During a visit last fall to the Temple of Great Awakening, the sprawling complex built by the Buddhist organization Fo Guang Shan in Yixing, we were greeted by an unexpected host: the Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the group’s founder and one of modern China’s most prominent religious figures.
Master Hsing Yun established Fo Guang Shan, or Buddha’s Light Mountain, in Taiwan. But he was visiting mainland China to attend a ceremony and had stopped by the temple to inspect the construction of a new hall. At 89, he is mostly blind and suffers from diabetes, but he spoke with us for more than an hour, adeptly responding to questions that the authorities might find objectionable, including any suggestion that Fo Guang Shan is proselytizing in mainland China.
Master Hsing Yun established Fo Guang Shan, or Buddha’s Light Mountain, in Taiwan. But he was visiting mainland China to attend a ceremony and had stopped by the temple to inspect the construction of a new hall. At 89, he is mostly blind and suffers from diabetes, but he spoke with us for more than an hour, adeptly responding to questions that the authorities might find objectionable, including any suggestion that Fo Guang Shan is proselytizing in mainland China.
