BLIA SNZ Founding Vice President Visits Temple

On the 14th of January, the founding Vice President of Buddha’s Light International Associtaion (BLIA) South Island New Zealand, Thomas Yang, along with his family of 9 came to the Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South island temple for a visit. They were greeted by Venerable Jue Xi, BLIA President See Shen Lee, Vice President Louisa Kuo, Dharma Lecturer Rona Ku, and other BLIA members at the Cloud Water Cottage.

Thomas Yang was keen to share his past experiences of immigrating to New Zealand, as well as the numerous stories of starting the organisation back in the old days. Fourteen years had lapsed since that momentous episode, and Mr. Yang heart was certainly filled with mixed feelings, thinking back to that time. Although he now resides in Taiwan, his heart still glances towards New Zealand, worrying especially during the Christchurch earthquakes a while ago. He sincerely hopes that the FGS South Island temple can stand up quickly once again, and continue its mission of providing religious services to the greater public.

The audience was also presented with a speech by Thomas's eldest daughter Jennifer Yang, whom spoke out of her experience with the temple, having grown up with it as her parents were regulars there. Under the teachings of the Venerable, she learnt how to be a better person to deal with daily life happenings, and no matter where she went, the Buddhist way comes easily to her. Although the Christchurch temple is rather small, she believes that the devotees are blessed in that they can easily approach the Venerable to seek any wise guidance for matters both large and small.

Venerable Jue Xi later took the opportunity to show Thomas’s family the temple's various achievements in recent years. She showed them the '2014 South Island BLIA members’ activity report' video clip, and also the 'FGS South Island activity report' video. The visiting family was also presented with a copy of the 2015 FGS Calendar, and the 2014 BLIA report. Even though the South Island temple is situated in one of the southern most regions of the world, it is still believed that under the guidance of the Venerable here, BLIA members can still do their part, and let the Buddha's Dharma shine across in Christchurch.