On his invitation, on 3rd September 2020, Fo Guang Shan (FGS) New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin and FGS South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi, accompanied by Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island Directors Cao Qian and Kok-wei Low, and Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch Coordinator Ryan Wang, visited pianist Jamie McDermott at his Christchurch suburb home.
Jamie comes from a family of beekeepers. His family, starting with his grandparent’s generation, to his father, and now to himself, has been in the honey farming business all this while. During the visit, Jamie shared with the visitors his joy in beekeeping, and the interactions he has developed with the bees. He also revealed to the visitors the criteria used for determining the quality of honey, such as, the colour, the purity, the density, the smell and the taste. Jamie mentioned that since cherry blossom has a short flowering period, the honey coming from cherry blossom flowers will be limited in quantity, and as a result, this type of honey is very precious. Jamie commented that the people of this generation are too involved with the pursuit of material things, and they lack the ability to comprehend and enjoy the beauties and wonders of Mother Nature. He remarked that, due to environmental pollutions and the indiscriminate use of pesticides, the population of bee colony has drastically declined, leading to a decrease in honey production. If this trend goes unchecked, the future generations will be unable to enjoy the wonders of Mother Nature.
Jamie and his wife Ann are regular patrons of FGS South Island’s Water Drop Café. In addition to loving the vegetarian food of the Café, they are specially attracted by the beautiful environment and tranquil and peaceful ambience of the Temple. Earlier on, after learning that Jamie is an established pianist, Abbess Manshin invited him to compose a song for FGS, using Master Hsing Yun’s 3 Good Deeds 4 Givings wordings as lyrics. Jamie graciously accepted Abbess’s invitation and the work is currently in progress.
Jamie and Ann were elated at the visit of Abbess Manshin and her entourage to their home, and extended their full hospitality to the visitors. Abbess Manshin, on behalf of the entourage, thanked the hosts for their hospitality and gifted them with a copy of 2020 BLIA New Zealand Activities Report and 2021 FGS NZ Calendar. Abbess Manshin praised Jamie for his enthusiasm in explaining the process of beekeeping to enable them to better understand the subject. She extended an invitation to Jamie to hold a ‘Beekeeping Talk’ at FGS South Island to share his beekeeping experiences with the audience. At the same time, Abbess Manshin also invited Jamie and Ann to visit FGS Temple North Island in Auckland so that they can gain a deeper understanding of the spirit and practice of Humanistic Buddhism.