On 31 May 2019, the Master of Arts Graduation Ceremony was held in the Buddhist College of Singapore (BCS). Rector Venerable Kwang Sheng, Vice-Rectors Venerable Dr. Chuan Sheng, Venerable Chuan Hou and Venerable Chuan Xiong, the Head of Admin Office Venerable Quan Zhi, the Head of Monastic Training Office Venerable Chuan Kong, staff, students and guests attended the ceremony.
The ceremony began with paying homage and offering of flowers to the Buddha, followed by the chanting of Heart Sutra. The Rector then gave a speech congratulating the students on getting their M.A. qualifications.
The Rector encouraged the students to cultivate three personal qualities. The first is gratitude. As material goods grow in abundance and can be acquired easily, one may slowly lose a heart of gratitude. Therefore, the most important Buddhist practice is to cultivate gratitude; to be grateful for what one has and to all those who have contributed to one’s academic success. The second is the attitude of continuous learning. One may think that one has nothing more to learn, but when one sees the vastness of the world, one will feel that he has much more to learn. Lastly, he exhorted the students to remain humble. Birth, maturity, decay and death is the natural order. When one is proud and egoistic, and views the world with contempt, this is the beginning of decay. He likened the Ego to a scar; the bigger the ego, the larger the scar. Hence, one has to remain humble in order to further improve oneself.
Thereafter, the Rector presented the certificates to the 8 Chinese and English MA graduates. Following that, student representatives Venerable Miao Hui and Venerable Shan Nian gave a thank you speech respectively. The ceremony ended with a group photo taking with the lecturers to commemorate this joyous occasion.
