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

Hsing Yun (Author), Hsing-Yun-Ta-Shih (Author), Amy Lui-Ma (Author), Fu Chi-ying (Author), Venerable Master Hsing Yun (Author), Master Hsing Yun (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2000

This book is not only about the life story of Venerable Master Hsing Yun, founder of the Fo Guang Shan International Buddhist Order and the Buddha's Light International Association, but also the trials and tribulations that the Master had endured in bringing us a religion, which can be an essential part of our daily lives. This is a journalistic coverage of how Master Hsing Yun passed on the light of "Humanistic Buddhism" that he had received from his master in Mainland China to Taiwan and now to every corner of this world. Anyone who wants to know more about this charismatic Buddhist leader or his inspiring teachings should not miss this book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

No future histories of Chinese Buddhism will be complete without reference to the influences of this leader. --Professor Lewis R. Lancaster, University of California, Berkeley

About the Author

Master Hsing Yun was born in Chiangsu Province, China in 1927 and entered a monastery near Nanjing at age twelve. He was fully ordained in 1941 and is the 48th patriarch of the Lin-chi (Rinzai) Ch'an school. In 1949, he went to Taiwan and subsequently founded the Fo Guang Shan International Buddhist Order. He later also founded the Buddha's Light International Association which currently holds more than 120 chapters and over one million members worlwide. Master Hsing Yun has devoted the last half century to transform this world into a pureland through the practice of Humanistic Buddhism. A prolific writer, the master's works are bestsellers in Taiwan. He is also the author of publications such as Being Good; Only a Great Rain; Humble Table, Wise Fare; Cloud and Water; and Lotus in the Stream.

Fu Chi-ying, a former reporter with the Commonwealth Publishing Company in Taiwan, was personally handpicked by Master Hsing Yun to pen the original text in Chinese.

Amy Lui-Ma is the English translator of this biography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Hsi Lai University Press (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964261294
• ISBN-13: 978-0964261297
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,111,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The inspiring life of a great Buddhist leader, December 21, 2001

By 

Dr. Richard Kimball (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handing Down the Light : The Biography of Venerable Master Hsing Yun (Paperback)

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.