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Beautiful Virtue Stories in the History
Eternal Statue in Human Heart:
1)Body Consumed By Fire But Tongue Preserved Unburnt
Great Translator Kumarajiva¡¯s father was the Brahmin son of the prime minister of a country in India. The father could have inherited this position, but instead chose to follow a spiritual pathway as a monk. In his travels, he reached the Kucha kingdom north of India along the Silk Road where he was warmly welcomed by the King. The King¡¯s sister Jiva, also known as Qipo, fell in love with Kumarajiva¡¯s father and they married. Soon she became pregnant, with unusual results. Although she originally had no knowledge of the Indian language, during her pregnancy she not only understood it but could also speak it and debate and discourse wisely. Through the maternal-fetal bond in the womb, Great Translator Kumajiva could influence his mother¡¯s consciousness -- as he would that of so many other sentient beings following his birth.
His mother later became a Buddhist nun known for her learning and wisdom and arranged for Kumarajiva to learn deep Buddhist doctrine from several renowned teachers. Becoming well versed in the various aspects of Mahayana Buddhism, he became a renowned teacher in his own right.
Later, Kumarajiva was captured in Kucha by invading Chinese troops and taken to China where he became completely familiar with the culture and the language. His numerous translations from Indian into Chinese were naturally flowing and expressively vivid, making use of equivalent Daoist and Confucian terms when appropriate while conveying the intent of the original Buddhist scriptures. They were accepted enthusiastically by the Chinese and enormously influenced the spread of Buddhism in China. His translations were remarkable in being appreciated by the Emperor and the literati class as well as by the general population of China.
Before his death, he is said to have made this declaration: ¡°As I stand before you, I make this vow. If my interpretations of the classic Buddhist scriptures have no errors, when my body is cremated my tongue will be protected and preserved.¡±
When Great Translator Kumarajiva died in Chang¡¯an, China, in 413 CE, he was cremated in the Happy Garden. When the ashes of his body were sifted, it was found that his tongue had survived intact and unharmed from the fierce heat of the cremation flames. This was a testimonial to his former vow, and has left us with a timeless reflection and remembrance!
2)Ming Gong Father & Son as Assitants of Earth Store Buddha
After Sakyamuni Buddha left his physical body and was in the universal wuji dimension, he asked Earth Store Buddha to come into the world to educate sentient beings in following the Buddha¡¯s enlightenment teachings and filial piety. He made a big vow called "refusing to become a Buddha until hell becomes empty." Hell also means the most bitter place of the world, so any place in this earth which has suffering will be graced with Earth Store Buddha¡¯s figure.
This is a beautiful Earth Store Buddha story: Legendary Monk Jin Qiaojue came from South Korea's royal family during the Tang Dynasty, crossing the sea to China. When he passed through Jiuhua mountain peaks with beautiful scenery and lush forests, he considered it to be the good place for enlightenment practice. He asked the land owner named Min for a piece of land the size of a Buddhist monk's robe.
Min readily agreed since this seemed like a small piece of land, but he saw the monk move his hand and threw the robe which covered the nine peaks above, just like nine blooming lotus flowers. Landlord Min was convinced by his super power, and donated the mountain area and let his son follow the monk as a disciple with the new Buddhist name of Tao-ming. Later, landlord Min followed his son and also became a monk.
In this way Jin Qiaojue was particularly fortunate to get the help from the landlord Min. A few decades later, Jin Qiaojue died at age 99 and his body remained uncorrupted. The body was placed in a tower, so that later generations could worship him as a reincarnation of Earth Store Buddha. It is now known as Jiuhua mountain¡¯s flesh palace/temple. To commemorate the virtue of Landlord Min and his son, the Monk Tao-ming, as protectors and educators of Buddha Dharma for later generations, a sculpture was made.
The unlimited virtue and merit of the father and son doing great service was honored as an example for all to see.
3)Jetavana Garden ¨C the Origin of the Famous Buddhist Temple
Jetavana Garden is in an beautiful, peaceful, sacred temple for Buddha to instruct in Buddhist precepts and practices and its origin is also a most excellent karma story. During the lifetime of the Buddha in india, there is a park full of blocks of unusual flowers and trees, it belongs to Jeta, the crown prince of the local kingdom. One day, Sudatta, a wealthy business man came to see the Prince Jeta.
"Prince, I am your father the king's minister. Long ago, I was very fortunate to hear of the discovery of the Buddha, the Buddha said, truth is supreme human wisdom, after I heard this I feel the life is full of light and hope. I have sincerely invited the Buddha to come here, and I tried to look for places everywhere, only this garden is perfect. Now, I hope to build temple at the garden, please sell the garden to me. Name your price, any price!"
However, this is Prince's favorite place, he replied: "Elderly! Such a wonderful garden the value is extremely high, unless you can use gold coins to cover the entire ground of the garden, otherwise I would not sell it. "
However, unexpected, and not long afterwards, a team filled with spectacular golden coins on elephant came to the garden, then started to cover the garden with gold coins. Because, in the mind of Sudatta there are no treasures can be compared to the value of the Buddha's true method. Treasure, after all, can not be always passed hand to hand.
The heart of the prince was finally moved by Sudatta¡¯s supreme faith, thought that the Buddha must be great and extraordinary saints, That¡¯s why Sudatta did not hesitate to contribute and support. He said: Well! This garden will sell you, but all the trees in the garden will not sell, because I would like to contribute them for myself.
Later, after the Prince see the Buddha and Sudatta, he said, "I sell you this garden, but these trees are my contribution to the Buddha, okay?"
He also vowed: "The trees in this garden are always full of vitality and have the power for protection the temple," the big wish of the prince really inspired mostly for long times; after thousands of years, despite a hit repeatedly burnt and destroyed, but it continued to sprout, reborn, in order to leave future generations to witness the history of Buddhist flow.
In this way, Prince donate the trees, Sudatta donate the gardens, and together built a temple, which is the origin of the JETAVANA garden. It long served as a site where Buddhist monks deepened their understanding and realization and lay people from the community were instructed in Buddhist precepts and practices.
The most significance of the donation is to remove the inner greed and attachments. Such blissful virtue is incomparably beyond the worth of any earthly treasure.
4) Dragon Daughter as an Assitant of Quanyin Buddha
In Grandmaster Qinyin¡¯s home town of Hangzhou in China is the Lingyin temple. In the Main Hall, behind the main Buddha statues, there is an island with a statue of Guanyin standing upon it. She holds a willow tree branch and water bottle, and is stepping on a Turtle. This is said to be Guanyin in spirit, appearing in the form of her image at sacred Putuo mountain. Her water jar is used for ablutions and her willow branch symbolizes the "Buddha¡¯s method spreading everywhere"; stepping on a Turtle means loating in the sea of bitterness to "save sentient beings from the bitterness." On either side of Guanyin are two figures. The boy Sansai is on the left, and on the right is the virgin dragon girl. Guanyin Bodhisattva blesses and aids parents and children and helps those in peril, "saving sentient beings."
With regard to the origins of dragon girl, there are several small stories I can share:
1) The Dragon girl, one of the Dragon King¡¯s three princesses, one day went out of her underwater home to become a fish to play in the rivers. Unfortunately, she was caught by a fisherman and taken to a market for sale. She thought she would never see her parents again. Very sad, she called the name of Guanyin Buddha, hoping to be saved. Guanyin heard, with great compassion, and came to the market and bought the fish and returned it to the Dragon King's palace. Dragon girl wanted to return for life-saving grace, and was determined to forever serve the Goddess of Mercy. She became her right side protector, helping Guanyin assist those in peril to "save sentient beings" and set up immeasurable merit.
2) In another life dragon girl was unusually intelligent. When she was 8 years old she understood the teaching, ¡°big giving away gives big gain¡±. One day she went to see Sakyamuni Buddha and, without any hesitation, she gave Buddha her life root pearl as a present. Immediately, she was seated on a lotus flower and rose into the sky and became a Buddha.
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