BLIA North Island Chapter Mid-Autumn Festival Online Gathering
As Auckland is still under the closure of alert level 4 due to the Covid-19 Delta Variant pandemic, BLIA North Island held their first online Mid-Autumn Festival gathering on 19th September through ZOOM. This event gathered the members online and aimed to elucidate care to the members. Abbess Manshin, Venerable Rulian, Venerable Miaoyu, the president of BLIA North Island Lintao Yu, presidents and senior advisors from each subchapter, committees, members, and YAD members -collectively around 80 people attended this fantastic gathering event.
The preparation for this event involved president Lintao assembling Thomas, Edwin, Hongkai, and many YAD members to plan and discuss the program. The team also designed a series of fun games related to Buddhism. Games included charades, Buddhist verse word chain, and Kahoot!, which allowed everyone to learn Buddhism and bonded everyone closer in a relaxing atmosphere. This event ended with the well-known theme song 'Faith'.
Abbess Manshin said that life at the Temple was as busy as ever during the lockdown, which involved the Global Buddhism Exam and participating in the online courses organised by the Headquarter. We are so grateful to the president for leading the technical team in overcoming the difficulties and making it possible for everyone to participate in such an important event online. The wisdom of Prajna utilised in serving the public presents us with joy. Such wisdom highlights that the willingness to help and give to others allows us to overcome our hardships no matter how difficult they may be. With the wisdom of Prajna, we can improve ourselves, building our hearts and minds. Therefore, we can accumulate good fortune and wisdom. As long as we have the determination to keep constructing, keep committing and keep giving, the wisdom of Prajna will naturally blossom into a fruitful outcome. Abbess Manshin also mentioned that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is crucial to consider that the moon's light shines beautifully on everyone. The public should also learn to be compassionate so that their hearts are as bright and pure as the full moon. The wisdom of Prajna made everyone’s lives very happy and fulfilling.
President Lintao Yu mentioned that "although the idea of having such an event came in a pretty spontaneous manner, the event was still a success. I am grateful for the concern and guidance from Abbess and venerables and the technical team for their resilience and support. As a result, everyone connected online successfully. Seeing everyone’s eagerness to join this online event, despite the technological challenges many may have encountered within such a process, I feel very pleased." He mentioned that seeing everyone able to gather online and seeing members participating in a happy manner brings him a lot of joy. "Fo Guang Shan is a place where one big family like us comes together. Here, we look after, encourage, and help each other. Moreover, love from the Temple is most important—everyone’s heartfelt, very warming. I hope to return to the Temple as soon as possible and meet you all face to face."
Meggan Lam, the president of subchapter 1, and Pauline Young, president of subchapter 2 said that they missed the Temple and the members during the lockdown very much and had been looking forward to meeting everyone online. "The event today was fascinating. The day before this auspicious event, the YAD were still rehearsing and preparing for the event. The YAD group also helped to guide the members to connect and operate online. Seeing everyone, it was such a blessing."
Yuling Gu, president of subchapter 3, said that the lockdown was very sudden this time around. Yuling expressed her thanks to Abbess Manshin, all the venerables, and everyone at the Temple for their thoughts and consideration, giving everyone peace of mind and stability. She is willing to devote her part to hoping that the epidemic will be over as soon as possible through chanting sutras. Also, preparing for the Buddhist examinations has given her heart a strong sense of stability and joy.
Annie Chang, the president of subchapter 4, said that it was the first time that such gathering was held online. Down from the preparation, all the way to the initiation of the event, the concepts of 3G4G were consistently utilised by all members. The arranged game session gave all participants joy. The detailed step-by-step guidance on technical issues through a telephone connection gave us the confidence to use the technological domains without concerns. The support of the technical team allowed everyone to connect smoothly, which gave us convenience. The fact that everyone was able to connect online gives BLIA members hope that we can follow the footsteps of this generation.
Larry Yang, a YAD member, shared with everyone his recent experience of trimming the lemon tree in front of his house, which was previously blocking the sunlight in his room. He expressed his thanks to Abbess Manshin for guiding him to cut the tree via a video call. Abbess asked, "Will the lemon tree become an olive tree after cutting?”. This question encouraged him to think deeply, and he learned that one must take action to improve self. He summarised his experience by saying that valuing good affinity around us and using wisdom to solve problems in life is very important in bettering oneself. "Thanks once again to Abbess Manshin and Temple; with your care and love, YAD members all feel very warm at heart.