Presentation of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s photo-biography to Dean of Christchurch Transitional Cathedral

On 1st July 2019, on the invitation of Dean of Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, an entourage of 8 people, consisting of Chancellor of Fo Guang Shan institute of Humanistic Buddhism (FGS IHB) Venerable Miao Fan, FGS New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin, FGS South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi, Venerable Zhi Sui, Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island Vice President Lih-son Ding and 3 other BLIA South Island members, paid a visit to Christchurch Transitional Cathedral. They were welcomed on arrival by Assistant Dean of Christchurch Transitional Cathedral Nicky Lee, on behalf of Dean of Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, the Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberley.

Nicky first led Venerable Miao Fan and her entourage on a tour of the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, introducing them to the special features and facilities of the Cathedral. Nicky explained that the 100-year old Anglican Christchurch Cathedral situated at the Cathedral Square in the City Centre collapsed during the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake. To cater to the spiritual needs of the public, a temporary Transitional Cathedral was built, using special environmentally friendly ‘Hard Cardboard’ building materials. During the visit, FGS New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin expressed her concern for the progress of the restoration and renovation works proposed for the collapsed Christchurch Cathedral. Nicky informed that the rebuild works are still under the planning stage and will start very soon. In future, many hardware facilities suitable for modern usage will be incorporated into the restored Cathedral.

As part of their visit, on behalf of FGS, Venerable Miao Fan presented the book “Cloud and Water A 50 years Anniversary photo-biography of Master Hsing Yun”  to the Cathedral for their collection, and it was received by Nicky on behalf of Dean Reverend Lawrence Kimberley. Afterwards, Abbess Manshin introduced to Nicky the contents of the book and also conveyed to her the context, meaning and spirits behind Humanistic Buddhism, using the life stories of Master Hsing Yun as examples. For example, the importance of honesty and commitment cannot be better demonstrated by Master Hsing Yun keeping to the promise he made to Master Zi Kai at the age of 12 to be ordained as a monk. At the end of the visit, Nicky thanked the entourage for their visit and praised Master Hsing Yun for his relentless effort in propagating Humanistic Buddhism, paving a better future for all Mankind. The hosts promised to peruse Master Hsing Yun’s photo-biography book in order to better understand his Great Compassion for all Sentient Beings.