Finale of the Third Annual “3G4G Festival of Culture Sharing” – Accomplishing the Mission of Spreading of Peace and Love
The 2 weeks spanning third annual “3G4G Festival of Culture Sharing” was completed on 27th May. The last school in attendance on the day was Mission Heights Junior College and Primary School. On the day teacher Jamie Kent led 424 senior and junior pupils to the temple in two trips, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. During the trip the group visited the Main Shrine to learn about the Buddha, the “Enlightenment of an Indian Prince” exhibition to learn about the stories of Prince Siddhartha, the Pagoda to pay respect to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the courtyard to ring the wishing bell and to make lotus origamis and receive 3G4G temporary tattoos. Then they watched a cartoon movie called “Life of the Buddha”.
Officers Anson Lin and Pio Tauiti also came to support the event on behalf of NZ Police. With the help of student leaders they performed a little skit called “3 Good Deeds and 4 Kinds of Giving” to demonstrate how to put these ideals to practical use in real life. They also cautioned the students about posting their private and personal information on social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter etc, for it is not safe to reveal such things online.
Before departing the students used Maori, Chinese, Hindi, Filipino and German to express words of thanks to the temple and BLIA volunteers. Some students expressed that they have received a lot of inspiration from the ideals of “3G4G”, for when others are feeling down, we should speak good words to make them happy again; when others needs help we should do good things to give them convenience. Therefore opportunities to practice 3G4G can be found everywhere in life.
Teacher Jamie Kent expressed this is the third time Mission Heights has joined this event. He felt this year’s method of organising student into different groups to visit different locations has maximised the utilisation of every corner of the temple, not to mention it made it easier for the students to listen to the guide’s narrations by separating each part into smaller sections. He described multiculturalism as a unique feature of his school; therefore coming to the temple can allow the students to experience that despite cultural, religious and personal differences, as long as one’s heart is pure and kind, then we can find common ground. This can nurture better and friendlier relationships between the students so they all help each other along the way. He once again thanked Fo Guang Shan for establishing this good role model for life and that this positive attitude to life is in line with his school’s motto.
Overall, the third annual “3G4G Festival of Culture Sharing” have attracted over 1800 students from 5 different schools to learn about 3G4G, where these beautiful ideals were spread into the wider community. Fo Guang Shan New Zealand continue to cultivate locally by teaching younger generation about peace and love, all for sake of continuously building New Zealand into a harmonious multicultural society.