Bodhi in a Single
Bound!
Dharma Master Heng Chao
was born in 1949 in Biloxi, Mississippi to Chester G. and Betty R.
Mitchell. A few months after his birth,
his father, a career Air Force sergeant, was transferred to a base in Haiti
where his family spent three years.
After Haiti, his family moved to California where his father served a
tour, and then on to Alaska, Michigan, and so forth, moving every year or two
through Heng Chao’s childhood. The
transient nature of his life was an education in itself, a breadth of experience,
which taught him patience and confidence in new unusual situations. It gave him a special vision, an
understanding that sees clearly the worldly cares of existence are basically
empty. When he was young he preferred
solitude to deep friendships, and determination and hard work to laziness. When he was twelve, he received a severe
injury, and was suddenly deeply impressed by the impermanence and suffering of
his body. Almost in tears he reflected
on the painful state of his body and recognized that even at this age he was
dying.
For
a long time he had known that he would have a high place and significant duties
to perform in the world, but was uncertain as to what they would be. When he was fifteen he heard about the stock
market, and was at once intrigued by its complexity, power, and mystery. Like a starved animal he studied every book
and report he could find on the subject, often studying far into the night. At sixteen he started speculating, using his
mother’s name because of his young age.
At seventeen he began speculating in real estate, and owned lots,
mountain cabins and several houses. His
enthusiasm for speculation carried over into gambling. He again studied with diligence, practiced
hard, and his successes even led him to discover the craps tables in Las
Vegas. But these interests did not
bring him the sense of having fulfilled his earlier vision of his life’s
work. He realized their shallowness
compared to the immense problem of the suffering that comes with being human,
and by the time he entered college these interests lost all flavor. At college he found no curricular interests
that compared to the study of his own nature, and so he devoted most of his
time to that study and neglected his schoolwork.
In
his sophomore year, when he was eighteen, a professor of philosophy at the
University recommended that he read a book called The First and Last Freedom,
by Krsnamurti. Although he could not
fully grasp the full import of the book at the time, the words stirred him
deeply, more than any of his experiences.
He wore the book out and bought another, living with nothing else. Within two months he had quit school to
devote himself to the study of liberation.
After
a period of intensive study and meditation, he returned to school the following
year. He hoped to find a way to
increase his knowledge about the way of liberation, because it is within the
Universities that teachers of our society are found. This time he found not only that the University did not have the
knowledge for which he sought, but that the teachings of the University were
meaningless to him and leading him into suffering. Heng Chao and the University again separated.
Throughout
this time he was becoming more and more absorbed in his work. One evening when he left his room to take a
walk after long hours of meditation and study he gazed at a grove of
trees. Suddenly his thoughts melted,
the top of his head opened up his body was lost. Within and without became one immense flow of energy; he became
that flow, and there was no place that he was not. In a few moments he returned to normal awareness.
After
this experience his desire for liberation became even more intense. He ate less, slept less, worked hard, spent
less time in idle chatter, and desired no close friendships, preferring
solitude and cultivation to the point that he rarely left his place of study
and meditation. He would often spend
weeks at a time deeply involved in his work and not go outside.
He
realized that although he was closer to the path he wished to follow, he had
not yet arrived at his true work. He
wished to seek out a pure place to live and a teacher to open the wisdom that
was beyond present grasp. He had read
about Japan and Zen, and could think of no other alternative. At that time he had an opportunity to go to
Japan with his father, but nothing developed on this trip. When he returned to the United States, he
made an extensive search of many places of meditation and self-cultivation, but
his investigations only revealed that none of them could fulfill his hopes, and
he had not yet found a teacher.
Finally, after much effort, Heng Chao decided that he was wasting his
time searching for the Dharma in the United States. Then one day he met an old cultivator who said very little to
him, but told him, “The Abbot of the Buddhist Lecture Hall in San Francisco is
your teacher. You have past conditions
with him, and so you shouldn’t think of looking elsewhere. This Abbot is the highest teacher in
America, and probably in the world.”
Heng
Chao arrived in San Francisco without money, and needed a job. Although unemployment was high and many
people had spent months looking for work, a job was handed to him on the first
day he looked. As soon as he had taken
care of his affairs, he went to the Buddhist Lecture Hall to investigate the
98-day meditation session that was in progress during the winter of
1970-71. It was during this visit that
he first saw the Master. He was deeply
impressed by his short visit, and immediately longed to cultivate with the
members of the Sino-American Buddhist Association at the Buddhist Lecture Hall,
and draw nearer to the Master.
The
next day Heng Chao requested permission to live at the Sino American Buddhist
Association, saying that he also wished to leave home. He was allowed to take up residence there
and since that time has been instrumental in the work on the new Gold Mountain
Monastery on 15th and Albion in San Francisco. He and a few other disciples installed the
18,000 square feet of ceilings, 18,0000 square feet of flooring, plumbing, and
furnishings in less than three months.
During this time he improved his cultivation, and began the practice of
eating only one meal a day and not lying down to sleep at night. This shows remarkable devotion and courage
since he undertook these practices while working a twelve-hour day and
attending in addition morning and evening recitation and a Dharma lecture every
day. Because of his sincerity he became
a disciple of Master Hsuan Hua and in July of this year left home to become a
sramanera under the Master. He is
presently participating in the Summer Session at the Sino American Buddhist
Association and is preparing to take the complete precepts of a Bhiksu.
His
parents were both well pleased to give their support to their son’s decision to
leave home. Very much desiring him to
cultivate the unsurpassed way, they offered
to pay all expenses for his trip to take the Bhiksu precepts in Taiwan. His mother recites mantras and the name of
Kuan Shih Yin, and practices meditation.
She recently visited the Sino-American Buddhist Association to meet and
make offerings to the Abbot and the Triple Jewel, and is now studying Buddhism
preparatory to taking refuge with the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua.
What great joy!
By Tripitaka Master
Hsuan Hua
From the lectures of
TRIPITAKA MASTER HSUAN HUA
Translated by the Buddhist Text
Translation Society
Delivered at the Jewish Home for
the Aged
Today
we meet with many of long life, the world’s most honorable people. This is not to say that they honor
themselves, but that they receive the respect of others. Out of respect and kindness, they have been
gathered to live together as one big “long-life family”, and are happy because
they live in peace.
“Peace
in old age” is a principle taught by Confucius in China, but I hope that you
will not acquiesce to it. Instead, you
should have “youth in old age”, and as you grow older, grow younger. Don’t be satisfied with growing old; as you
grow older, grow stronger, so that the older you grow, the stronger you
become. How does one grow
stronger? By benefiting the world. Do whatever work you can for the common good
of all men.
People
age, but youth and age are basically identical. In both youth and age, you are still the same person. Having been in the world for a time, you
feel old, but your mind is always young.
So don’t retire and say, “I’m old”; say instead, “I am young!” If your heart is young, age cannot affect
you, and will run away. Buddhism
teaches that “everything is made from the heart alone.”
You
have been in this world for seventy, eighty, ninety, or even a hundred
years. This is actually a short period
of time, the blink of an eye, but you feel old because you mistake this short
time for a long time. I hope that each
of you will resolve to make his heart young.
Turn away from old age and return to youth, to childhood. You need only not think of yourself as old
and then there is hope. By young in
your old age.
You
might be thinking, “A moment ago you told us to work for the world, but I can’t. I want to work, but my hands won’t help me;
I want to look, but my eyes won’t help me; I want to walk, but my legs give me
no support. Although I want to listen,
my ears won’t hear, and as for eating good food, my teeth refuse to
co-operate! With so many complications,
how can I help the world?”
Your
objections are well founded, but I have a plan by which you may help the
world. Five of your sense organs, your
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, refuse to work, but the sixth organ, your
mind, is still strong. Your mind has no
youth or age, no beginning or end. It
can always work, and so now I am going to give you a job. This job requires no effort, no exertion,
and no particular religious affiliation: according to the teachings of your own
religion, PRAY FOR WORLD PEACE. You of
long life are well able to do this work.
Pray for a world of peace, a world without murder or war. This is the most important work there is.
If
you are a Buddhist, be mindful of the Buddha.
Recite, “Homage to the Greatly Compassionate Bodhisattva Who Observes
the Sounds of the World” or “Homage to the Buddha of Infinite Light.” If you are a Catholic, pray to God and say, “Lord
Almighty, Jehovah, rid the world of war.
Do not allow so many men to be killed.
Let there be no misfortunes or natural disasters, no earthquakes,
avalanches or tidal waves.” If you are
a Protestant, pray to Jesus: “Jesus, Son of God, help the world. I know that you are all-powerful and that
you can put an end to war.”
If
you believe in Islam, pray to Mohammed: “Allah, let there be peace!” and, if you believe in Judaism, -- well, you
understand your own religion. You have
a method for prayer. Pray in your own
way and pray every day. Do not concern yourselves
with obtaining a response, simply go ahead and pray. Your daily prayer will help the world. It will also greatly benefit your own children and grandchildren,
for if there is no war, your children will never be shot, bombed, or gassed.
This
great, unselfish, public work benefits you and insures happiness for your sons
and grandsons. Thus in your old age,
you contribute to world peace. But if
you cannot do this work, if you cannot bring peace to your family or to the
world, then there is no “peace in old age.”
It is because old age is basically not a peaceful time that we speak of “peace
in old age”, and it is because the world is not at peace that we pray for world
peace. If the world were peaceful, we would not have to ask for “peace in old
age.”
You
should, therefore, spread peace throughout the world, in the nations, in the
cities, and in your homes. I hope that
every country will build homes for the aged and invite billions of old people
to live in them as brothers and sisters – big homes in every country and little
homes in every village, all working to make the world peaceful.
On
old person here objects. He
thinks, “I refuse to do this work. I have no sons, no grandsons, no daughters
and no granddaughters. Why should I
make the world peaceful? I just live
from day to day and world peace doesn’t concern me in the least.”
You
are wrong! Whether or not you have sons
or daughters, you are still a part of the world. Perhaps you will have children in your next life, and if you work
now, they will receive the benefit. Do
not selfishly refuse to see beyond the tip of your nose; look into the
future! Change your outlook right away
and practice what I have taught you.
Others
object: “Pray for world peace for our
children? Not a bad idea. However, my children have been extremely
unfilial. They don’t treat me as a
parent should be treated. They sent me
away to this old age home and not only don’t they visit me once a month, they
don’t even come once a year. Why should
I pray for such stingy and ungrateful children?”
Your
own children may be unfilial, but what about the children who are filial? What about the children who built this rest
home and invited you to live here, who help you to get up in the morning and go
to sleep at night, who bathe and dress you every day? If you cannot pray for your own children, surely you should pray
for those who are even closer to you than they.
Ask
yourself, “Why are my children unfilial?
Is it not because I myself was unfilial to my own parents? How shameful! Whether or not they are good to me, I will be good to my
children, and to all the world’s children.
I shall revere all elders as my elders, and treat all children as my
children. As an elderly person, I
should revere all old people. I should
love all children as I love my own. In
this way the world will quickly become peaceful.”
The
world is not at peace because people are too selfish, too greedy and too
hostile. Man’s spectacular stupidity has
brought strife to the world. The work I
have given you to do is the highest work, the work of sages. Whether you like it or not, you must do this
work; happy or unhappy, you must do this work.
I
hope that tomorrow the world will be at peace and that there will be no
earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, or calamities. May there be no disasters of earth, air, water, or fire. When you are all at peace, then I will be at
peace – together we will be at peace.
What great joy!
May
each of you live for three thousand, five thousand, ten thousand years, and
work for peace. I have taken much of
your precious time, and although you have enjoyed listening, no doubt your
bodies have grown tired. Therefore, I
shall not continue to be rude to you.
Thank you.
* * * *
*
Twenty
years ago, while acting as Dean of the Vinaya School at Nan Hua Monastery in
Canton, Master Hsuan Hua one evening heard a gang of bandits beating on the
temple door. “Open up! This is the government!” they cried, but he
refused to let them in.
Only
two of the Master’s students were present, and they had hidden under the bed in
the next room. The Master faced the
thieves alone. When he finally opened
the door, they ran in, swinging billies and carrying guns. “Why didn’t you open the door?” they
demanded.
“You
are thieves and bandits,” the Master replied.
“Think about it. If you had been
in my place, would you have opened the door for me?”
They
threatened the Master with their guns but he was unafraid. “Give us your money,”
they said. The Master was wearing the
same rag robe he had worn in Northeast China when he sat for three years
observing filial piety beside his mother’s grave.
“Look
at my robe,” he said. “Do I look like a
rich man?”
“No…”
they said, “but your students must have money.”
“Sirs,”
the Master replied, “if the teacher is penniless, surely the students will be
poorer yet.” As the bandits ran through
the temple, the Master followed them closely, harassing them and ordering them
not to steal things.
The
following day, at a general assembly, the Venerable Abbot Hsu Yun announced, “In
this temple, only one man was not afraid of the thieves – Master Hsuan Hua.”
“No,
that’s not correct,” the Master quickly replied. “The Sixth Patriarch sat unmoved in bright samadhi. Master Han Shan(1) also was unruffled. Master Tan Tien was quite calm, although he
had less samadhi power and stuck out his head to take a look. These three great teachers all did far
better than I. I had no samadhi at all.
I just hounded them all around the
temple grounds.”
Note: (1) The gilded, undecaying
bodies of these three masters are preserved at
Nan Hua Temple for veneration. The body of Master Tan Tien leans
forward a tiny bit.
* * * *
*
By Upasaka Stephen
Lovett
The skin of Upasaka Kuo Kuei, metaphorically
speaking, extends from his clear eye to his calm demeanor, his slow and
considered drawl, and his calmness in all kinds of unusual situations. The skin being what it is, one would not
expect a restless nature, which has been saturated with a great variety of
experience. Born in Berkeley California
in December 1946, into an artistic milieu, Upasaka Kuo Kuei attended Berkeley
public school until he was twelve. At
that time his mother died, and although he appeared to be unmoved by her death
it proved to be an untimely and violent liberation. From this point on for the next few years he was expelled from
one Bay Area school after another, both public and private, was a perpetual
truant problem, had run-ins with the police, and finally moved away from home
to finish high school in Pasadena, which he did with great real and excellent
grades.
The
following year he started college in Marin, majoring in Art, and quickly
developed many latent talents, becoming a jack-of-all-trades artist, and a good
one. He was deeply imbedded in school,
enjoying classes in an experimental environment and living in a Berkeley
commune devoted to radical political change, when he met a man with a
seventy-two foot schooner, looking for someone to crew for him on a trip around
the world. A few changes later found
him dropped out of school working at sail and boat repair, and sailing up and
down the east and west coast, which he did for several years, not for the sake
of the think itself, but for the going, always testing, trying, searching to
settle his hidden restless nature in a wholeness without obstacles within or
without. And so it was that he found
his way to West Indies, where he chartered his own boat and worked as a freelance
boat builder.
One
time after spending several weeks alone on the Atlantic, he experienced what
was finally fulfilling and satisfying, and completely natural, a sense of unity
and oneness. He had been studying
theories of consciousness for about three years at the time, but this was his
first indication that there were higher and purer states of consciousness,
which were not synthetic. Needless to
say, this experience gave him a great feeling of independence, unity, and
faith.
He
returned to the States, took up designing furniture, and built a few more
boats. He went to Seattle where he
became friendly with some people who operated a farm near Mount Rainier. He moved there, and took up family life as a
farmer with a group of about twenty-five people devoted to experimentation with
social structures and states of consciousness.
The
following year, feeling a need to regain the solidity he had found alone on the
Atlantic, he moved into a teepee by himself for the winter. Early the next spring the farm burned down;
its departure from his life encouraged and reinforced a dream that had been
becoming more elaborate from some time: to build his own boat and sail around
the world.
During
the long winter he had spent alone, he also realized that there was knowledge
and vision beyond his immediate powers, and that the only access to these was a
Master teacher. Working all the angles,
Kuo Kuei attended the 1970 Summer Session for meditation and Sutra study at the
Buddhist Lecture Hall in San Francisco.
At the same time he planned to find work to finance his dream as soon as
the session was over. He chose to
attend the session because he had heard of the wonderful Dharma and great
spiritual power of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, and felt drawn to study with
him. When he first arrived at the
Buddhist Lecture Hall, and met the Master, he saw the room filled with a green
gold light emanating from the Master’s body, and at the same time he felt very
close and familiar to the Master. He
was deeply impressed by the calm and peacefulness in the room. He soon took refuge and became the Master’s
disciple.
He
left the summer session and took up his job, but even though he soon had the
funds and material to actualize his dream, he frequently experienced an
emptiness in the physical realm of existence, which pervaded all desire. After a year of deliberation, during which
time he felt a strong sense of unity with his family, and returned to live with
his father, he made the decision to postpone his voyage around the world, and
made a vow to attend the Avatamsaka Dharma assembly being held at the Gold
Mountain Monastery. This assembly, the
first of its kind in the West, will meet for at least five years while the
Venerable Master Hsuan Hua explains the Avatamsaka Sutra, the most
complete teaching in existence.
Upasaka
Kuo Kuei has made an extensive study of Eastern religions and their Western
psychological counterparts. He has
carried his study of Buddhism into practice, and is now deeply involved in
cultivation of the Way. Not only does
he eat only one meal a day, he cultivates the practice of never lying down to
sleep, holds the Bodhisattva precepts, meditates diligently, and attends daily
Dharma lectures. He arises at 3:45 A.M.
everyday, and puts in a full day of practice.
Kuo Kuei has put his many talents to good use in the construction of
Gold Mountain Monastery and has devoted much time and effort to adorning the
Bodhimandala.
* * * *
*
Saved from Suicide by a Bright Sarira
(1)
From the lectures of
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua
The
greatly virtuous Indian Bhiksu Kang Seng Hui of the third century A.D. mastered
all worldly knowledge at an early age. His father, a businessman who traveled throughout
India and Southeast Asia, settled his family in Chiao Chih, the present day
Vietnam. When Kang Seng Hui was eleven
or twelve years old, both his parents died simultaneously. After observing the practices of filial
piety, he left home, vowing to spread the Buddhadharma. His vow power and conduct were lofty, and he
strictly upheld the Vinaya; he studied many Buddhist Sutras and was able to
read thirty thousand gathas every day.
At
an earlier time in another place, in China, a Buddhist Upasaka named Chih Chan
had translated many Sutras and had instructed a fellow student, Chi Ming, who
in turn transmitted the teaching to Chih Chien, who was Kang Seng Hui’s
contemporary. Chih Chien was an
exceptionally gifted Bhiksu who had penetrated the principles of the entire
Tripitaka and spoke the languages of six countries.
At
that time Emperor Sun Chuan had just established the kingdom of Wu (Sun
Chuan o Wu Ta Ti ruled the
Kingdom of Wu from 222 – 253 A.D.)
As Wu was a peaceful country, Chih Chien decided to travel there to
avoid the political unrest brought about under the reign of Emperor Hsien of
the Eastern Han dynasty. (Han Hsien Ti 189-220 A.D.) When Emperor Sun Chuan heard that the famous
and talented Chih Chien had come to his country, he asked for his advice and
conferred upon him the honorary title of Doctor of Philosophy.
Chih
Chien was built tall and thin, like a bamboo pole. His bright eyes had shining gold pupils, and people said of him:
“Mr.
Chih’s eyes
Are yellow in the middle;
His frame is thin,
Like a wisdom-bag.”
He was tall and thin, and full of
wisdom, but because he was a foreigner he is not recoded in the historical
documents of Wu.
When
Chih Chien died in China, Kang Seng Hui in India knew of his death, and decided
that since Chih Chien had not established any temples in China, he would go
there and establish some. He wore the
attire of one who had left home—hat, shoes, socks, and robes. When he arrived, he built a small hut, made
offerings to a Buddha image, and cultivated.
However, in his cultivation he had trouble. Although there was some Buddha dharma in China, Sramanas were
rarely seen. “Look at him!” people would exclaim, “wearing such strange clothes
and doing strange things! See? He gets down on the ground and then gets up,
gets down on the ground and then gets up.
Just what does he thin he is doing?”
The
government sent their “F.B.I.” to investigate.
When Kang Seng Hui was called before the Emperor Sun Chuan, the Emperor
said, “Why, the Han Emperor Ming saw just such a person in a dream! He is a member of the Sangha, a student of
the Buddhadharma!”(2) Then he asked
Kang Seng Hui, “What are you doing?”
“I
am studying the Buddhadharma,” Kang
Seng Hui replied.
“And
who is the Buddha?” the Emperor asked.
“The
Buddha was an Indian prince who cultivated in the Snow Mountains for six
years. Then he sat beneath the Bodhi
Tree, saw a star, and became enlightened.
After his entry into Nirvana, King Asoka built eighty-four thousand
stupas to hold his sarira. (3) The Buddha is a most awesome and powerful
person!”
“You
are deliberately overstating this,” said the Emperor, “making the Buddha so
mysterious and wonderful. There is no
such person, no such principle. But if
you can show me some sarira, I will build you a stupa.”
Surrounded
by his many disciples, Kang Seng Hui answered boldly, “in one week we shall
give you a sarira!”
Kang
Seng Hui and his disciples put on clean clothes, placed a small brass urn on a
table before the Buddha and vowed, “In this week we shall certainly obtain a
sarira!”
Kang
Seng Hui then addressed his disciples: “The success or failure of Buddhism in
China will be decided right here. If we
obtain a sarira, Buddhism will flourish; if we do not Buddhism is
finished. It is fitting that the Dharma
comes to China. Therefore we must be
extremely sincere in our efforts this week.”
Although
they worshipped the Buddha all week, when Emperor Sun Chuan asked to see the
sarira, Kang Seng Hui could only reply that there were none, and request
another week. Sun Chuan agreed.
With
utmost sincerity, they prayed before the Buddha, but the second week passed and
still there were no sarira. Emperor Sun
Chuan was displeased: “You lied to me!” he said, “I have laws in my
country. Do you know about them?” He wished to have Kang Seng Hui put to
death, but Kang Seng Hui exclaimed, “Give us one more week!” Being wise and
magnanimous the Emperor assented.
Kang
Seng Hui said to his disciples, “If we obtain no sarira this week, we should
not wait for the Emperor to execute us; we should all commit suicide together! The Buddhadharma should be efficacious. If we elicit no response, what right have we
to continue to propagate the Law?”
Accordingly, they vowed, “If we obtain no sarira, we shall all die.”
They
bowed to the Buddha night and day, but upon the evening of the sixth day,
nothing whatever had happened. They had
not even had any dreams. Remembering
their vow, they were afraid. “Tomorrow
we die!” they cried. At about five o’clock
in the morning on the seventh day, suddenly the heard the brass urn sound,
“BENG!”
====
Kang Seng Hui rushed forward to
look in the urn. There was a brilliant
five-colored sarira.
Emperor
Sun Chuan and the scholars and officials of the Court were amazed. When Sun Chuan overturned the urn onto a
brass tray, the sarira rolled out and shattered the tray. “This is a miracle,” said the Emperor, “a
true jewel.” He then built the first
monastery and stupa in China, called “First Established Monastery and stupa in
China, called “First Established Monastery”, and asked Kang Seng Hui to live
there.
“This
is a manifestation of the Buddha’s might,” said Kang Seng Hui. “The fire at the end of the kalpa cannot
burn this sarira.” (4)
Sun
Chuan said, “We shall see.” He placed
the sarira on an anvil and struck it with a large hammer. The anvil and hammer were dented, but the
sarira was unscratched. “This is harder
than a diamond,” he said. Everyone who
saw this incredible sarira believed in the Buddha, and the Emperor Sun Chuan
spread the Dharma far and wide.
* * * *
*