Annual Reunion Dinner

As a token of appreciation to the volunteers and devotees for their contribution, time, energy and effort throughout the past year, on the 16th of January, the annually held Fo Guang Shan South Island Reunion Dinner was held.

Venerable Abbess Manshin led everyone who attended in chanting; those present were VIPs’ Christchurch MP Lianne Dalziel, Representative for Labour Party’s MP Brendon Burns, Sam Yau, Riccarton Wigram Community Board District Council members’ President Chen Jin Long as well as Buddha’s Light International Association South Island Committee and it’s Young Adults Division, totaling around 350 people.

Abbess Manshin focused her talk on this year’s Dharma words by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, which are “Earnest Cultivation Yields Fruitful Harvests”, as well as the idea of acknowledging the contribution and effort put in by volunteers and devotees.

Abbess emphasized and explained the meaning of “Earnest Cultivation Yields Fruitful Harvests”; that is to motivate the public to be diligent in their lives and cultivate their hearts to achieve holistic internal and external harvests.

During the Dharma function, Abbess Manshin presented everyone with an “Earnest Cultivation Yields Fruitful Harvests” red packet as a gesture of sending out her blessings to all the attendees of the Dharma function.

After the function, a series of entertaining performances were showcased to the audience. This included the lion dance, drum performances, Chinese traditional instrumental using the “Gu Zhen”, Indian belly dance, traditional Taiwanese dance “Shan Di Wu” and many more, which the audience clearly enjoyed.

The guests were evidently absorbed in both the performances and the delicious food prepared by the Temple, as the vegetarian buffet style cuisine was devoured almost instantly and many sets of eyes were fixed on the stage in the courtyard.

BLIA South Island Young Adults Division also sang and performed the hand gestures for the songs “Harmonise”, “Droplets of Gratitude” and “Transform and Contribute”, where the youths also encouraged the audience to join in.

Through Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Dharma words “Earnest Cultivation Yields Fruitful Harvests”, Abbess wished everyone a happy new year, and hoped that they will make the most out of the year 2009.

Account by Fan-Ping Chiang and Sheng-Han Lim