HUNDREDS of people turned out on Saturday morning for a Cornerstone Laying Ceremony for the Fo Guang Shan Chung Tian Temple Main Shrine development.
The Main Shrine at Priestdale is the next stage of expansion for the temple, which was opened in 1992 by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the founding Master of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, which now has over 300 Buddhist temples worldwide.
The ceremony featured a spectacular dragon dance.
“First visiting the site in 1989, the Venerable Master could see the eventual development a large temple,” a representative said.
“Where people would come to practice their Buddhist beliefs, provide assistance to all in the community through education, charitable works and cultural events, and through the loving kindness and compassion of the Buddha, touch the hearts and minds of millions, bringing peace and joy into their lives.”
Over the past 32 years the temple has grown to become a leading attraction for the City of Logan and the greater South East Queensland region with over 150,000 visitors annually.
After the warm and loud welcome from the Chinese Dragon, the ceremony provided a short time for mindfulness of the land where the temple sits, with an Indigenous Welcome to Country by Ben Barker on his didgeridoo.
About 300 people. including children from the Buddha’s Light scouts, then laid treasures and gifts.
One of the gifts was a brick brought by head abbot of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order in Taiwan.
The brick was made up from Queensland sand, soil and water mixed with soil from Fo Guang Shan. It included a large Queensland opal boulder.
After all gifts were laid and blessed, the hole was cemented up, creating a base for the main shrine construction.
Abbess of the Fo Guang Shan Chung Tian Temple, Venerable Manwang said construction was expected to take three years.
