Fo Guang Shan North Island Buddhist College Students Fulfilling Life through Gardening

On the 29th March, 10 students of the Fo Guang Shan North Island Buddhist College, under the guidance of Venerable Abbess Manshin and Venerable Rulian, tidied the court yard and trimmed the Coprosma tree within it, in preparation for the 2014 Buddha’s Day.

Student Vincent Ming said gardening is not as easy as it looks, it took him 2 hours to finish trimming a tree, physically were exhausted but this task gives him the opportunity for self-introspection, the process of trimming trees, weeding weeds just like eliminating imperfections and other ills from our thought, it needs time, strength even wisdom to have a clear mind and move life to the summit of the mountain.

At 7pm Venerable Abbess Manshin holds a Dharma lecture about the four stages of life , the life of our physical body given by our parents, the harmonious life given by the society, the religious life bestowed by Buddhism, and the eternal life of enlightenment. Abbess also explains the practice of Buddhism should be active and positive, not only to learn self-demand, self-management further more to learn compassion and wisdom from Buddha and to become a legitimate Buddhist to live a meaningful and purposeful life.