The starters2024-04-07 20:43 Emile
"Becoming a monk at a young age, is there a brain disease?"
"Did you suffer a blow and couldn't think about it, so that you wanted to become a monk?"
In 2017, the news that "30 graduate students became monks" caused a great sensation in society. Because these people are either highly educated talents, doctors, high-paid white-collar workers, or big bosses of companies.
Not only do they have decent jobs and stable incomes, but they also have good achievements in all walks of life. So did they choose to become monks on a whim, or did they do it to attract attention? The truth is unexpected.
Now, more than 6 years later, what is their current situation?
A thousand-year-old temple, Master Renqing
This temple, which attracts many talented people to become monks, is called Yunhai Temple.
Yunhai Temple is a thousand-year-old temple, located in Dazhou, Sichuan, on a peculiar shape and nearly 1,000 meters above sea level.
There is a beautiful legend about this mountain. Legend has it that once upon a time, there lived a beautiful and compassionate fairy on the mountain. For thousands of years, she has been using her magic power to protect the people in the surrounding area.
It was under her protection that the people were able to live and work in peace. Later, in order to commemorate this fairy who loved the people like a child, people called this mountain Fairy Mountain.
During the Three Kingdoms period, a monk who traveled all over the world came to this deep mountain by chance. The Zen master found that this fairy mountain is beautiful and quiet, and it is a good place to practice. So, he began to build a temple and devoted himself to his cultivation here.
After the temple was built, the master was pleasantly surprised to find that whenever the sun rises and sets, there will be a misty scene around the temple, making people feel as if they are in a sea of clouds.
Therefore, the Zen master named this temple "Yunhai Temple".
Subsequently, through the efforts of several generations of monks, the temple developed into a thousand-year-old temple that is famous and attracts pilgrims from all over the world. It's just that with the passage of time, the once incense-filled Yunhai Temple began to gradually decline.
Especially in 1958, the temple building was severely damaged. Although it was rebuilt in the later period, it is still dilapidated and desolate, and it is inaccessible.
The temple is full of ruins, the Buddha statues are covered with thick dust, green moss, wild flowers, and weeds grow wantonly, and even the tiles on the temple roof to protect from the wind and rain have become scattered and mottled under the baptism of time.
Seeing that this thousand-year-old temple was about to disappear from people's sight, Master Renqing appeared.
Before becoming a monk, Venerable Renqing was a professor of law at Xiangtan University. He studied Buddhism since childhood, and after joining the work, he studied Buddhism intensively, and often visited nearby monasteries in his spare time.
Every time he returned from the temple, the professor felt that his soul had been sublimated, and his body and mind were extremely relaxed, so he was even more fascinated by Buddhism.
In 2014, the professor unexpectedly visited Yunhai Temple, about 40 kilometers from downtown Dazhou. At that time, there were only 4 monks left in the temple, and although it was dilapidated, it was exceptionally quiet because of its remote location.
After returning home, the professor flipped through the relevant ancient books and was surprised to find that this dilapidated temple was actually a famous temple with a history of thousands of years.
It is clearly recorded in ancient books that there are many ancestor towers in the temple tomb tower, including the tomb of the 12th ancestor of Caodongzong in the Song Dynasty.
It is said that Liu Bei, the emperor of the Han Zhaolie Dynasty, also lived in that temple for 5 or 6 years because he liked the scenery of this mountain.
Even two famous Japanese masters, including the old Zen master Fakuan, have come to Yunhai Temple to practice. It can be seen that the Buddhist heritage of Yunhai Temple is quite profound.
Far away from the world, the tranquil and quiet environment made the professor's already impulsive heart ripple again, and the monks' dedication to learning Buddhism made him admire, and the idea of becoming a monk came to him spontaneously.
He immediately announced to his parents that he wanted to become a monk in Yunhai Temple.
His parents strongly opposed his decision. They believe that their son has a stable job and a good life, and there is no need to give up everything to become a monk and suffer.
But because of his yearning for Buddhism, the professor has made up his mind.
In this way, in the midst of people's doubts and the reluctance of his parents, the professor went to the Emeishan Giant Buddha Monastery to receive ordination (abstain from greed, ignorance, and hatred), and took the name "Renqing", which means: benevolence, kindness.
The ripple effect of ordination
Emei Big Buddha Temple, formerly known as the Big Buddha Temple, is located in the eastern suburbs of Emeishan City, with an area of about 400 acres, was founded in the Ming Dynasty, and the founder is the infinite Zen master.
At that time, it took 15 years for the Infinite Zen Master and the monks to work together to build this magnificent temple.
Because of its large scale and vast area, it is not only the largest temple in Sichuan Province but also one of the largest jungles in Asia.
Whenever worshippers come to Mount Emei to worship, they will first go to the Big Buddha Monastery to worship, and then go up the mountain to worship the Bodhisattva.
Over time, the Great Buddha Monastery became the starting point for Buddhist believers to go to the mountain. Therefore, it was natural for Venerable Renqing to come to the Great Buddha Monastery to receive ordination.
In any case, there is one less university professor in the world, but one more Venerable Renqing.
Venerable Renqing's ordination caused great repercussions at the time.
People can't understand why a university professor should become a monk because he not only has a successful career but also has a family and a family? Some people even accuse him of wasting state resources and evading the responsibility of providing for the elderly and raising children.
However, Venerable Renqing was indifferent to these accusations and remained firm in his beliefs. Once a person knows what he wants, he will move forward without distractions.
After receiving the ordination, Venerable Renqing came to settle in Yunhai Temple. In his eyes, Yunhai Temple is his real home, and he is determined to make this "home" look new, like the Great Buddha Zen Temple, to recreate the former grandeur.
Venerable Renqing used his savings for many years to repair the temple and raise funds from all over the world. With his unremitting efforts, Yunhai Temple gradually regained its "vitality".
Soon after, three post-80s brothers who were ordained together with Venerable Renqing also followed in his footsteps to Yunhai Temple.
Like Venerable Renqing, they are all high-level intellectuals, one of them is Venerable Juehua who graduated from Sichuan University with a master's degree, and the other two are also top students with bachelor's degrees from key universities.
In this way, four like-minded people gathered at Yunhai Temple and began to establish a dojo and promote Buddhism. They repaired the temple during the day and did their homework at night, and although it was hard, they also enjoyed it.
The story of a university professor who gave up his well-paid job to become a monk was also widely spread among Buddhist enthusiasts.
Many believers who had long wanted to become a monk burst into tears after seeing the report, and finally had the courage to become a monk and came to Yunhai Temple to take refuge in Buddhism.
As time passed, the number of people who came to visit the city continued to increase. Today, there are more than 30 monks in Yunhai Temple, with an average age of about 35 years old.
Most of these people have a bachelor's degree or above, and some of them are graduate students and doctors from Southwest Jiaotong University and Sichuan University.
Therefore, they are known as the Xueba Sangha, a well-deserved title.
Before they became monks, some of them had an annual salary of one million, some were professors, and some were entrepreneurs.
Despite their worldly success, they gave up their families and careers in search of inner peace and eventually gathered at this ancient temple.
Buddha and parents, how to choose
Many people find it incomprehensible to the choices of these people. In the face of everyone's doubts, some mages chose to come forward to explain, and one of them was a master from Sichuan University.
Before he graduated from college, he started his own business and achieved a lot of success. After graduating, he devoted himself to running his own company.
The company flourished under his meticulous management, and before he became a monk, he was already a wealthy businessman.
But since he was a child, he liked Buddhism, and always felt that Buddhism was his true soul, so he chose to become a monk.
In this group of cultivators, there is also a female mage. Her love for the Dharma seems to have come naturally, and she was a PhD before she became a monk and taught at a prestigious university.
A stable job and a good salary are things that countless people dream of, but she always feels that there is something missing in her life. After hearing about Master Renqing's deeds, her blood was surging, and her heart that had been longing for Buddhism for a long time could no longer be suppressed.
So, she desperately gave up her high-paying job and went to Yunhai Temple to worship under Master Renqing.
In Yunhai Temple, everyone put down their original identities, put on monk's robes of uniform specifications made of coarse cloth, and did the same thing every day - practice. At the same time, they all have the same name, which is the practitioner.
Cultivation is not easy, and the life of a monk is not as simple and easy as the world thinks.
In the temple, the daily schedule is fixed. Monks basically rest at 9 p.m. and wake up at 4 a.m. After getting up and washing, they start their morning class.
After doing their homework, they had to pick up their hoes and start their day's work by clearing the wasteland around the temple to grow vegetables and grain.
In the evening, everyone gathers in the main hall to meditate on sutras or exchange Dharma with each other. This hard and monotonous life needs to be carried on year after year, day after day.
More importantly, however, the monks also have to take on the responsibility of repairing the temple and continuing the incense.
Although they were willing to pool money to repair the temple, after all, their power was limited, and they had to find another way to restore the temple to its former glory.
Therefore, the Dharma teachers took the initiative to go down the mountain and go to the people to open a pulpit to preach the Dharma. In order to draw the public's attention to Yunhai Temple, they always try their best to introduce the bits and pieces of this temple to everyone.
Hard work pays off, and with everyone's efforts, Yunhai Temple has received more and more attention. Through the concerted efforts of Buddhist believers from all walks of life, Yunhai Temple was finally fully renovated.
This long-dilapidated thousand-year-old temple can finally be rejuvenated and regained its former glory and grandeur.
Different from the past, today's Yunhai Temple has an additional "filial piety hall".
I think that in the beginning, some monks were monks without telling their families, and they always felt guilty that they could not fulfill their filial piety in front of their parents.
They wanted to be filial while cultivating, so they built a house next to the temple so that their parents could have a place to stay when they visited.
If you wish, you can also stay for a long time. They sincerely hope that in this way, they will receive the understanding and blessing of their parents.
Today, these highly educated mages are still far away from the red dust and do not care about the world.
They believe that Buddhism can help sentient beings and save suffering, so they devote all their body and mind to the study of Buddhism, hoping that they can contribute to the cause of Buddhism.
Although it was hard work, they were willing to do it because they felt that they had found the meaning of life.
As Nietzsche said, "A man who knows what he lives for can endure any kind of life".
What are your thoughts on the choices of these people? Let's talk about it~