Fo Guang Shan North Island 2012 Buddha’s Day Multicultural Festival – A celebration of Love, Peace, Religious Harmony and Cultural Diversity

The celebration of universal love and peace began in earnest during the 2012 Buddha’s Day Multi-cultural Festival at Fo Guang Shan North Island on 15th April. Among distinguished guests present were National Party MP for Botany Jami-Lee Ross, National Party MPs Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Dr Jiang Yang, Labour Party MP for Manurewa Louisa Wall, Labour Party MP for Manukau East Ross Robertson and Labour Party MP Dr Rajen Prasad.

Also in attendance were Local District Council Members Dick Quax and Arthur Anae, Royal New Zealand Police Inspector Jim Searle, Director-General of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Auckland Lincoln Y L Ting, BLIA (North Island) NZ President Dolly Tsai and BLIA (South Island) NZ President See Shen Lee. There were also leaders of various faiths, joined by Auckland University Pastor Reverend Uesifili Unasa, who promoted multi-religious dialogue and harmony through interfaith.

As many as 400 volunteers gave offerings to Buddha wearing different types of traditional costumes. Abbess of Fo Guang Shan New Zealand Venerable Manshin led all honoured guests to witness a rousing haka performance at the courtyard. They then walked slowly towards the Main Shrine as drums and bells were struck, signalling the start to the solemn ceremony.

This was followed by the bearing of New Zealand and Buddhist flags by BLIA members and singing of the National Anthem and 'Ode to the Triple Gem'. Venerable Abbess Manshin presided over the recitation of the 'Heart Sutra' and 'Prayer for World Peace' by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, founder of Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order. Religious leaders gave their prayers for world peace and harmony as the ceremony celebrated its theme of 'Love, peace and blessings from all religions'.

BLIA (North Island) NZ President Dolly Tsai thanked everyone and spoke about the ideals promoted by Venerable Master Hsing Yun through his dharma words and how they can nurture great wisdom and compassion, enabling us to provide aid and services to society when needed. Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross thanked Venerable Abbess Manshin for being such a great spiritual leader and was also appreciative of the occasion's harmonious nature.

Director-General of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Auckland Lincoln Y L Ting gave his admiration to Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s for realising the construction of Fo Guang Shan headquarters at Kaohsiung, Taiwan which led to the establishment of over 200 temples and Buddhist centres today. He also praised Venerable Master for propagating Humanistic Buddhism to New Zealand and bringing great benefits to the country and contributions to Buddhism.

Venerable Abbess Manshin stressed that religious harmony is vital to foster universal peace. Like an ocean that accepts waters from all rivers and streams, a great religion advocates acceptance and tolerance of many different faiths and cultures. She also talked about her experiences during her visit to Indonesia for the 'Asia-Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue', from which she felt that only through interfaith interactions can prosperity and happiness be created for the future.

The Buddha's Day ceremony concluded with an elegant 'reverse Chinese Lute' dance performance by Han Zhan Ya. Buddha’s bathing basins were placed in front of the Main Shrine to provide devotees and visitors an opportunity to bath the young Buddha. The entire courtyard was crowded as many people formed long queues to participate in this event. There was also a massive vegetarian food fair with 24 stalls selling scrumptious ethnic cuisines and a central performance stage near the Front Shrine showcasing 10 different cultural performances. The nearby 'Children's Wonderland' proved to be very popular among parents and children alike. Over 10,000 people flocked to this event and embraced Buddhism in a very warm and humane way, just as Venerable Master Hsing Yun had intended to achieve through the propagation of Humanistic Buddhism.