(Minghui.org) Practitioners from all over Australia held a character formation and group practice activity at Jubilee Waterfront Park in Sydney on October 26, 2024. They formed the Chinese characters for “Dafa” and the shape of a lotus flower.
During the event, several practitioners talked about how they improved their xinxing, increased their confidence, and found the true meaning of life after practicing Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong).
Practitioners held a character formation and group practice activity at Jubilee Waterfront Park in Sydney on October 26, 2024.
Becoming a Better Person
Susan is grateful to find Falun Dafa.
Susan is a disability support worker and has practiced Falun Dafa since 2010. She said, “I was raised Catholic and I wanted to be a good person, but I really didn’t understand how. In 2010 I found Dafa, and the fundamentals are about improving your character, being a good, moral person and improving yourself. I didn’t know you could improve yourself spiritually. I had never heard of qigong before, so it’s incredible.
“I improved on a spiritual level after practicing Falun Dafa,” she said. “Being honest with yourself about your flaws can be very challenging. You notice something about yourself, and you don’t like it. You look back at yourself for the past 30 or 40 years, and think ‘Oh, I’ve been a horrible person and been doing this all my life.’ Now I can see what I’ve been doing, and so from there you start to improve. The first thing is you’ve got to forgive yourself for having that character flaw and for being like that for so many years, and then you’ve got to try and improve, and stop doing whatever that behavior is that you’ve been doing.”
She gave an example, “As a disability support worker you are unsupervised, and you are on your own. If you make a mistake, you can cover it up quite easily, and not tell your boss. I’m really honest even if it’s embarrassing because I know that it helps other people.
“I always talk to my boss and say, ‘Look, this happened. I’m really sorry but you need to know this happened because now we can put in place procedures to stop this from happening in the future and help other people.’ I’ll tell my colleagues that I’ve been having trouble with this aspect of my job. Let’s be honest with each other about things we are having trouble with. We can all do our jobs better when you know what the problems are.”
She said practicing Falun Dafa is the best thing she ever did.
Getting to Know the Meaning of Life
This was the first time Mary has participated in a character formation.
Mary from Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, attended the conference and related activities for the first time.
She said, “I started practicing in 2005. I heard about Falun Dafa from a Ukrainian lady I know. She called me one day and explained that she started practicing, and what Falun Dafa is.
“I was brought up as a Catholic,” she said. “When I heard that name Falun Dafa, I thought I should have a look. So I searched online, and it resonated with me when I saw Master’s photo.”
She looked for the nearest contact person and spoke to a practitioner for an hour. Mary said it felt like she knew her all her life. The practitioner encouraged her to keep learning online. Mary said, “I read Zhuan Falun that night. I cried while I read and felt this is just home for me. Falun Dafa teaches Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. So, I’m able to tolerate people around me, my young family, apply forbearance, and be more compassionate towards other people. It’s really helpful to apply these principles in my life.”
South Australia Practitioner: My Mother Quickly Recovered
Steven from South Australia said, “I was in the UK in 2004 when my mother had health problems. She practiced Falun Dafa and it took her one month’s time to get well. She called me and told me about this amazing experience. But because I was misled by the communist party’s propaganda, I was negative about Falun Dafa.
“My mother got well without any medicine or treatments. So I changed my mind and started to search for information about Falun Dafa on the Internet. That’s how I came to know that the Chinese Communist Party lies about everything—they lie to all the Chinese people.”
He’s lived in Australia for almost six years, and helps look after his sister and her children. Talking about following Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance in one’s daily life, he said, “It’s so hard. My two nieces are young. I don’t have a lot of patience, but I know I need to be patient. I have to be calm; I just cannot yell at them. So hard to do it initially. Slowly, I peacefully talk to them, not get angry, and I’m respectful to them. After I changed, everything changed. If I didn’t change I don’t think they would have changed.”
Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance Are Essential for Humanity
Basia May from Poland has lived in Australia for 40 years, and passed by the event in the park. She said she was impressed by how the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance can bring people true happiness.
Basia May said she was impressed with Falun Dafa’s principles.
Seeing the peaceful group practice, Basia said, “Meditation is a discipline of mind, an enrichment of the psyche and knowledge about the mind.”
Regarding the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, she said, “They absolutely are essential for the existence of humanity. Many of us do not really know the meaning of these words because it’s not the word, it’s not the definition. It’s an inner state. When that compassion becomes [one’s] inner state, then it has the meaning.”
She said, “When one focuses on compassion when one meditates, or on truthfulness, or courage, then the depth of it reveals itself that it’s to the core of your being. It’s beyond expression. It escapes the definition of the mind and it becomes, they call it an inner path, or inner state. When you actually experience it, your mind fluctuates in that particular frequency. And it’s absolutely blissful.”
Local residents Connie Mason (right) and Martin Reece support Falun Dafa.
Connie Mason said that she admired Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and that the practitioners’ event made people feel comfortable and full of good energy. She said such activities bring positive energy to the community and that she might also participate and learn more if she has the opportunity.
She said it was regretful that Falun Dafa practitioners in China cannot practice freely, but that in communist China, people have no chance to exercise their free will or religious beliefs.
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