Works Cited

Dharma Realm Buddhist Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. http://www.drba.org/.

A Portrait of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, Founder of the Institue for World Religions.Religion East & West; Oct2009, Issue 9, p110-111, 2p.

The Safely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.cttbusa.org>.

Translating Teachings

                                                   

Hsuan Hua

                Hsuan Hua is also well known for The Buddhist Text Translation Society.  This is an organization that Hua started in hopes of translating the entire Buddhist Canon into English.  He also wanted to translate it into other languages used by western countries.  His reasoning for doing this was to allow the Westerners to learn about Buddhism through understandable texts. 

                Hsuan Hua’s deep yearning to spread the teachings of the Buddha caused him to lead a very spiritual and holy life.  Through his actions others learned the teachings of the Buddha and also began to live more meaningful lives.

Examples of Devotion

                                                                            

The young Hsuan Hua

                Hsuan Hua’s deep devotion to the teachings of the Buddha can be seen through many of his actions.  The Buddha taught him that he should not lie down when sleeping, that he should only eat before noon, which he did only once a day and he started the wearing of the kashaya (precept sash) again.  One other way Hsuan Hua showed his devotion was by not accepting disciples who had already taken shelter with a different monk.

                To teach others the standards of conduct that he lived by every day, he wrote the Six Great Guidelines.  They were; not contending, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal profit and not lying. 



Turning Beliefs Into Action

                                           

Hsuan Hua and His Holiness the Dalai Lama



                Hsuan Hua had strong beliefs in “interfaith dialogue,” (A Portrait).  Because of this he strained the significance between religious traditions.  Through these beliefs he became very good friends with the Catholic leader in China and Taiwan.  He also invited Theravada monks to come to his temples in California to convey the precepts of ordination. 

                Not only did Hsuan Hua have Theravada monks come to ordinations, he also donated land for a Theravada monastery and honored the Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda of Theravada Buddhism at the Dharma Realm Buddhist University opening ceremony.  These things show Hsuan Hua’s deep belief in the significance of peace in the Buddha’s teachings.

Life in the United States

                              

The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association



Within six years of living in the United States, Hsuan Hua opened the Buddhist Lecture Hall in San Francisco’s, Chinatown.  At the lecture hall, he would give nightly lectures teaching Americans about Mahayana Buddhism.  As his teachings and popularity grew, hundreds of monks and nuns from all over the world came to California to study with Hua. 

                His beginning in the United States started with a single Buddhist Lecture Hall in a loft and eventually grew to twenty-eight temples, monasteries and convents in multiple countries.   One of his well known temples is The City of Ten Thousand Buddha’s, one of the first Chan Buddhist monasteries and The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, a Buddhist organization that has the main goal of spreading the teachings of the Buddha.

Who is Hsuan Hua?

                                                                           

Hsuan Hua

Hsuan Hua was born in a village on the Manchurian plain during the year of 1918.  At a very young age he opened a school for children and adults and began practicing reverential bowing (shows honor and respect).  He spent every day outside, rain or shine, making more than eight hundred reverential prostrations (placing the body in positions) to show his respect for all of the good things in the universe.  

At the age of 21, Hsuan Hua had just spent the last three years of his life honoring the memory of his mother by meditating in a hut next to her grave.  While doing this he decided he should go to America to teach Buddhism.  To do this, he had to enter the San Yuan Monastery, where he became an ordained Buddhist monk.  After becoming a monk, he spent ten years studying Christianity, Daoism, and Islam.  He also studied Buddhist scriptural traditions.  Once he had satisfied his need for studying and learning, he traveled, spending some time with the 108 year old Venerable Hsu Yun and then spending time in Hong Kong.  Finally, he made his way to the United States in 1962.