Stephanie Yong
December 22, 2023

In mid-December, the 2023 Bodhi Light Three Acts of Goodness Broadcasters Award Ceremony was held at Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta. The activity was sponsored by Hsing Yun Education Foundation, and jointly organised by Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta and BLIA Sydney Chapter.

The ceremony was attended by the Foundation’s General Manager Venerable Jue Fang and Director Mr Robert Liao, Abbess Chueh Shan, together with 140 attendees. The Bodhi Light Three Acts of Goodness Broadcasters event aimed to encourage participants to broadcast stories from Bodhi Light Tales in their language of choice to spread Humanistic Buddhism’s seeds of virtue.

Encouragement Award winners at the 2023 Bodhi Light Three Acts of Goodness Broadcasters Award Ceremony. photo／Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta

This is the fourth year that the Bodhi Light Three Acts of Goodness Story Festival is held. Originally conceived as a Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book Week activity, the story festival has evolved notably over the last four years. In 2021 the festival invited children’s video entries of storytelling based on Bodhi Light Tales.

Participants recorded their storytelling at Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta. photo／Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta

This year, inspired by the Buddhist skilful means of “spreading Buddhism through sounds”, the organisers expanded the event to include all age groups, and encouraged everyone to broadcast using their languages of choice to reflect Australia’s multicultural society.

Since its launch at Wentworth Point’s weekend market on 16 June 2023, a total of 96 recordings in English, Mandarin, and other Chinese dialects were received from New Zealand, Indonesia, Perth and Sydney. The recipients of 4 Buddha’s Light Awards, 11 Outstanding Awards and 37 Encouragement Awards were selected by the panel of judges. All entries were uploaded to the " Bodhi Light Three Acts of Goodness Broadcaster " blog to spread the message of the Three Acts of Goodness to the world.

Outstanding Award winners at the 2023 Bodhi Light Three Acts of Goodness Broadcasters Award Ceremony. photo／Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta

Warren Zhou, the recipient of the Buddha’s Light Award, said that he was very happy to participate in such a meaningful event, telling stories to connect with the public and helping promote Buddhism. 9-year-old Li Youhui, who won an Outstanding Award, said she was able to improve her understanding of the Chinese language through participation in this event.

Warren Zhou telling a story from Bodhi Light Tales live at the award ceremony. photo／Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta

Hsing Yun Education Foundation has supported Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta’s Bodhi Light Tales storytelling competitions from the very beginning. Venerable Jue Fang said she was happy to see so many people participated in this event. Every participant received the newly published Chinese-English bilingual Bodhi Light Tales story book. All stories come with a bilingual vocabulary list to help readers to better understand the essence of each story.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun once said: “The seeds of reading will be buried in our hearts. When all the causes and conditions come together, they will grow and bloom into fruits of Prajna.” The organisers hoped that the seeds of the Three Acts of Goodness would spread to everyone’s heart through these reading activities, and leda to the fruits of Prajna-wisdom in the future.

Listen to the podcast at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/3actgoodnessstoryfestival

BLIA Young Adult Division members participated in broadcasting Bodhi Light Tales. photo／Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta

Students from Nan Tian Chinese School of Sydney recorded Bodhi Light Tales at Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta with assistance from BLIA Sydney members. photo／Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta

BLIA Scouts from Western Sydney were delighted to receive awards at the 2023 Bodhi Light Three Acts of Goodness Broadcasters Award Ceremony. photo／Nan Tien Buddhist Temple Parramatta