Since ancient times, the popularity of Buddhism among ordinary people can not be separated from the missionary work of eminent monks. Monks are people's honorifics for Buddhist monks. They are highly respected and profound in Buddhism. They jump out of the three realms and don't care about the world.
However, in modern times, an old monk called the First Monk called on monks to take up arms and bravely fight against the enemy. Although he violated Buddhist precepts, he was remembered and admired by the world.
Born, heart bodhi.
In the twentieth year of Daoguang (1840), a baby boy named Xiao was born in an official family in Quanzhou, Fujian. Shortly after his birth, his mother died, and his father and his wife raised him and loved him very much, but Gu Yan Jr. didn't want to pursue a career like his father.
His ambition is completely different, and his character is calm and uncontroversial. While studying the Four Books, the Five Classics and stereotyped writing, his peers were familiar with Buddhist scriptures, though they also learned Confucianism, and they became very interested in Buddhism and Buddhism. They often studied alone and forgot to eat or sleep.
/kloc-at the age of 0/7, Gu Yan Jr. went to Hengshan alone and wanted to become a monk, but his father picked him up halfway. My father was old and didn't want the Xiao family to break the incense, so he begged him to marry two wives and concubines.
At that time, his parents' orders were inviolable, and Gu Yan Jr. was forced to compromise. But after the marriage, he did not touch the two women, but devoted himself firmly to the Buddha. Two years later, he bid farewell to his two wives, secretly left his hometown and practiced Buddhism again.
When he arrived at Yongquan Temple in Gushan, Fujian, Gu Yan Jr. felt a call and decided to settle down here and become a monk. The following year, he was ordained and inherited by Master, and became a monk, with the legal name of Gu Yan.
From then on, Gu Yan studied Buddhist scriptures assiduously. He hid in the back hill to find his family for three years, and then worked as a minister in the temple for four years. Then he resigned and went back to Houshan Cave to concentrate on his studies. A few years passed.
Travel around the world with a firm heart.
Ten years passed quickly, and Gu Yan always felt that he had encountered a bottleneck, which was hard to understand. Guided by experts, he came to Longquan Temple in Tiantai Mountain to meet an old Zen master. When the old monk saw it, he knew his experience of sitting in the cave for so many years and could not help but shake his head and sigh.
He told Xu Yun that although this method will be a little successful in practice, even if you can prove the initial results, it is not the right way. The so-called bodhicitta is to measure yourself and others, and at the same time, to verify everywhere, to spread the law according to the customs, and to save the degree with the fate.
The ancient rocks remained. Under the guidance of the old mage, he studied in a famous ancient temple near Jiangsu and Zhejiang. At the age of 36, he officially bid farewell to the old mage, went to the ends of the earth, visited the famous mountains and rivers in the heyday of Buddhism, and began his long journey of learning Buddhism.
The hardships and sufferings can't be overcome without perseverance and belief in Buddhism.
He traveled all over China to explore Buddhist culture: First, he traveled to Mount Putuo, a holy place regarded as a pilgrimage place by all Buddhist believers, and visited various monasteries; Then go to temples in several places to worship monks and Buddhist relics.
In order to repay my parents' kindness and lift the karma of endless filial piety, I burned my fingers in Ashoka Temple and made two trips to Putuo. Starting from Putuo, I made incense and worshipped Wutai Mountain in three steps, which took three years to complete.
I have been to Zhong Nanshan and Emei Mountain, to the Potala Palace in Lhasa to worship the living Buddha, and even crossed the Himalayas, visited Myanmar, India and Ceylon, the birthplace of Buddhism, and then visited Yunnan and countless famous temples.
1895, go to Yangzhou to do something. During the seventh meditation, boiling water splashed on my hand, and the teacup made a crunchy sound after landing, reaching the realm of enlightenment.
At the age of sixty-one, he was very prestigious and had many disciples, including dear ministers and members of the royal family, which coincided with the Boxer Rebellion and the world was in chaos.
The ministers who visited him suggested that he leave Beijing with the large forces of Cixi and Emperor Guangxu who fled to the west, and then move to xi 'an. Later, Gu Yan left Xi for an internship in nearby Zhong Nanshan.
At the end of this year, heavy snow closed the mountain. One day, he cooked taro in the pot and began to settle down. During the Spring Festival, all the monks nearby went to see him pay a New Year call, so they settled down and invited him to dinner.
Gu Yan thought the taro in his pot was ripe. He opened it and found it was frozen in the pot. It turns out that he has been sitting for half a month! Since then, he changed his name to "Virtual Cloud".
Seek Excellence, kill Bao Sheng.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the war was in turmoil, the feudal dynasty was crumbling, and warlords everywhere were separated, Xu Yun never avoided contact with warlords and dignitaries, but talked to them about Buddhism and promoted Buddhism. Gradually, some people really changed from trying to destroy monasteries to chasing monks, converting to the Three Treasures, and instead maintaining Buddhism. They also met with Dr. Sun Yat-sen and organized the Chinese Buddhist Association.
He raised money everywhere, rebuilt dilapidated temples, went to Honghua everywhere, and even traveled to Nanyang, where thousands of people converted. As the saying goes, he went up to Kuboth and down to all beings.
War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression is in full swing. He called on the major temples to tighten their belts, collect money from believers to the country and the victims, and led a group of eminent monks to pray for the soldiers who fought bravely. There are killings in Buddhism, which should have nothing to do with them, but virtual cloud mage doesn't think so.
When War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out, Master Xu Yun made it clear that when the country met foreign invaders, the whole country should unite as one. He called on Buddhists and Buddhists at that time to take up arms and go to the battlefield to kill the enemy bravely, punish evil and promote good, and defend the territory of China.
There is no need to be soft-hearted against these vicious invaders. Buddhism is the belief of monks, but patriotism has always been the belief of China people. Before the national justice, everyone is responsible.
Even, he set up a special rescue team composed of monks, shuttling through the front line, risking his life to treat the wounded. More than a thousand monks in Wutai Mountain were called to wear uniforms to participate in the war, and they were called the Monk Company.
Such a monk who does not stick to rules and regulations and can stand up when the country is in danger is touching.
When the country was in crisis, they killed people to protect students. Although they committed murder, they killed people to save more people from being killed. This is Buddha, and this is goodness.
After the war, New China was founded. Master Xu Yun became the honorary president of the Chinese Buddhist Association and still went back to the mountain to meditate. He died on 1959 at the age of 120.
The master left a sentence before he died, which has not been understood so far. This word is one of the words "quit". This is a Buddhist term, and each of us knows the eight precepts of Buddhism. But what does this "precept" mean from the legendary master Xu Yun, the first monk in China, and who can understand it?
Master Xu Yun was a Zen master all his life, inheriting five schools of Zen, reviving six ancestral halls, presiding over fifteen Dojo, and reviving Yunmen, with millions of followers. Thanks to his efforts, Buddhism in China has been inherited and developed after nearly a hundred years of war from the late Qing Dynasty to modern China.
He was honored as the first monk, not only because of his profound Buddhism, but also because of his great and selfless contribution to Zen. He didn't avoid troubled times and did many good things that benefited the country and the people. It is no exaggeration to call him a master.