Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival in FGS South Island
‘On the mid-autumn night, the moon is bright and full, and it is the time to meet up with old friends.’ So, to those staying overseas away from home, mid- autumn festival is the time for them to gather together to celebrate and to reminisce about their homelands. To facilitate the celebration of mid-autumn festival by the Chinese community in Christchurch, and to allow the local Kiwi populace to gain a deeper understanding of the Chinese culture, Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island organised a ‘Moon Festival Gala Dinner’ at the Water Drop Café on 22nd September 2018 for its devotees and their friends.
On that evening, more than 80 people, young and old, comprising of members of Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island and the Christchurch public attended the dinner. The guests of honour included Christchurch artist Paul Deans and spouse, Sarah Deans, Suzy Abbott, President of Christchurch Huaxing Association Mr. Chan, BLIA South Island President Bernie, Advisor John Lai and Dharma Lecturer Rona Ku. The whole venue was filled with gaiety and smiling faces.
At the Water Drop Café, colourful lanterns, hanging from the ceiling and emitting glimpses of candle light, added a festive atmosphere to the gathering. As the Sun set, FGS New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin led the gathering in a light offering ceremony and the chanting of Master Hsing Yun’s “Preyer for Light Offering”, all at once filling the hall with peace and tranquillity. In her speech, Venerable Abbess explained that Moon (Mid-Autumn) Festival is a traditional Chinese festival. A round moon has always enjoyed an important place in the hearts of the Chinese. There were approximately 300 pieces of Chinese poems written using ‘Moon’ as the background material. Venerable Abbess finally ended her speech by telling the story of ‘The Moon is Watching Over You’. With this story, Abbess encouraged the public to act with kindness, to take part in charity works, and to come more often to the Temple to help Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi to attain bigger achievements.
The dinner was served in Western style, and every serving inevitably drew praises from the diners, prompting them to savour the fine cuisine in no time. Before the dinner ended, the BLIA South Island team entertained the gathering with the song ‘There Fo Guang Member in everywhere” inducing a new climax to the cheerful crowd and ending the gala dinner on a high note.