On the 18th of May, we welcomed the Superintendent of the London Fo Guang Shan Temple, Venerable Ru Hai and the Venerable Dr Miaolung to Canterbury Christ Church University for a workshop on vegetarian food.

The Venerable Superintendent Ru Hai (third from left) and the Venerable Dr Miaolung (fourth from left) with Professor Scherer (Director of INCISE, second from left) with the volunteers from the Buddha Light International Association (BLIA).

Professor Helen James, SMT member for Student Experience also attended the event.

Together with the volunteers from the Buddha Light International Association (BLIA, the lay branch of Fo Guang Shan) we were treated to a guided tea ceremony that instilled peace and calm in everyone.

After a short video on how some of the food was prepared it was time to sample the wonderful food prepared by the Superintendent Venerable Ru Hai.

Venerable Ru Hai puts the finishing touches to one of the dishes made entirely out of mushrooms but closely resembling roast beef.

BLIA volunteer Ricky Wong closed the event by presenting a current programme run by BLIA and Fo Guang Shan to promote vegetarianism. The programme is called Vege Plan A and more information can be found on their website at vegdays.org

Professor Helen James remarked how marvellous it was to just sit and be quiet with regards to the tea ceremony. She called it humbling and really warm.

Seeing how much effort and attention to detail went into the food preparation she remarked how much more appreciative she was of the food and how much more it allows her to take the time to enjoy it, rather than rushing about.

A video impression of the day will be published soon.