First Post-Lockdown Birthday Celebration in FGS South Island
On 21st June 2020, the 1st Subchapter of Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island organized a Birthday Celebration for 7 of its members whose birthdays fall on the months of June and July 2020. The celebration was attended by 40 people with Fo Guang Shan (FGS) New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin and FGS South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi participating as Guests of Honor. BLIA members celebrated the occasion by singing the Happy Birthday song and cutting the birthday cake prepared by the Water Drop Café. BLIA South Island President Bernie, who was a birthday boy himself, represented BLIA in thanking Abbess Manshin for the meticulous preparation of the occasion.
In her opening speech, Abbess Manshin pointed out that at the time when the whole World was faced with Covid-19 pandemic, under the wise leadership of our Government, and with the relentless efforts of our frontline workers and the cooperation of the people, New Zealand was able to overcome the dangers posed by the pandemic and emerged from the Lockdown safely. For this, we should all be grateful for the ability to lead a safe and healthy life. As for the recent unfortunate incident leading to the demise of a New Zealand Police officer, we should look back and ask ourselves what can we do to help the Police in this situation? We are fortunate that being Buddhists, we can seek the help of the Dharma and the positive energy of our institution to bless the Police force in their course of duty serving the community.
Venerable Jue Xi mentioned in her speech that every member of BLIA is a practitioner of Humanistic Buddhism and should feel proud to be a Buddhist. She pointed out that Venerable Abbess Manshin is a modern-day Bhiksuni (female Venerable) who has been quite involved in many national high-level decision-making meetings of the Country. Because of her accessibility, Abbess is able to introduce Buddhist thinking to mainstream New Zealand society, making it an important stabilizing force of society.
At the birthday party, members were served with sumptuous food. After the party, participants adjourned to Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch for the “Calm and Chaos” Art Exhibition. The birthday party had indeed allowed BLIA members to enjoy a joyous evening.