FGS South Island Welcomed Chinese New Year with ‘New Year Eve Dharma Function’
On the evening of 4th February 2019, Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island hosted a ‘Chinese New Year Eve Dharma Function’, attended by 200 devotees and Buddhists’ Light International Association (BLIA) South Island members. The evening’s activities were many and included praying ceremony to Buddha, sutra chanting, light offering, incense offering, striking of ‘Peace Bell’, picking of ‘New Year Words of Dharma Wisdom’, presentation of ‘Red Packet’ and Master Hsing Yun’s New Year Calligraphy as gifts by Venerable Jue Xi, feasting of auspicious congee and Sutra transcription. The evening’s atmosphere was lively and gay with Chinese making up the majority of the crowd, mixing with people of other ethnicities.
At the Buddha Hall, FGS South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi led the congregation in the prayer to Buddha and the chanting of “88 Buddha Repentance Sutra”, in Light offering and finally in bidding farewell to the Buddha, Master Hsing Yun, FGS Chief Abbot Venerable Xin Bao, and FGS New Zealand Abbess Manshin, in appreciation of their guidance in the past year. In her speech, Venerable Jue Xi said that, this year around, ‘Happiness, Peace, Joy and Wealth’ are the New Year presents FGS give to the people. This year is the year of the Pig and Pig depicts well-roundedness and wealth, and it also signifies a good new beginning.
In this evening, the Buddha Hall was filled with an air of joy and happiness radiated by the joyous crowd. At the end of the Dharma session, each devotee was presented with an auspicious Red Packet and Master Hsing Yun’s New Year calligraphy: ‘Always Well-rounded and Auspicious’, After this, some devotees participated in the striking of the ‘Peace Bell’, some took part in the picking of ‘Words of Dharma Wisdom’, while others were engrossed in the offering of lighted candles and flowers to the Buddha.
For this New Year Eve celebration, Venerable Jue Xi specially prepared the auspicious longan congee for the devotees to enjoy in the Water Drop Café. The devotees were full of praises for the congee. The response was overwhelming and, in all, more than 200 bowls of congee were distributed. Also in the activity list were the citing of ‘cultural alley’ and the FGS Vegefest and the Sutra transcription venue. At the strike of the clock announcing the arrival of the Chinese New Year, some devotees rushed to be the first to offer incense to Buddha. There was a steady stream of visitors throughout and the Temple was bustling with lively activities. The local Kiwis also joined in the joyous celebration and felt honoured to be able to participate in the event! The ‘Chinese New Year Eve Dharma Function and Celebration’ finally successfully ended at 1am Chinese New Year Day with everyone welcoming a new start in the year of the Pig.