| He was fully
ordained in 1941 and went onto formal monastic training at
Ch'I-hsia Vinaya School and Chiao-shan Buddhist College. He
has vowed to revitalize Humanistic Buddhism from an early age.
In 1949, as Mainland China was enmeshed in civil war, Venerable
Master Hsing Yun left his homeland for Taiwan. For nearly a half
century the strength of his vow has enabled him to usher in a
new era for Humanistic Buddhism. His vision and untiring efforts
have influenced Buddhist studies and practices in Taiwan and
throughout all five continents
EDUCATION
Recognized for his bold and innovative methods of
propagating the Buddhist teachings to meet contemporary needs,
Venerable Master Hsing Yun thinks highly of education. In
Taiwan, he has founded 16 Buddhist colleges (seminaries) and
international departments the Buddhist college system to study
Buddhism in English and Japanese. In addition, he founded Hsi
Lai University in Los Angeles. The University provides degree
programs in Bachelor of Arts in Buddhist Studies, Master of Arts
in Religious Studies as well as a Master of Business
Administration (MBA). Venerable Master Hsing Yun also founded
Nan Hua University in Chiayi (central Taiwan) and Fo Guang
University in Ilan (northern Taiwan).
Besides academic
studies, students are provided with programs to enhance their
characters. They also have opportunities to access exchange
programs among other religions and nations.
CULTURAL
PROGRAMS
With
regard to cultural programs, Venerable Master Hsing Yun has
organized a Tripitaka Editorial Committee which has already
published Agama Canon, and Ch'an Canon. The publication of
Prajna Canon is soon to be completed. The Fo Guang Buddhist
Dictionary and the Buddhist Historical Chronology have already
been published. The are highly praised by domestic and overseas
scholars.
PUBLISHING
Venerable
Master Hsing Yun has founded two publishing houses: Fo Guang
Publishing, located in Taiwan, and Hsi Lai Publishing, located
in the United States. Venerable Master has also written numerous
books that have been subsequently translated into various
languages. Hsing Yun Ch'an Talk has been translated into
English, Venerable Master Hsing Yun's Lecture Series Korean,
Russian, Spanish, and English, Hsing Yun Dharma Words Portuguese
and Japanese, Hsing Yun's Hundred Sayings English, German, and
Spanish. Handing Down the Light: The Biography of Venerable
Master Hsing Yun published by Commonwealth CO., Ltd. Has been
translated into English and German. In order to train lay Dharma
lecturers, Venerable Master Hsing Yun has published a series of
books entitled Buddhism.
CHARITABLE
PROGRAMS
Venerable
Master Hsing Yun also devotes his efforts to charitable
programs. He has set up a charitable foundation to help the
needy every year. Over 20 ambulances provide free medical care
to people in the remote countryside of Taiwan on a weekly basis.
He also extends his help worldwide. Once he organized a group of
people to visit and provide fre medical treatment service in
northern Thailand. He helped people in Ladakh, northern India to
build classrooms and develop water resources. In addition, he
has helped the victims of the flood in Taiwan, the hurricane in
Florida, the earthquake in Northridge (Los Angeles) and Kobe,
Japan.
RELIGIOUS
PRACTICE
Venerable
Master Hsing Yun advocates compatibility of the eight Mahayana
schools (Esotericism, Ch'an, Pure Land, Yogacara, San-lun, Hua-Yen,
Vinaya, and Tien-t'ai.) He incorporates modern facilities with
traditional teachings. He makes Buddhist teachings adaptable to
our daily life. He has set up over 171 branchs temple around the
world on five continents. His disciples follow in his footsteps to
spread humanistic Buddhism. They follow the principle to give
people confidence, happiness, hope, and convenience, which make
people enjoy the realization of the Buddhist teachings in their
daily life.
From February 15-23, 1998, in Bodhgaya, India,
Venerable Master Hsing Yun, with widespread encouragement and
support across Buddhist traditions, organized an unprecedented International
Ordination Ceremony under the Bodhi Tree of
Enlightenment. It was significant because it was a joint effort by
Buddhist leaders to re-establish the order of nuns in Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Tibet, and India, where no women have been ordained as
nuns for over eight centuries. It was a new dawn for international
women's rights.
CULTURAL
EXCHANGE
In order to provide
Buddhists with the opportunity to have cultural exchange programs
and make friends with one another, Venerable Master Hsing Yun
founded Buddha's Life Internal Association (BLIA) at Hsi Lai
Temple in 1992. So far, over 100 chapters have been set up around
the world with a present membership in excess of one million
members. The organization contributes to the unification of Buddhists
worldwide and to world peace.
AWARDS
BESTOWED ON VENERABLE MASTER HSING YUN
Venerable
Master Hsing Yun has received numerous awards in Taiwan and
overseas. In 1978, he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. degree by
Oriental University, Los Angeles. In 1984, he was given an award
in Taiwan by the Ministry of Education for his contribution to
society. In 1988, he was awarded the Golden Bell Award by the
Office of Information in Taiwan because of his TV programs
purifying people's minds. The same year he hosted the 16th
conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) and the 7th
conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth (WFBY) at
Hsi Lai Temple. This was the first time WFBY conferences were
held in the Western world.
In
1989, Venerable Master Hsing Yun's visit to Mainland China was
overwhelming. It aroused the interest in Buddhism in Mainland
China. The same year, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama visited Hsi
Lai Temple. The two great masters had a very wonderful meeting.
In October 1992, he was appointed a long-term honorable
chairperson of WFB.
Through modern and systematic
methods, Venerable Master Hsing Yun has propagated the seeds of
Humanistic Buddhism throughout the world. He is considered many
as the foremost architect for building the Pure Land on Earth.
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