BLIA South Island May Monthly Meeting
On 21st May 2017, Buddha Light International Association New Zealand (BLIA NZ) South Island held its May monthly meeting. BLIA South Island President Se Shen Lee, Vice Presidents Louisa Kuo and Elsa Lee, Sub-Chapter Presidents, Committee Members and 40 other BLIA members attended the meeting. The meeting was supervised by Fo Guang Shan (FGS) New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin and South Island Temple Minister in charge, Venerable Jue Xi.
BLIA South Island President Lee reported that for the first half of 2017, the two main activities undertaken by BLIA South Island were the Lantern Festival organised by Christchurch City Council and the Buddha Birthday Celebration at the FGS South Island Temple. She thanked members and volunteers for successfully completed the events.The meeting was then informed about the followings:
1. The 6th and 3rd BLIA Headquarter Meeting, in conjunction with the opening of FGS Hsing Ma Temple in Malaysia, held from 4th to 8th October 2017 . Members are encouraged to enrol for the events;
2. BLIA South Island Annual General Meeting and Director Nomination for the year 2017 will be held on 19th August 2017. All members are urged to attend;
3. To show support for the spreading of tertiary education in Nan Tien University, members of BLIA South Island are encouraged to sponsor “Venerable Master Hsing Yun Education Foundation” fund raising activities, in the hope that by following Venerable Master’s footsteps, will be able to contribute towards the education of more talented students, including those with Buddhist inclination.
Abbess Manshin pointed out that FGS New Zealand has managed to carry out unique ways of propagating Humanistic Buddhism in New Zealand. These include the distribution of Venerable Master Hisng Yun’s book “366 days with Wisdom” throughout New Zealand which has brought good response from the Public; to the promotion of Venerable Master’s “3 Good Deeds and 4 Givings” Programme for the last 4 years, benefiting close to 6000 students. Through these arduous activities, members has learned not to worry about the time taken to do a job, but instead to concentrate all efforts to accomplish the work we set out to do. Venerable Abbess encouraged members to treasure the experiences gained during these difficult times, and to treat FGS Temple with love and affection. Through the collective efforts and unity of its members, FGS will surely bring “Happiness” to the people, and Humanistic Buddhism will definitely grow, blossom and stay put in New Zealand. FGS members must possess the attitude of “Public” comes first and ‘”Self” second; “Buddhism” comes first and “Self” second; “Temple” comes first and “Self” second; “Duty” comes first and “Self” second. This attitude will enable members to work as a team and to promote the Temple as a venue to propagate Humanistic Buddhism which may eventually result in the acceptance of Humanistic Buddhism by the local community.