Abbot President of Dharma Drum Mountain, Venerable Guo Dong himself, specially arrived from Taipei to host the Refuge-Taking Ceremony and to offer his warmest blessings to the newly committed believers.

He encouraged them to faithfully observe the Five Precepts in order to attain wisdom, happiness and inner peace at all times, and also to care for others in ‘uplifting the character of humanity’.

The ceremony ended with each new believer receiving a Buddhist necklace from Xinxing monastery's monastics as a blessing.

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The Five Precepts: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no verbal misconduct, and no usage of intoxicants.
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(translated by Jin Yang/edited by DDM Australia Editing Team)