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/religion/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 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…

Stay tuned next week for Part Two.

Shen Yun is everywhere, The Epoch 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 Falun Gong as well, like joining the cult, not even realizing what it is. It seems a little dangerous, and I want to warn people.

LIZ: Welcome to Was I In A Cult? He's Tyler Measom.

TYLER: And she's Liz Iacuzzi.

LIZ: And this is a show featuring people who have been in situations that left them asking, “wait, hold on, Was I in a cult? ” And we give those people a chance to share their story in a self-empowered way.

TYLER: And some of our guests come to the cult conclusion quickly, while others why it takes some time. And today's guest knew right away when she left that she had left a cult.

LIZ: Yes, she is an outspoken TikToker who openly talks about her journey in Falun Gong, a cult that was founded in the 1990s in China.

TYLER: Now, for those of you who have not heard of this huge organization, little crazy fact, this cult is behind Epoch Times and those Shen Yun dances your aunt keeps telling you to see.

LIZ: And what compelled her to speak out in the first place, is mostly because of one very heartbreaking reason, which of course we will let her tell you herself.

TYLER: We discovered Angela because of her TikTok. And let me tell you, she is fearless, young, wise, and real as hell about the cult's impact on her and her family.

LIZ: And like us, you might not know just how deep and wide this cult's roots run. Spoiler alert, guys, it's huge, huge.

TYLER: It's all caps huge.

LIZ: It is all caps huge.

TYLER: And with that, by goodness, Liz, let's stop the yammer and let's dive in. It is a two-parter, everyone, and it deserves to be a two-parter because it's pretty kick ass.

LIZ: So guys, sit back, take a deep inhale, exhale out all the bullshit, and join me in welcoming today's badass guest.

A: Hello, my name is Angela. I grew up in Rowland 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. 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, y 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”.

LIZ: 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.

ANGELA: 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.

LIZ: And when you have a serious illness with no answers from doctors, well, you might be willing to try just about anything.

TYLER: Like your grandmother's cure-all, vinegar and hot pepper garlic rub.

ANGELA: My mom went to as many places as she could seek treatment. She went to Chinese medical clinics, all sorts of doctors, tried every Qigong in China when a relative introduced her to Falun Gong. And it was free.

LIZ: Guys, we've said it how many times. Nothing in life is free.

ANGELA: The books are free. The exercises were free. And so she actually started practicing in China where it was illegal at the time and still is. 

LIZ: That's correct, guys. Falun Gong’s a “cult 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.

TYLER: And one of the key tenets of this cult is a strong disbelief in modern medicine.

ANGELA: 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 hospitals, 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.

LIZ: 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.

TYLER: 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.

ANGELA: 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.

LIZ: But here's the tricky thing about cults. When the pitch for the cult actually works, it's game over.

ANGELA: 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. 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. Medically, I don't believe it saved her.

TYLER: Nevertheless……

ANGELA: 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.

LIZ: Sounds harmless, like some stretching, some deep breaths. Like it's like yoga without that one sweaty guy in the back corner making backfarts the whole time. You know what I mean?

TYLER: He needs a bath?

LIZ: That guy, he doesn't mean to. And then he pretends like his back's not farting. And then you're just like, “hey, backfarter, can you keep it down？”“man，I'm trying to get my zen on.”