FGS South Island NZ Buddha’s Birthday Festival – Using Venerable Master’s Five Harmonies Teachings to Appease all

For over 2500 years, Buddhism have spread all over the world including the Southern Hemisphere. Fo Guang Shan (FGS) North Island NZ hosted the Buddha’s Birthday Multicultural Festival for World Peace on 6 and 7 April where FGS South Island hosted it on 13 April with more than 600 attendees. Those attended include Christchurch City Mayor Hon Lianne Dalziel, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Christchurch Mr Wang Zhijian, MP for Christchurch Central Dr Duncan Webb, List MP based in Christchurch Central Hon Nicky Wangner, MP for Christchurch East Ms Poto Williams, the Dean of Christchurch Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberley and last but not least, the Muslim representative Mr Ibrahim Abdelhalim.

As the first event that is organised by a faith group after the 15 March incident, the hosts and organisers, FGS South Island and Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island NZ did not hesitate to carry on in order to stabilise the society and appease the public. Around 100 BLIA volunteers participated and helped in bringing joy and confidence to the quiet city of Christ. For safety purposes, the hosts specially invited the NZ Police and they have arranged police officers, giving the event a large sense of security.

With a great welcome from FGS NZ Venerable Abbess Manshin, BLIA Oceania Fellowship Committee Director Ms Dolly Tsai, BLIA South Island NZ President Bernie and BLIA NZ members, the festival brings numerous activities such as Buddha’s Bathing Ceremony, Baby Blessing, multicultural performances, vegetarian food stalls, tea meditation, Prince Siddhartha Exhibition and lucky draw. At the ceremony this year, a mourning event was added to pay tribute to the victims.

Muslim representative, Mr Ibrahim Abdelhalim said that the shooting incident not only harmed the victims and their families, but also hit New Zealanders, and in the end, it united all people of New Zealand. The Muslim teaches that human nature is good and value human existence being in harmony and joy to society. Ibrahim praised FGS South Island in holding this grand Buddha’s Birthday Festival as scheduled, bringing warmth to the society at the right time. The Dean of Christchurch, Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberley said he was happy to participate this festival and hopes God will lead the public away from fear to light, from hatred to love and have the people to live in a harmonious and peaceful environment.

President Bernie in his speech expresses his gratitude to all BLIA members who have achieved teamwork and shared the enthusiasm, joy and light of Humanistic Buddhism to the public. Venerable Master Hsing Yin pointed out that Humanistic Buddhism respects the home country, have a sensible life, understands human causes and create a harmonious society. The President hopes that everyone will pass positive energy to have wisdom to overcome fear and let life be full of Ch’an creating a happy life.

Christchurch Mayor Hon Lianne Dalziel thanked FGS for making the right choice and this is a meaningful event after the 15 March incident. She added, “We will not be defined by what happened but will be defined as a city of nation by what followed, the outpouring of grieve, love and compassion and extra kindness that had made the burden less heavy to bear alone for all Muslim brothers and sisters.” The Mayor then continued, “Every year, the Buddhist community had invited us to celebrate compassion, joy of giving and peace and love of the anniversary of Buddha that underpin all things. FGS asked us to be respectful of each other, regardless of race, creed or colour. We can commit to that and can live that by what we said and what we do everyday. Thank you for opening the door to all of us again today.”

Mr Wang Zhijian, Consul General of the Chinese Consulate in Christchurch, said that society needs true love, mutual understanding and tolerance to eliminate barriers and resolve hatred. Today, various religious groups attend the Buddha‘s Birthday Festival and showcase the spirit of the world. Consul General Wang agreed with FGS long-term contribution to the society and hoped for social peace and work together to create a beautiful home.

MP for Christchurch Central Dr Duncan Webb is happy to be at FGS again. He wants to talk about knowledge. With knowledge, we understand that, the more we know about each other, the more we understand them and the more we accept them. The door to temple, churches and mosque are always open. It requires common souls to come to these places. Places of worship have similarity recognising the spirit of humanity, identity and we are all the same and have much in common. We must know ourselves as a wisdom prior to knowing each other.

List MP based in Christchurch Central Hon Nicky Wagner expressed, “Venerable Abbess Manshin mentioned to me, say something cheerful for the people of Christchurch. It is an easy task as we live in a beautiful country, the beautiful flowers, food, environment as something for us to appreciate. It is difficult as all our heart goes to everybody who had involved in the incident. I empathy in the room for each other and other beyond us to hold something close to our heart and be very cheerful."

Artist David Arkenstone Barnett was deeply touched and astounded at the amount of work the temple had done for the community. He said, “FGS is a platform of opportunity, hope for people, even from all the people here speaking same languages even art, and art transcend all believes.”

The Abbess then concluded the ceremony by saying that the city of Christchurch was challenged by natural and man made disasters in recent years. To achieve world peace, we must return to inner purification. Abbess has then introduced the Five Harmonies and encouraged everyone to pass this goodness from every individual to every corner of the world.

The guests shared their feelings with the Abbess on this year’s Buddha’s Birthday Festival and admired the efforts and dedication put in for the society. At this special moment, it has played an important role in restoring people’s heart.

At least 51 children participated at the Baby Blessing Ceremony this year and with the guidance of their guardians, they were blessed by the Abbess, hoping them to be grow healthily. The “Prince Siddhartha Exhibition” was also well received with activities such as lotus paper origami, wishing tree, the animation video of Life of Buddha, colouring the Buddha and many more.

At the Multicultural Performance, groups from the Takumi Drumming Group, Chinese Zhunghua Society dance, Qipao Show, Xinjiang musical performance, Taichi fan, Young Adult Division hand gesture, Indonesian traditional musical instrument, Mongolian dance, Chinese kungfu performance, violin performance and the singing from artist David Barnett have attracted a lot of people and humongous applauses.

Tea meditation also attracted many to participate where they were amazed at the furnishings of tea sets and the elegant culture of tea. When they taste tea, they are immersed in the aroma of tea and they feel peace of mind. Sutra copying activity attracted adults and children to participate. They all copied the sutra with a respectful heart and hope to return their merits to family and friends. In the corner of the Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery Christchurch, melodious cello sound was played by a cellist from the BLIA youth, Li Xinde, stopping passer-by, adding atmosphere to festival.

This grand multicultural event at Fo Guang Shan South Island brought vibrant and joy to Christchurch. It is hoped that the Buddha's Birthday Festival will bring peace and tranquillity to the whole world. When there is no disaster in the world, everyone will coexist regardless of ethnic or colour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RsRWQGP_vI