30th March - 40 children from Botany Downs Kindergarten temple visit
On Friday the 30th March, 45 4 year old children, 15 parents and teachers from Botany Downs Kindergarten visited FGS to learn about art from exhibitions at the FGY galleries. They learnt about Fo Guang Shan’s exhibition from the Uxbridge notices concerning the local art festival. They were welcomed and attended to by Venerable Miaoyu and Annie Ng.
The children’s teacher gave an excellent lecture to the children about meanings of the photos and gatha presented at the “Way of Life” exhibition. All the children were very well behaved, and listened attentively.
Venerable Miaoyu requested permission from the teacher to give teaching to the kids at the mains shrine. The offer was gladly accepted, and all the kids gathered in a big circle around the Venerable. Venerable Miaoyu taught the kids about the value of 4 kinds of giving, which are also the mottos of Fo Guang Shan:
• Giving Others Confidence
• Giving Others Joy
• Giving Others Hope
• Giving Others Convenience
Again, all the children presented
listened with attention, showed understanding and gave good feeback.
Since all the attending children are such well-behaved little angels, they are encouraged to make personal donations to the Buddha. This is the perfect way for them to plant good Bodhi seeds and create a Karmic connection with the Buddha. The children are organised into pairs and approached the merit boxes to make the donation ($2 coins already prepared by their kind and very thoughtful teacher). During the proceeding, their teacher showed great patience and love for her students by showing them one by one the correct way to join palm, half bow and respectfully make the donation. The teacher compassionately taught the little ones about tolerance and patience with her actions.
Venerable Miaoyu encouraged the children by praising their good behaviour and attentiveness. She also reminded them to be grateful for their parents, teacher, the temple and art galleries for giving them the precious opportunity to learn about art, giving, cherishing fortunes and other good moral values. They are also encouraged to be confident with themselves and teach all their little friends about the things they’ve learnt at the temple.
Having been coped up for so long, the little ones are bursting with energy, and when they are finally allowed to go out and play. All the little angels literally flew through the courtyard, yet they still behaved really well by not making too much noise and causing a fuss for others. They are all prefect examples of the beauty of innocence, natural vitalities and the purities of youth.
Their teacher is also the perfect example of great patience and compassion.