34 Facts About Xuyun

Xuyun or Hsu Yun was a renowned Chinese Chan Buddhist master and an influential Buddhist teacher of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Xuyun was purportedly born on 5 September 1840 in Fujian, Qing China.

Xuyun was the son of Xiao Yutang and his mother was surnamed Yan.

When he was fourteen years old, Xuyun announced that he wished to renounce the material world in favour of monastic life.

Xuyun's father did not approve of Buddhism and had him instructed in Taoism instead.

Xuyun was dissatisfied with Taoism, which he felt could not reach the deeper truths of existence.

When Xuyun was seventeen, he attempted to flee to Mount Heng to become a monk without his family's permission.

At Gu Shan monastery, Xuyun had his head shaved and received ordination as a monk.

When his father sent agents to find him, Xuyun concealed himself in a grotto behind the monastery, where he lived in solitude for three years.

At the age of twenty-five, Xuyun learned that his father had died, and his stepmother and two wives had entered the monastic life.

Xuyun visited the old master Yong-jing, who encouraged him to abandon his extreme asceticism in favor of temperance.

Xuyun instructed the young monk in the sutras and told him to be mindful of the Hua Tou.

Xuyun went on to visit the Temple of King Ashoka and various Chan holy places.

Xuyun had not repaid his parents' kindness, and so he vowed to again make a pilgrimage to Nan Hai.

Xuyun prayed for the rebirth of his parents in the Pure Land.

Along the way, Xuyun is said to have met a beggar called Wen Ji, who twice saved his life.

Xuyun visited many monasteries and holy places, including Sichuan's Mount Emei, the bodhimanda of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, the Potala Palace, the seat of the Dalai Lama, and Tashilhunpo Monastery, the seat of the Panchen Lama.

Xuyun traveled through India and Ceylon, and then across the sea to Burma.

Xuyun composed a large number of poems during this period.

When Xuyun was fifty-six, the Abbot Yue Lang of Gaomin Temple in Yangzhou was going to convene a twelve-week session of continuous dhyana meditation.

Xuyun was carried to a nearby temple, where he was revived and treated for his injuries.

Xuyun willingly accepted this punishment, although it worsened his condition.

Xuyun composed a commemorative verse for the oft-cited moment of profound insight, which was galvanized by the sound of a breaking teacup in the Chan Hall:.

Xuyun worked tirelessly as a bodhisattva, teaching precepts, explaining sutras, and restoring old temples.

Xuyun worked throughout Asia, creating a following across Burma, Thailand, Malaya, and Vietnam, as well as Tibet and China.

Xuyun stayed after the rise of the People's Republic of China to support the Buddhist communities rather than retreat to the safety of Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Xuyun endured several beatings during the interrogations, resulting in fractures to his rib cage.

Xuyun closed his eyes and would not talk, eat, or drink, and stayed in the samadhi for nine days.

In 1953, with Dharma Master Yuan Ying and others, Xuyun formed the Chinese Buddhist Association at Guangji Monastery where he was Honorary President.

Xuyun then represented the Association in receiving three gifts from a Buddhist delegation from Sri Lanka.

Xuyun responded to the invitation of Dharma Master Nan Tong to head another Dharma assembly at Lang Shan Monastery, where several thousand people from all over took refuge in Triple Gems.

Xuyun returned to Shanghai in the third lunar month, and the next month received a telegram from Beijing requesting his presence in the capital.

Xuyun then scolded them and wrote an essay about the manifestation of the Dharma Ending Age.

Xuyun became ill in the summer of 1959 and died on 13 October of the same year.