Wonderful New Year Meditation Festival

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Sun 23 Feb 2025

10 am to 3 pm

The New Year Meditation Festival at the Peaceful Land of Joy Meditation Centre is a joyful and insightful event. This year the festival is being held from 10 am to 3 pm on Sunday 23 February at the Peaceful Land of Joy Meditation Centre, 20 Cookes Rd, Yuroke, 5 minutes west of Craigieburn, 40 minutes north of the Melbourne CBD.

Wonderful program

The program includes a special Dharma talk at 2 pm with the Japanese Zen Master Ekai Korematsu Roshi (details below), children's meditation, delicious food including Tibetan momos, the New Year Blessing Ceremony with thought-provoking speakers, a garden tour, a guided meditation and temple tour.

The 10-acre gardens are especially spectacular through lots of volunteer effort, and the planting of stunning new student-sponsored roses. Relax on wide lawns in front of the temple or wander around the lakes to see the wildlife, and explore the many beautiful trees and colourful flowers, especially roses, salvias, Golden Robins, California Redwoods, Alyogynes, and many varieties of marigolds.

During the New Year Blessing Ceremony, spiritual leaders from Buddhist and other religious traditions, government representatives, and the community join in reflection and prayer for a world of peace, sustainability and happiness.

Festival Focus

The theme of this year's festival is 'Courage and Patience - Navigating Our Current World.' We all have simple but profound choices to make each day.

While our beautiful planet is increasingly facing adversity, its future and ours are in our hands.

If we navigate each day with courage and patience, without fear, anger or resentment, we can help make a better world, but not through grumbling or turning away.

During this New Year Festival, we will consider our own states of mind, our contributions to peace, being kind and compassionate and helping however we can to make the world a better place.

Zen teaching at 2pm

From a Zen perspective, Ekai Roshi explores the theme of 'Courage and Patience - Navigating Our Current World'. He highlights how our daily choices shape both our lives and the broader world, encouraging us to meet global challenges with courage, embrace reality with compassion, and recognize that true change requires patience.

This talk emphasizes the role of mindfulness in our actions, the cultivation of kindness, and the power of small, consistent efforts in contributing to peace. It calls us to navigate the world with clarity, trust the unfolding process, and work toward a compassionate, harmonious future for all beings.

Ekai Korematsu Roshi has been serving as Abbot and Resident Teacher of Jikishoan Zen Buddhist Community in Melbourne since 1999.

Entry arrangements

Festival gate entry* $15 single, $10 concession; $20 for one adult & one or more children, $15 concession; $25 for two adults and school-age children. Proceeds support the maintenance of the temple and gardens.

*The facility charge includes entry and access to - Lectures & Meditation, the New Year Blessing Ceremony, Children's meditation, Gardens and Garden Tour, and a Guided Temple Tour.

Tibetan Buddhist Society, 20 Cookes Road, Yuroke, 45 minutes from the CBD, ten minutes from the Tullamarine Freeway.

For more information and updates please visit www.tibetanbuddhistsociety.org
Facebook: @tibetanbuddhistsociety
Instagram: @tibetanbuddhistsociety.melb

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