Fo Guang Shan South Island celebrates New Year
New year, new prospects. Owing to New Zealand's geographical position close to the International Date Line, it is amongst the earliest countries in the year to celebrate the new year. To begin the year, Fo Guang Shan South Island New Zealand, in conjunction with the Cloud Water House, organized a "New Year Calligraphy and Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) member reunion session". Temple Supervisor Venerable Jue Xi led about fifty BLIA members in the recitation of the "The Universal Gateway of Avalokitasvara Bodhisattva" sutra, followed then by a diligent calligraphy transcription of the sutra for good blessings.
After the calligraphy transcription session, BLIA Vice President James Low and Director Benny Wong led the group to sing different songs such as "Song of Ten cultivation", "The path of Venerable", "Selfless Chant", and so on, to bring in the merry spirit of the new year. Later, several BLIA sub-chapter presidents, committee members and members were given a chance to speak about their experiences from last year's "366 Days with Wisdom" book donation drive.
BLIA North One sub-chapter president Jessie reported that over a thousand copies of "366 Days with Wisdom" had been donated already to 58 motels and hotels, spreading the wisdom of Venerable Master Hsing Yun to every corner of Christchurch, all thanks to the help of many BLIA volunteers. Member Mr. Saw described how she turned over a new leaf after reading the book, changing some of her habits, and even spreading the positive attitude to the bosses around her. She highly recommends Master Hsing Yun's "366" book, and urges everyone to have a read if they haven't already. BLIA South Island President See Shen Lee also called upon more people in the group to lead the way, so that with more volunteers, there can be more people dispatching the books to various hotels, motels, and Elderly homes.
Following this was a Buddhism quiz, where the BLIA member had to use various methods to answer the questions. Everyone was very proactive during the activity, revising what was learnt in the past, as well as broadening their knowledge on more Buddhist teachings. Venerable Jue Xi was there to answer any queries people had in a very comprehensive manner so that things were nice and clear for the Buddhist learners present. Finally, Venerable Jue Xi used Master Hsing Yun's Year of the Monkey greeting - "Be Smart and Agile" to bless everyone. Hope that this new year, we can learn from the monkey's smart, active, nimble and kind-hearted style, to help and service others, and increase both our merit and wisdom.