The Nirvana Land

CEBU, Philippines - The Buddha’s Light International Association and the Chu-Un Temple held a vey grand celebration to usher in the Chinese New Year, as well as celebrate Valentine’s Day last February 13. The celebration also served as a showcase for the organization’s Believe in the Arts Advocacy or BLIA.

Chinese lanterns, decors, various booths and even an inflatable castle, transformed the Chu-un Temple and made it look like a scene from fairytale book. It was Nirvana Land!

“Believe In the Arts” is the BLIA youth’s advocacy project that aims to help raise funds for the construction of their performing arts school and theater auditorium This was their altruistic response after BLIA Fo Guang Shan Founder Venerable Master Hsing Yun conferred to a proposal of “building a school for the arts and providing scholarship and ground to enhance the talents of the Cebuano youth.”

Marlon Ardiente, a liaison from Siddhartha Musical, said that the Venerable Master Hsing Yun was impressed by the talents of the Cebuano youth in the fields of music and arts as manifested by “the dedication, passion and world-class artistic skills of the Siddhartha Musical team.” The Siddhartha Musical had recently toured around Philippines and Taiwan for performances.

He added that Hsing Yun’s plan is also aimed at four goals: “to propagate the Dharma (values and teachings) through culture, to nurture talents through education, to benefit society through charity and to purify people’s minds through cultivation.”

Among the highlights of the day were jamming sessions and a dinner-for-a-cause that showcased the youth’s talents.

Ben Chua, Vice President External of BLIA, shared that this Chinese New Years’ celebration was an exceptional one because it was the youth who took on the drive to make the event successful.

After dinner, a thanksgiving prayer signaled the start of lion dances to welcome the Year of the Tiger.