大家好, Kia Ora, and good morning everybody. Can I just say and acknowledge and thank your incredibly energetic Abbess Manshin and all of the team for so generously hosting us this morning at another fantastic event. But most importantly, can I say thank you Abbess for all the great work that you do in the community, reaching out to all the groups across East Auckland and South Auckland.
It was very special to see the students from Papatoetoe Intermediate today Kapa Haka team and I was reflecting on the 3Goods 4Giving programme that you are doing here and the impact that that is having with our children across the whole of this area is very very special work.
Can I say that it is a real pleasure to be here to celebrate the birthday of the Buddha. We were here two months ago celebrating the Lunar New Year and the theme was cultivate a heart that blooms in all seasons and I think that this time with the birthday of the Buddha, it’s a good time for us to stop, to reflect and to think about what is actually important in our lives. And I think firstly, how do we treat and engage with each other. Secondarily, how do we prioritize the relationships that we have with our family and friends and thirdly, how do we practice the virtues that we see here in the temple around compassion, around kindness, around generosity, around patience and make sure we work those out in our daily lives.
So I join with you all and wish you all a very very Happy Birthday to the Buddha and a wonderful coming year. Thank you very much.
