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Biography of
the Founder
 Venerable Master Hsing Yun was born in Chiangsu Province, China in
1927 and entered a monastery near Nanjing at age twelve. He was
fully ordained in 1941, and is the 48th patriarch of the Lin-chi(Rinzai)Ch'an
school. In 1949, amid the turbulence of civil war, he went to
Taiwan.
In Taiwan, he began fulfilling his long-held vow of promoting
Humanistic Buddhism, which takes to heart spiritual practice in
daily life. With an emphasis on not needing to "go some place
else" to find enlightenment, we can realize our true nature in the
here and now, within this precious human birth and this world.
When we actualize altruism, joyfulness, and universality, we are
practicing the fundamental concepts of Humanistic Buddhism. When
we give faith, hope, joy, and service, we are helping all beings,
as well as ourselves. For nearly a half century, Venerable Master
Hsing Yun has devoted his efforts to transforming this world
through the practice of Humanistic Buddhism.
He is the founder of the Fo Guang Shan International Buddhist
Order, which is headquartered in Taiwan and supports temples
worldwide. The Order emphasizes education and service and
maintains public universities, Buddhist colleges, libraries,
publishing houses, Buddhist art galleries and tearooms, free
mobile medical clinics, children's home, retirement home, high
school, and television station. The Order's lay service
organization, Buddha's Light International Association, also has
active chapters worldwide.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun is an outspoken proponent of equality
among all people and religious traditions. The Order has the
largest number of female monastics of any Buddhist order today. By
providing and supporting educational and leadership opportunities,
he has worked to improve the status of women in Taiwan. He has
held full ordination ceremonies for women of the Mahayana,
Theravada, and Vajrayana traditions. In addition, Master Hsing Yun
annually organizes conferences to bring together the various
Buddhist schools and to promote dialogue between Buddhists and
other major religious groups.
Master Hsing Yun is a prolific writer and has authored over one
hundred books in Chinese. His writings have been translated into
English and many other languages. His works of the Life of
Sakyamuni Buddha and the sixteen-volume Fo Guang Buddhist
Dictionary have both won Taiwan's highest humanitarian awards. His
biography Handing Down the Light, Hsing Yun's Ch'an Talks, The
Lion's Roar, The Hundred Sayings Series, and The Humanistic
Buddhism Series are published in Taiwan and are in English. Being
Good: A Guide to Buddhist Ethics, Only a Great Rain, Lotus in a
Stream, Where is Your Buddha Nature: Stories to Instruct and
Inspire are published by American publishers and are in English.
His numerous lectures also continue to be translated into English.
Based in Taiwan, Venerable Master Hsing Yun travels extensively.
His insightful, engaging, and witty lectures unfailingly endear
him to audiences. He reminds us that to transform our world, we
must be actively engaged in it. "Community transcends the
individual," he says, "and in doing so, fulfills the individual in
the most complete way possible." Wherever he goes, he encourages
people to unite both the local and global community into a world
of complete equality, joyfulness, and perfect peace.
source: http://www.fgs.org.tw |
