Venerable Dayi, President of the Buddhist Association of Canada, introduced that the week-long "Canada-China Buddhist Cultural Exchange Exhibition" will be held concurrently with the "First Grand Water and Land Dharma Service." The exhibition has invited contemporary high-ranking monks from China, as well as representatives from the Buddhist Association of China, the Jiangsu Buddhist Association, the Guangzhou Buddhist Association, Jinshan Temple, Hanshan Temple in Suzhou, and Big Buddha Temple in Guangzhou, alongside Canadian dignitaries and renowned calligraphers.
The theme of the first "Canada-China Buddhist Cultural Exchange Week" is "Common Roots and Origins, Integration of Hearts and Wishes," and the guiding principle of the event is in line with the World Buddhist Forum held in China: "A Harmonious World Begins in the Heart." During the exchange week, works by famous contemporary Chinese Buddhist calligraphers and painters, master statue carvers, as well as Buddhist art and books will be showcased.
During the Buddhist Cultural Exchange Week, the Chan Shan Temple of the Buddhist Association of Canada will also launch the most solemn and magnificent Buddhist event—the Grand Water and Land Dharma Service—to memorialize and offer salvation to sentient beings of the "Dharma Realm." During the service, the 91-year-old Founding Elder of the Chan Shan Temple, Venerable Xinkong, will bestow the Bodhisattva Precepts upon lay followers.
Venerable Dayi also noted that to celebrate the 2558th anniversary of Sakyamuni Buddha's birth, a grand Buddha Bathing Ceremony and a "Thousand-Person Vegetarian Banquet to Celebrate the Buddha's Birthday" will be held on May 6 (the eighth day of the fourth lunar month). Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney, Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne, and Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau have sent congratulatory letters. Aside from Buddhist groups, the event will also see participation from other religious groups, including Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Judaism.
Regarding the progress of the four famous Chinese Buddhist mountains under construction in North America, Venerable Dayi, who is presiding over this massive project, stated that besides the materials for some main halls still being processed, all wood-structure construction for the Wutai Mountain project is expected to begin this year. The project has invited Chinese craftsmen to perform the construction. The Chinese Buddhist community continues to provide strong support by selecting and sending clerical talent to assist the Buddhist Association of Canada. The Nanhua Temple in Shaoguan, Guangdong—an ancestral temple of the Chan school—has once again donated the golden statue and kasaya of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng to deepen the bond of origin between Canadian Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism.
