Fazhao

Fazhao

Master fazhao (747-821 A.D.) is an eminent monk of Tang Dynasty and the fourth generation of founder of Pure Land Sect of Chinese Buddhism. Master fachao's worldly deeds are not recorded in historical materials. According to the time when master Chengyuan, the third patriarch of Hengshan in Nanyue, studied pure land religion in the middle of Yongtai year (765), he became a monk in his youth. At the beginning, he went from the eastern Wu Dynasty to the eastern forest of Lushan Mountain to study Samadhi. One day, he entered the paradise. When he saw that he had dirty clothes and was waiting on the Buddha's side, he knew that he was Chengyuan in Hengshan Mountain. Because he went to Hunan Province, he went to the mountains to seek it, and found a teacher in the valley. So he studied Buddhism, and majored in pure karma in banzhou Daochang of mithatai. At that time, the Hengshan Buddhist monastery was quite famous in the south, and tens of thousands of people came to the mountain to study and be taught. Emperor Daizong granted master Chengyuan the temple he lived in as banzhou Daochang.

personal information

Fazhao (747-821), surnamed Zhang, is the fourth generation founder of Pure Land Sect of Buddhism. He was born in Shizishan, Datang Li, Xingshi County in Tang Dynasty (now guhunmiao village, Yangzhou Town, Yang county). When he was young, he gave up his family as a monk and toured Lushan and Hengshan. Dali two years (767), in Hengzhou (now Hengyang City, Hunan Province) Yunfeng temple, under the guidance of elder Cheng Yuan. In the fourth year of Dali (769), he set up the wuhui Buddhist Chanting hall in Hudong Temple of Hengzhou, where he performed the five Hui Buddhist Chanting rituals, chanted Buddhism and practiced the pure land Dharma. On April 5, the fifth year of Dali, I went to Mount Wutai (today's Wutai County in Shanxi Province) to practice Buddhism and Samadhi. At the beginning of December, he entered Huayan Temple to study Buddhism. Later, the great sage bamboo forest temple was built in Wutai Mountain to honor Manjusri and Puxian Bodhisattvas. After the 12th year of Dali (777), fazhao went back to his hometown in Yangxian County, where he drank in the spring at nianfo Yan'an, and dedicated himself to Amitabha day and night. For a long time, it was heard that in Chang'an, Emperor Li Yu of Tang Dynasty welcomed the palace with ceremony, and was granted the title of "monk worshiping Dade and chanting Buddha" and "master of Prajna Daochang in wuhui and chanting Buddha". He lived in Chang'an Zhangjing temple. Li Shi of Tang Dezong praised FA Zhao and said, "when one's nature comes to perfection, one can read the truth, realize the rare and unpredictable, and all Buddhas have realized the cause." In 821 ad, he passed away in Chang'an, and was later posthumously named as Dawu Chan Master.

The life of the mage

In the first year of Yongtai (A.D. 765), the Dharma was carried out on the mithatai platform of Nanyue Mountain in April. In order to achieve this longevity, he often went to banzhou Buddhist temple every summer and decided to practice pure land Dharma all his life. In the same year, fazhao went to Chang'an (today's Xi'an) and wrote his first book, the five meetings of the pure land chanting Buddha's brief Dharma ritual praise, in accordance with wuliangshoujing in the pure land courtyard of Zhangjing temple. In addition, master fachao's second book, the Sutra chanting and observing instrument of pure land five meetings, introduces in more detail and systematically the Buddhism chanting method of pure land five meetings advocated by him. master fazhao has many wonderful deeds in his life. In 767 A.D., when he moved to Yunfeng temple in Hengzhou (now Hengyang, Hunan Province), one day, when he was dining in the Zhaitang, he suddenly saw the five colors of auspicious clouds and the temple, mountain forest, Liujian, Shimen, etc. from the bowl and bowl. About five miles away from the Shimen, he saw a temple again, which is called the great saint Zhulin temple. Some time later, in the bowl of the meal, you can see the five colored clouds, the pavilions and pavilions of the temple, etc. they are all very delicate. There is no dirt and filth in this world. In the pure gold world, there are many treasures crisscross, and thousands of Bodhisattvas are mixed in it. All kinds of wonderful things are like the strict and pure land of Buddhas. When the meal was over, all the realms in the bowl disappeared. The teacher asked Dade what he saw. Among them, two monks Jiayan and tanhui told him that "the change of the Holy Spirit can't be measured by any situation. If we talk about the situation of mountains and rivers, it's wutaier.". I learned that Xu was the holy land of Wutai, and my teacher had a wish to go to the mountains. However, due to various obstacles, I failed to fulfill my wish. In the summer of the fourth year of zongdali in Tang Dynasty (769 AD), master fazhao started the construction of the wuhui Buddhist temple in Hudong Temple (or Xiangdong Temple) in Hengzhou. On the second day of June, he also felt the auspicious clouds pervading the Taoist temple. There were many pavilions in the clouds. He could see a few Buddhist monks, and he could walk on the road. Amitabha and the two Bodhisattvas are all in the sky. In the congregation, all of them clearly saw this scene, and they were all happy and enthusiastic, burning incense. This situation, this scene, a long time to disappear. In the evening of that day, the master met an old man outside the Taoist temple. The old man asked the master, "you once made a wish to go to the golden world and worship the great sage. How can you stop now?" the master replied, "it's not easy to go because of the hard times and the hard road.". The old man repeated his advice and said, "if you have a firm will, why is it difficult?" when he finished, he disappeared. Master fazhao was very surprised. He thought about it again and again and thought that his ambition was not strong. So he went into the Taoist temple and made a sincere wish again in front of the Buddha statue, saying, "I'd like to worship the great sage with this body, and allow Xiaman to go there, and let the fire gather in the glacier, and never retreat." On August 13, 2000, the teacher and several like-minded people set out from Nanyue and traveled northward without any difficulties. It took more than seven months to arrive at Foguang temple in Wutai County in April of the fifth year of zongdali (770 A.D.). The Dharma was illuminated in Wutai Mountain by the great sage Puxian Bodhisattva, who didn't think about the light, and was led by shancai and NANTUO. When they came to the great sage Zhulin temple, what they saw was just like what they saw in a bowl. When the master entered the temple, he saw Manjusri and Puxian, the two great bodhisattvas, according to the eastern and Western Leo, surrounded by thousands of people. In front of the two Bodhisattvas, he made a salute and asked: "the last ordinary man, when he went to the holy place, had poor knowledge and deep barriers. There was no way to show his Buddha nature. The Buddhism was vast and he didn't examine what Dharma gate he was practicing. The most important thing was that he wanted to be a great sage and cut off my doubts." Manjusri replied: "it's the right time for you to chant Buddhism today. There are many ways to practice Buddhism, such as offering three treasures, cultivating both fortune and wisdom. In the past, I got all kinds of wisdom because of observing Buddhism, chanting Buddhism and providing for others. Therefore, all dharmas, Prajna, paramita, deep meditation and even all Buddhas are born from chanting Buddha. Therefore, we know that chanting Buddha is the king of all dharmas. " Shifu asked: "when the cloud, why read?" Manjusri said: "in the west of this world, there is Amitabha, that Buddha's power, inconceivable, you should continue to read, so that there is no break, the end of life decided to die, never retreat." At the end of the demonstration, the two Bodhisattvas, together with Shu Jinbang and Mo Zhiding, wrote a record for the master, saying, "you have recited Buddhism, so you will soon be able to prove the supreme Bodhi. If you are a good man, and wish to become a Buddha, you can quickly prove the supreme Bodhi without reciting Buddhism." When I heard this, I got rid of my doubts. He was happy and enthusiastic, but he gave up as a gift. In an instant, all the scenes were lost, and the master felt sad in his heart, so that he could set up a stone to mark where he was. On the birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha on the eighth day of April of this year, the master stopped at the West Tower of the Prajna courtyard of Huayan Temple. On April 13, the master and more than 50 monks went to the Vajrayana Grottoes to worship the 35 Buddhas' names. The ceremony was only ten times. Suddenly, they saw that the place was broad, strict and clean. The glazed palace, Manjusri, Puxian and all the Bodhisattvas were in the same place. The master was very glad to see this scene. He went back to the temple quietly without saying anything. At midnight, in the West Tower of the Prajna courtyard of Huayan Temple, he saw all the lights burning on the east side of the cave It's very wonderful to follow the master's vows. This scene inspired the master's enthusiasm. So he went to the King Kong Grottoes alone at night, worshipped the emperor Manjusri, and was blessed with the protection of Buddha poli. Under the guidance of the northern Indian, you enter a Taoist temple called "Vajra Prajna Temple". You can see that there are different treasures everywhere, solemn and shining. You can see the Manjusri Mahatma in the temple, with incomparable dignity. When the master saw this scene, his faith doubled and his practice of chanting Buddha became more courageous and progressive. in December of the fifth year of zongdali (770 A.D.), the master went to the Buddhist monastery in Huayan Temple. He made up his mind to cut off food and set a time for himself. In order to obtain evidence, he vowed to live in the Western Pure Land. On the first night of the seventh day, when the master was using his power, he saw a Buddhist monk go to the monastery and said to him, "why don't you say what I saw, the holy land of Wutai Mountain?" When FA Zhao heard this, he still had doubts in his heart, so he didn't decide whether to show the people what he saw. At Shenshi the next day, the master met another old Buddhist monk in the Taoist temple. He said sternly to the master, "please show all living beings the supernatural state that the master saw in Wutai, so that he can make the Taoist believe, make the Bodhi Heart come true, and get the great happiness. Hu Buwei ye?" the master replied, "I really don't want to hide the holy way, for fear that the listener's faith is not strong and his suspicion will lead to slander." The old monk enlightened and said, "great sage Manjusri, this mountain is still slandered. How can you cherish it? But all living beings, those who have seen and heard of it, have a Bodhisattva heart and make poison drum ears!" So master fachao recalled what he had seen and made a record of it. This is another book of master fachao's "the great sage's Bamboo Forest Temple". Later, master fazhao imitated and built a grand and solemn temple, still called Zhulin temple, at the forehead of Zhulin temple, which was changed by Bodhisattvas in the middle of Wutai Mountain, fifteen miles south of Huayan Temple. As a permanent memorial. In the first month of the next year, the master and Jiang Dong Shihui went back to the diamond cave and the stone marker to see the old place from the monks Chonghui and Mingqian of Huayan Temple. During the worship, they also had a chance to encounter strange scenes. It was true that the public knew the Dharma according to what the master saw. They were lucky enough to travel with each other, so they wrote it down on the wall of the cave. People who saw and heard of it all expressed their wishes and shared the supreme way. On September 13, the 12th year of Dali (777 A.D.), the master and eight disciples: Chunyi, Weixiu, guizheng, Zhiyuan, Shami Weiying, youbosai, zhangxijun, tongzirujing, etc., saw four paths of white light in Dongtai, followed by five colors of strange clouds and a red round light, which was incomparable. Manjusri Bodhisattva, riding the green lion king, emerged in the light, and all the people on the scene clearly witnessed this magnificent scene Elephant. At the same time, the rain and snowflakes, with five colors of light phase, all over the valley. since then, the master's faith and heart of Tao have become stronger and stronger. He devotes himself to chanting Buddhism and practices hard day and night. From where he can go

Chinese PinYin : Fa Zhao