Teachings of Hsuan Hua

[dawn of peace]

Is there some teaching by the venerable that clearly shows a connection to the Theravadan tradition that you would like to discuss?

I don't know if he ever taught anything that connect to Theravada tradition, but he had invited Ajahn Sumedho to The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Also, his master, Hsu Yun had a pilgrimage to Burma, Sri lanka and other Theravada Buddhist countries.

http://www.drbachinese.org/online_readi ... page87.htm

[Nicholas Weeks]

If your faith is solid and your conduct is pure, then from the time you formally take refuge until you become a Buddha, you will not run into any great difficulties. If your faith is weak and your conduct is impure, then you can forget about becoming a Buddha. You will have a hard time just being a person. Not only laypeople, but even left-home people will fall into the hells if they do not cultivate.

Therefore, all you laypeople should do your best and work hard. Do not be absent-minded and disrespectful toward Buddhism. You should revere the Triple Jewel, make offerings to the Triple Jewel, believe in the Triple Jewel, and serve the Triple Jewel all your life. Then you will have a response in the Way. If you cannot do this after you take refuge, and you still act as if you had not taken refuge at all, then you will not have any responses.

[Cause_and_Effect]

"Don’t get scared when you hear me call television, radios, and computers “man-eating goblins".

No need to be afraid. My hope is that you will clearly recognize these things for what they are. Once you recognize them, those electric gadgets lose their power to confuse you. But if you’re confused by them, then they can gobble you down."

Spring Sun, Lotus Flower

The above quote is I think much needed and pertinent to the age we are in.

[Nicholas Weeks]

On Master Hsu Yun's miraculous responses:

Once during the Sino-Japanese War, when the Elder Master was living at Nanhua Monastery near Canton, Japanese warplanes dropped several bombs on the area, but none exploded. Some people say, "Well, they were duds. It was just a coincidence." But then, why weren't other people so lucky? Why was it only at Nanhua Monastery that there were duds?

Another time, when the Elder Master Hsu Yun was transmitting the precepts at Yun Qi Monastery in Yunnan, the trees blossomed with lotus flowers. Why didn't the trees blossom with lotuses in those areas to which he didn't go? On the leaves of the vegetables and other plants there appeared images of Buddhas. Despite the power of such miraculous responses, people still failed to recognize them as such. They considered them to be merely isolated occurrences.

When the Elder Master Hsu Yun was at Nanhua Monastery, a cypress tree that had been dead for several hundred years came back to life and budded. That was another inconceivable happening, as was the time when a white fox came and took refuge. At the time people still didn't realize clearly what was happening.
Now that the Elder Master Yun has entered Nirvana, everyone praises him. They all say that the Venerable Yun was a sage who realized the fruition of the Way and that he was a Bodhisattva who returned to earth.

This is just how people are--when something is before their eyes, they miss it; and once they've missed it, they regret it. People are strange and stupid creatures.

[Nicholas Weeks]

Recitation of Sutras is a common practice, here is the story of one who seemed to gain nothing from such - but eventually...

There once was a Dharma Master named Eloquence. Where was he from? No one knew. His practice was reciting the Avatamsaka Sutra. He had been reciting it for sixteen years and had not experienced any benefits; he was still very foolish and did not understand the principles. Later on, he thought to himself, “Oh! Even though I have been reciting the Avatamsaka Sutra for so long, I haven’t become enlightened, and I haven’t experienced any benefits. It must be that I haven’t treated the sutra with enough reverence; that is why I still do not understand the meanings in the sutra.”

Therefore, he came up with a way to protect the sutra and kept it very clean. He used all kinds of incense wood to make a box, and placed the sutra in the box. When walking, he would carry the box on top of his head; when he was not walking, he would place the box in front of him and prostrate before it. It was in this way that he paid reverence to the Avatamsaka Sutra at all times: prostrating to and contemplating the sutra in every moment.

Three years later, he had a dream in which Samantabhadra Bodhisattva explained the wonderful meanings of the Avatamsaka Sutra to him, and instructed him on how to practice. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva gave him Dharma instructions in the dream, and he suddenly became enlightened. Before this, he had recited the Avatamsaka Sutra for sixteen years and could not remember even one line. After this dream, reading the sutra was like looking in a mirror: each word of the sutra was crystal clear as if reflected in a mirror. And after reading the sutra he did not forget any of it—he was able to remember it forever.

From Vajra Bodhi Sea, Jan. 2023 issue

[Nicholas Weeks]

Celebrating over 50 years of publishing buddhadharma! Many bilingual issues have teachings by or about Master Hua:

http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/main_index.htm

[Nicholas Weeks]

I don't know if he ever taught anything that connect to Theravada tradition, but he had invited Ajahn Sumedho to The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.

You remind me of Master's generosity, a teaching I believe is connected to Theravada tradition. He gave many acres of land to Ajahn Sumedho so he could build a Theravada Dhamma center.

Efforts to establish the California monastery [Abhayagiri] moved slowly until 1995. When Venerable Master Hsüan Hua, the founding abbot of The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) in Ukiah, California, approached his death, he instructed his students to give Ajahn Chah’s disciples 120 acres of CTTB-owned forested property in Redwood Valley. On several occasions Master Hua had made a point of stating that it had been his life’s dream to bring the northern and southern traditions of Buddhism together again. His offering was one of openhearted, ecumenical friendship and enabled the communities (just 15 miles apart) to be physically close and to relate to each other with an atmosphere of mutual respect and harmony.

[Nicholas Weeks]

What is the genuine Buddhadharma? It is not being selfish; it is being open and public-spirited; it is letting go of your views that discriminate between self and others. We shouldn't have an ego. We should not be selfish or seek for self-benefit. In every move we make we should cultivate the Bodhisattva Way and benefit living beings.

However much we understand, we should teach others to understand that much. When we obtain benefit, we should let others obtain that benefit. To be unselfish and seek no personal advantages is the greatest goodness. To practice the Way and uphold the truth means to uphold true principles and not to uphold empty and unreal dharmas. In cultivating, we must understand true principles. If we don't understand true principles, then we are not upholding the truth. Upholding the truth is the best thing.

To unite your will with the Way is greatness. When your will and the Way which you cultivate can unite as one, you can realize the fruition of a sage. Perhaps you can attain the position of Arhatship or walk the Bodhisattva Path. That is the foremost greatness.

From comments on 42 Chapters Sutra

[Nicholas Weeks]

Chan is the superior root of Zen. Here is the Song of Enlightenment with Master's comments:

http://www.cttbusa.org/enlightenment/en ... t.asp.html