The Buddhist Monk

The Buddhist Monk : Xuanzang

 

 

He was born from Confucian family, in HenanProvince, in 602 AD. At the age of thirteen, he was one of the  fourteen monks who were selected to be trained and supported by the State, at his brother’s monastery. In 622 AD, at the age of twenty, Xuanzang was a full-fledged monk. In 618 AD, Li Yuan seized the throne and started the Tang Dynasty. The two brothers left Changan when their monastery was burned to the ground.

 

Xuanzang realized that he must visit India to collect the original copies of the Sutras. He started taking Sanskrit lessons from Indian monks and also gathering information on the Silk Road, used by the merchants.

 

In August 629 AD, at the age of twenty-seven, Xuanzang left Changan secretly, because he did not obtain the permission of the emperor, to leave the country. At Guazhou, his guide Pantuo left him, leaving  Xuanzang with an old horse. Xuanzang soon lost his way in the desert and also spilled his only water left in the water bag, into the desert sand.

 

He turned back but after a few  miles, he remembered his vow : Never take one step back towards China before reaching India. He was lost in the desert for four days, without a drop of water. On the fifth day, he fell on the sand, even the horse fell. It was believed he then prayed to Guanyin: I  don’t seek riches, worldly profit or fame; my heart longs to find the true law. Oh, Bodhisattva, who forever yearns to deliver all creatures from misery, I am in such danger. Can’t you hear my prayer?

 

Xuanzang then began to recite the Heart Sutra, the final two lines consisted of :

 

The world is ultimately empty.

The wisdom of the Bodhisattva is such that he has no illusions in his mind, hence, no fear.

 

After the recitation, he felt better, and surprisingly the old horse was able to stagger up. They slogged for nearly four miles, when suddenly the horse turned in a different direction. The horse was leading and soon Xuanzang saw a pool of water. The horse and Xuanzang were saved.

 

Xuanzang arrived at Gaochang, a Buddhist kingdom. The king requested Xuanzang to stay on and offered his sister as a bride for Xuanzang. Xuanzan refused both offers knowing that the punishment would be death.

 

In order to convince the king, Zuanzang began to fast. He meditated and refused to take food or water for three days. He was very weak on the fourth day and had trouble breathing. The shocked king begged Xuanzang to eat and promised to let him continue his journey.

 

 

 

It was 628 AD when Xuan zang arrived at Kucha. Storms raged over the desert. It was winter and the Silk Road was brought to a standstill. He waited there for two months, hoping the storms would recede. But nature was against him and he continued with the journey. He and his crew which was provided by he king of Gaochang, had to suffer to bitter cold and strong winds for seven days. Fourteen of his men were dead,  many oxen and horses were also dead, and most of the supplies were destroyed by the bad weather.

 

When Xuanzang came to the Ganges, his ferry was ambushed by pirates. All the passengers on the ferry were told to strip off their clothes.

 

These pirates worshipped river Godless Durga and they thought the handsome Xuanzang would make a good sacrifice. The pirates built a terrace with tree branches and mud and  and put Xuanzang on it. This time death was certain. Xuanzang prayed to Maitreya Buddha. Xuanzang wanted to be reborned  in the Tushita Heaven, and he wanted to come back to earth again to propagate the Dharma for the benefit of all beings.

 

Miraculously, a gale blew up, filling the Ganges with huge waves, overturning all boats. The pirates were shocked and asked the other passengers who the priest could be. They told him Xuanzang was from China and the the River Godless was offended. The pirates released Xuanzang and returned his robes to him and asked for forgiveness.

 

At the International University of Nalanda,  ( 635 to 640 AD)  Xuanzang met Venerable Shilabhadra, the master of Nalanda. Xuanzang kowtowed in front of Shilabhadra. When Shilabhadra heard that Xuanzang was from China, he cried. Shilabhadra had a dream earlier that  a Bodhisattva of Wisdom told him a monk from China would come to learn the great Dharma from him.

 

Nalanda at that time had 10000 monks studying there, many of them were from Korea, Mongolia, Tibet and Central Asia.  Xuanzang studied the sutras and doctrines of Mahayana and Theravada schools.

 

During his twenty years in India, Xuanzang and his team of selected scholars, translated a total of seventy-five sutras and commentaries in a total of 1346 chapters. In summer, 641 AD, Xuanzang was riding on a elephant presented by King Harsha of India, on his way back to China. While crossing the Indus, he lost many of his books. Only 657 books were left by then and these books were carried by twenty horses from India to China.

 

The Chinese understanding of Buddhism, five hundred years after the Parinirvana of the Buddha was still very lacking. For example Emperor Taizong was laughing at Emperor Liang Wuti, saying that Wuti preached Buddhism so well to his officers, that they were unable to mount their horses to defend Wuti against the rebels. Taizong’s minister, Fu Yi, suggested that monks should marry the nuns so that they could bear children  to serve in the army. That was more than 2000 years ago. Today, some countries encourage their citizens to have children so that these children can serve in the armed forces !

 

 

 

The Buddha officially preached during a sermon that to take up arms to defend oneself or one’s country was acceptable. Killing during such unavoidable incidents would not create bad Karma. But he went on further. He clearly stated that when the enemies fell and cannot hurt us anymore, we must help and save them.

 

 

 

Foot note:

 

 

In 1199 CE, Muhammad Bakhtyar, after conquering India, and killing all the monks he could find in The International University, and burning down all buildings there, was on his way to invade Tibet when bad weather conditions forced him to retreat. He and his army perished while trying to cross a river, because of sudden flood.

 

 

In Asia, especially at the mountainous regions, some of the river water level may be very low. But during the monsoon season, if you happen to be caught during a thunder storm and torrential rain, within an hour the water level can rise many meters.