys to start learning Chinese traditional dance to help us become Shin Yun dancers eventually down the line.

That was an interesting experience because it was my first time meeting anyone from Shin Yun. I actually lived with her for a whole summer, kind of like a boarding school type situation, except it wasn't really a school, it was her apartment turned into a dance studio. So a bunch of girls and I would live there in little sleeping bag. on the hardwood dance studio floor. And we would get up at 7 a.m. in the morning do the exercises, dance for like five hours a day, and practice, Fall and Gong with her.

And I looked up to her very much when I was little. She clearly had favorites within that class. The dancers who were amazing were among her favorites. And I was not because she could tell I was just there for shits and giggles. I wasn't really serious about dance. But I know she also knew that I really admired her. Like she knew that I would do anything she said.

So during one of the dance lessons, she sat us all in a group and began group sharing. We were talking about attachments and worldly desires, things like that. All of a sudden, out of nowhere goes, I know who's a worst practitioner. here is and everybody is so interested like who is it and she goes oh yeah it's angela and i just sit there like okay this is weird like why me she's like have you seen the way she looks at food she has so many attachments and then she started copying me she was like oh my gosh gogert ice cream

fried rice and everybody starts laughing but I didn't realize that made me a bad practitioner, let alone the worst practitioner. And that was the first time anybody had said that kind of thing to me, so publicly. Again, I was nine. What a Goghirt ever do to you, lady? Don't take your Goghirt trauma out on this poor nine-year-old. Call the swifties. They'll handle it.

This amazing Shinian teacher is telling me that I'm the worst because I like to eat. Wow, if I eat so much, maybe I can't be a good practitioner. It's going to cause me harm in the future because of all the karma and spiritual things going on. So I felt really bad, and I was the skinniest one in that class. I had no body issues at the time, but suddenly I did. I would stop eating because I didn't want to feel like I was in

indulging too much in things that I liked. Eventually that turned into not wanting to eat to feel satisfied because then that would be an attachment to food as well. Attachment to anything was frowned upon, really. Everyone had their attachments, whether it was food, pop music, my dad, World War II documentaries, my mom, gossip girl. Everyone had their attachments that they wanted to get rid of. It wasn't only interests.

It was also emotions, anything that you felt strongly about, except for Fall and Gong, of course. Ah, the convenient bullshit of every cult. Don't place any importance on anything but the cult itself. So sometimes my family and I would have little group sharings at our own little dinner table, and we would talk about our attachments. And I would always say my attachment was food

because, oh, you know, the teacher gave that to me. And maybe the reason why my parents are so angry all the time is because I'm not a good practitioner. Maybe if I cut off food, I will be a better version of myself. For a while, nobody really knew about it because, like, I would just say I was on a diet. I didn't tell my parents about it either because I thought that they would side with the teacher. but when I was 16, I had the wonderful chance of auditioning with Master Lee himself in Long Beach, California, Terrace Theater. I remember the exact date because it was the most embarrassing day of my life.

And that's it for today, guys. Please join us next week to hear the rest of Angela's mind-blowing story. How the cult tightened its grip on her family, pushed them to the brink, and how Angela finally found the strength to break free, leading her to bravely speak out today. The elevator door is open, and I'm face to face with Master Lee himself. It's a surreal experience because my mom is there,

and she's trying not to fall over on her knees and be like, oh, Master Lee, it's you. And she walks me over to him. This whole time, I'm, like, trying to keep my mind blank because he can read minds. I don't want him to like see something. But of course, he knows everything. So what's the point?

Thank you for listening and supporting the show. A special thanks to our newest Patreon members, Grace Johnson, Christina Hambrick, and Morgan Earley. Thank you guys for your support. We really appreciate it. We sure do. Was I an occult is written,

produced and hosted by me, the very tolerant Tyler Meesam. And me, the meditative, Liz Ayakuzzi. Our sound design and edit is by the compassionate Rob Perra. Isn't that true, Rob? Oh, yeah. He's full of it. I give you my blessings.

Thank you. Go with God. And our assistant editor is the peaceful Greta Stromquist. Social media magic by the karma. Bring, bring, bring. True teller, Shanny Payton. And the man with all the superpowers himself, our executive producer, Stephen

labrum. All hail. All right, I'm going to go take a bath or maybe sit on the John. I don't know which one. I got to say, do one then the other. Ah, not at the same time. Good idea. Thank you. Or just go sit on the bath and then take a shit in the bath. Listen up, campers. It's time to buckle up, pitch a tent and take a hike. This is Camp Counselor's podcast with Zachariah Porter and Jonathan Carson. Consider this podcast your new favorite variety show. With a badges mean nothing. And the drama means everything. Is this podcast even about camping? No, but it is camp. We cover everything. I have a theory that a chicken finger is the perfect chaser for a tequila shot. No, because at the end of the day, I was a child actor who fell victim to an audition scam. I'm going to be vulnerable for a

second. Have you ever had to shop in a husky section at a department store? Then I don't want to hear it. Honestly, I can't talk about this anymore. I'm overstimulated and I'm bloated. From weird news and our current obsessions to hot gossip and listeners submitted confession. Nothing is off limits at this camp. New episodes of camp counselors drop every Monday and Wednesday. Listen wherever you get your podcast. Lights out campers. Thousands of free movies and TV shows.

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