The activities of promoting Dafa in New York City in early September were closely followed by a week of preparation for the experience sharing conference held in Sydney, Australia. These activities included promoting and protecting Falun Dafa. The practitioners that had returned from New York threw themselves into those activities, together with those who had already been busy spreading and protecting Dafa in Australia.
The preparation began several days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Practitioners from Taiwan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Singapore joined in the activities.
The local government in Sydney was generally not willing to approve applications for any activities that did not directly relate to the Olympic games for a period of two weeks before the games began. . The practitioners wanted to apply for a permit to exhibit materials and pictures in Chinatown during this sensitive period. The Olympic torch was to arrive in Chinatown on September 14th. It was already the evening of September 11th when they decided to apply for the permit. Accordingly, they called the administration office of the local government. The reply was that since the Olympic torch was going to arrive at Chinatown on the 14th, the 12th was the last day that the local government would decide. A letter was hand written and faxed to the government office on the 12th. The local administration was very familiar with Falun Dafa promotion activities. Because the practitioners never inconvenienced the government and always left a favorable impression, the application was approved the same day! As a result, on the 13th of September many yellow T-shirts worn by smiling Falun Dafa practitioners could be seen among the huge crowd. Falun Dafa materials were sent home with people from all over the world!
Additionally, the practitioners decided to apply to demonstrate in front of the Chinese Consulate in Sydney on September 14th, the day the Olympic torch would arrive. Normally the local police station would accept and approve this sort of application. However requests had to be approved by the Police Administration Office during this special time. There was only a couple of days left, usually nine working days were required for approval. The local police station described the process to us in detail and even supported us. They let the Police Administration Office know of our good behavior during similar demonstrations. As a result, an exception was made and we were permitted to petition in front of the Chinese Consulate.
These two incidents show that Dafa disciples, through all kinds of activities in society, can display the mighty virtue of Falun Dafa. I think it very important, for our spreading and protecting Dafa and revealing the truth to people around the world, to demonstrate the bearing that a practitioner should have. Here is a case in point. Practitioners can be seen peacefully protesting before the Sidney Chinese Consulate almost every Sunday. In more than a year of persistent petition activities, they have been unperturbedly facing various kinds of disturbances and threats from the Consulate. The policemen saw these with their eyes and remembered them in their hearts. Every time that we had petition activities in front of the Chinese Consulate, there were only a few policemen on duty, sometimes they did not even show up. The police trust the practitioners. They were always so friendly towards us, talking and laughing. Though the Chinese Consulate put a large pile of materials fabricated by Jiang Zhemin, and his accomplice inside the iron gate, the policemen became more and more supportive and at ease with our activities. Those fabricated materials never influenced them.
During the period before and after the conference, there was full participation from Australian practitioners, and from different regions, in Dafa promoting activities. More importantly, there was great support from the practitioners of other countries. There was a Mid-Autumn Festival in another city on September 12th. . Hong Kong practitioners who had flown for 8 or 9 hours, attended Dafa promotion activities in that city. On September 13th, dozens of practitioners headed directly for the local University, to promote Dafa. On September 14th, the overseas practitioners became the center of attention there. If it were not for the unselfish support from these practitioners, it would not have been such a success.
On September 15th, there was a large-scale activity at Manly Sports Field. Practitioners were in their yellow T-shirts, and more than two hundred mats for meditation formed a square in the sports field. All around were Falun Dafa banners and balloons. There was even a large balloon , 5 meters high, on which were written " Falun Dafa" and "Truth-Compassion and Tolerance" in English. At the gate of the sports field was a model of the book Zhuan Falun with a dimension of 0.3x1.5x1 meters sitting on a lotus flower. The whole Sports Field had a solemn, sacred and serene atmosphere, which attracted a lot of local residents. A lady said to us, "Thank you for doing this" , and "It's so beautiful!"
On Sept. 17, the 4th Experience Sharing Conference in Australia was held in the Panther's Club in Perth. More than 400 practitioners from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and China attended the conference. From 8:30 to 9:30 am, practitioners had a large-scale exercise practice in the park in front of the Meeting Hall. Just as the previous large-scale practices, it attracted a lot of Chinese officials that came to join in the fun. Although they tried to disguise themselves as practitioners, their way of speaking and behaving were quite far away from that of Falun Dafa practitioners. It was very easy to tell them apart. However, we did not treat them differently. After all, we live in the same historical period, when Dafa was given to man. They could come near to Dafa, which is owing to their predestined relationships. They should be able to tell right from wrong and distinguish the true from the false. They must choose wether they can accept Dafa or not. .
In the morning, Australian SBS TV Station recorded over two hours of the Experience Sharing Conference. In the morning, the speeches were mainly given by the western practitioners. The speeches in the afternoon had emphasis on protecting and spreading Dafa, as well as revealing the truth to the world. There were experiences about appealing in Mainland China. There were speeches from Taiwanese practitioners. There was an introduction about protecting and spreading Dafa at the practice sites of the Australian practitioners. After 4 o'clock, practitioners made free speeches, sharing their experiences. The Conference came to an end at 6 o'clock.
During the days following the experience sharing conference, there was an extraordinary amount of people in Sydney due to the Olympic games. Practitioners from other countries, together with those of Australia, were unceasingly busy among different groups of people. Some were distributing materials. Others were walking back and forth in their yellow T-shirts with the words "China: Stop persecuting Falun Gong". Some practitioners in Sydney took time off from work in order to attend these activities. Others voluntarily went to the busy places of the city, after work, to promote Dafa. The overseas practitioners were even more dedicated to protecting and spreading Dafa. A Taiwan practitioner was distributing open letters downtown two hours before her flight was leaving. Some practitioners said to her, " it's about time for you to go to the airport"! She said half-jokingly, "I will not return before I finish distributing the materials in my hand."
During this period, a lot of Sidney practitioners printed "FALUN DAFA" and the web sites such as www.falundafa.org on banners and attached them to their car windows.
There were so many instances that displayed the benevolence of our Master, the mighty virtue of Dafa and the upright behavior of practitioners. There were so many good things happening that it is hard to list them all. Moreover, practitioners are doing what they can for Dafa and for humankind. Practitioners have an unselfish heart: to tell the truth of Falun Dafa to all people, to introduce Dafa to those with predestined relationships, and let every person have a chance to choose his future position.
Practice of Falun Dafa is the only chance for one to return to one's true origin, when he lives in the time that Dafa is promulgated to mankind. Therefore, no matter how much we have done in spreading and protecting Dafa, it isn't enough. Many more lives are waiting for the chance to choose their future positions. There are still people with predestined relationships that are waiting unknowingly. Hence, we still need to make efforts in assisting Teacher in the human world, clarifying the truth with wisdom, and spreading the Fa with benevolence.
Australian Falun Dafa practitioner Qiwen
Sept. 20, 2000