YAD Members Continue Retracing FGS’s Origins

Following on from last week’s viewing session of “Lighting the Eternal Flame – Story of Fo Guang Shan” series, on 17th October, YAD members continued enjoying the latter part of the series, which introduced more of Fo Guang Shan’s buildings as well as the concepts disseminated by the Venerable Master Hsing Yun himself. Venerable Miaoyu was present to provide guidance to the youth throughout the viewing session.

The film outlined the features and functions of the “Yun Ju” building along with the Pilgrim’s Lodge. The eight-storey high Yun Ju building is one of the tallest buildings at Fo Guang Shan, and consists of a dining hall capable of catering for 300 people and a thousand seat auditorium. Because the design concepts and engineering of the building has eliminated the need for internal beams and pillars, the interior of the building is seen to be very wide and spacious.

The Pilgrim’s Lodge is one of the earlier buildings to have been constructed during the times of mountain excavation, and was established to accommodate for the devotees who came to Fo Guang Shan in the earlier times and did not have access to any accommodation, food and beverage facilities.

At the conclusion of the film, Venerable Miaoyu encouraged the youth group members to learn Venerable Master’s spirit of selfless ‘giving’, and reminded that at meal time, one must hold a heart of gratitude and appreciation as each grain of rice does not come easily. From crops to harvest, and processing to packaging, each grain of rice represents the droplets of sweat from those who worked hard to bring the meals to our tables.