Thousands mourn loss of Nan Tien Temple founder Venerable Master Hsing Yun

Nan Tien Temple's Reverend Miao You said the memorial service had people from as far as Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra come in to pay their last respects to the great Master.

"The main funeral will be at our headquarters in Kaohsiung, Taiwan where the Master lived," Reverend Miao told the Mercury this morning.

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The Buddhist disciples at Nan Tien temple's holy shrine were just some of the thousands of people worldwide partaking in the ceremony from over 300 temples.

"The funeral will be live streamed from Taiwan in all of our centres around the world," she said.

The colossal expanse of the room was alight with candles and adorned with pink and white flowers and platters of fresh fruits with Venerable Master Hsing Yun's framed photo placed in the centre.

The Taiwanese government officials conferred the Venerable Master Hsing Yun with several awards and gave a eulogy before the religious rites commenced.

The sanctum reverberated with the religious leaders' chants as many of the Illawarra grievers joined in.

"The Venerable Master has prepared us well for this day. He has laid out the plans for how we should promote humanistic buddhism for the next 50 years," Reverend Miao said.

"The Nan Tien Temple, as a major branch of the global Fo Guang Shan network of temples, will abide by the wishes of our late Venerable Master, and continue to make the Buddhist teachings relevant to the lives of everyone in the community."

The 95-year-old Buddhist abbot was a huge figure for the Buddhist community having established a thriving religious community in southern Taiwan and built universities and temples overseas including the famous Nan Tien Temple in Berkeley which is the largest one in the Southern hemisphere.

With over three hundred other temples established around the world, Hsi Lai Temple in the United States, Nan Hua Temple in South Africa, and Zulai Temple in Brazil are the largest in those countries.

He also founded 16 Buddhist Colleges, 24 art galleries, libraries, several publishing companies, bookstores, Chinese schools and several kindergartens

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The Venerable Master's Fo Guang Shan monastic order gave birth to humanistic Buddhism when he founded it in 1967.

With it's main objectives to propagate the Dharma through culture, to foster talents through education, to benefit society through charity, and to purify people's minds through spiritual cultivation, he took Buddhism to a new milestone.

Master Hsing Yun was devoted in maintaining world peace and order with him meeting with several world leaders over the years.

Hsing Yun died peacefully on Sunday, February 5, amid the sound of chanting.

He had largely withdrawn from public life years ago following declining health and a series of strokes.

His loss will be felt greatly by Buddhist community worldwide.

The Nan Tien Temple opened the main shrine for condolences on February 7, two days after the Master's passing and will have it open for several months for those who haven't yet been able to get to temple.

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