A brief introduction to the life of Elder Quancheng:
Elder Quan Cheng was born on June 24th, 1923, Maojiashe, Dafeng City, Jiangsu Province. Jiangsu Buddhist resident, consultant of Nanjing Buddhist Association, retired abbots of Nanjing Jinsu Temple and Jiufeng Temple, and Dongtai accepted the abbot of the temple.
Q: We know that Master became a monk when he was a child. Can you tell me something about your becoming a monk?
Elder Quancheng:1/kloc-0 became a monk at the age of/,and that year was 193 1. However, I was forced to become a monk at that time, not because of my faith, but because of the war, heavy family life burden and many brothers and sisters.
My laity is in Dafeng City, Jiangsu Province (at that time, it was a county in Dongtai, which was re-planned as a city after liberation). There is a river between the south of Dafeng and the present Dongtai boundary. My family lives in the north of the river, and buddhist nun is in the south. It is conceivable that a child of 1 1 was forced to leave his family and parents because of his poor family, and all aspects of his life were completely changed. How uncomfortable he is.
At that time, my master often inspired and educated us, which was very strict. If we say something wrong, or if we don't sing with others while chanting, Master will hit us on the head with a ruler. Even my head was broken and blood flowed into my shoes. Until now, I still have scars on my palms. However, Master is very kind to the people around him and can manage the temple diligently. There were more than a dozen people in our temple at that time, and I was responsible for cooking for everyone. After more than two years, I arrived at Fuxing Temple. The master of Fuxing Temple is called Neng 'an. Compared with the previous master, he is a little kinder. I stayed here until I was 20.
Later, I went to Baohua Mountain in Nanjing for more than a month, and then I went to Gu Lin Temple in Nanjing to study, where I lived permanently, worked as a bantang and took care of my studies. Gu Lin Temple, like Baohua Mountain, is a Taoist Dojo. Later I learned that none of them studied law very well. The Buddhist College in Gu Lin Temple is run by the Japanese. It was about 194 1 and 42 years ago, and the Japanese had not surrendered. There were more than a dozen people in the temple when we went. Sometimes the Japanese will give us lectures and teach us Japanese. There are no real teachers in the temple. The abbot and monk told us about the Buddhist precepts and sometimes the Analects of Confucius. Study is not very tight and sloppy.
This * * * has been away from here for more than three years. Because I am old and know a little about Buddhism, I want to experience the real atmosphere of studying in the jungle like Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang and Tianning Temple in Changzhou. But timid, not as open-minded as people now.
After leaving Gu Lin Temple, after many twists and turns, I finally arrived at Tianning Temple and was admitted to the Buddhist College. In fact, I have no culture, and I was admitted to the teacher only because my handwriting is OK. Speaking of my calligraphy practice, it has a lot to do with a serious illness in Gu Lin Temple. At that time, I was in Gu Lin Temple, and I got typhoid fever because of my acclimatization. I can't eat another bite for more than ten days. After I was well for more than a year, I couldn't lift my head. During this illness, my pain was impermanent, so I began to copy Tibetan scriptures and gradually practiced writing.
At that time, Tianning Temple Buddhist College had three classes: A, B and C, and I was placed in Class A ... My educational level was very shallow. In order to keep up with my study progress, I get up to study every night after the manager falls asleep. After a long time, I got sick, got hemorrhoids, and suffered from severe bleeding. Another reason for my illness is that I have to kneel in Tianning Temple for more than two hours every morning and evening. Because of illness, I have been arranged to live in the "Ruyi Therapy" treatment, but I still go to class. I didn't know how good it was to attend classes at that time, but later I thought it was good to attend classes. The teachers there talked about "giving up everything" and "Thirty Odes to Knowledge". After listening to the class, it is easy to understand by reading some Buddhist articles.
I stayed in Tianning Temple for less than three years. /kloc-in the winter of 0/948, I came out of Tianning Temple and went to Jinsu Temple, where I have lived ever since. During these decades, after many twists and turns, until the reform and opening up, Wei Limin, a worker of the Twelfth Plastic Factory, knew that I was a monk and introduced me to work in Qixiashan Buddhist College. I have been a supervisor and a monk in the Buddhist College for nearly three years.
Later, there were no monks in the temple in Yunlong Mountain in Xuzhou, so I came to Nanjing to ask someone to manage Xinghua Temple in Yunlong Mountain. I went with Yang, a monk from Qixia Mountain. This monk is ten years older than me. He is the abbot and I am the prison. Later, due to the needs of Jinsu Temple, I came back. At that time, a canvas factory planned to tear down the temple and build a factory, and asked me to leave here. They are looking for a house to live in outside, and they also said that they would make up 38 yuan's retirement salary for us and reissue part of it. The house I am looking for outside is much better than here, but I don't agree.
After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, the Central Committee issued a document requesting that the temple houses demolished after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee should be returned to the monks. I just took this document to prevent them from tearing down our house and hall, but the negotiations at that time were fruitless. A few years later, this canvas factory didn't tear down the temple, and I still live here. When I got here, I had a brother named Yan Quan. Later, he joined the Chu King Weaving Factory. After work, I returned to the secular world and gave birth to children, but I still lived in a temple house. He lives in the front room and I live in the back room. When I was in Xuzhou, he had already made an appointment with the canvas factory. The canvas factory spent 1 10000 yuan to buy him a house of forty or fifty square meters. He was going to give me five or six square meters, but I didn't go.
I didn't come out to negotiate until the canvas factory closed down. The government promised to give us 240 square meters of land area and a house (the house is four small rooms), and then give us 300 thousand. After many twists and turns, the temple was built after 1993, and it has been built until now. After our efforts, the temple later occupied more than 2,000 square meters.
I was "forced" to become a Buddhist. Later, through reading, chanting, copying, chanting, worshiping Buddha and reading Buddhist magazines, I gradually developed my own beliefs.
When I went to Fuxing Temple, Mr. Neng 'an's father taught me some Buddhist singing methods, and he also helped me with my cultural studies.
I did a good job of "keeping" and stayed in Jinsu Temple, guarding Jinsu Temple. This is not a year or two, but 60 or 70 years.
Many people gave me a better place to live and a lot of money before, but I didn't leave here because I had feelings for it. This place is related to Gu Kaizhi, a famous painter in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, whose masterpiece "Ode to Luoshen" is good at painting Buddha statues. He painted murals, in which the master is a Buddhist in Vimalakīrti, while the Buddhist in Vimalakīrti is an ancient Buddha, a golden millet, responding to the world. The murals he painted were painted here, so it is called Jinsu Temple.
/kloc-Go to Baohua Mountain at the age of 0/9, and go to Gu Lin Temple after being ordained. Gu Lin Temple and Baohua Mountain are both famous Dojo of Legalists. At present, Baohua Mountain preaches the precepts every two years, promoting the Legalist thought, but now there is not a brick or tile in Gu Lin Temple.
Why is Gu Lin Temple such a failure, and why is Baohua Mountain so prosperous? During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, people from Baohua Mountain left and went to Fayuan Temple in Beijing (Fayuan Temple is Famen Dojo), while people from Gu Lin Temple fled to rural areas in northern Jiangsu. Later, people from Baohua Mountain came back early, while people from Gu Lin Temple came back late. I heard there was a gap of several years. At that time, there were many people in Baohua Mountain and many books on commandments. Gu Lin Temple is located in the urban area, but it is seriously corroded.
Q: Master, can you tell us how to protect Buddhism as a Buddhist disciple and how to have the right knowledge and opinions? How to keep precepts and let Buddhism develop?
Elder of Quancheng: In the past, the Buddhist community said, "Ten monks are not worth a thousand troops." Monks are difficult to manage. There used to be some methods, a set of rules, and some restrictions on monks. For example, Mazu built a jungle and established a clear rule, so that the order in the temple could be maintained well.
Buddhism in China is the founder's Buddhism. There are one or two founders in Buddhism, just like this house has big pillars, so it can stand up. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Master Taixu and Master Yin Guang were the pillars of Buddhism. Therefore, no matter how the times develop and how the external environment changes, we should follow the tradition of taking the ancients as teachers and our ancestors as teachers.
Now science is developing rapidly, such as the mobile phone we use now. Little monks use mobile phones, and temples are not easy to manage. When there was no mobile phone before, I had no idea what was going on outside. There is no good way to manage this now, and special methods are needed to manage it well. In addition, the most important thing is to require monks to be single for life, to become monks for life and to be vegetarian for life. These three "worlds" did not exist in Buddhism originally, but only existed when Buddhism came from the Han Dynasty. This etiquette has been formed for a long time. Adhering to these three "worlds" can still maintain Buddhism, but it is not easy to maintain it without it.
In addition, the most important thing for Buddhism to run education is to manage itself. Especially the abbot or the master in the temple, take care of yourself, and the rest will be fine. Master Taixu has four famous sayings. He said: "Buddha is unique, and cultivation lies in personality. It is a real reality that people become Buddhas. " How to restrain yourself is also a big difficulty.
Q: We can see from Master that you have done it. You keep the Jinsu Temple, and you also keep the commandments. In fact, you have firmly grasped this heart. Master told us how to do it better. Many people resist their delusions and distractions by reciting Buddhist scriptures.
Elder Quancheng: Everyone has a different understanding. Everyone is chanting Buddha, but their understanding is different. Buddhism says karma. Now, if there are many kinds of good causes, we will understand more. If there are not many kinds of good causes, we will not understand them easily without wisdom. This is quite difficult. When Sakyamuni Buddha was alive, it was impossible for a person who was predestined friends with the Buddha to prove the big arhat as long as the Buddha shouted.
Usually, I often recite the Huayan Sutra and the Beijing Sutra, and at the same time keep a dharma name uninterrupted, all for the purpose of centering. The heart plays a great role. We read an experiment in Japan in the newspaper: a glass of water, we convey good ideas about water, and water will become better; We have evil thoughts in our hearts, and the changes caused by water are different from those caused by kindness, so the heart plays a great role. And this cause and effect. If you plant good causes, you will get good results, and if you plant evil causes, you will get bad consequences.
Q: We know that Master has been doing charity work, holding calligraphy and painting exhibitions and helping out-of-school children in the form of charity sale.
Elder Quancheng: I think it's nothing. It is proper to do something for the society more or less. Besides, I didn't do much. I just follow my destiny.
It was 28 yuan a month. One day, listening to the radio, something happened in Guizhou, Yunnan, and many people died. I went to donate money before dawn in the morning. They didn't go to work at the donation place. They waited for more than two hours before going to work. I sent it to 50 yuan. I spend 28 yuan a month and save 50 yuan a few months later, but I'm not that selfish. People are generally selfish, but I am a little less than the average person. I want to know beggars, those who are in trouble. They are all compassionate. Not only we monks, but everyone has compassion.
Q: You can be said to be a witness of Buddhism in Nanjing since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Can you tell us about the recovery and development of Buddhism in Nanjing?
Elder Quancheng: As we all know, Nanjing is the holy land of Buddhism, and the parietal relic of Buddha is also in Nanjing, and the parietal relic of Tang Priest is also in Nanjing. These are extraordinary things. The development of Buddhism is man-made. No matter how good the conditions are, if religious leaders don't work for believers and everyone doesn't work hard, there's nothing they can do. If everyone works hard, it will get better naturally.
Q: Master attaches great importance to cultivating talents. As you mentioned just now, Buddhism should flourish. One is to demonstrate by yourself, and the other is to cultivate later learning. Master, can you tell us how the older generation wizards like you support the growth of new people when they train them?
Elder Quancheng: This is also very difficult. First of all, we are old and inconvenient to move, but we have responsibilities and obligations. We hope that the next generation will grow up well. We should not only care about the growth of the next generation, but also hear that some people in society have dropped out of school and have no tuition fees. As long as we know, we will try our best to help. Some young people, we all mobilize them: "You should refuel and continue your studies after graduating from high school."
We have made contributions to society and made all beings happy. To make yourself happy, we must first make all beings happy. This is basically what we do. Every year, we spend a lot of money (70,000 to 80,000 yuan) to release them. We are all willing to do things that are beneficial to all beings.
Say it a thousand times or "selfless care" You can't "mine is mine and yours is mine", which is not good. Also, adhere to three standards: celibacy, vegetarianism and monk clothes.
Q: Finally, ask Master who has had a particularly great influence on you in this life, or what has had a particularly great influence on you, and share with us what changes these influences have made you.
Elder Quancheng: In my life, the old karma of Gu Lin Temple, the old monk Zhi Qing, had a great influence on me. He is very strict with me. When I was a young monk, old monks used to fight.
He practices precepts seriously. He has always been like this, never slacking off his practice.
After liberation, in the fifties, monks gathered together. Gu Lin Temple will be demolished to build the provincial party committee building. At that time, the Tibetan scriptures were still in Gu Lin Temple, and monks were concentrated in qixia temple. On Lunar New Year's Eve, the old monk went to Gu Lin Temple, took some rice crust, went to a neighbor's house to ask for some boiled water, soaked the rice crust and offered it to the Buddha to see Sanzang. There is something special about him. Where do people say the old monk went? People say that he is in Qixia Mountain, and he is in Qixia Mountain; They say he's at Gu Lin Temple and he's at Gu Lin Temple-it's a bit magical.
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