《In Memory Of A Venerable Buddhist Dharma Master Sheng Yi》悼念佛教大德聖一老法師

《In Memory of a Venerable Buddhist Dharma Master Sheng Yi》

Written by Dharma Master Heng Hing, Abbot of Cixing Monastery in Hong Kong / Translated into English by Guo Shu


There will be one less person among the Buddhist leadership after the cremation of Elder Master Sheng Yi on August 15 (the sixth day of the seventh lunar month), 2010, at Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. According to Dharma Master Heng Yi, the Venerable Master once held a seven-week Chan session at Cixing Monastery and Dharma Master Sheng Yi was a participant. The Master invited Dharma Master Sheng Yi to shave Dharma Master Heng Yi's hair at the ceremony for her to join the Sangha. This is one of the Dharma affinities Elder Master Sheng Yi had with Cixing Monastery and the Venerable Master. Some years ago, I participated in two Chan sessions at the Memorial Hall of Elder Monk Hsu Yun. It was directed by Elder Master Sheng Yi. Two years later I attended a Chan session, and Elder Master Sheng Yi again was the director.

I recalled his lectures during the Chan session. The Dharma Master mentioned his affinity with the Elder Master Hsu Yun: In one of the Chan sessions, Dharma Master Sheng Yi asked the Elder Master how to meditate. The Elder Master had a Fujian accent which was hard to hear and understand. Master Sheng Yi understood the Elder Master Hsu Yun to speak of "cracking peanuts" as an example. For three years Dharma Master Sheng Yi drew near to Elder Master Hsu Yun and contemplated on "cracking peanuts" all day, gaining endless benefit. Elder Master Hsu Yun passed on the Wei Yang Dharma lineage to Dharma Master Sheng Yi and granted him the name Xuan-Xuan ("Proclaiming the Esoteric"). It may be said that the Dharma Master was a brethren cultivator of the same lineage as our Venerable Master Hua.

While sitting in meditation in the Memorial Hall, I asked the Elder Master whether I could use the meditation topics "Who is moving wood and carrying water?" and "Who is raising the foot and moving a step?" The Elder Master affirmed and encouraged me saying, "As long as you can find who is the host, you can meditate that way." His voice and appearance still remain with me. It is regretful that I can't look up to him anymore.

The most admirable quality of Elder Master Sheng Yi was that he practiced what he taught. He rarely spoke but hit the points when he did. He was serious and careful when dealing in business. The Po Lam Monastery continues to follow the teachings of the Elder Master. Their daily life is thrifty and simple. They use chopped wood for fire to cook. The Elder Master donated an assortment of equipment to many other monasteries -- all the stoves and appliances were new. Elder Master Sheng Yi cautiously disciplined himself yet was lenient with others. We can see the spirit of his self-sacrifice for others through observation of these small things.

Editor's notes: On August 3, 2010 at 2:46 a.m., retired Elder Abbot Sheng Yi of Po Lam Chan Monastery in Lantau Island, Hong Kong, peacefully entered Nirvana. Elder Master Sheng Yi was a native of Xinhui, Canton, China. He lived to be 92 years old, was a monastic for 69 years and an ordained Bhikshu for 67 years. He received the Dharma from Elder Monk Hsu Yun as the 9th patriarch of the Wei Yang School at the age of thirty-six. Besides restoring Po Lam Chan Monastery, he held office as the 4th fourth Abbot of the Po Lin Monastery at Ngong Ping Plateau from 1983 to 1990. At that time, the Venerable Master had invited Dharma Master Sheng Yi to lecture on the Brahma Net Sutra Bodhisattva Precepts and the Vajra Sutra, at Buddhist Lecture Hall in Hong Kong.

Bodhi Mirror
http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/485/vbs485p045.pdf