The New Zealand Police Department Emergency Assistance Centre Visited the Temple to Nourish Their Mind
On September 19, Inspector Shawn Rutene and eight police officers from the New Zealand Police Department Emergency Assistance Centre visited the NZ Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple North Island. Abbess Manshin, Venerable Ru Lian and the BLIA, warmly welcomed them and led the visit to the lotus pond tower, the meditation hall and other temple infrastructures and let them experience meditation by sitting on the water by the lotus pond tower to purify the mind and body.
Shawn introduced that the members of the emergency assistance centre are from different areas of Auckland. Everyone of them receives an average of 60 calls for help every day. They need to deal with 6 different emotions, and work under high pressure while working on a 24-hour shift rotation. In daily life, police officers release their stresses through exercise, sleeping, drinking a lot of water, etc. And how to face strong work pressure and balance their family life are the problems that police officers have to face. Inspector Shawn said he often comes to visit FGS North Island with his family and friends to enjoy the solemn and tranquillity of the temple. Today he especially brought the colleagues, hoping they can experience a moment of silence while relieving the stress of work in another way.
The Abbess said that the FGS is a part of the community. When the temple was firstly built, we hoped to create a space for the public to transform there mind through the planning of the Zen Garden, so that the public could find a place to nourish their spirit in the busy working life and recharge the body and mind.
The Abbess then led the police officers to experience the outdoor meditation on the water by the Lotus Pond Tower, guiding everyone to adjust their bodies and breaths and reconcile their minds and bodies, and concentrating their thoughts on one place and take care of themselves. According to the Abbess, meditation is a good way to calm the body and mind. If you can sit for a few minutes every day, it will help relieve stress and improve your health.
The police officers said that they felt the wonder of tranquillity by the short meditation and the quiet space of the temple made their bodies and minds relaxed and were really thankful for the Abbess's guiding. The Abbess also gave out the English work "366 days with wisdom" by Venerable Master Hsing Yun and shared the master's wisdom. Inspector Shawn specially invited BLIA members to visit the office of the emergency assistance centre, hoping that the police department and the temple can support each other and work together to build a harmonious community for New Zealand people.