Handing Down the Light: The Biography of Venerable Master Hsing Yun

By Zhiying Fu and Fu Chi-Ying

Back in 1927, in a small village in Jiangsu Province, China, a marvelous boy was born. Remarkable for his compassion and generosity, he was the object of teasing among the neighbors. Because of his habit of sharing the family's candy with the neighborhood children, it was said that he knew little else but how to give everything away to others. Small wonder that such a boy would grow up to be a man who selflessly gives his life to spread the teachings of the Buddha From his boyhood and early monastic training on the Chinese Mainland: through his emigration to Taiwan; to the extraordinary spread of his monastic foundation, Fo Guang Shan, to all of the world's inhabited continents--this book shows the causes and conditions that resulted in the boy Li Guoshen developing into Venerable Master Hsing Yun, associate of world leaders and beloved teacher of millions. One of the hallmarks of his mission, from its earliest days, has been the writing and dissemination of deeply profound yet simply expressed works on the Dharma, and their application to the needs and concerns of people living in the modern world. The catalog you hold in your hand is one of the myriad fruits of this effort. As a religious reformer, an innovator in monastic method, and a caring educator. Venerable Master Hsing Yun has lived a life that can serve as an example to all of how to follow the bodhisattva path in the modern world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932293000
• ISBN13: 9781932293005
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Buddha's Light Publishing
• Length: 335 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

The inspiring life of a great Buddhist leader

This book documents the life of one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Venerable Master Hsing Yun of the Fo Guang Shan (Buddha's Light Mountain) Buddhist Order, Taiwan, has been a Buddhist scholar and writer for more than 55 years. This biography documents his early struggles to survive in China during the Japanese invasion of the late 1930s, through his equally difficult times after coming to Taiwan in 1949, to the development of one of the largest and most influential Chinese Buddhist Orders in today's world.Venerable Master Hsing Yun is seen as a reformer (if not revolutionary) of Buddhism which in China had for many centuries retreated to the "Mountains and Forests." Through his remarkable resolve and diligent practice, he has brought a renaissance of the essence of original Buddhism to the every day lives of today's laity. Through a system of over 200 temples world-wide and a lay-Buddhist organization (Buddha's Light International Association), millions of people in many countries have been introduced to the teachings of the Buddha. Through his innovative methods as well as compassion, he has popularized the Buddha's teachings in a realistic and practical way for both personal and social transformation. Master Hsing Yun has inspired so many people though his work to "localize" Buddhism for the benefit of all sentient beings. As a caring and pragmatic educator, he continues into his 75th year to be a catalyst to so many people for both personal development and service to this world. The reader will not only clearly understand the causes and conditions out of which Venerable Master Hsing Yun arose, but also the benefits he continues to offer.