Fo Guang Shan (North Island) NZ- First Medicine Buddha Repentance Dharma Service

On 7 November, Fo Guang Shan (North Island)NZ held its’ first Medicine Buddha Repentance Dharma Service which was presided over by Abbess Manshin. One hundred devotees attended the service and it touched everyone’s heart. After the service, Abbess Manshin explained the significance of repentance from a Buddhist perspective; one should repent for one’s ignorance and for the inability to create a harmonious relationship with others. She encouraged everyone to practise dharma diligently and be carefree in body and mind; to purify the body and mind through repentance and practise giving to benefit oneself and others. In the service, there was a cancer patient. Although she did not understand Chinese, she devoted herself wholeheartedly during the chanting and hoped to overcome her sickness through her faith in Buddhism.