Christian elderly Group visit FGS South Island
“Love has no boundaries”, as long as there is love in the heart, we can learn from any religion and make a better community. On the 18th of September, 21 elderly folk from St Michael All Angels Church led by Judith M Kaskel visited the Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island temple in Christchurch to exchange ideas on how to organise beneficial activities for the community. Judith had visited the Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery Christchurch before and this time she brought some of her church friends to visit.
Buddha Light International Association (BLIA) member Craig welcome the visitors and showed them around the temple. He took them to see Sarah Deans and Dean Buchanan’s oil paintings, the Time Corridor, the main shrine, and library. Besides that, Craig also briefed them on some of the activities that FGS have participated in recently such as the “Red Cross Meals on Wheels” and the “3G4G Festival of Cultural Sharing”.
The group were all Christians, yet they came in with an open mind to learn more about Buddhism. They inspected every corner closely and were deeply respectful of the solemn Buddha statue. Someone asked what was the meaning behind the lotus finger displayed by the Buddha. They were also interested in the layout of everything in the main shrine, touching the drum and bells, and kneeling on the mats. A few of them also asked for the schedule for the weekly prayers and lessons, hoping to come and participate some time in the future.
At the end of the visit, Judith said it was an invaluable and mind opening visit for everyone. Not only did they learn more about Buddhism, the exchange also helped them to develop a better understanding of what FGS has been doing in the Christchurch community. All of the elderly folks left with happy faces, and said that they would definitely visit again in the future.