(Minghui.org) To celebrate the coming 2025 Mid-Autumn Festival, Falun Dafa practitioners in Australia and New Zealand gathered to send greetings to their founder, Master Li Hongzhi, and express gratitude for the teachings that guide them and offer people hope amid the chaos in today’s world. Practitioners said Master Li teaches them to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in improving themselves. They found the key to happiness, cultivating their hearts and minds, which leads to better health, inner peace, and conflict resolution.

(Continued from previous article)

Practicing Dafa is the Most Wonderful Thing in My Life

Zhang Dan from South Australia wishes Master a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

Zhang Dan from South Australia, who has practiced Falun Dafa for 26 years, said that cultivation helps her remain calm and rational, and she no longer fusses over trivial things. She instead strives to do well in all her roles, looks for her own shortcomings when conflicts arise, and remains steadfast in her faith in Dafa and Master despite difficulties. Every day she is bathed in the joy of obtaining the Fa.

Zhang Dan said she was raised by her grandparents, and they often told her mythological stories, so she believed in spiritual cultivation and divine beings. “When I first read Zhuan Falun, I was immediately drawn to it. Especially when Master said in the book that Falun Dafa allows cultivators to reach Consummation in this lifetime. I thought it was wonderful, and I wanted to practice.”

She and her husband were running a small restaurant and shop in Adelaide at that time, and were working day and night. By the age of 30, she developed a herniated disc. She needed help from family just to put on socks in the morning, and had to use a spectrum lamp to heat her back for 40 minutes before she began her day. In June 1999, a relative brought her a copy of Zhuan Falun. She sat up all night and read it, and continued reading whenever she had a spare moment while minding the shop the next day—she couldn’t put it down. Three days later, her family reminded her that she had not used the spectrum lamp. She then realized that her back was no longer in pain. She brought all of Master’s writings home, and eagerly read them. The more she read, the brighter her heart felt. Her husband and children also began practicing.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Dafa a month later. But during that time of study and practice, Dafa had already taken root in her heart. She did not waver in the least. Even when her relatives in China pressured her, she did not give up cultivation.

“I believe every word Master says. I understood that the true purpose of life is cultivation, to return to one’s original, true self. At that time, I even thought that I had finally found Dafa and decided to practice well, and then such a thing happened? Watching the slander on television, I thought, “I have read all of Master’s works, and it [the CCP] is lying.” I still didn’t clearly recognize what the CCP was back then. I wondered how the media of such a large country could lie like this. During the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, I was in Beijing and believed what was shown on TV. I didn’t realize it was lies. But this time I knew what the media was saying was all lies. In Master’s books, none of it was like what they claimed. Zhuan Falun only teaches people to be good, to awaken people’s innate kindness. It teaches people to cultivate themselves, and to return to one’s true self. For 26 years I’ve read this book every day.”

To clarify the truth, she and her husband made a cart and display racks, and bring display boards to Chinatown. They were among the first practitioners to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa there. This truth-clarification site has persisted for nearly 26 years.

Zhang Dan said that since she began cultivating she has taken gains and losses lightly, and when problems arise, she uses Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance as her guide, and looks within during conflicts. “I check whether the problem lies with me, where I need to improve. Once I understand, changes happen immediately. Sometimes emotions fluctuate, but when I study the Fa and measure myself with Dafa, everything is corrected and attachments are naturally abandoned.”

Not long after she obtained the Fa, her husband also began practicing, and the children practice as well. Later, by learning from other practitioners’ experience sharing, she realized that she could also study the Fa with her children. At the time, her daughter was eight and her son was six. They started by reading one section of the Chinese version of Zhuan Falun each day. Every summer holiday Zhang Dan held nine-day Falun Dafa classes at her home, and taught people the exercises for free. She invited new students to watch the videos of Master’s lectures. The children also watched. Later, the children often listened to the lectures themselves. Even if they didn’t recognize certain characters while reading the book, they still read them aloud because they had listened so many times. When they were sick the children asked to listened to Master’s lectures, and they recovered the next day. Her daughter was well-behaved from a young age, and won multiple model student awards at school. Her son also enjoyed helping others. Relatives praised them as the most thoughtful of the twelve children in the family.

“After we began cultivating I seldom scolded them. When problems came up, I would say, ‘Think about whether this conforms to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.’ They realized it themselves. When I occasionally complained about work, my daughter reminded me to look inward and not to be calculating or resentful. They are both grown, but they still practice Falun Dafa.”

Zhang Dan said that practicing Dafa is the most wonderful thing in her life. She is grateful for Dafa’s guidance and Master’s protection. Her life has steadily followed the path of cultivation. She’s returned to her true self and attained true happiness.

Thinking More of Others and Cherishing Their Innate Goodness

New practitioner Nguyen Thanh Nga, said cultivation enabled her to be more peaceful and calm.

Nguyen Thanh Nga, a Vietnamese-Australian who recently began practicing Falun Dafa, just received her Ph.D. in Economics this year.

She first heard about Falun Dafa in late 2022. At the time, she was collaborating with a friend on a project. The friend told her that he had practiced Falun Dafa for six years.

“I thought he was very kind, always ready to help others, calm, and peaceful. He encouraged me to learn Falun Dafa, but it wasn’t until almost a year later that I started practicing. In August 2023, I went to a park in Melbourne to learn the exercises from Falun Dafa practitioners. One practitioner gave me the precious book Zhuan Falun. The more I read, the more deeply I realized that Falun Dafa was not just an ordinary qigong for healing, but a profound cultivation practice that follows the highest characteristics of the universe, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and teaches people to cultivate their hearts, refine their character, and show compassion to all beings. I feel especially fortunate to have the opportunity to practice Falun Dafa.”

Nguyen Thanh Nga felt as if she had been reborn after she began practicing. “I learned how to improve myself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, to be considerate in my words, actions, and conduct. When I let go of selfishness, anger, aggressiveness, and other negative attachments, I felt lighter, healthier, and my heart became more peaceful and serene. Master taught us that human nature is inherently good, and through cultivation we can return to our true selves and go back to our heavenly home. With this realization, I’ve learned to cherish everyone’s inner goodness. Whether at home, at work, or in daily life, I can treat people kindly and think more of others.”

As her cultivation and moral standards improved, Nguyen Thanh Nga found that her surrounding environment quietly changed as well. “Many research projects suddenly progressed smoothly, and interpersonal relationships became increasingly harmonious. I was fortunate to meet many sincere and kind friends who gave me great support in both life and career.”

Nguyen Thanh Nga’s mother and her cousin, a senior bank manager, also began practicing Falun Dafa recently. Through reading Zhuan Falun, their moral character and health improved significantly. “Our entire family is very grateful to Master. He has taught us truths that we yearned to understand but that no one had explained before. My mother, who is a businesswoman, said that her neck and headaches miraculously disappeared after only a few days of reading Zhuan Falun. The husband of one of my mother’s friends recently underwent leg surgery and was in critical condition. After my mother introduced Falun Dafa to him and his family, he miraculously recovered overnight.”

On this Mid-Autumn Festival, Nguyen Thanh Nga said, “Our whole family, along with all Falun Dafa practitioners in Perth, are grateful to Master for bestowing upon us this once-in-a-million-years universal Dafa—Falun Dafa. Thank you, Master, for your compassionate protection and teachings. We wish Master a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!”