A Closer Look at Humanistic Buddhism

A visit was made to Christchurch by two Venerables from the Dhargyey Buddhist Centre of Dunedin along with two of their devotees to Fo Guang Shan South Island. After paying their respects in the Buddha Hall, the visitors were given an introduction of the Temple including the involvement of the numerous Buddhist Temples with the new Buddha Memorial Hall in Taiwan; a tour was given of the Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery 2 exhibition including Grand Master’s “One Stroke Character”.

It is the first time Venerable Jampa Khedup Lhagon Tulku and Venerable Geshe Jampa Tenzin visited FGS South Island, they expressed their appreciation for the strong presence, elegance and integration of modern elements and how much care was given to each bit of detail. Venerable Jampa Khedup Lhagon Tulku has been in Dunedin for thirteen years and has in the past, visited Fo Guang Shan in Kaohsiung of Taiwan as well as the Fo Guang Shan North Island; Venerable also recalled a memorable meeting with the Abbess of FGS New Zealand during the 6th National InterfaithFaith Forum where she discussed the concepts of Humanistic Buddhism.

Venerable Geshe Jampa Tenzin has recently arrived in New Zealand from India and has found this visit to be rather memorable. The devotees Peter Small along with his wife Kesang expressed their contentment from this visit also giving them something rich to take away with them during their visit.
Venerable Jue xi gave her thanks to the visitor for taking time to visit the Temple, and presented a 2011 calendar for them as well as an invitation to the Buddha’s Birthday Multicultural Festival due to be held in April. Concluding the visit with a photograph under Grand Master’s “One Stroke Character” exhibition, the Venerables expressed their thanks for the opportunity to visit this temple and to come away with an enriched experience.