(Minghui.org) The City of Blacktown in Western Sydney once again invited Falun Dafa practitioners to participate in its annual Streets Alive and Parade Day on May 28, 2022. Practitioners have participated in the annual event for over two decades, and local residents and the hosts always enjoy their performances. The Falun Dafa entry has been awarded first place many times. A city councilor praised practitioners for “bringing mankind a peaceful message.”
Through the annual event, the city showcases its multiculturalism and rich history. As part of the day’s activities, besides participating in the parade, practitioners demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises. The peaceful music and graceful movements drew many spectators. After learning about Falun Dafa’s teachings, Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, some said that the practice brought people with different cultural backgrounds together, and the principles show the world the values it needs.
Falun Dafa Brings Mankind Peaceful Message
Kathie Collins, Blacktown City Councilor and recipient of the Medal of Order of Australia (OAM), praised the practitioners for “bringing mankind a peaceful message.” She said that she was pleased to see practitioners participating in the events, “We welcome Falun Dafa to stay in Blacktown,” she said.
Ms. Collins said that she liked and remembered Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. She believed that the principles benefit society and that if people lacked compassion they would fail, “If we lack compassion, then we have lost our conscience.”
City councilor Jess Diaz said that the practitioners’ parade group was one of the best ones he’s seen and that he was glad to see them participate every year. “Indeed it is one of the best groups I have seen. I know that they worked hard for this. Their performances are truly magnificent. Thank you for coming to Blacktown,” he said. When asked about the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance, he said, “We all believe in these principles.”
Tony Bleasdale, mayor of Blacktown and recipient of OAM, praised practitioners for adding their contribution to the community. He said that their entry in the parade was marvelous and, “Having a variety of groups in the city to join the parade is our goal.”
Local Residents Praise Falun Dafa
The practitioners demonstrated the exercises and many people learned about Falun Dafa. Some people said that they could feel the peaceful energy coming from practitioners as they did the exercises. Some local residents left their contact information so that the practitioners could teach them how to do the exercises later.
Kylie Ceti said that practitioners’ entry in the parade caught people’s attention, “My sons definitely enjoyed it.” She also said that Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are good values for a society to uphold. After a practitioner told her about the Chinese regime’s 23-year-long persecution of Falun Dafa in China, she said that some people don’t want the public to be aware of it. “I am glad that practitioners continue to tell people the facts and wake more people up. They spread the values of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance to society.”
She believed that everyone has the right to freedom of speech and that no one should be punished for it, “Practitioners didn’t do anything wrong.”
After talking to the practitioners, Doris Vella praised the practitioners for bringing people with different cultural backgrounds together, and showing them what the world really needs. “We need Truth—it is what we believe in. Compassion is being kind to others, and heals everything,” she said.
When she heard that the persecution is still happening in China after 23 years, she said, “It’s terrible, The Chinese Communist Party will never win because it’s persecuting good people.” She encouraged practitioners to continue their efforts in exposing the persecution and having more people to support their effort. “God sees everything,” she said.
Background: What Is Falun Dafa?
Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide.
Millions of people who have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance—and learned the five exercises have experienced improved health and well-being.
Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, issued an order to ban the practice.
Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 22 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.
There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.
Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organisation with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.
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