Visit from Rolleston Combined Probus Club
About 30 retired professional people from the Rolleston Combined Probus club visited Fo Guang Shan South Island on the 18th of April, led by their club outing oragniser Barry. Public relations manager Vicky, and Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) members Lihson Ding, Kui Fah Jong took them on a tour around the temple, and they respectively touched on the architectural elements that make up the temple’s unique design, the ‘Humanity and Love’ oil paintings by Li ZiJian, as well as the sculpture art created by Paul Deans.
The BLIA guides also explained to the visiting group about the history of Fo Guang Shan founder Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s drive in propagating Humanistic Buddhism around the globe, which had led to the establishment of this special Fo Guang Shan temple which is the southernmost of its kind in the world. At the main shrine, the group heard about the Buddha’s life story, and received some valuable lessons about Dharma teachings.
Within this hour-long visit, the Probus club members raised the question on how Buddhism differs from other religions. Although the Buddhist Dharma is vast in its scope, Humanistic Buddhism promotes a realistic approach through the Three Goods exercise - “Do good deeds, Say good words, Think good thoughts”. This method is readily applicable in our daily lives, and it can be seen as a convenient way to live according to the Dharma’s teachings.
While the Rolleston Probus club leader was appreciating Li ZiJian’s ‘Humanity and Love’ oil paintings, he said that he could really feel the realism art’s warmth, as contrasted to the styles of other abstract form artists. Barry was adamant to recommend Probus clubs from other districts to pay a visit to the temple by citing its harmonious and positive atmosphere, delicious and healthy vegetarian, all which gave them a really cosy feeling in both mind and body. On behalf of the Probus Club, Barry would once again like to thank the BLIA guides for their warm hospitality in making their visit all the more enriched, with the small commentary details no doubt helping them to better understand now the core connotation of Humanistic Buddhism.