ARA Fo Guang Club Attracts New Members at Orientation Festival via ZOOM
To help young people find their spiritual home in this time of the Delta pandemic, as well as to build up proper understanding of Buddhism, New Zealand South Island Young Adult Division (YAD) leader Ni Ling Chia and North Island YAD members went online together on 10th September to attract new students from ARA Institute of Canterbury at an online orientation session. NZ North Island YAD participants Karzin Leong and Thomas Lai joined in with the NZ South Island YAD, and spoke to more than 10 ARA students that came from New Zealand, Korea, India, China, Malaysia and other countries.
The orientation session included a self-introduction icebreaker, an overview of the temple and activities, the Humanistic Buddhism philosophy, listening to Dharma stories, sharing about life topics, the Buddhist song Harmonise, and upcoming activity promotion. The goal was to let students understand how Venerable Master Hsing Yun envisioned the Dharma through the concept of Three Goods and Four Givings, and how the Dharma is realized through living life itself.
An English story produced by the Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism’s International Center - "The Blind Man Playing with a Lantern" - was shown to convey the teachings of the Buddha as akin to lighting a lantern through darkness. Even though the lights outside may go out, as long as the light in the heart does not die, the light will always exist. With a light in one's heart, one can see clearly what is right and wrong, good and bad. One does not have to rely on the external world to help oneself, but as long as one has a light in one's heart, one can drive away the darkness, see and understand everything with the light of one's heart, stay away from evil and confusion, and grow in wisdom. The vivid stories enlightened the minds of the participants, and the lessons in them were like sweet dew, injecting a reassuring force into even the most troubled lives. The song "Harmonize" was also played, with the moving melody and meaningful lyrics inspiring and showing the hope that Buddhism brings, moving the students and increasing their confidence in Buddhism.
Ni Ling Chia welcomed the new students to join the club and was happy to have new blood in the club, so that they can communicate and learn from each other in the future. In the coming weeks, we hope that students will participate more in the activities organized by the club and arrange time to visit the temple, so that they can have more opportunities to learn new things. Certainly, these small bodhi seeds given time, will definitely grow and shine, and eventually light the lamp for more people!