City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas
Written by Quinn Osborne
For my project I chose to do a blog on The City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery and their founder Hsuan Hua. The monastery is located in Ukiah,California and consists of about 700 acres. The monastery is one of the most notable in the western hemisphere and is also one of the first Chan Buddhist temples in the U.S. The monastery was built in 1933 making it the first ever built in America. The monastery prides itself on expanding buddhadharma and teaching what they believe to be the right way to teach Buddhism led by their founder Hsuan Hua. “Over a hundred volumes of Buddhist scriptures have been translated into English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and other languages here, laying a solid foundation for the dissemination of the Buddhadharma in the West.”(cttbusa) The relationship between the monastery and the buddhadharma were said to be predetermined before the City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas was ever made. The monastery has a long history with the land before it had even been purchased. The venerable master (Hsuan Hua) who purchased the monastery and city went through some precautions to make sure his plans for the community would go accordingly. “Considering the site to be an ideal site for cultivation created by Nature, the Venerable Master personally visited the valley three times and negotiated with the seller many times.” (cttbusa) The venerable also had to make careful plans for introducing buddhadharma which had originated in the east to the western world. “He planned to create a fountainhead of world Buddhism and an international monastery of orthodox Dharma for the purpose of elevating the moral standards and raising people’s awareness.”(cttbusa) One of the monastery’s main attractions is the gate, the city’s entrance, mainly because of the platform on top of it that is used for dharma lectures and fits about 10,000 people in the surrounding areas. No matter who you are, the monastery believes if you come there you have a chance to become a buddha. “No matter whether you are wholesome or evil, good or bad, you all have planted the seed of Buddhahood. When you plant such seeds, they will surely bear fruit in the future.” (cttbusa) In 1974 the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association purchased the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and became the location for its main headquarters. This change brought more exposure to the city in a positive light as notable events like the Third Threefold Ordination Ceremony were hosted in the city. “The Third Threefold Ordination Ceremony at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas was held, in which monks from China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the US transmitted the precepts. It was considered unique, as it represented both the Mahayana and Theravada traditions.” (Wikipedia) The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas prides itself on being a place of refuge for people from everywhere to gather together and experience the spiritual state of Buddhism.
With the monastery being one of the first Chan Buddhist temples in the United States, it followed the Guiyang school of Chan Buddhism, one of the Five Houses of Chan. The members of the monastery follow traditional Asian monastic culture. Chan Buddhism is a Chinese school of Mahayana Buddhism. A lot of teachings and traditions seen at the monastery come from the ideas of Zen Buddhism, especially the idea of achieving enlightenment or cultivation. Although the monastery is sometimes highlighted for its relationship with the vinaya tradition, the venerable master in his early years also focused on strengthening the relationship between Mahayana and Theravada traditions to help the overall strength of Buddhism.
Tradition/Rituals of the City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas
The monastery is most known for its distinct traditions in the Buddhist world. The members of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas can be distinguished from others by its monks and nuns always wearing their kashaya sashes. Another tradition performed by members is only eating one meal a day and always before noon. The venerable master gives his followers the reasons for these traditions and backs it up with the teaching of the Buddha himself. “If you eat and drink less, then you’ll have less desire. With less desire, it’s easier to cultivate”. (cttbusa) The reasoning Hua uses behind most of the traditions is to “cultivate” the self, in other terms be a better version of yourself. The members of the community live strict and ordered lifestyles following a certain set of rules. “At night most of them sit up and rest, not lying down to sleep. They have no social life. Men and women do not intermingle, but instead work and dwell separately, strictly upholding the precepts.” (cttbusa) Everything the people do always goes back to the cultivation of the self, they are a slave to the idea of becoming enlightened and their goal is to not let anything distract them from the goal. “As long as we are vigorous and not lax in ordinary times, we could become enlightened any minute or any second. So by no means should we let ourselves be confused by wealth, sex, fame, food, or sleep, or idle chatter and false thoughts, and miss the opportunity to get enlightened.” (cttbusa) Among with other restrictions males and females also do not converse among each other; they live and complete all of their tasks separately to limit distraction.
Their rules of life go even further than just personal rituals, there are also certain sets of rules that the whole community follows together: the six great guidelines which state there are to be no fighting, no greed, no seeking, no selfishness, no pursuit of personal advantage, and no lying; and the three great principles which expressly allow relying on your principle in time of hardship. (cttbusa) The six great guidelines and the three great principles are the two sets of commandments that are universally followed by the members. The members of the monastery follow a strict daily schedule consisting of meditation, recitation of sutras, studying and lectures. “The Master taught his disciples that every day they should sit in meditation, recite the Buddha’s name, bow in repentance, investigate the Sutras, rigorously uphold the precepts, eat only one meal a day, and only before noon, and always wear the precept sash.”(cttbusa) It is said that the members of the monastery do not deal with money and own no personal wealth, so they are funded by the lay community’s donations The monastery claims their main goal is to unify people from all types of religious backgrounds. “The goal of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is to develop an international religious community where the followers of all religions unite together regardless of age, wealth or poverty, nationality, ethnicity, or religious denomination.” (cttbusa) The traditions of the monastery are used solely for the purpose of staying focused on cultivation so that one can reach the end goal of enlightenment.
Founder
The venerable master Hsuan Hua is one of the most important figures for the Chinese Buddhist community, known famously for being the first Buddhist master to teach westerners. Hua was born in northeast China and studied/taught Buddhism around China until coming to America in 1962. In his youth he was influenced and taught heavily by numerous Chan masters which began his link to Chan Buddhism. In addition to the City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas he is the founder of several other institutions, mostly notably being the president of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association which he directed his disciples in America to make. (Wikipedia) A lot of his early incentive to American followers was to learn about meditation. Even from his early times in America his impact on people was significant. “Over thirty students from the University of Washington in Seattle came to study the Buddhadharma. After the session was concluded, five young Americans requested permission to shave their heads and leave the home-life, marking the beginning of the Sangha in the history of American Buddhism.” (cttbusa) He prided himself on teaching what he believed to be the correct teachings of Buddhism because of the widespread of false teachings in China. He brought about monastic reforms like monks and nuns wearing a robe, eating meals before noon and never lying down. “He guided his disciples in distinguishing between genuine, scripture-based practices that were useful and in accord with common sense, as opposed to ritual superstitions that were unwholesome cultural accretions.” In his life, one of his main and most important tasks has been propagating the dharma. He did this by lecturing on sutras and simplifying explanations so that complicated principles could be understood. He taught a lot at universities and believed in teaching lay disciples so that they could also go out and propagate the dharma. Hua’s explanations were so significant that he has the most translated explanations of the Buddhist Canon into English. Education was also very important in Hua’s legacy promoting the significance of teaching the youth and anyone who wants to learn the correct way of buddhadharma. “The Sangha Training Program provides left-home people with a solid foundation in Buddhist studies and practice, training them in the practical affairs of Buddhism and giving them a conception of Sangha management.”(cttbusa) Hua founded the Sangha and laity trainings in 1982 and they are still used today to spread the teachings of Buddhism. He also founded schools such as the Instilling Goodness Elementary School in 1974, the Developing Virtue Secondary School and Dharma Realm Buddhist University in 1976. (cttbusa) The venerable master Hsuan Hua passed away on June 7, 1995 in Los Angeles, CA. It is said that all he asked of his people was to cremate him and scatter his remains in the air. This very action explains who Hsuan was, just a man who wanted nothing but the happiness and peace of all people and who dedicated his life to achieving that idea through Buddhism.
Works Cited
https://www.drba.org/our-founder.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsuan_Hua
http://www.cttbusa.org/founder/biography.htm
http://www.cttbusa.org/cttb/history&background.asp.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Ten_Thousand_Buddhas
Here’s What You Need to Know About the City of 10,000 Buddhas
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/buddhism-chan/