Eminent Sangha
Venerable Bai Sheng (1904 - 1989)
Biography
Venerable Bai Sheng was born in 1904, at Hubei province of China. At the age of 18, he was ordained at Mt. Jiuhua in Anhui province and graduated from the Buddhist College in Hubei. He held various appointments there, as Academic head of Shanghai Leng Yan Buddhist College, as Abbot of Feng Lin Monastery (Xihu, Hangzhou), as well as the Supervisor cum Dharma College Principal of Jing An Monastery (Shanghai).
In 1948, Ven. Bai Sheng went to Taiwan. When in Taiwan, he was appointed as the Abbot of Shipu Monastery (Taipei), Jianji Hu Guo Monastery, and as President of Buddhist Association of China (Taiwan), He founded the Sanzang Buddhist College and Buddhist Research Centre. He also held international appointments which included Deputy Chairman to World Buddhist Unions of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Vietnam and Korea. In addition, he was also Abbot of Fo Guang Buddhist College in Thailand and Ji Le Monastery in Malaysia.
Being a prolific writer with the noble aim to spread Dharma, Ven. Bai Sheng has written and published numerous works, which included "The Abbot Handbook", "What is Buddhism?", "Explanation Table to The Four-Part Vinaya", "Study collection of the Chan sect", and "Learning of the Chan". His profound knowledge in the Chan sect has aided in simplified explanation of Buddhism.
Accompanying Artefact
Description
Buddha Amitabha is in Dhyani (meditation) mudra, his palms folded face up, while his right hand is on top of his left hand, just below his abdomen. This mudra is connected to Indian samādhi (Concentration), the practice of intensely meditating on a single object in order to become completely absorbed in thought or the one-pointedness of the mind (Ekaggata).
Historical Background
Amitabha is the buddha who governs the Western Paradise. He is revered by the Pure Land sect, which is considered the largest Buddhist sect in China. Japan. And Vietnam.
Some Mahayana sutras revealed previously unknown celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who joined Buddha Shakyamuni in the growing pantheon worshipped by the Mahayana movement.
According to the Land of Bliss (Sukhavatuvyuha), Buddha Shakyamuni declared that a Bodhisattva known as Dharmakara, who lived on Earth eons earlier is now a Buddha named Amitabha, presiding over a celestial paradise known as Sukhavati.
Sukhavati is described as a heavenly realm in the western reaches of the cosmos, fertile with fragrant flowers and fruits, resplendent with golden and silver trees bearing gems not found anywhere else - a Pure Land whose inhabitants' dwells in infinite bliss.
Devotees are said to be reborn in the Pure Land of Sukhavati when their mortal lives end if they faithfully recite the name of Buddha Amitabha.
Bibliography:
Charles F. Chicarelli, Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Introduction, 2004, ISBN 974-9575-54-7
阚正宗, 台湾佛教史论, 宗教文化出版社, 2008, ISBN 9787802540040 7802540046