Venerable Master Hsing Yun Held Refuge-taking & Five Precepts Ceremony cum Prayer for the Public @Singapore

As an avid reader of Venerable Master Hsing Yun's books, I was pretty excited that he was coming to Singapore. Venerable Master Hsing Yun is a Chinese Buddhist monk, author, philanthropist, and founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, which has branches throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.

I am a Christian but I enjoy reading his books which show what it means to lead a good life, and offer practical advice, based on the Buddhist teachings, as to how this can be accomplished .

My husband went around 'begging' for tickets to the event. Most of the 10,000 tickets were given out. A friend finally passed us two tickets. The Refuge-taking and Five Precepts Ceremony cum Prayer for the Public was held at Singapore Indoor Stadium on 18 November 2012.

台湾佛光山开山宗长星云大师，11月18日在新加坡室内体育馆主持“三皈五戒暨为社会大众祈愿祝祷”法会, 弘扬佛法。入场免费。

Before the start of the ceremony, there were several spectacular performances by devotees from Singapore and Taiwan.

我在场观看, 法会好庄严, 宏观, 祥和气氛呀！

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan was the Guest of Honour at this ceremony.

国家发展部长许文远是座上宾。

There were about 10000 or more people at the stadium, 2000 of them were there to take the 3 refuges and 5 precepts.

室内体育馆座无虚席，到场公众约1万人，还包括来自本地各个佛教团体的代表。

85 year-old Master Hsing Yun is still very alert. He asked all devotees to recite after him “我是佛" and encouraged them to recite it daily so that they will be mindful of their actions.


星云大师在法会上说︰「所谓皈依佛，就是自己承担自己是佛，跟自己说『我是佛』，承认自己是佛，天地为之变色，世间因为承担而改变。」大师也强调，所谓皈依三宝，不需要吃素、受戒和出家，只要信奉佛教，不要改变即可。人们常求长寿、发财、家庭平安，但只要受「五戒」，就能不求自得。

Among the topics he considers are controlling the body and speech, overcoming greed, ending anger, having patience under insult, managing wealth, getting along with others, what it means to practice Buddhism, and the blessings and joys of that practice.

星云大师分享: 皈依佛有了阳光，皈依法有了法水，皈依僧有了福田，三归有了精神信仰。五戒，不杀生仍不杀人，不偷窃即不拿别人的，不邪淫别搞婚外情，不妄语其善意慌言不算破戒，不喝酒即不喝醉不吸毒。总之五戒就是教你不犯法。三归恶道除名，五戒可生极乐。三归五戒，你自由他自在，造就和睦家庭，和谐世界!

大师妙语如珠, 所说的例子非常贴近日常生活，很实际。 对大师幽默的讲故事，大道理 ，有深刻的印象。