A Sydney Doctor’s Visit
On 25th April 2018, Dr Ven Tan, the founder of Healthpac Medical Centre in Sydney visited Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island while on business trip in New Zealand. He was welcomed by FGS New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin, FGS South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi, Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island Vice President Ding Lihson and 7 other BLIA members.
Venerable Abbess Manshin first led Dr Tan for a tour of the temple sharing with the visitor the design concept adopted for the building. The 4 Bodhisattvas at the external front walls were adopted from the ‘Longmen Grottoes’. The ‘Time Corridor’ was designed to capture the beauty of the rays and shadows from the setting sun, and at the same time, to offer seclusion and serenity. The ‘Buddha Hall’ was designed to allow Buddha in having a open full view of the mountains straight ahead, and it also serves to guide the public towards the right direction. The architectural used for the building reflects the simple and uncontaminated nature of Buddhist practitioners. Abbess informed that the Temple is an Eco-Building and was awarded the ‘NZIA Resene New Zealand Award’ in year 2007, and the ‘Civic Trust Award’ in the same year.
Afterwards, Abbess presented Dr Tan copy of ‘FGS NZ 10th Anniversary Report’, ‘2018 BLIA New Zealand Activities Report’, and ‘Humanistic Buddhism, Holding True in the Original Intents to Buddhism’. Dr Tan commended FGS South Island for their relentless efforts in executing Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s concept of propagating Humanistic Buddhism through Culture and Education. He specially mentioned the [3G4G] Cultural Festival that will be held in May 2018 where 700 primary and secondary school students from Christchurch will come to the Temple and learn about Master Hsing Yun’s [3G4G] concept. The abbess then disclosed that throughout the years, one special character of FGS South Island has been the propagation of Humanistic Buddhism through Arts. FGS South Island has not only invited artists from the east to hold their exhibitions in FGY Art Gallery Christchurch, but also opened up the venue for local artists as well. One exhibition worthy of mentioning is the 2009 embroidery exhibition by Artist Yao Hong Ying. This was the epic event where more than 10,000 people visited the exhibition within a 5 months period. Apart from all these activities, the temple had, during the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake, provided free hot meals to the public. At the same time, FGS South Island cooperated with New Zealand Police in the after-quake relieve services, including searching for missing people, negotiating with family members of the deceased, arranging for funeral services and spiritual counselling services.
At the end of his visit, Dr Tan thanked the abbess for her hospitality. He praised the temple for having its own character, and the temple management for adopting an unique approach to propagate Humanistic Buddhism, departing from the traditional ways by which Buddhist temples in the Western countries normally follow. As for the Temple itself, both its exterior architecture and its interior arrangement were all artistically done. Dr Tan expressed his joy in visiting FGS South Island Buddhist Temple and hoped to, in future, expand his business to New Zealand. He will then invite more of his colleagues to visit the temple.