Celebrating Buddha’s Birthday Multicultural Festival 2014
The 2014 Buddha’s Birthday Celebration was held at Fo Guang Shan on 13th April, attracting over 8000 visitors of different nationalities.
The day’s special guests included Dolly Tsai, BLIA President (North Island); Venerable Abbess Manshin, Phil Goff, Ex-Labour Party Leader; Len Brown, Auckland City Mayor; Jami-Lee Ross, National Party Member; John Tims, Manukau Police Superintendent; Raymond Huo, Labour Party Member; Kanwaljit Singh, Labour Party Member; Julie Anne Genter, Green Party Member, Richard Middleton and Rakesh Naidoo, NZ Police Detectives; Lin Shen Lung, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Auckland Representative for the Overseas Affairs Office; Sam Rihari, Maori Elder, Pastor Ann Batten, Anglican Representative; Pundit Krishneel, Hindu Representative; Pungri Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist Temple Representative; Guo Ming Zhang, BLIA Consultant (North Island), Peter Yong, BLIA Advisor, See Shen Li, BLIA President (South Island); and many others.
The day’s ceremony kicked off with the march of giant “3 Good Deeds Babies” in various poses. Then it was followed by litter carrying the statue of little Prince Siddartha Guatama. With accompaniment of Scottish bag pipes, the Venerables and VIPs were guided into the Main Shrine behind the New Zealand and Buddhist flags.
Inside the Main Shrine, 270 devotees in different ethnic costumes made various offerings to the Buddha. This was followed by Venerable Abbess Manshin leading the congregation to recite Buddhist Sutras. Then Police Inspector Warrick Morehu, Maori Elder, Tibetan Rinpoche, Christian, Hindu and other religious representatives all offered prayers to the procession. Finally, the New Zealand Police choir group shared songs with the gathered crowd.
President Dolly Tsai thanked everyone’s participation and shared Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s admonition of: “Be a global citizen that is respectful, tolerant, harmonious and equal with others.” Therefore encouraging everyone to heed the Buddha’s teachings and create peace and harmony for the world.
Jami-Lee Ross, Phil Goff, Len Brown and John Tims all went on stage to thank the Temple for bring peace and tranquillity to New Zealand. They recognised Buddhism’s ability to nurture inner peace. The recent decline in crime is not only attributed to the dedication of our police force, but also included Fo Guang Shan’s support. Because faith can create people for people’s lives, helping them transcend suffering and receiving happiness. Its strength can purify one’s body and mind. The 3 Good Deeds and 4 Giving promoted by Fo Guang Shan serves that purpose by striving for a more harmonious society.
Abbess Manshin continued by sharing Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s exposition on “The values of faith” This included:
1. Faith allows to excavate the treasure from within our mind
2. Faith allows us to understand that enjoyment surpasses possession
3. Faith allows us to understand the benefit of giving and create good affinities
4. Faith allows us to enjoy peace and joy of meditative concentration
5.
The Abbess encouraged everyone to take the above as our life’s motto in order to discover life’s motivation.
This is the 13th Buddha’s Birthday Celebration held by Fo Guang Shan North Island. Besides Bathing of the Buddha, the event also included a wide variety of activities for the public. Including vegetarian food stalls, multicultural performances, art exhibition about the life of little Prince Siddhartha, baby’s blessing, culture and craft stalls, and community and police service stalls. From a good reputation lasting over 10 years, this rich multicultural and art filled festival has become a popular event for the local community.