Taiwanese Doctor’s Visit to FGS South Island
On 8th May 2018, Dr Lin from Taiwan, together with wife and daughter, visited Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island. They were welcomed by FGS South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi, Venerable Zhi Wu, Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island Vice President James Low, and BLIA South Island Directors Tracy Chen, Kok Wei Low and Cao Qian. While chatting with the hosts, the visitor received a courtesy phone call from FGS New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin who warmly invited them for a visit to FGS North Island. In her welcoming speech, Venerable Jue Xi introduced Dr Lin as the principal doctor in the medical team entrusted to look after Venerable Master Hsing Yun, and had, in 2015, accompanied Master Hsing Yun in his trip to Wollongong Australia for the opening ceremony of Nan Tien Institute. Dr Lin said that his trip to New Zealand this time was to meet up with old classmate as well as to enjoy his holiday together with his family.
Venerable Jue Xi first led the visitors to Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch to tour the Dean Buchanan’s ‘Horizons’ Oil Paintings Exhibition. Artist Dean loves the natural New Zealand landscapes, and at the same time, he adores mountain climbing and other outdoor activities. Dean gains his inspirations from New Zealand’s majestic lakes and mountains. Combining his imaginations with the lively use of colours, Dean is able to produce unique art pieces with thick strokes of colour in semi-abstract forms. The visitors later adjourned to the ‘Time Corridor’ to appreciate the ‘Creating a World of Compassion’ Comic Exhibition by Artists Feng Zi Kai and Feng Yi Yin. Venerable Jue Xi later introduced the visitors to view the different calligraphies of Master Hsing Yun, those done when he was young and those done recently. Dr Lin and family scrutinised the calligraphies closely and concluded that those one-stroke calligraphies produced by Master Hsing Yun recently are more forceful and appealing.
Venerable Jue Xi then guided the visitors to the Buddha Hall, and explained the design concept of the Temple building. The Buddha Hall was designed to allow the public to have an open view of the mountain far away; the external frontal walls were inspired by the ‘Longman Grottoes’ with the four Bodhisattvas statues showing how one could merge ancient traditions with modern arts. Dr Lin expressed his admiration for the simple solid architecture of the Temple which reminded him of some buildings of Taipei Medical University Hospital with similar design.
Before parting, Dr Lin thanked Venerable Jue Xi for conduct a tour of the FGS South Island Temple. This had enabled them to better understand the design concepts of the building. They were also happy to find that Humanistic Buddhism has been actively propagated by BLIA South Island members. If time permitted, the visitors expressed their wish to come back to the Temple for another visit. Venerable Jue Xi finally bade the visitors farewell by wishing them a happy holiday in New Zealand.