Activities during Buddha’s Birthday Celebration – Purifying the Dharma Body and Seeking Fortune and Wisdom

The Special event to celebrate “10th anniversary of Buddha’s Birthday Celebration at Fo Guang Shan New Zealand” was held on 8th April. The day’s activities included a “Baby Blessing Ceremony” and “Taking Refuge in the Triple Gem and Observing the Five Precepts Ceremony”.

The Baby’s Blessing Ceremony was attended by over 300 toddlers of many different ethnicities. The babies and parents packed into the Main Shrine at around 11:00am, attracting over a thousand audiences the visiting public. Venerable Abbess Manshin conducted the ceremony to bless the babies with sacred water empowerment, wishing all babies present to be protected by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout their future lives and to plant seeds of Bodhi.

In the afternoon the Taking Refuge in the Triple Gem and Observing the Five Precepts Ceremony was attended by over 200 new Preceptees and devotees renewing their vows and precepts. The ceremony was held in a magnificent and solemn atmosphere, where the Abbess instructed the congregation to make repentance and to purify body and mind by observing the Five Precepts and commit the Ten Wholesome Deeds.

During the Dharma talk the Abbess quoted: “Every Buddhist should have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong teachings.” She further explained this topic by applying the terminology of the Three Dharma Seals, which means: “All conditioned phenomena are impermanent, all phenomena are without an independent self, Nirvana is perfect tranquillity”, these seals can be used to identify whether the teachings are right or wrong. The Abbess also explained the meaning of Taking Refuge in the Triple Gem and reminded all the Preceptees that it is very difficult to hear the Dharma and to receive the Precepts. Hence one should cherish these conditions by constantly making use of their Dharma Body and Wisdom Life to live a life less ordinary.