Australia: Practitioners Hold Activities in Downtown Melbourne to Commemorate April 25, 1999 Peaceful Appeal (Photos)

By a practitioner in Melbourne

(Clearwisdom.net) To commemorate the 6^th anniversary of the April 25 peaceful appeal of around ten thousand practitioners in Beijing, Melbourne practitioners held a series of activities, including explaining the facts to world's people, sending forth righteous thoughts and protesting the Chinese Communist Regime's brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

April 25 is a holiday in Australia and New Zealand both. It is called ANZAC Day, and honors all who died in wars, and memorializes in particular the troops who were slaughtered at Gallipoli in World War I. ANZAC is an acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Falun Gong practitioners took advantage of this opportunity to remind people to pay attention to those tortured to death in China and those being persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime.

Practitioners send forth righteous thoughts

Practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts in front of the Chinese Consulate from 9 am to 12 pm and then gathered in a downtown square. Some practitioners held banners or poster boards, some sat in rows and meditated, some distributed truth clarification materials and answered questions. The music Pudu was played and practitioners made speeches.

A young man learns the exercises on site

Passers-by stop and ask questions

In his speech, a practitioner explained the April 25 peaceful appeal and the ongoing brutal persecution in China. He also reminded people that Tianjin, the sister city of Melbourne, was the first city to initiate the large scale persecution of Falun Gong in China. Two others recounted their own cultivation experiences.

Many passers-by listen practitioners' speech

Passers-by read posters

Many passers-by were moved by the practitioners' speeches. Some asked how they could help.

Reading a flyer

A man talks to a practitioner for quite a while

A Vietnamese Chinese who had never heard of Falun Gong before was eager to learn the facts. He said he would read Zhuan Falun online after listening to a practitioner's explanation. Another young man said that he would read Zhuan Falun now that he knows the truth. A practitioner read Lunyu to him and he said, "Wonderful! I believe that my life will change from today." He asked the practitioner to teach him the exercises.

After sunset, practitioners lighted candlelight and sent forth righteous thoughts. The event ended at 7 pm.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/4/27/100572.html

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