Diocesan Students Visits Fo Guang Shan – Encountering the Purity Buddhism

On 5th February, 72 students clad in blue with red knotted hats from Diocesan School for Girls visited the temple under the guidance of their teachers and parents. They were welcomed by Venerable Miaoyu, ESC Vice Chairperson Vicky Chiang, Committee Members Ian Fatherley and Edward Chang.

The visitors were organised into separate groups to tour the temple ground and savour delicious vegetarian meals with appropriate temple etiquettes at the tea house. In the courtyard, Venerable Miaoyu guided the students through Tai Chi and walking mediation. Then they visited the “Ch’an Art, Ch’an Heart” exhibition and experienced sitting meditation. Venerable Miaoyu praised the students for their sincerity and attentiveness during this exercise. Ch’an is the Dharma method for self-reflection, which enables us to cultivate mental stability, compassion and wisdom. The Venerable encouraged the students to live out their lives with a pure mind by refraining from comparing with others, jealousy, fault finding in others and resentment. They were also encouraged to practice “3 Good Deeds and 4 Givings” to nurture good habits.

In order to satisfy the visitor’s curiosity toward traditional Chinese culture, Edward organised a calligraphy class to teach the students about the chronology of Chinese character’s development. Through eloquently simple explanations, the profundities of Chinese character’s pictographic qualities were revealed. The students attentively practiced the transcription of these ancient characters with diligence.

The parents praised Humanistic Buddhism’s ability to quickly arose these children’s interest toward a language which they had no prior knowledge. In such a short time wholesome seeds were planted within each young one’s mind. This joyful encounter with Buddhism will surely bring fortune and wisdom to their future.