In May 1977, on the streets of the United States, a young foreign monk and his companions were walking forward in three steps and one bow.
A woman followed him, sneering. As he bowed down, the woman raised her foot and kicked the foreign monk's tail vertebrae.
A pain filled his heart, and the foreign monk was very unhappy in his heart, but he did not make a sound, and still performed the pilgrimage quietly.
Every day, they are like monkeys being played, surrounded by people who do good things. From time to time, people in the crowd shouted at them.
"Bald man, get back quickly!"
"You freaks, where are you still worshipping, my God!"
"Monsters, you must leave this place before dusk!"
……
The sounds of intimidation and insults were incessant, and the foreign monk was calm as usual, still quietly worshipping, in the direction of Ten Thousand Buddhas City.
Eggs, stones and other items hit him on the head, on his robe... He was still not angry or angry, and walked forward quietly, silently worshipping what he wanted in his heart.
This foreign monk is Master Hengshi, an American, common name: Clowery. In 1976, he received a master's degree from the Department of Oriental Languages at the University of California.
Why such a high-end talent should put himself in such a bad situation, following the trajectory of his growth, we may be able to find the answer.
1. A bowl of fasting rice to solve confusion, convert to Buddhism and write life
Hengshi was born in 1949 in Colum, Russia, to faithful Christian parents. His father was a lawyer, his mother was a housewife, and his family was wealthy.
When Hengshi was very young, Hengshi discovered a strange phenomenon: he always had a sense of déjà vu for Chinese characters.
When he first saw the word "Hong Kong" on TV, he always felt that he had seen it somewhere.
At the age of 13, Hengshi developed an almost obsessive love for Chinese characters. When he received a gift from his aunt, this obsession was even more vividly manifested.
At that time, Hengshi's aunt was working as a reporter for the U.S. Information Agency in Washington. Once, when a Chinese painter held an exhibition in Washington, D.C., my aunt got a picture album of the painter and sent it to Hengshi as a gift.
The beautiful Chinese characters on the catalogue of the album deeply attracted Hengshi, they were so familiar, but he couldn't understand how to read them.
So Hengshi went to a nearby library, where there were many books on Asian religions, and they were all in Chinese and English.
He found a copy of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching and a magic treasure of the Six Ancestors Altar Sutra, and then couldn't wait to recognize Chinese characters against the English inside.
As the number of Chinese characters he knew gradually increased, the truth of striving for beauty and goodness in the book deeply affected him.
Hengshi's inexplicable love for Chinese doomed him to be inseparable from China for the rest of his life.
In college, Hengshi first entered Midberry College to study oriental culture. He then entered the University of Oakland in Michigan to study Chinese. Later, he went to the University of California Oriental Institute to pursue a master's degree.
When Hengshi was 20 years old, his father died. The death of his father made him feel the impermanence of life. The sudden change in his family made him a little confused about the future.
"In the future, what should I do to make life more meaningful?"
This question troubled Hengshi and made him very distressed.
Hengshi has always wanted to find a living enlightened monk to guide him, but he is nowhere to be found.
During Hengshi's graduate school, he got in touch with his former roommate, who told Hengshi that he had become a monk at the Golden Mountain Temple in San Francisco, and that his master Xuanhua Shangren was a high-ranking monk, and he hoped that Hengshi could go to the Jinshan Temple to meet the master.
Xuanhua Shangren
Hengshi was very excited after hearing this, but he heard that this monastery was in a poor area, because the people in that place were very chaotic and there were often violent incidents, Hengshi felt very terrible. So, he flinched.
A few months later, Hengshi's roommate called again, saying that Master Xuanhua wanted him to come and translate for them, and that there was fragrant fasting to eat.
Hengshi, who has been cooking and eating by himself, heard that there was a free fasting meal, and Guo left the car and went to Jinshan Temple.
The people outside the Jinshan Temple were noisy, and the constant fear of this place was constant, and after parking the car, he ran into the temple in a panic.
The sound of wooden fish in the temple, the smell of burning incense, the peaceful faces of the meditating monks, the constant fear, tension, and troubles all slipped away from the toes at once, and all that remained was peace, warmth, and sobriety.
Hengshi felt as if he had returned home, and a kind and gentle voice sounded in his ears: "You're back, it's time to go to work." ”
He ate this meal very pleasantly and deliciously.
The amiability of Xuanhua and the guidance of Hengshi made him suddenly find the answer to the question that had troubled him for many years, and this is his life destination.
In 1976, after Hengshi completed his studies and obtained a master's degree, he became a monk at Jinshan Temple, worshipped Master Xuanhua as a teacher, converted to traditional Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, received full ordination, the Dharma name is true, and the character is Hengshi.
2. Practice ascetic for 2600 miles, and turn troubles into bodhi
After Gen-la became a monk, he religiously bowed down to the Huayan Sutra every day, and every time he recited a word, he had to bow down once in five bodies.
Hengshi bowed day after day.
Suddenly, one day, a magical image appeared in his mind: he clearly saw that he set out from the gate of the Golden Wheel Temple in Los Angeles, bowed in three steps, and worshipped until he reached the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
Later, such images kept appearing, and Hengshi felt that this was the guidance given to him by heaven in the underworld, so Hengshi reported this matter to Master, hoping to fulfill his dream, and through this road of reverence and bowing down, praying for world peace and eliminating his greed and anger.
The journey from the Jinlun Temple to Ten Thousand Buddhas City is more than 2,600 miles, almost through the entire northern and southern California, the road is long and dangerous, and of course the Xuanhua master did not agree.
Under Hengshi's repeated requests, Master Hengchao appeared, he had a martial art, took the initiative to ask to be Hengshi's protector, and started a three-step pilgrimage with Hengshi.
Seeing that these two people were so sincere, coupled with Hengchao's protection, Master Xuanhua did not stop them anymore, but just told them: the road is far away and dangerous, and they must take good care of each other.
In May 1977, Hengshi and Hengchao set out from the gate of the Golden Wheel Temple in Los Angeles, along the coastal road, three steps and one kowtow, all the way to Ten Thousand Buddhas City.
Hengshi and mother
After this matter was known by Hengshi's mother, she cried and made trouble, and she didn't understand why Hengshi did this.
After graduating from graduate school, he could have found a stable job, married a wife, had children, and lived happily for life. But he chose to be a monk.
Being a monk is just that, and you have to make a three-step and one-worship trip of more than 2,600 miles, which is simply crazy and dangerous.
Seeing her son's five-body worship under the wagon, Hengshi's mother was so distressed that she couldn't stand it; The people around her pointed fingers at her son, which made this mother feel humiliated.
"I'd rather my son go to Vietnam and die on the battlefield than have my son do something like that," she said. ”
But no matter how much her mother cried, Hengshi still firmly embarked on this road. Moreover, strict rules and precepts were established: do not enter people's homes; not staying in hotels; not begging for money and valuables; Carry a small amount of change with you for emergencies in case of extreme danger; not staying in the same place for more than three nights; Do not complain under any circumstances, one eclipse in the middle of the day; Don't say a word on the road, stop talking for 6 years.
This extremely arduous road, Hengshi and Hengchao walked for 29 months, adhering to the rules they had set all the way, and a classic car accompanied them throughout the trip, providing them with a place to rest and meditate.
Along the way, Hengshi and Hengchao have experienced difficulties and dangers that ordinary people can hardly imagine.
In those years, when there was a drought in the United States, they could not even guarantee a meal a day, and most of the time they used wild vegetables to feed their hunger, often starving. Even so, not a day has passed since they gave up their prayerful prostration and study of the scriptures.
They bow under the scorching sun, in raging storms, on rugged mountain roads, in noisy crowds...
Due to the long-term dining and sleeping outside, their bare skin was burst by the hot sun, and they were frozen by the bone-chilling cold wind and lost consciousness.
And accidents always come unnoticeably.
In the stormy weather, when Hengshi and Hengchao were three steps at the foot of the mountain, a car suddenly flew down on the winding road and smashed straight at them.
Along the way, the dangers of nature threaten their lives all the time, and the evil of human nature destroys their body and mind.
Intimidation and verbal abuse are still good, and many times, lives are threatened for no reason.
"You scoundrels, get out of the way! This is my home, get out!" A man of five and three thick jumped out of a van, pointed at Hengshi, and scolded savagely.
Hengshi ignored his insults and still walked and worshipped quietly, but when Hengshi worshipped to the back of the truck, the man sat in the cab of the truck and began to reverse the car, trying to scare Hengshi away, but Hengshi still walked forward and worshipped indifferently.
Seeing that he was about to bump into Hengshi, he stopped and warned viciously: "Get out of here quickly, otherwise..."
Hengshi and Hengchao still ignored his every move.
Perhaps, he was moved by the persistence of the two people, and when Hengshi and Hengchao were about to leave his territory, his tone also eased a lot.
Things like this keep happening.
What's even more frightening is that they have been robbed six times and held at gunpoint to their heads three times.
The evil of human nature is also touched by their kindness and persistence, and from the evil gods at the beginning to bless them.
Of course, along the way, they have also received praise and offerings from many kind people.
From left: Hengshi Hengshi and Xuanhua Shangren
In October 1979, under the guidance of the truth, they endured what no one could endure and did what no one could do, and with strong will and superb wisdom, they completed the journey of more than 2,600 miles and arrived at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
Hengshi's mother, under the influence of Xuanhua Shangren, also understood her son's heart for beauty and goodness, no longer felt humiliated by what her son did, and no longer prevented her son from doing what he wanted to do.
After arriving in Ten Thousand Buddhas City, Hengshi still walked around Ten Thousand Buddhas City three times a day, and it was not until six years later that he spoke.
3. Use music as a medium to build a bridge of truth
In the United States, Hengshi is regarded as a "pagan" and in Chinese they are called "foreign monks". But what he really wanted to do was a bridge to spread the truth.
The path of more than 2,600 miles of ascetic practice is only a very small stage in Hengshi's life, a stage that allows him to understand the truth of the Dharma more deeply, and solves his initial confusion in life.
Through this stage, Hengshi found the meaning of life.
Since he became a monk, he has been following Xuanhua Shangren and living a simple and quiet life. Follow the master to study the Dharma intensively, follow the traditional rules of the Dharma, participate in meditation every day, and recite and study various Buddhist scriptures.
Hengshi is proficient in Chinese, English, French, Japanese and other Chinese languages, and he is responsible for translating the scriptures when Master lectures.
After the death of Master Xuanhua, Master Hengshi inherited the mantle of Master and took over Ten Thousand Buddhas City.
In 2003, Hengshi received his Ph.D. from the United Theological Research Institute and is currently a professor at the Institute of Religious Studies. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Dharma Buddhist Association.
In the years that followed, he ran for world peace.
Gen-la uses music to build a bridge between Chinese Buddhist culture and the world.
In his view, no matter what religion people believe in, it is nothing more than the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty, and the rejection of false ugliness, but the way of pursuit is different.
Since everyone has the same purpose, there is no need to rattle each other. Therefore, Hengshi will often take the practitioners and lay people of Ten Thousand Buddhas City to communicate with each other.
Because Buddhist philosophies are difficult to understand, he added them to folk tales of interest to the American people, holding a guitar and singing, so that people can experience the beauty of Buddhism in song.
There is no need for us to emulate what Hengshi did, but his self-discipline is really an example for us to follow. If someone can be so self-disciplined, coupled with hard work, no matter what life path he chooses, he must be the one who is radiant.
May the truth, goodness and beauty of this world always exist, and may we all live in harmony and move towards prosperity together. Text/Language
Resources:
Interview Video: Buddhism to the West: Gen-la Hengshi Speaks of Marriage