(1) Xuecheng Da Heshang’s Early Life

Intro to Xuecheng Da Heshang

大和尚简介
Intro. to Da Heshang

致广大而尽精微 极高明而道中庸
Reach greatness and also exhaust essential details,
Maximize high stature while following the Middle Way.

——学诚法师侧记
Xuecheng Fashi’s aphorisms

慧 空

by Hui Kong ((a Refuge name; I believe this is a cohort of Xuecheng who has followed him from his home base in Fujian, and who writes the Fujian dialect. – xp))

学诚法师，1966年8月19日出生于福建省仙游县赖店镇罗峰村一个佛教氛围颇为浓厚的家庭。在祖母和母亲的熏陶下，法师12岁就开始读诵佛经，并且经常去附近的玉塔寺游玩，每进寺院，总有熟悉、亲切之感，尤其喜欢寺里菩萨像慈祥自在的面容。法师1974年至1979年就读于仙游赖店中心小学，1979年至1982年就读于仙游县华侨中学，成绩均优。法师童年就开始广阅佛教书籍，对祖师大德的传记爱不释手，特别是看到唐代玄奘大师求法、弘法的经历时，内心深为大师“远绍如来，近光遗法”的宏愿所鼓舞。

Xuecheng Fashi was born on the 19th day of the 8th (lunar) month of 1966, in Luofeng Village (罗峰村) of Laidian township (赖店镇) of Xianyu prefecture (仙游县) of Fujian Province (福建省), in a family saturated in the atmosphere of Buddhism. Under the guidance and training of his mother and grandmother, Dharma Master started chanting the Buddhist scriptures at the age of twelve, and he also used to often go play around at the nearby Jade Pagoda Temple, and every time he entered the temple compound, he velt very familiar and at home, and he especially enjoyed the compassionate and self-existent faces of the Bodhisattva images in the temple. From 1974 until 1979, Dharma Master read at the middle school in the center of Liadian in Xianyu. From 1979 until 1982, he studied in the Xianyu Prefecture middle school for overseas Chinese ((In other words, he jumped out of the local-boy track, and got into a school for privileged individuals –xp)), where his accomplishments were superior. As a child, Dharma Master started broadly poring over Buddhist tracts, fondling the records passed down of the patriarchs and great meritorious ones admiringly, especially when he encountered the experieces of Xuan Cang (玄奘) of the Tang Dynasty in seeking and propagating the Dharma, his innermost thoughts were deeply encouraged by the great wish of the Great Master to “Seek the Buddha afar, to illuminate Dharma locally.”

求学时代 酸甜苦辣
The period of seeking instruction — sour, sweet, bitter, hot

1982年农历二月初八，法师受宿生愿力牵引及玄奘大师西行求法的精神感召，毅然决定出家。法师原本准备在一所小庙出家，但寺里的人觉得这个孩子很有善根，就推荐他去拜见圆拙老法师（生前担任中国佛教协会副会长及谘议委员会主席，是近代高僧印光大师、弘一律师的优秀弟子）。于是他就来到远近闻名的莆田广化寺。

When on the 8th of the 2nd lunar month in 1982 the Dharma Master recieved a scholarship, his intention was pulled by the call of Xuan Cang’s spirit of seeking the Dharma in his Journey to the West, to the point that he resolutely decided to leave home. The Dharma Master originally prepared to leave home in a small temple, but the temple staff, percieving that this child really had good roots, recommended him to go pay his respects to The old Dharma Master Yuanzhuo (圆拙老法师). (He had previously been the vice-chair of the China Buddhist Association, and the chairman of its consultative committee, he is the prominent student of the current era’s high monk Yin Guang Dashi (印光大师) and of the lawyer Hong Yi (弘一律师)). So then he then arrived at Guang Hua Temple (广化寺), the fame of which is heard near and far.

1983年农历二月初八由老法师安排剃度，礼定海长老（现任世界佛教僧伽会副会长、印度尼西亚大乘僧伽会会长，长期在东南亚一带弘法利生）为剃度恩师，落发为僧，并依止圆拙老法师修学佛法十五年。刚出家时，他就请问老法师：“出家怎么修行？”老法师给他讲了一个故事：“过年丛林中有分桔子的习惯，当库头的把它称好，分成一堆、一堆，里面有大的，也有小的。你不要刻意去挑，为什么呢？你如果存心挑大的，那是你贪利，如果你存心挑小一点的，那是贪名。这是深哲理。有人客客气气，为得好名；有人任何时候不吃亏，是贪心在作怪。”后来法师曾说：“此话对我启发很大，一切随缘，平常心是道。儒家讲‘过犹不及’，很多学问、境界都在这里面。”

When on the 8nd day of the 2nd month (lunar) in 1983 the Dharma Master was tonsured, he bowed to the elder Ding Hai (定海长老) (who presently is the vice-chair of the world Buddhist Sangha Association, and the chairman of the Indonesian Mahyana Sangha Association) as his benevolent tonsuring master, and having lost his hair as a monk, he then was subordinate to the old Dharma Master Yuanzhao (圆拙老法师) for fifteen years. When he first left home, he asked the old master: “How does one practice, having left home?” The old master told him a story: “At New Year’s, the monasteries have a custom of dividing up the tangerines. The appropriate staff call them out into piles, and among them some are bigger, and some are smaller. You should not deliberately go carry them off, and why not? Because if you intend to carry off the larger, that is being greedy for benefit, and if you intend to carry off the smaller, that is being greedy for fame. This is a deep principle of wisdom. Some people are SO polite, because they like fame. Others do not want to be taken for anything at any time, they are greedy while being blameworthy. Afterwards the master said: “This saying is very great with respect to my enlightenment, always follow conditions, the ordinary mind is the Path. The Confucianists say, ‘An overabundance of similarity doesn’t suffice,’ and the scope of a lot of knowledge is just in this aspect.”

法师说：“出家后，人手少，就参加搞建筑、晚上巡逻，在海会塔巡逻时，很怕，尤其下雨天，那时很苦，建筑材料运不上来，要搬上来，毅力就培养出来了。现在不干活，毅力培养不出来。”

The Dharma Master said, “After leaving home, when manpower is small, then I participated in construction, and in security patrols at night, and patrolling around that Ocean Assembly Pagoda I was afraid. Particularly on days when it rained, that time was very bitter. If the construciton materials couldn’t be transported up, they had to be moved up (by hand), and so my willpower was nourished. Now that I don’t work (like that), my willpower can’t be nourished.

在老法师精心栽培下，学诚法师志于学、律于行，背诵了许多佛教经论和儒家经典，为以后济世利生打下了坚实的佛学和国学基础。在学习之余，法师时时不忘培植福德，经常主动打扫殿堂卫生及做别人不愿意干的脏累粗活。圆拙老法师对他的要求也十分严格，有一次他在斋堂拖地时，老法师悄悄地走过去检查，发现不够干净，就立刻让他又重复拖了几遍。法师聪明好学，做事勤奋认真，于出家第二年便以总分第一的成绩考进福建佛学院预科班，并就任班长。法师在学院求学期间努力研习佛教经论及各科文化知识，也非常乐于在课余时间帮助同学解决各种困难，还积极承担常住事务，护持大众。

Under the old dharma master’s cultivation, Xuecheng Fashi was determined in his studies, and lawful in conduct, and memorized many Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, and Confucianist treatises, and to save the world and benefit beings he laid down a solid foundation in Buddhist and traditional Chinese studies. Beyond his studies, the Dharma Master did not forget to cultivate merit, and often on his own initiative swept the premises clean, and did filthy and coarse work that others weren’t willing to do. Dharma Master Yuanzhao’s demands on him were 100% strict. There was one time when he was cleaning the hall and swabbing the floors that the old master quietly went to inspect, and found that it wasn’t clean enough. He immediately told him to repeat it again several times. The Dharma Master was was intelligent about learning well, and in doing things was diligent and earnest, and when in the second year of leaving home he entered the preparatory class of the Fujian Buddhist Academy ranking first, he was immediately recognized as the class leader. At the time of seeking his education, when Dharma Master was laboring to research and study Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, and (pursuing) all kinds of cultural knowledge, he unusually enjoyed helping classmates resolve every kind of difficulty, and while enthusiastically carrying out his usual duties, also supported the Mahasangha.

((Heshang has commented himself on this incident of being caught with dirty floors. This was a major crisis for him. Remember, he was still in his teens at the time. He had worked himself to exhaustion doing something that needed to be done, and would not get done unless he did it personally, and which he had undertaken on his own initiative. So he knocked off to get some sleep, so he could meet his classes the next day. Instead of that, he was rudely awakened to find his Refuge Master blaming him for leaving a mess. IMO, this was the same issue that came up later in Beijing: where he failed was in his failure to ask for help. A note on the community bulliten board, or on the Refuge Master’s door, for that matter, saying: “I’m sorry for leaving a mess. I bit off more than I could chew. Please clean up after me becuase I need to sleep,” would have gained the praises, not the censure, of the Master. In this context, it’s not sufficient to excell. Having excelled, you must then ask for help. That’s what makes you a leader. He knew how to help others with their own needs without being asked. But he needed to learn to ask for their help in carrying out his superior objectives, which were capable of involving them all, and in carrying Chinese Buddhism forward to the robust condition that we are starting to see in the present.

((And please, I do not exclude myself from any of these implications. I think it is significant that in my first draft, I just slid by this entire passage. It’s not that I did not want to deal with it; I simply did not even see it. That’s an obstruction. And it happened for the same reason: I had spent the majority of the night translating, and I was exhausted. That’s why I focus on this individual; his problems are the keys to mine. And I think that my problems are typical of my entire cohort. I. Did. Not. Come. Here. Alone. American. Buddhists. -xp))

1984年，法师以优异的成绩考取中国佛学院本科班。赴京求学期间，法师更加勤奋好学、刻苦用功，有不懂之处就虚心向师友请教，直至弄懂为止。他生活简朴、心地善良，时常因思考问题而废寝忘食，从不虚度宝贵的暇满人身。每逢周末或节假日，宁静祥和的教室里，总会有一位身材瘦高威仪具足的学僧在课桌前，为了实现自己远大、宽广的志愿而孜孜不倦地学习。虽远在北京，法师却念念不忘身居海外的剃度恩师及依止师圆拙老法师，常通过书信，汇报学习心得。有一次他给老法师写信说：“学院较乱，大家不愿学修，浑浑噩噩地过日子，自己见了伤心，想回广化寺。”老法师在回信中告诉他：“别人是别人，你应当虚心学习。”这句话给他极大的启发和鼓舞，乃至于在以后的日子里，一直激励着他，使他在日后遇到困难的时候都能够勇于面对自我，至诚祈求三宝加被，突破困难，升华心灵。

In 1984, Dharma Master passed the entrance examination for the undergraduate curriculum of the Buddhist Academy with exceptional grades. When he went to Beijing seeking an education, Dharma Master increased his effort to study well, and diligently put out effort, and when there was something he didn’t understand, he frankly asked his teachers and friends for instruction, until he had come to the point of understanding. His lifestyle was plain and his mental state was good and virtuous, and often in thinking through problems, he forgot to eat and sleep, and did not vacuously pass a life of privileged leisure. On every weekend and holiday, he tranquilly and sedately studied in his room, altogether being a lean, lofty, and awesome student monk before his desk, for the sake of realizing his ambitious and broad aspiration, industriously studying without fatigue.

Although he was in Bejing, the Dharma Master nevertheless never forgot his esteemed tonsure master living overseas, or his Refuge master, the old dharma master Yuanzhao, and he often sent letters, reporting the knowledge gained in his studies. There was one time when he wrote to the old dharma master: “The Academy is rather chaotic. Nobody wants to study or practice. I’m just mucking about here, and it makes me sad. I’m thinking of returning to Guang Hua Temple.” In his replying letter, the old dharma master told him: “Other people are other people. You need to study open-mindedly.” These words gave him enormous enlightenment and encouragement, to the point that in the succeeding days he was continuously encouraged, and it enabled him, when he encountered difficulty after that, to forthrightly confront egotism, up to honestly seeking to include the Triple Jewel, to break through difficulites, thus refining his spirit.

1986年法师遇到一个去斯里兰卡留学的因缘，向老法师汇报，老法师没有同意。多年后，法师回忆此事时说：“如果当时留学，现在也许是博士了，但可能不会有如今承担教法的广大因缘。依师是重要一关呀！”

In 1986 when Dharma Master encountered an opportunity to study abroad in Sri Lanka, the old dharma master disagreed. Many years later, when Dharma Master was recalling this incident, he said: “If I had gone abroad to study at that time, I might now have my doctorate, but I might not now have my present broad capacities to undertake the teaching of Dharma. Depending on the teacher is a critical gate to pass through!” ((It is precisely Xuecheng’s profound adeptitude with orthodox Dharma, tested in broad teaching and administrative practice, that interests me. -xp))

德高望重的赵朴初先生（前任中国佛教协会会长）对法师也爱护有加，亲自请了许多高僧大德指导法师修学，帮他解决困难。1988年，法师考取中国佛学院研究生，继续攀登智慧的高峰，并于同年腊月在四川成都文殊院宽霖大和尚座下求受三坛大戒。

The meritorious and far-seeing Mr. Zhao Pochu (赵朴初 – previously the chairman of the China Buddhist Society) took Dharma Master under his wing, personally inviting many high monks and those of great merit to direct Dharma Master’s learning, and to help him resolve difficulties. In 1988, dharma Master passed the entrance exam to become a research student at the Chinese Buddhist Academy, and continued to climb the high peaks of wisdom. And in the 12th lunar month during the winter Retreat in Chengdu in Sichuan, Da Heshang sat down and recieved the great three-platform precepts.

1989年，广化寺方丈毅然法师退居。同年腊月二十五，在赵朴老亲自关怀下，经毅然法师举荐和全体执事一致通过，决定将年仅23岁尚在就读研究生课程的学诚法师推上广化寺住持的位置。当时法师认为自己的德才不堪担此重任而几度推脱，最后竟于大年三十夜不辞而别。后来大家还是觉得他是最合适的人选，便又把他追了回来。同年举行升座典礼，学诚法师成为了全国汉传佛教寺院中年纪最轻、学历最高的名寺方丈。法师任方丈期间仍一如继往、持之以恒地钻研学习，于 1991年顺利通过了中国佛学院研究生论文答辩，获得硕士学位，毕业后回到福建，并兼任福建佛学院副院长。

In 1989, Yiran Fashi (毅然法师), the Abbot of Guagn Hua Temple, resigned. On the 25th of the 12th lunar month of that year, with the solicitude of Mr Zhao, and the recommendation of Yiran Fashi passed by the general deacon, it was decided to push the 23-year-old Xuecheng Fashi, just having passed to research grade, to take the responsible position for maintaining Guang Hua temple ((highly dialectical language -xp)). At that time, Dharma Master considered his merit insufficient to undertake that heavy responsibility, and declined to a certain extent, and finally left without saying farewell on the night of last day of the lunar year. ((It was the dark of the moon, and he was unwilling to establish a precedent -xp)) But later, everyone still thought he was the most suitable person to choose, and again pursued him into returning.

That same year ((it was still 1989, what had passed was the end of the lunar year in the spring of 1989 -xp)), the Mountain-Ascending Ceremony was held, and Xuecheng Fashi became the youngest and most highly educated Abbot of a prominent temple in the Han tradition of Buddhism throughout all of China. ((Guang Hua Temple, which was left alone in the “Great Cultural Revolution” to pass down its unbroken traditions from the Tang dynasty, has had a HUGE influence on real-time Buddhism in China -xp)). When Dharma Master became Abbot, he continued in the same direction, constantly studying intensively, and in 1991, he successfully defended his thesis at the Chinese Buddhist Academy, and recieved his Master’s Degree. Having graduated, he returned to Fujian, and also became the head of Fujian’s Buddhist Academy.

((to be continued on other pages -xp))