Venerable Master Hsuan Hua - His Life, His Legacy Life of the Ven. Master Hsuan Hua Site Map

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Life of the
Ven. Master
Hsuan Hua

Introduction
Early Years
Leaving the Home Life
Dharma Transmission
Residing in Hong Kong
Bringing the Dharma to the West
Monk in the Grave Period
The First American Sangha
A Road of Hardship
Great Parinirvana
The Infinite Dharma Wheel
Epilogue

The Infinite Dharma Wheel

Throughout his life the Venerable Master was totally selfless. He vowed to take the suffering and hardships of all living beings upon himself, and to dedicate all his own blessings and joy to the living beings of the Dharma Realm. He practiced what was difficult to practice and endured what was difficult to endure, persevering in his heroic and pure resolve. He was a candle that refused to be blown out by the gale, an irreducible lump of pure gold in the hot fire. The Venerable Master composed a verse expressing his principles:

Freezing to death, we do not scheme.
Starving to death, we do not beg.
Dying of poverty, we ask for nothing.
According with conditions, we do not change.
Not changing, we accord with conditions.
We adhere firmly to our three great principles.

We renounce our lives to do the Buddha's work.
We take the responsibility to mold our own destinies.
We rectify our lives as the Sangha's work.
Encountering specific matters,
    we understand the principles.
Understanding the principles,
    we apply them in specific matters.
We carry on the single pulse of the patriarchs'
    mind-transmission.

From the time he left the home-life, the Venerable Master firmly maintained the six great principles - do not fight, do not be greedy, do not seek, do not be selfish, do not pursue personal advantage, and do not lie - bringing benefit to the multitudes. Teaching with wisdom and compassion, dedicating himself to serving others, and acting as a model for others, he influenced countless people to sincerely change their faults and head towards the pure and exalted Bodhi Way.

Living beings of the present have deep obstructions and scarce blessings indeed, for a Sage of the era has abruptly manifested passing into stillness. The living beings of the Saha world have suddenly lost their harbor of refuge. Yet the life of the Venerable Master is actually an enactment of the great Flower Adornment Sutra of the Dharma Realm. Although he has manifested entry into Nirvana, he constantly turns the infinite wheel - not leaving any traces, he came from empty space, and to empty space he returned. His disciples can only carefully follow their teacher's instructions, hold fast to their principles, honor the Buddha's regulations, and be ever more vigorous in advancing upon the path to Bodhi so that they can repay the Venerable Master's boundless and profound grace.

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