The founder of the Fo Guang Shan (Buddha’s Light Mountain) Buddhist order, Grand Master Hsing Yun, has just completed a one-week visit to Australia to officially launch the Nan Tien (Southern Paradise) Institute’s Wollongong campus.
Master Hsing Yun enjoying the festivities. From Andrew Chung
Arriving on 28 February and staying until 4 March, he opened the campus on Sunday 1 March. The event program included the official opening ceremony, campus tours, a food fair, cultural performances and activities, and talks about the institute. The campus incorporates teaching and community facilities, a museum and art gallery, a library, a café, a gift shop, and lecture theaters.
More than 5,000 people attended the opening, including dignitaries such as Australia’s prime minister the Honorable Tony Abbott, Wollongong lord mayor Gordon Bradbery, and a host of venerable masters from various Buddhist traditions, as well as numerous interfaith and community leaders. It was the 87-year-old Grand Master Hsing Yun that most of the attendees had gathered to see, however. Making a rare public appearance in the hot weather, he was welcomed enthusiastically by the many devotees who made the trip to the region for the ceremony. The master is an important figure of Mahayana Buddhism in Chinese communities worldwide, with over 15 million followers in 173 countries.
Master Hsing Yun with Australian prime minister Tony Abbott. From Andrew Chung
“Australia is a beautiful country, rich in multiculturalism. You have embraced us with the most welcome ways,” said the master warmheartedly in his speech. “Throughout my comings and goings to this country in the last 25 years, I have come to realize Australia is more than just the paradise of the south, it is the paradise of the world.” In response to the master’s words, Tony Abbott said lightheartedly, “I have waited a long time to get to paradise and it is a pleasure to have finally arrived.”
Gordon Bradbery commented, “Wollongong is fast regaining its status as the paradise of the south and Nan Tien Temple and Institute represent an incremental increase in Wollongong’s capacity to be a beautiful and engaging part of the world.” Wollongong is situated in the Illawarra South Coast Region of New South Wales, about two hours south of Sydney.
From left: Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery (left) and Master Hsing Yun (right) with other dignitaries enjoying the proceedings. From Andrew Chung
Located directly across the road from Nan Tien Temple, Nan Tien Institute (NTI) is Australia’s first government-accredited tertiary education provider grounded in Buddhist values and wisdom. It is hoped that NTI’s state-of-the-art campus will be a setting for community interaction and educational and cultural exchange, and provide comprehensive facilities to support the needs of its students.
Initially offering programs open to everyone in the fields of Buddhist Studies, Health and Well-being, and academic and business English, NTI’s vision is to become a university that caters for 3,000 students, offering a comprehensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate educational programs in the Humanities, Economics and Business Studies, Social Sciences, Religious Studies, and Asian Studies.
“We provide a special education. We don’t just give you knowledge, we provide a holistic education, which is important for one’s self-development and growth,” said NTI’s director, Venerable Miao You. “We have three other universities—one in Los Angeles and two in Taiwan. We can draw from Buddhists around the world to come to Wollongong, but our local Australians have a great interest in learning more about Buddhism because it offers peace and harmony in our lives.”
During his visit, Grand Master Hsing Yun also gave daily Dharma talks to the monastic sangha, temple staff and members, and the general public at Nan Tien Temple.