This practice is much easier for people to follow than the complicated, esoteric practices of other sects, especially for people from the grass roots of society or for those who are illiterate and unable to read the sutras. Thus, the Pure Land sect is also by far the most popular. Who started this sect? This story happened long ago, around 334 when a small boy was born...



Childhood

Master Hui Yuan was born in what is now Shanxi Province, China, in 334, during a period of chaos and civil war. China from 304 to 439 was divided into sixteen states that were all trying to wipe each other out. Assassination and revolution were commonplace with subjects killing their kings in order to proclaim themselves the new leaders. The whole land was in constant turmoil. The land and people got some rest when Shih Le of the Latter Chao state united the region around the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and signed a peace treaty with the Eastern Chin state. However, this peaceful time didn't last long. After Shih Le died in 334, his nephew Shih Hu rose up, killed Shi Le's son and usurped the throne.

Shih Hu was a despot who ordered many palaces built for him, but he was also an eager supporter of Buddhism, and so the religion burgeoned under his patronage.

About three years after Master Hui Yuan was born, his brother, Hui Chih, was born, and both of them became monks when they grew up. While young, they were taught the classics by their father. When Hui Yuan was thirteen years old, his uncle came to visit them one day and told his parents, "Bandits have just wiped out a nearby village and set it on fire. I hope you can all move somewhere else."

After some pondering, Hui Yuan's father made his decision. "I have heard that many people are heading to places like Xuchang and Luoyang. I hope you can take my sons there so they can study and eventually find decent jobs. As for my wife and I, we think we'll stay here since we are old and can't travel far." So thirteen-year-old Hui Yuan and ten-year-old Hui Chih went with their uncle to both places and spent their time studying more classics.

In 350, Shih Hu was killed and chaos again ensued. Bandits roamed the country, killing and looting. The worsening social condition forced many people to flee southwards. Hui Yuan and his brother also decided to move south to avoid the approaching insurrections and to look for a great scholar they had admired for a long time. But the way south was suddenly cut off due to an uprising of bandits, and the brothers did not know where to turn. A companion told them of a great monk named Tao An on Hung Mountain. They decided to travel there and visit this renowned monk.



A great master

Master Tao An was kind and gentle and answered all the questions Hui Yuan put to him. The brothers also attended the master's sermons. There they discovered the perfection of Buddhism, and they felt that only Buddhism could bring salvation to people. After some discussion, they decided to join the sangha and propagate the Buddha's teachings, and so the two boys became Master Tao An's top disciples.

One day, Master Tao An became sick while lecturing on a sutra. He was so ill that he had to lie in bed, so he summoned Hui Yuan to his bed and said to him, "The sermon will resume in a few minutes, so I want you to continue the sermon on my behalf."

Hui Yuan was surprised, because he was now only twenty-four years old and he felt it was not his place to give sermons to other people. His master then said to him, "Don't worry, just go and do it, because I have confidence in you. I have to rest now and you must go prepare. Hurry!"

Hui Yuan had to force himself to walk to the lecture hall. However, when he started talking, his thorough knowledge of Buddhism started to flow out of his mouth. Since he was quite familiar with the traditional classics, he also used them as examples to clarify the confusions in the minds of his listeners. This event helped to spread his name, and Master Tao An was even more confident that Hui Yuan would one day become an important figure in propagating Buddhism.

In 359, drought and civil unrest forced Master Tao An and his disciples to move from their temple on Hung Mountain. Some days later they found a good place, but after just a few days they were forced to leave again because of other uprisings. Some days later, they arrived in Xiangyang, Hubei Province.

When the locals heard that the great Master Tao An had arrived in their city, they donated money and construction materials to renovate Tanxi Temple as a residence for the master and his disciples. During the peaceful period of fifteen years in Xiangyang, the master and his disciples helped to translate and annotate many sutras. Master Hui Yuan and his brother also learned much from their master during this time.

However, nothing lasts forever. In 379, their peace was interrupted by the invasion of Fu Chien, the ruler of another state. Fu Chien had actually come to take Master Tao An away to his own country because he knew the master was an outstanding monk and he wanted him to be his protege. When he realized Fu Chien's purpose, Master Tao An summoned his disciples and dispatched them to other places, so that Fu Chien's troops wouldn't accidentally kill all of them when they attacked the city.

However, Master Tao An didn't call Hui Yuan or Hui Chih. Hui Yuan thought this rather strange, so he went to ask his master. "You are indeed an outstanding disciple, so you don't need me to tell you where to go or what to do," Master Tao An said to him calmly. "Since you have given sermons on my behalf, I believe you are both fully aware of what you must do." These words clearly indicated that the master had great expectations for Hui Yuan. Therefore, Hui Yuan, Hui Chih and several other monks packed up and left Xiangyang.

After weeks of travelling from temple to temple, they finally found a place on Lu Mountain where they found another disciple of Tao An and they decided to settle there in Xilin Temple. Unfortunately, the place was not big enough for all of them, so a local official helped build another temple, Donglin Temple, on the east side of the mountain. This temple became Master Hui Yuan's permanent residence because he remained there until he died at the age of eighty-three. It seemed that Hui Yuan became something of a hermit, but in reality he was quite actively engaged in giving sermons, annotating sutras, teaching his disciples, and keeping in touch with outstanding monks around the country. He turned Lu Mountain into the major Buddhist center in southern China.

Master Hui Yuan's reputation reached far and wide, and many people became his disciples. One day, he and some of his disciples were discussing rebirth in the Western Pure Land. The disciples questioned whether they would be able to go there because their minds strayed very easily. Master Hui Yuan told them that if they just ignored this problem and concentrated on reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha, they would eventually be reborn in the Pure Land. They gathered around 123 people before the statue of the Amitabha Buddha in the main hall and organized a lotus group to recite the holy name of the Buddha. This was the origin of the Pure Land sect that is still very popular today.



Among bandits

The ruler of the state of Eastern Chin died in 396, and the two new co-rulers were thoroughly corrupt. One of the people who rose up against the new regime was Yin Chung-kan. One day as Yin was leading his army home, the force passed by Lu Mountain. Yin was amazed by the beautiful, tranquil scenery of the mountain. Being an admirer of Master Hui Yuan, he decided to stop and pay a visit to the famous monk. He talked with Hui Yuan for a very long time on many subjects. When Yin left, he admired the old monk even more and felt that no one else could be as wise as the master.

Another person who stood up against the new regime was Hun Hsuan. When his troops stopped by Lu Mountain, he ordered Hui Yuan to come see him, but the messenger came back and told him that Hui Yuan was ill and couldn't leave the mountain. Hun Hsuan was a bit surprised because he thought that Hui Yuan would be like other people coming to flatter him. It seemed that he had underestimated Hui Yuan’s upright personality. Thus, he decided to go to visit him.

According to ancient Chinese tradition, it was a violation of filial piety to cut off one's hair or even beard, which were a part of the body given by one's parents. However, monks shaved their heads, so Hun Hsuan asked Master Hui Yuan about this. "We shave our heads and become monks in order to pursue the Truth of the universe," Hui Yuan replied. "We monks will bring glory to our parents once we attain enlightenment, so we are actually practicing filial piety."

Hun Hsuan admired him even more when he heard this answer. He then asked whether he would succeed in conquering Yin Chung-kan, but Hui Yuan just remained silent. When Hun Hsuan left the mountain, he said to others that Master Hui Yuan was indeed different from other monks, whom he considered vulgar and flattering, and he admired Master Hui Yuan even more.

Later in the same year, Hun Hsuan killed Yin and expanded his power further. At the same time, the leader of a bandit group was killed and his brother-in-law, Lu Hsun, became the new leader. This person was the son of an old friend of Master Hui Yuan. Lu Hsun led his army north, and on the way he also paid a visit to Hui Yuan on Lu Mountain.

Hui Yuan was delighted to see his old friend's son, but some of the master's disciples were rather worried about it because of Lu Hsun's position as a bandit leader. Nevertheless, the master calmed them by saying, "We are Buddhist monks, and we must treat everyone equally. If we treat nobles with enthusiasm but despise others, aren't we like those who don't understand Buddhism?"

This accommodating attitude helped the master to win praise from others like Liu Yu, who later became the ruler of the Sung state. One day when Liu Yu and his army were pursuing Lu Hsun, they stopped by Lu Mountain. An attendant reported that Lu Hsun had once visited Master Hui Yuan and they might have conspired against Liu Yu. Liu Yu immediately reproached him and said, "Master Hui Yuan is noted for his wisdom and composure, so he would never conspire with Lu Hsun against me." Liu Yu then dispatched envoys to Donglin Temple and sent to the master presents, food and a letter of greeting to show his respect to him.

Hun Hsuan later came to hold the real power over the state of Sung while the king became his puppet. Hun Hsuan noticed that Buddhism was quite popular among the upper class. Many people even hid in temples to avoid being taxed or drafted into the military. Therefore, he decreed that only those who could truly abide by the Buddhist precepts could still be monks. Others had to return to lay life and fulfill their obligations there. However, the monks at Lu Mountain were exempt. This act expressed clearly how Hun Hsuan admired and respected the venerable Master Hui Yuan.



Friends who never met

During Master Hui Yuan's lifetime, another great monk, Master Kumarajiva, appeared in China and contributed greatly to the translations of the Buddhist sutras into Chinese. [This famous monk was introduced in the Fall 1999 issue of our magazine.] The two great men frequently wrote to each other, and they discussed many things in their letters. For example, Master Hui Yuan told Kumarajiva how he saw an apparition of Amitabha Buddha while he was reciting the buddha's name. Master Kumarajiva replied and congratulated him on receiving this vision.

In 411, when Master Kumarajiva and his translation team finished translating Dazhidulun, the famous commentary on the Small Prajna Sutra, Master Hui Yuan wrote the preface for the book. He was amazed by the huge work, but he was also afraid that it might prove to be too much and too profound for beginning students of Buddhism. Therefore he summarized it so that beginners could hopefully have a better understanding of the original commentary and the sutra itself.

Although the two great masters wrote to each other constantly for around twelve years, they never actually met each other, even until Master Kumarajiva died in 413. Their letters all talked about how to propagate Buddhism and the questions they encountered in their pursuit of Buddhism. If they had met each other during their lifetimes, it would indeed have been a wonderful event in the history of Chinese Buddhism.



The final moment

During Master Hui Yuan's lifetime, he saw images of the Western Pure Land three times, the last when he was eighty-three years old. He suddenly saw the image of Amitabha Buddha and his retinue with bright light shining from them. The buddha told Hui Yuan, "You will be reborn into my Land seven days from now." Indeed, seven days later the master died in peace at the age of eighty-three.