Thanks to Qigong Master Qinyin's karma and connection, our
group of Spiritual Trip to China 2005 were not only able to visit sacred sites,
but also meet with practicing monks and nuns there.
Assistant Abbess Yiyin at Mt. Putuo
Master
Yiyin is an assistant abbess of a nunnery and Buddhist college halfway up
the mountain. In an afternoon, she came to our guest room in the Puji Temple
at the foothill to give a talk. Wearing a typical Buddhist gray robe, she
appeared to be calm, warm and dignified at the same time. She started humbly
by calling us her "classmates" in studying Buddhism. Her topic naturally
flew to how to "cut worry" by addressing the three toxins of "greed,
anger and ignorance" through "precepts, meditation and wisdom".
Being a leading faculty member at her Buddhist college, she seemed to have
so much to share. I was particularly impressed by a story about meditation
that she brought up. It is well known that Master Damo, founder of the Chinese
Zen Buddhism, meditated outside the Shaolin Temple for 10 years nonstop. Yet
Abbess Yiyin related a story about a monk who apparently meditated for over
one thousand years!
In the 7th century, China was in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and Buddhism was blooming. Master Xuanzhuang (known as the Tang Monk in the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West) was on his way to India to study and bring back Buddhist sutras. Halfway, he met a monk on roadside who seemingly had been there meditating for ages, as mosses grew all over his body. He woke up the monk (he was still alive!), and asked why he was there. The meditation monk answered, "I'm here waiting for Sakyamuni to come and learn from him". The Tang monk told him that Sakyamuni Buddha had already come and gone over one thousand years ago! The meditation monk was full of disappointment and regret, "maybe I should get into meditation again to wait for the next Buddha - the Mitrya Buddha to come". Instead the Tang monk advised him to reincarnate as a prince in the Tang palace since his physical body was already no good, and he would reunite with him after returning from India.
When the Tang monk returned to the Chinese capital, however, he couldn't find this "meditation monk" after checking the info of all living princes. Actually, the meditation monk was born into a general's house, mistaking it as the palace. Growing up as a talented boy in a well-off family, the "meditation monk" was also attracted to "wine, meat and women", forgetting about his true nature and mission. In the end, it took the Tang monk quite a while to trick him back into monkhood on the precondition that he could bring "wine, meat and women" along with him to temple in three separate carts. For this, he got the nickname "Three Cart Monk". Fortunately, after studying Buddhist sutras at the temple, he soon discovered that the "Three Carts" are worthless. Later, he became a great contributor in translating the Buddhist sutras into Chinese.
Abbess Yiyin summarized this story by lamenting how easy it is for one to miss one's true nature and get lost in the mundane world, even for someone who has practiced meditation for over one thousand years in the past life!
Abbot Yunguan of Guoqing Temple, Mt. Tiantai
After
leaving Mt. Putuo, we came to Guoqing Temple, the founding place of the famous
Tiantai Buddhism, the first Chinese school of Buddhism established over 1,500
years ago. This school later spreaded to much of Japan and Korea. Situated
in the scenic Mt. Tiantai (definitely with a superb fengshui!), Guoqing Temple
is an amazing collection of imposing and exquisite buildings of halls, pavilions,
pagoda and so on.
We were lucky dine with Abbot Elect Yunguan (later we knew that he would become Abbot soon) for lunch. The vegetarian meal at Guoqing Temple is widely viewed by our group as the best among all the bests throughout our entire trip. Abbot told us that the culinary art at Guoqing Temple has a long and illustrious tradition. Although our table was full with a dozen beautiful and tasty dishes, Abbot Yunguan confirmed that monks typically only eat two dishes per meals - not to be carried away by good food perhaps, I thought to myself. One lady from our group jumped in, "do monks in your temple practice martial arts?" Abbot laughed, "No, they don't. But you don't want to touch them". After a pause, he continued, "because you never know how they might respond". A kind of Buddhist humor?
After lunch, Abbot Yunguan kindly spent a couple hours with our group. After briefly introducing the history of the Tiantai Buddhism and Guoqing Temple, Abbot Yunguan asked us, "what do you think is a person's longevity?" One member of group blurted out, "five thousand years", apparently thinking about "immortality" or expecting an unconventional answer. Another member offered a more sensible answer, "maximum 120 years". Abbot Yunguan slowly responded, "a person's longevity only depends on the moment of a breath. Just look at the examples of Hurricane Katrina or the recent earthquake in Afghanistan". Yeah, this is what is called "impermanence", isn't it? Abbot Yunguan then discussed the meaning of Heart Sutra, following the request of a member of our group. He offered a novel explanation of the famous text in Heart Sutra, "Form does not differ from the void, nor the void from form. Form is identical with void and void is identical with form". In his interpretation, "form" refers everything with a shape or is visible, while "void" refers to things that are without shape or is invisible but still exist, such as consciousness. The qi field at this thousand-year-old temple is just profound beyond description. Each stone, brick, pillar, or tree there seems to have a story to tell, let alone the unforgettable morning chanting lesson that our group joined at 4:30am at the temple's main hall with all monks.
Abbot Xianchong of Fragrant Sea Temple in Tongxiang
Our
group was invited by the Zhejiang Buddhist Association to the initiation ceremony
of a new Quanyin hall in the Fragrant Sea Temple in the city of Tongxiang.
When we just met the Abbot of this restored temple, Abbot Xianchong, we were
all surprised by how young he was. He was only in his mid thirties, yet commands
such respect in the Buddhist community that he was entrusted with this gigantic
project of restoring this six hundred year old temple. Later, we found that
he became a monk as early as six year old, attended Buddhist college and became
known for his understanding and discipline. As a rising new Buddhist "star",
he seems to be so amicable to everyone, smiling all the time. One of his student
told us that Abbot Xianchong could spend a whole afternoon for someone coming
to him for help even when person only donated ten yuan (about $1.25) to temple.
As slender as he is, his body exudes so much light, commented by a member
of our group.
During our short conversation with Abbot Xianchong (as he needed to attend to many guests coming to the ceremony), we asked him how we can practice as lay people. He quoted a ancient saint's saying, "Doing good things is just following precepts, maintaining a pure mind is just becoming monk". He then explained the meaning of following precepts. During the ceremony, he delivered a keynote speech to the excited audience. He mentioned that Buddhism has recovered greatly in China thanks to government's favorable policy and Buddhist followers' great supports. Yet a major obstacle for further development comes from within the Buddhist rank. Some Buddhist monks do not follow precepts closely in setting good examples. His tone was quiet, warm yet firm. He has a great plan to revive this temple, and make it more accessible to educate the local populace. Best wishes to this rising Buddhist star.
Assistant Abbess Yiyin at Mt. Putuo
Master
Yiyin is an assistant abbess of a nunnery and Buddhist college halfway up
the mountain. In an afternoon, she came to our guest room in the Puji Temple
at the foothill to give a talk. Wearing a typical Buddhist gray robe, she
appeared to be calm, warm and dignified at the same time. She started humbly
by calling us her "classmates" in studying Buddhism. Her topic naturally
flew to how to "cut worry" by addressing the three toxins of "greed,
anger and ignorance" through "precepts, meditation and wisdom".
Being a leading faculty member at her Buddhist college, she seemed to have
so much to share. I was particularly impressed by a story about meditation
that she brought up. It is well known that Master Damo, founder of the Chinese
Zen Buddhism, meditated outside the Shaolin Temple for 10 years nonstop. Yet
Abbess Yiyin related a story about a monk who apparently meditated for over
one thousand years!In the 7th century, China was in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and Buddhism was blooming. Master Xuanzhuang (known as the Tang Monk in the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West) was on his way to India to study and bring back Buddhist sutras. Halfway, he met a monk on roadside who seemingly had been there meditating for ages, as mosses grew all over his body. He woke up the monk (he was still alive!), and asked why he was there. The meditation monk answered, "I'm here waiting for Sakyamuni to come and learn from him". The Tang monk told him that Sakyamuni Buddha had already come and gone over one thousand years ago! The meditation monk was full of disappointment and regret, "maybe I should get into meditation again to wait for the next Buddha - the Mitrya Buddha to come". Instead the Tang monk advised him to reincarnate as a prince in the Tang palace since his physical body was already no good, and he would reunite with him after returning from India.
When the Tang monk returned to the Chinese capital, however, he couldn't find this "meditation monk" after checking the info of all living princes. Actually, the meditation monk was born into a general's house, mistaking it as the palace. Growing up as a talented boy in a well-off family, the "meditation monk" was also attracted to "wine, meat and women", forgetting about his true nature and mission. In the end, it took the Tang monk quite a while to trick him back into monkhood on the precondition that he could bring "wine, meat and women" along with him to temple in three separate carts. For this, he got the nickname "Three Cart Monk". Fortunately, after studying Buddhist sutras at the temple, he soon discovered that the "Three Carts" are worthless. Later, he became a great contributor in translating the Buddhist sutras into Chinese.
Abbess Yiyin summarized this story by lamenting how easy it is for one to miss one's true nature and get lost in the mundane world, even for someone who has practiced meditation for over one thousand years in the past life!
Abbot Yunguan of Guoqing Temple, Mt. Tiantai
After
leaving Mt. Putuo, we came to Guoqing Temple, the founding place of the famous
Tiantai Buddhism, the first Chinese school of Buddhism established over 1,500
years ago. This school later spreaded to much of Japan and Korea. Situated
in the scenic Mt. Tiantai (definitely with a superb fengshui!), Guoqing Temple
is an amazing collection of imposing and exquisite buildings of halls, pavilions,
pagoda and so on. We were lucky dine with Abbot Elect Yunguan (later we knew that he would become Abbot soon) for lunch. The vegetarian meal at Guoqing Temple is widely viewed by our group as the best among all the bests throughout our entire trip. Abbot told us that the culinary art at Guoqing Temple has a long and illustrious tradition. Although our table was full with a dozen beautiful and tasty dishes, Abbot Yunguan confirmed that monks typically only eat two dishes per meals - not to be carried away by good food perhaps, I thought to myself. One lady from our group jumped in, "do monks in your temple practice martial arts?" Abbot laughed, "No, they don't. But you don't want to touch them". After a pause, he continued, "because you never know how they might respond". A kind of Buddhist humor?
After lunch, Abbot Yunguan kindly spent a couple hours with our group. After briefly introducing the history of the Tiantai Buddhism and Guoqing Temple, Abbot Yunguan asked us, "what do you think is a person's longevity?" One member of group blurted out, "five thousand years", apparently thinking about "immortality" or expecting an unconventional answer. Another member offered a more sensible answer, "maximum 120 years". Abbot Yunguan slowly responded, "a person's longevity only depends on the moment of a breath. Just look at the examples of Hurricane Katrina or the recent earthquake in Afghanistan". Yeah, this is what is called "impermanence", isn't it? Abbot Yunguan then discussed the meaning of Heart Sutra, following the request of a member of our group. He offered a novel explanation of the famous text in Heart Sutra, "Form does not differ from the void, nor the void from form. Form is identical with void and void is identical with form". In his interpretation, "form" refers everything with a shape or is visible, while "void" refers to things that are without shape or is invisible but still exist, such as consciousness. The qi field at this thousand-year-old temple is just profound beyond description. Each stone, brick, pillar, or tree there seems to have a story to tell, let alone the unforgettable morning chanting lesson that our group joined at 4:30am at the temple's main hall with all monks.
Abbot Xianchong of Fragrant Sea Temple in Tongxiang
Our
group was invited by the Zhejiang Buddhist Association to the initiation ceremony
of a new Quanyin hall in the Fragrant Sea Temple in the city of Tongxiang.
When we just met the Abbot of this restored temple, Abbot Xianchong, we were
all surprised by how young he was. He was only in his mid thirties, yet commands
such respect in the Buddhist community that he was entrusted with this gigantic
project of restoring this six hundred year old temple. Later, we found that
he became a monk as early as six year old, attended Buddhist college and became
known for his understanding and discipline. As a rising new Buddhist "star",
he seems to be so amicable to everyone, smiling all the time. One of his student
told us that Abbot Xianchong could spend a whole afternoon for someone coming
to him for help even when person only donated ten yuan (about $1.25) to temple.
As slender as he is, his body exudes so much light, commented by a member
of our group. During our short conversation with Abbot Xianchong (as he needed to attend to many guests coming to the ceremony), we asked him how we can practice as lay people. He quoted a ancient saint's saying, "Doing good things is just following precepts, maintaining a pure mind is just becoming monk". He then explained the meaning of following precepts. During the ceremony, he delivered a keynote speech to the excited audience. He mentioned that Buddhism has recovered greatly in China thanks to government's favorable policy and Buddhist followers' great supports. Yet a major obstacle for further development comes from within the Buddhist rank. Some Buddhist monks do not follow precepts closely in setting good examples. His tone was quiet, warm yet firm. He has a great plan to revive this temple, and make it more accessible to educate the local populace. Best wishes to this rising Buddhist star.
