DDM Warmly Welcomes the Visit of the Most Venerable Tibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Maha Nayaka Thero from Sri Lanka
In the afternoon of 24 March 2007, eight Most Venerable Bhikshus (Buddhist monks) from Sri Lanka paid their first visit to Dharma Drum Mountain World Center for Buddhist Education in Jinshan Township, Taipei County.
They included The Most Ven. Tibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Maha Nayaka Thero, Venerable Nehiniwela Piyadassi Thero, Venerable Tibbatuwawe Buddharakkitha Thero, Venerable Ambanwelle Sumangala Thero, Venerable Tebbatuwawe Medhankara Thero, Venerable Dr. Devalegama Dhammasena Thero, Venerable Dhammapala and Venerable Hawovita Deepananda Thero.
Accompanying them were four Bhikshunis (Buddhist nuns) of Nanlin Monastery in Nantou County of central Taiwan.
On behalf of Venerable Master Sheng Yen, the Abbot President of DDM, Venerable Guo Dong, extended the visitors DDM’s warmest reception.Venerable Guo Pin, Venerable Guo Guang, Venerable Chang Du and Venerable Guo Qi were also present.
“Dharma Drum Mountain is the Buddhist organization in Taiwan that dedicates itself actively to the work of ‘uplifting the character of humanity and building a pure land on earth’… DDM is happy to share this valuable experience with our honorable guests in order to work together towards fulfilling this vision,” Venerable Guo Dong said.
The meeting began with watching the films “How Great is the Dharma Drum” and “DDM Sangha University”. This was followed by an overview of Dharma Drum Mountain’s missions, education for the Sangha, and Venerable Master Sheng Yen’s ideals. The meeting was an opportunity for discussion and exchange of opinions.
The Abbot President stressed after the film screenings that DDM emphasized places emphasis on three types of education – Education through Public Outreach, Education through Caring Service and Education through Academics – as the strong pillars on which we could “uplift the character of humanity and build a pure land on earth”.
The Abbot President gave examples of DDM’s work: “For instance, in Sri Lanka, DDM’s volunteers have visited the people in Sri Lanka on multiple occasions, providing the poor with material as well as medical services with great compassion. Recently, with the strong support of local authorities and DDM’s volunteers, the DDM Health Care Center in Sri Lanka was successfully completed and is now ready to provide the local people with more quality health services.”
The Most Venerable Tibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Maha Nayaka Thero expressed through his Chinese translator that he was very impressed and happy to see what DDM has accomplished in demonstrating Buddha’s compassion to the people.
“This is what we could not have accomplished alone. We are very thankful for what DDM has done for the people in Sri Lanka. We are hoping that in future there will be more opportunities for collaboration in order to spread the Dharma with compassion and bring about Dharma joy to people.”
The meeting ended happily with exchanging of gifts. Following the meeting, the Abbot President of DDM personally led a tour of the Grand Buddha Hall, the Wish-Fulfilling Guanyin Hall and the Founding History Memorial Hall for the honorable guests.
(Reported and photos taken by Jin Yang/edited by Alice Wong)
