On 18th April 2021, Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island hosted a solemn Buddhist Wedding Ceremony for Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) Young Adult Division (YAD) South Island members Thomas Zheng and Mandy Liu. The celebrant for the wedding ceremony was FGS New Zealand Venerable Abbess Manshin and the wedding was attended by more than 40 friends and BLIA South Island members.
On that day, Abbess Manshin started the wedding ceremony by leading the audience to recite the “Heart Sutra”. Following this, Abbess led the couple in the Oath Taking ceremony, and then read out Master Hsing Yun’s A Prayer for a Buddhist wedding ceremony. Afterwards, Abbess Manshin encouraged the newlyweds by quoting Master Hsing Yun’s wise words in Guide for husband and wife to get along. As a good husband, you should carry less money around, should always go home for dinner, should socialise in pair and should speak kind words and be humorous. As a good wife, you should make the home a Paradise, should cook and serve delicious foods, should play the five roles of being mother, sister, servant, wife and courtier, all at the same time, and should give praises readily.
At the ceremony, the audience wished the newlyweds a happy marriage leading to a beautiful Buddhist family. The newlyweds, Thomas Zheng and Mandy Liu, were students of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch. At the end of last year, the two helped the Temple in the preparation of the Light and Art Show and they later became volunteers in the Temple. Whenever there were activities in Temple, Thomas would do his best to help, and, from time to time, Mandy would prepare delicious snacks and delicacies to share with the Venerables and volunteers in the Temple.
After the ceremony at the Buddha Hall, the congregation adjourned to the Water Drop Café for a sumptuous lunch specially prepared by FGS South Island for the newlyweds. In addition to blessing Thomas Zheng and Mandy Liu, the lunch was also meant to bless another pair of newly married young BLIA NZ YAD members, Nick Yoong and Lili Zhang. In her speech, Mandy thanked FGS for organising such a wonderful celebration. She did not expect, when overseas, to receive congratulations from friends in such a solemn the Temple. As a way of returning her gratitude, Mandy vowed to cook more food to serve everyone. On her part, Lili Zhang expressed her gratitude to FGS for their care, guidance and support over the years, which enabled them to grow a lot in their learning of Buddhism and in their dealing with others.
In her speech, FGS South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi thanked the two young couples for their dedicated services to the Temple, and hoped that they would make great progress in their practice of Buddhism. She wished the couples a happy marriage and a bright future.
