[Sydney] Saturday Nov. 18 is a day worth celebrating. Burwood of Sydney, Australia named this day as Falun Dafa Day.
On that day, more than 100 practitioners gathered together at Central Park. A corner of this very large park was decorated extremely beautifully. On each side of the road was a big pink lotus with a one meter-high model of the precious book, "Zhuan Falun," mounted on it, together with the small flags with the words, "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" (Zhen-Shan-Ren) happily fluttering in the air. The banner reading "Celebrating Falun Dafa Day" (both in Chinese and English) was hanging in the meeting area, surrounded by colorful balloons. Some practitioners wore plain white T-shirts with "I support Falun Dafa" on them. Some wore jackets with "Falun Dafa" on it. Some wore splendid dresses. Children held balloons in hand. It is a very happy scene.
In the opening speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the mayor praised Falun Dafa for its contribution to society. He felt that promoting Falun Dafa to a person starting from childhood would benefit the development of his body and mind from an early stage. He said the freedom of human rights was a very important issue in human life and that the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China is disappointing. Luckily we live in Australia, and this was the happiest moment for us because today was named as Falun Dafa Day of Burwood. Another congressman also came to congratulate us.
Later, a western practitioner gave a speech and expressed our appreciation for the city government's and the mayor's support. He presented Falun Dafa books and flowers to the mayor and congressman.
During the ceremony, three practitioners from Burwood gave their speech respectively. They summarized their cultivation experience. One practitioner, who is a student, mentioned the harassment when they promoted Fa on the campus and called for support from the society. An 11-year-old practitioner in the ceremony also talked about her experience and said that since she practiced Falun Dafa she understood the truth of being a good person. Though she spent a lot of time following adults in promoting Dafa, she excelled in her school studies. She was accepted by the top middle school in Sydney this year. She hopes kind-hearted people will help those children who practice Falun Gong and have been tortured, kicked out of school and lost their families because of the Chinese government's persecution.
After all the speeches, practitioners demonstrated the five sets of exercises. The peaceful and magnificent field allowed predestined people to feel its power. Some people immediately started to learn the exercises. A westerner stood there for a long time and seemed to be enjoying something. He told the practitioners, "I know people should relax, but I didn't know how and what it is really like when totally relaxed. Now, today I get it. This field makes me feel comfortable; it must be the one I am looking for."
Later, the mayor looked at the pictures of the history of Falun Dafa setup around the meeting area. He told the practitioners that he felt that he had the responsibility to tell more people about the truth of Falun Dafa in China. He himself was also willing to give us all beneficial support.
Today's ceremony to establish Falun Dafa Day is another reflection of validating Fa in human world. The successful cerebration resulted from every practitioner's effort.
One thing worth mentioning is that it had been raining for nearly one week in Sydney. Many practitioners worried about the weather and feared it might affect our outside ceremony. However, in the morning that day, it was cloudy but with no rain at all. When the cerebration ended, it began to rain again.
Practitioners in Sydney
Nov. 19, 2000
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