China Buddhist Association--Flushing, New York

China Buddhist Association’s 50th Anniversary Celebration
and Dharma Ceremony

Lingyin Temple’s Abbot Venerable Guangquan offers
congratulatory speech

The Buddhist Association of China presents gift to New York’s China Buddhist Association

Venerable Guangquan presents calligraphy art on behalf of Lingyin Temple

Venerable Guangquan receives gift from Grandmaster Miaofeng on behalf of Lingyin Temple

Delightful ＂Birthcake＂ for the 50th birthday of New York’s China Buddhist Association

Award winner of China Buddhism Dharma Exchange Conference, Venerable Huilin, speaks to the guests

Award winner of China Buddhism Dharma Exchange Conference, Venerable Zhijue

Yunlin Chan Tea Society

Award winner of China Buddhism Dharma Exchange Conference, Venerable Huifa speaks about the Heart Sutra.

Lingyin Temple Abbot Venerable Guangquan addresses Buddhism and social responsibilities in contemporary society

Group photo of Venerables and lay followers

On September 7th, 2013 Lingyin Temple’s Abbot, Venerable Guangquan, who is Also Buddhist Association of China’s permanent Board of Council member, led group of more than thirty Dharma Masters to Flushing, New York for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of New York’s China Buddhist Association. Among the activities planned for the celebration were Dharma talk events and the Yunlin Chan Tea Society’s Tea ceremony which is exclusive to Lingyin Temple.

The New York China Buddhist Association’s 50th anniversary grand celebration began at 7:00am local time at Ci Hang Temple in Flushing, New York. On behalf of Buddhist Association of China and Hangzhou Buddhist Association, Lingyin Temple’s Abbot Venerable Guangquan passionately commended New York’s China Buddhist Association on their achievements, particularly Grandmaster Miaofeng’s legacy of establishing the organization as well as proper Buddhist propagation over the fifty years’ history. Beyond Buddhism, Grandmaster Miaofeng’s widely recognized contributions extend to the greater community for positive cultural influence, as well as the Buddhism exchange internationally. The Secretary General of The Buddhist Association of China, Wang Jian, and Abbot Guanquan presented calligraphy art gift to the New York’s China Buddhist Association on behalf of the Buddhist Association of China and Lingyin Temple.

In the afternoon segments of the celebration, Award winners of China Buddhism Exchange Conference, Venerable Huilin and Venerable Zhijue of the Lingyin group spoke to the guests on select Dharma topics. The evening event featured the exclusive YunLin Chan Tea Society of Lingyin Temple with Dharma masters’ Chan (Zen), tea service, and performance of Chinese classical music instruments. In part, to demonstrate that in the clamor of contemporary life, Chan is ever present and one can slow down and find a steady pace to be aware of the surroundings, even if it that lies in the lone flavor of one sip of tea.

The following morning, Venerable Huifa who is also an award winner of China Buddhism Dharma Exchange Conference, spoke on the topic of ＂The Heart Sutra＂ to the guests. In the afternoon segment, Abbot Venerable Guangquan hosted the forum on ＂Buddhism and the Contemporary Social Responsibilities＂. And, finally, The celebration for New York’s China Buddhist Association 50th Anniversary concluded with the Dharma talks of featured Venerable speakers to wrap up a grand two-day celebration for the historic milestone of Chinese Buddhism.