Celebrates BLIA Day with Fruitful Conference

On the 17th of May, Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) South Island New Zealand commemorated BLIA day at the George Hotel in Christchurch by hosting a “BLIA South Island NZ General and Executive Conference” for BLIA South Island members. That day, BLIA organised several interesting topics for the conference, given by various speakers, including Fo Guang Shan (FGS) NZ Venerable Abbess Manshin, FGS South Island temple supervisor Venerable Jue Xi, BLIA South Island President See Shen Lee, Vice President Louisa Kuo and several other senior BLIA staff. About 50 people attended the conference, consisting of various BLIA staff, members, and the Youth Adult Division (YAD).

Venerable Jue Xi began the day's conference with the topic titled “An introduction to FGS and BLIA”, in order for the attendees to be clear on what they both are, and the close relationship between the two groups. Venerable Jue Xi said that FGS and BLIA are like the two wings of a bird, co-existing and supporting each other; with FGS acting like a sturdy shield (support role) whereas BLIA is the spear pointing forward (pioneer role). On one hand, the FGS monastic help to develop Buddhists who are good spirited, focusing on a person's inner cultivation of a right mindset, to enhance one's personality and attitude. On the other hand, the BLIA group gives members the opportunity to be a part of society, servicing others in a practical manner, whilst protecting and maintaining the Buddhist way. Venerable Jue Xi encourages everyone to use this strong FGS-BLIA foundation as a starting point of our daily life pursuits, beginning from our own families, transmitting it to the wider society, and eventually, spreading good to the world stage. This foundation allows for many great possibilities to happen, and it is hoped that we can all shine through and achieve our goals by being a BLIA follower.

The second session was divided into four parts. President See Shen Lee and Vice President Louisa Kuo began first, speaking about “Activity Planning and Leading”, wherein it is only with more activities that things will become fresh and lively, and activities themselves carry power with them. They continued by outlining recommended directions for BLIA members such as: enabling the arts and education sectors, establishing services for the society, in order to create a pure land on Earth; all of which can increase wisdom and understanding. The next part was led by Vice President Louisa Kuo and Elsa Hayes whom shared their experiences of local charity work in a talk titled “The role of care group”. Following on was director Mei-Hwa, Chen and West One Sub-chapter Mary Wong whom also shared some of their leadership experiences under the title of “The role and responsibilities Sub Chapters presidents”. The four-part session finished with vice president James Low and Director Benny Wong listing eight points on “How to be a BLIA fellow”.

Last but not least, Venerable Abbess Manshin gave her talk entitled “The role of BLIA on the world stage”. Abbess Manshin told of how Venerable Master Hsing Yun defined Humanistic Buddhism as: “That which the Buddha said, that which the people need, that which is pure, and that which is beautiful”. As long as it is a logical and reasonable way, that which benefits humanity, and increases the wellbeing of all individuals, society and that of the country, it can be termed Humanistic Buddhism. Abbess continued by sharing some stories of what FGS and BLIA has done. Recently, BLIA ROC had led some disaster humanitarian efforts, as one member of the four teams whom were amongst one of the fastest to respond to the Nepal earthquake, not only in providing aid to the people, but also calming down the many survivors whom were in a state of shock and fear. Closer to home, FGS North Island NZ had also recently hosted a meeting place for the NZ Police force, making space for the busy officers to have tea meditation and lunch, and providing them with a peaceful setting for meaningful discussions. To finish off, Abbess reminded Buddha's Light followers that: 1) The real honour belongs to the Buddha; 2) The achievements belong to the everyone; 3) The benefits belong to the temple; and 4) The merits belong to the lay people.

After listening to all of the inspiring talks, a chance was given for all of the senior directors, sub-chapter presidents, staff members and YAD members to voice any comments they may have from the talk, or memorable experiences they had during their time in the BLIA. The assembly of people was also taken as an opportunity for Venerable Abbess Manshin to appoint the 2015 BLIA South Island directors and sub-chapter president with formal papers to make it official. Venerable Manshin pointed out to everyone on how understanding of the Buddhist way will lead to a better way, because the Buddha's teaching is the truth. She concluded by wishing everyone all the best in growing and increasing our wisdom while we walk along this path of the Buddha's way.

BLIA South Island thanked the Abbess and Venerable for their interesting and engaging talks, and joyfully sang the BLIA Anthem, thereby bringing the conference to a close.