Blessing for Earthquake Victims by Venerable Hsing Ting

Although the flight to Christchurch from Melbourne was delayed, Most Venerable Hsing Ting arrived safely at Christchurch airport on 12th November at 6:30pm, accompanied by Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) Headquarter Director Dominique Cheung and BLIA North Island New Zealand’s president Dolly Tsai. As a result, dinner with Most Venerable Hsing Ting at 7pm at Clearwater resort was able to happen as planned. The VIPs present include Most Venerable Hsing Ting, Fo Guang Shan (FGS) New Zealand Venerable Abbess Manshin, NZ Police representative Inspector Rakesh Naidoo, Inspector Virginia Le Bas, Sergeant John Baines, Christchurch City Council Helen Broughton, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office representative Ing Ma, BLIA Headquarter’ s Director Dominique Cheung, BLIA north island NZ president Dolly Tsai、BLIA north island NZ president See Shen Lee、BLIA North Island Advisor Peter Young、BLIA south island Advisors John Lai and Sandy Liao and 60 BLIA members were present as well.

Before the dinner begins, Most Venerable Hsing Ting led the crowd to chant the “Heart Sutra”. Police Representative Inspector Rakesh Naidoo thanked Most venerable Hsing Ting for coming to Christchurch to spread his love for people in Christchurch. Dominique thanked most venerable Hsing Ting as well for going to Melbourne and chair the opening ceremony of Melbourne Fo Guang Shan. President of BLIA North Island Dolly Tsai expressed her wishes for Most Venerable Hsing Ting to come to North Island so that the people in North Island have the same opportunity to hear his words of Dharma. City Council Helen Broughton thanked most venerable Hsing Ting for his presence in Christchurch too. Last but not least, BLIA south Island President See Shen Lee gave her thanks to Most Venerable Hsing Ting as he brought hope to people in Christchurch.

During the dinner, Most Venerable Hsing Ting shared his words of wisdom with the guests. He told the importance of emotion management, which can be achieved through practicing benevolence and meditation; shared inspiring stories using Buddha as example and told people how he propagating towards achieving this goal. Besides, Most Venerable Hsing Ting also encouraged us to help others whenever we can as life is more meaningful this way.

Everyone gave Most Venerable Hsing Ting a big round of applause after his speech. Although it was only a short stay for him in Christchurch, his speech and wisdom had enabled BLIA members to strengthen their faith and beliefs.