Students Recharge their Mind at FGS Auckland

On Tuesday 29th June 2021, 36 Year 10 students from ACG Strathallan visited the Fo Guang Shan (FGS) Buddhist Temple Auckland with teacher Yu Mei and her colleague. This was the second time teacher Yu Mei leading the students to the Temple. The Temple staff, Karzin warmly welcomed the arrival of students in the Front Shrine and taught the students to greet each other with the words 吉祥Ji Xiang in Chinese, which means auspicious blessing. Then, the students were guided to do the incense offering to greet the Bodhisattvas, following by a temple tour.

In the One Stroke Calligraphy Exhibition, the students practised patience through calligraphy besides deepened the concept of Three Goodness and Four Giving (3G4G) in their minds. The students also learned how to say the 3G4G words in Chinese. Teacher Yu Mei shared that the video of Venerable Master Hsing Yun moved her very much. She hopes that the students would learn from the spirit of Venerable Master in the form of hardship, determination, and perseverance to build up the foundation for a better future. At the Prince Siddhartha Exhibition, the students watched the animation video The Life of Buddha and wrote wishes on colourful paper to decorate the exhibition wall with beautiful wishes.

After the tour, the students visited the Traditional Chinese Ink Painting Exhibition by Prof KUO Yen-Chiao to enjoy the beauty of traditional Chinese landscape paintings. Some students strike the wishing bell, and wished that they could reach their goals, while others bought some yummy vegetarian foods. A student shared that he was deeply impressed by the tradition of hitting the bell and drum in Buddhism, which reminds himself to practice the 3G4G at the beginning and end of each day. The Temple also gifted wise word bookmarks to bless the students that they will gain wisdom and hope.