2020 Chinese New Year Prayer Session cum Reunion Dinner at FGS South Island
On 18th January 2020, Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island held its 2020 Chinese New Year Prayer Session cum Reunion Dinner, attracting the participation of 130 people. Among those who attended were New Zealand Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton board member Helen Broughton, Debbie Mora, Canterbury Multicultural Society President Dr Surinder Tandon, New Zealand Constable Liying Cai, Christchurch Artists Mr and Mrs Keith Morant, Mr Justine de Spa and spouse, Mr Shayne Rusbatch and spouse, Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island President Bernie, BLIA Advisor John Lai, BLIA members, and local Chinese and Kiwis.
Before the start of the prayer session, the congregation was shown a video presentation of Master Hsing Yun’s New Year Speech. In it, Master Hsing Yun encouraged everyone with the following message: “New Year brings with it freshness and rejuvenation, and is the time to discard our past weaknesses and bad habits. Often our wishes for New Year are to have Happiness and Wealth. In fact, Good Health and Peaceful Life can be considered as our Wealth. Our Wealth also includes our good relationship with others, and we are Wealthy if we possess Compassion and a Buddha’s Heart. Making vows to do good deeds is equivalent to acquiring Wealth. Giving others ‘Joy, Confidence, Hope, and Convenience’ may also be considered as cultivating affinity with others.” Finally, the video presentation ended with Master Hsing Yun blessing everyone with his New Year calligraphy scroll ‘Every Journey in this world is a path to happiness’.
Following the video presentation, FGS New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin together with other Venerables led the congregation in a praying session. Other than praying for an auspicious New Year ahead, the congregation also recited prayer for the victims of the recent Australian bush fires and the rescuing teams involved. The congregation was visibly moved by the kind and compassionate words of Master Hsing Yun in the prayer because these words not only smothered wounds but also gave rise to hope for the future. Afterwards in her speech, Venerable Abbess Manshin delivered the following message: “New Year represents a new chapter. We should not carry the unpleasantness and worries of the past year into the New Year. We should have new ideas, new ways of doing things, and new drives for the New Year. Not letting old worries resurface is a new beginning. Not allowing the past obstacles hinder us is a new beginning. Getting rid of our 5 evils, namely, greed, anger, ignorance, sloth, and suspicion, is also a new beginning. In fact, wisdom is the greatest wealth one can possess. We hope that everyone can acquire wisdom and thereafter become wealthy and pass each day in peace and happiness”
In her speech, local Board member Helen Broughton told the congregation that she has already established a close rapport with Venerable Abbess Manshin for a period spending 15 years, and has built up a very strong relationship with Abbess. Helen claimed that one important lesson she has learnt from Abbess is that, when faced with problems, you have to maintain a positive attitude to resolve the problems.
In his address to the congregation, BLIA South Island President Bernie thanked Venerable Abbess for leading BLIA South Island to successfully launch a series of activities, eg, the Coffee and Chocolate Festival which brought warmth to Christchurch in the winter month; and the Embracing Love and Peace which brought joy and confidence back to Christchurch through the combined well wishes and blessings of the various Religious Faiths. Through the launching of these activities, BLIA members were able to bring together their common intent of carrying out good deeds, and at the same time, through these activities, they also managed to build a strong friendship among themselves. All the above are in line with Master Hsing Yun’s teachings and have fulfilled the ideals expounded by FGS’s Humanistic Buddhism. President Bernie hoped that members of BLIA would continue to support Venerable Abbess Manshin in her effort to launch more useful activities for the local community.
Later in the evening, the congregation adjourned to the Water Drop Café and the Dining Hall for a reunion dinner. The guests were full of praises for the delicious vegetarian dishes and were amazed by the how simple vegetarian food could turn out to be so tasty. They praised FGS for the effort put in to prepare the food. The guests were also treated to a Lion Dance performance by the local Lion Dance troupe. While the dinner was in progress, FGS Young Adults Division (YAD) members added liveliness to the occasion by presenting a singing cum dancing performance. So much youthful aura was emanated that even the guests could not resist but joined in the fun.
At the end of the dinner, Venerable Abbess wished everyone an auspicious New Year and presented to each a Red Packet and Master Hsing Yun’s New Year calligraphy scroll ‘Every Journey in This World Is a Path to Happiness’. The guests were full of praises for the well-organised celebration and were pleasantly surprised by each activity of the day. The local Kiwi guests were especially taken in by the rich Chinese culture emanated by this New Year celebration. Such joyful and well organised celebration had indeed left an unforgettable imprint on them!