Last Thursday, 19 February, marked the first day of the New Year according to the lunar calendar (also known as Chinese or Vietnamese New Year). For the two weeks following New Year’s Eve on 18 February, Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhist temples, among others throughout Australia, are celebrating the “Year of the Goat” and enjoying one of their busiest times of the year.
Andrew Williams with Ven. Thich Linh Tan and committee members in the Zen garden at Deer Park Dharma Centre on New Year’s Eve. From Andrew Williams
According to Chinese astrology, each year is associated with an animal sign, occurring in a 12-year cycle. The goat comes 8th in the cycle of the Chinese zodiac. At the celebrations, decorations will reflect this image, and people born in the year of the goat will take special care in all that they do to guard against creating negative karma. It is generally believed that they are amicable, gentle, and compassionate people.
Chinese Buddhist temples and centers throughout the land are currently holding huge festivals to celebrate the New Year. For instance, one of the world’s largest Buddhist orders, Fo Guang Shan, held special ceremonies from 18–22 February at Nan Tien Temple in Woolongong, near Sydney, as well as at its many centers in the major cities and regional areas. Among the festivities were chanting ceremonies, offerings of incense and candles, concerts, food fairs, lion dances, and fireworks.
Lion dance. From youtube.com
The spokesperson for Melbourne’s Yun Yang Temple, Albert Chang, shares, “We had a special ceremony on New Year’s Eve, which included reciting the Diamond Sutra and offering incense and candles as a group, followed by a fireworks display. We also held special ceremonies over the weekend, which included chanting and prostrations to 3,000 Buddhas.”
Vietnamese Buddhist temples and centers also held elaborate celebrations in Australia’s capital cities and some regional centers, with thousands of people in attendance at the largest temples, such as Phuoc Hue and Phap Bao temples in Sydney.
In Melbourne, festivals took place at Quang Minh, Hoa Nghiem, Quang Duc, and Linh Son temples, among others. These included chanting and offering ceremonies, multicultural music and dance performances, food fairs and stalls, carnivals for children, lion dances, and fireworks, followed by speeches by the abbots and special guests.
“The New Year is a time to show gratefulness and appreciation to everyone and all of nature,” said Kim Cang Temple’s abbot, Venerable Thich Nhuan Chon, while the abbot of Quang Minh Temple, Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan, told an audience of thousands, “We wish you all a very happy New Year, good health, success, and prosperity.” Ai Kien Dang of the temple commented, “For us people who live far away from our homeland, it is important to have some sort of celebration or ceremony to commemorate special times such as the lunar New Year and to share them with other Australians. It makes us feel warm and part of the one big family.”
In Bendigo to the northwest of Melbourne, Great Stupa of Universal Compassion also joined in the festivities, holding its New Year celebration on Saturday 21 February. The event began with a Buddha Relics procession from Bendigo’s Exhibition Centre to the stupa, led by the sangha and a lion dance, to the sound of a conch. Once at the stupa, participants enjoyed many precious blessings, with chanting from various Buddhist traditions and a Dharma talk as well as a special performance from the musical Birth of the Buddha.
Back in Melbourne, the Buddhist Discussion Centre, a homegrown Buddhist center established in 1978, hosted visits by groups from more than ten Vietnamese temples as part of their New Year celebrations, as they have done for over 20 years.
As Venerable Thich Linh Tan, the abbot of Melbourne’s Deer Park Dharma Centre, says, “No news is good news, good news is no news, and news is just news. Even though there is nothing new, Happy New Year”!
Happy Year of the Goat!