Breathing Chan with the aroma of the tea; Observing Buddhist wisdom in the grace of an orchid

Lingyin Abbot, Master Venerable Guangquan giving a speech during the ceremony

Master Venerable Guang Quan inaugurating for the Xialongwei Community Center of Yunlin Academy

 Master Venerable Guang Quan giving his own calligraphy work as gift

Master Venerable Guangquan speaking with representatives from local government on the construction of community culture

Lingyin venerables performing the Chan tea ceremony

Children from the neighborhood giving a dance performance to pay their gratitude to the venerables

Local residents admiring the exhibited photography works

At 2.30pm, 20 March, 2014, Yunlin Academy announced the opening of its branches in Sandun County, with the official inaugurating ceremony held in Xiuyue Restaurant of the town.

Lingyin Temple Abbot, Master Ven. Guangquan, together with Mr Mao Zhaoping, Head of the Provincial Centre for Non-Olympic Sports Disciplines; Mr Yuan Ming, Mayor of Sandun County and Ms Song Jing, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Culture and Broadcast, Xihu District, attended the ceremony. They were joined by members of the Go player communities, Lingyin venerables who specialize in Chan tea ceremonies, as well as representatives of local media and residents.

Lingyin Abbot, Master Venerable Guangquan, inaugurated for the Yunlin Academy branches in Shuixiuyuan Community, Xialongwei Community, Wulitang Community and Zhengyuan Community of the Sandun County. During the warm, inviting ceremony, Master Venerable Guangquan gave to the County government a calligraphy work of his own as a present, and received two pots of elegant orchids in return.

In the insightful speech Master Venerable Guangquan gave during the ceremony, he stressed the fact that the learning and practice of Buddhism must now be grounded in everyday worldly life. According to him, it is a challenge for contemporary Buddhist monks and institutions to keep a clear mind in daily practice in the pursuit of absolute Buddhist wisdom, and to take advantage of modern tools and devices and keep pace with the societal progress at the same time. Lingyin Temple, in addition to its prominence in the Buddhist community and its rich cultural heritage, has made a lot of effort to embrace modernity. The temple reaches out to its lay believers through social networks such as Weibo (Chinese twitter) and WeChat (Chinese WhatsApp) as well as text messages, so as to nurture the lay believers with the wisdom and mercy from both the Buddha and from traditional Chinese culture.

Lingyin venerables gave a live performance of the Chan tea culture, which is characteristic of the Yunlin Academy. An assortment of famous teas such as Dahongpao, Tieguanyin (Iron Buddha) and Puer was offered to the audience, accompanied by exquisite refreshments. In return, the local residents performed a varieties of dances and music for the venerables, such as the dance piece＂Standards for Good Students and Children＂, the guzheng piece ＂Songs of Fishing Boats at Dusk＂ and the ocarina piece ＂Pristine Views of the Hometown＂. The audience was absorbed in the aroma of the Chan tea, and enchanted by the touching melodies of the music.