SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Practitioners of the Chinese meditation discipline Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) gathered in Ortega Park in Sunnyvale on Oct. 3 to commemorate the day Falun Gong was first taught in the United States. Dozens of practitioners from around the Bay Area met at the pavilion near the center of the public park. Surrounded by a grassy field, trees, and passersby, they did the Falun Gong exercises together to peaceful music. Falun Gong includes five meditative exercises as well as moral teachings centered on practicing truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance in daily life. It was publicly introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi. By 1999, tens of millions of people in China were practicing it, and it had also spread to many other countries around the world. The first time Mr. Li taught Falun Gong in the United States was on Oct. 5, 1996, at the …