The Venerable Master was a pioneer in building bridges between different Buddhist communities. Wishing to heal the ancient schism between Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism, he brought distinguished Theravada monks to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas to share the duties of full ordination and transmission of the monastic precepts, which the two traditions hold in common.

He also insisted on interreligious respect and actively promoted interfaith dialogue. He stressed commonalities in religious traditions, above all their emphasis on proper and compassionate conduct. Together with his friend Paul Cardinal Yubin, who had been archbishop of Nanjing and who was the chancellor of the Catholic Furen University in Taiwan, he established the Institute for World Religions, now located in Berkeley.

In 1990, at the invitation of Buddhists in several European countries, the Venerable Master led a large delegation on a European Dharma tour, knowing full well that, because of his ill health at the time, the rigors of the trip would shorten his life. However, as always, he considered the Dharma more important than his very life. After his return, his health gradually deteriorated, yet while quite ill, he made another major tour, this time to Taiwan, in 1993.

In Los Angeles, on June 7, 1995, at the age of 77, the Venerable Master entered nirvana. When he was alive, he craved nothing, seeking neither fame nor wealth nor power. His every thought and every action were for the sake of bringing true happiness to all sentient beings. In his final instructions he said: “After I depart, you can recite the Avatamaska Sutra and the name of the Buddha Amitabha for however many days you would like, perhaps seven days or forty-nine days. After cremating my body, scatter all my remains in the air. I do not want you to do anything else at all. Do not build me any pagodas or memorials. I came into the world without anything; when I depart, I still do not want anything, and I do not want to leave any traces in the world. . . . From emptiness I came; to emptiness I am returning.”

< Previous  | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4