Assignment 2, Jin Rou

Be A Down-to-Earth, Good Person

A Talk by the Venerable Master to the People from His Hometown in Northeastern China in 1987

ENGLISH TRANSLATED BY YIDAN WANG

�NOVEMBER 2008 VAJRA BODHI SEA (#462) p.2 1

I am currently recording this in the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, which is located in Talmage, near Ukiah, to the north of San Francisco, in the United States of America. To the people from my hometown, I have some words to say. My given name is Bai Yu Shu, and I lived in West Yellow Flag, Laling Town. After I fi nished school, I felt that everything in this world was false, unreal, and illusory. So I let go of everything and went to Three Conditions Temple at Pingfang Station to become a monk.

After I became a monk, I met with many elderly laypeople, but I hardly ever had any contact with the people from my village. When I was in northeastern China, I didn’t stay in touch with all my relatives, friends and neighbors because I had already left home. I regarded all my familial relationships in this world as unimportant in my life and wholeheartedly planted the seeds of Dharma and educated living beings in this world. When I was at the temple, numerous people from various villages came to take refuge with me, but not many people from my village knew me or saw me.

The second year after the Japanese surrendered, I decided to go to Putuo Mountain to receive the complete precepts. Because of this, I didn’t have the chance to meet up with all the elders from my village, all my relatives and friends. I traveled with two of my disciples from Harbin to Wuchang County, and then on to Jiling and Changchun; we not only took the train but also walked throughout this journey. From Changchun, we went to Shenyang, and then Tianjin. From there, we took a boat to Shanghai. When the boat was crossing the [Chinese] Black Sea, it went in circles, out of control, for more than ten days. Normally this trip took three to four days, but this time the boat was spinning in the Black Sea and there was no way to navigate out. More than 200 people on the boat had no water or food and they nearly died of starvation. Luckily, compassionate Bodhisattvas solved the problem. Finally, we arrived in Shanghai and went to Wuchang; the second year we went to Putuo Mountain to receive the complete precepts.

After receiving the precepts, we stayed in Lingyan Mountain, Suzhou for half a year. During the summer vacation, I went back to Northeastern China to Shenyang. I originally planned to go back to Laling Town, Shuangcheng County, and Harbin to meet up with you, but at that time the two governments were hostile towards each other, so roads and transportation were not convenient, and I ended up back at Lingyan Mountain, Suzhou again. I stayed there for a while thinking about going to Canton, so I went to Kongqing Mountain in Nanjing for the winter. During the Chinese New Year, I went back to Shanghai, and then I took a boat to Hubei and boarded a train to Canton. I met an elderly man who was more than 100 years old; he was the Elder Master Hsu Yun. The reason I went to Canton was to see this elder monk. I stayed in Nanhua Monastery, Canton for a year and then I stayed in Ruyuan’s Great Bodhi Monastery at Yunmen Mountain for about three months and traveled to Guangzhou then Hong Kong. In July, I moved back to Guangzhou from Hong Kong. I planned to go back to Yunmen Great Bodhi Temple to cultivate diligently after the Moon Festival. However, in the beginning of August, due to the liberation in Shaoguan, Qujiang, I couldn’t go back to Yunmen. So on August 18th, I took a boat from Guangzhou to Hong Kong and from there, I stayed in Hong Kong for more than ten years.

In 1959, I went to Australia, and 1960 I was also in Australia. I went back to Hong Kong in 1961 again, and I came to America in 1962. The fi rst time I came to America, I called myself “the monk in the grave,” which meant a monk who was already in the graveyard; I stood aloof from worldly affairs, didn’t have any grudges with anyone, paid no attention to the affairs of human life, and cultivated by myself for six years. Six years later (1968), several university students came from Seattle to San Francisco to listen to Dharma talks. At the time, I lectured the Shurangama Sutra to them.

These students stayed in San Francisco after my lectures. I also had Dharma talks on the Lotus Sutra, the Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra, the Amitabha Sutra, and also the Avatamsaka Sutra. I spoke Dharma everyday. The monk in the grave just climbed his way out of the graveyard. After he climbed out, all he knew was to speak Dharma and nothing else. Later, because of the right causes and timing, Gold Mountain Monastery was established in 1970 and The Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) was bought in 1974; at its fullest capacity, CTTB could hold 20,000 people. CTTB has complementary facilities which are Dharma Realm Buddhist University, Developing Virtue Secondary School, and Instilling Goodness Elementary School. Our schools operate to provide wholesome education; they are not run as businesses. Although it was very diffi cult in the beginning, we persevered day after day. It is still the same now; we persevere in diffi cult situations. I have no idea how my relatives, friends and people from the village are doing now. Since a delegation from Dharma Realm Buddhist University was going to visit China, I urged them to go to Northeastern China to pay a special visit to you. They brought

back a recording from each of you; I listened to them all. I felt really guilty for a lot of unpleasant things I did during my childhood, which I regret doing now. Now that I am talking to you all, I hope you will explore Buddhism; don’t be so serious about things in this world. You should view things like this : “All phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles and shadows; like dew drops and lighting fl ashes. You should contemplate them thus.” We should take the principles of not getting upset, not getting angry, not fi ghting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfi sh, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying as a foundation for being a person. We don’t want to fi ght with others. If others would like to fight with you, take one step back to yield to others; don’t fi ght with them. Also do not be greedy because no matter how much you crave, it will all amount to nothing eventually. The things you don’t deserve that you acquire from outside will also become a burden in your heart, so don’t be greedy. We should be public-spirited and altruistic, upright and fair, so we shouldn’t be selfi sh. We shouldn’t exclusively pursue our own personal advantages but not care about benefitting others. Every single moment, we should do good things for others; we should do more things that will benefit others, and avoid just looking out for ourselves. We should not lie in any circumstance or situation; we should be honest and truthful. Just being a down-to-earth, good person is enough!

I hope all elders and youngsters, all elderly laity and young people who are capable of great achievements, and all my relatives and friends, understand me as an honest person who does honest things. I hope you will learn to be honest. If everyone is honest, this world will turn into an honest world; if everyone does not contend, does not fi ght, and does not scheme to get other people’s profi ts, we will live happily together. This world will become “The Western Pure Land.” I hope all your wishes will be fulfi lled; make the resolve for Bodhi, and I will see you in the Buddhaland. I hope you will be forever happy in body and mind, healthy and joyful, without any worries. May you avoid smoking and drinking, and eradicate all bad habits, big and small; this is my biggest hope. Lastly, I wish you all to be healthy and joyful spiritually. If you want to meet up with me, I hope you can come sightseeing in America and come to CTTB for a happy reunion. If you are interested, you can organize an American sightseeing tour group. When you arrive, I don’t have anything to offer other than providing your food and accommodations. Bye-bye.

MY SPIRIT ALWAYS GOES BACK!

I have some words to say to my third elder brother. According to lay custom, you are my third elder brother; as a monk, I will call you a layman. No matter if you regard yourself as a layman or not, I would like to call you like this; a layperson is a Buddhist; it refers to a kind-hearted person. I hope you will abstain from smoking and alcohol, and look after yourself in your old age; don’t mess up your health. I listened to your recording, I knew your ears and eyes are still working; these are great things. Especially when father passed away, you tried your best; I really appreciated your effort. From afar, I sincerely express my gratitude to you. I think I don’t need to say too many polite words; we should be honest and sincere; my biggest hope is for you to give up your smoking and alcohol. I also hope you can come to America; go and apply for your visa immediately. You are welcome to bring as many people with you as you wish. No matter what problems you have, please tell me. I will always try to help; I will never say no. Let me tell you again, my Dharma name is An Ci. I’m also known as Du Lun and Hsuan Hua. If you are interested and still in good health, I invite you to come to America! Don’t come only by yourself; all my relatives and friends, such as Xiao Dong; Cui Lan, the second daughter of my eldest brother; Bai Yongfa, our eldest nephew; and Cui Qing; and also your children and grandchildren are welcome. Anyone who wishes to come, I welcome you sincerely with joy. Now I am not able to leave CTTB since there are some

things that need to be done, but my spirit always goes back to visit you. We reunited in your dream in 1975; maybe you can still remember vaguely. This is all I would like to say to you. I hope I will see you in America!

NOVEMBER 2008 VAJRA BODHI SEA__