Assignment 2- Michael Lu

Yesterday's discussion in class was pretty interesting, since I leaarned a lot of new material. For example, I did not know that the graveyard that the Venerrable Master's mother was buried in had been flattened, and I also did not know that Three Conditions Monastery no longer existed. However, I suggest for you to tell more of your stories and experiences with the Venerable Master, thus making the class more lively and fun. Most of the material that you are covering in class are already recorded in 白山黑水育奇英（The Venerable Master's biography), so we already know it.

I feel that the Venerable Master was very brave, since he got in a lot of fights with kids older than him, and he could ride on a horse while standing! That is kind of scary! While he was reading the Dharma Flower Sutra, he was so sincere that blood bled from his eyes! That was the bad news, but the good news was that he became enlightened. That probably implies the saying"First comes the bitter, then the sweet arrives." The Venerable Master used many expedient means to teach living beings. He would say different things to different people. If somebody was lazy, the Venerable Master would make him feel embarassed and then encourage him to be vigorous. I think the dharma transmission shouldn't be fought over; if you have the virtue and potential to be a patriach, then you will naturally recieve the transmission from the patriach before. As for the Mind-Seal Transmission, I believe that you cannot gain the knowledge of who is the next patriach unless you have spiritual penetrations. This so-called "Patriach" is a very important role that a person has to take on, not a role which is for fame and benefit. The Venerable Master recieved the complete precepts at the age of 30 at Dharma Rain Monastery on Potola Mountain; thus, he finally became a Bhikshu, and he could accept left-home disciples.
The Venerable Master made three great vows that he wanted to accomplish in America; one, he wanted the whole world to know about the Buddhadharma, two, the Venerable Master wanted to translate the Chinese sutras, commentaries, and shastras into English, and last, he wanted to establish"true education" in America. The Venerable Master really was compassionate and virtuous, and everybody should use him as their role model.