Nenghai
Nenghai | |
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![]() Nenghai | |
Personal life | |
Born | Gong Xueguang (龚学 20 January 1886 |
Died | 1 January 1967 Shancaidong Temple, Wutai Mountain, Shanxi, China | (aged 80)
Nationality | Chinese |
Parent | Gong Changyi (father) |
Other names | Nenghai Master ( |
Religious life | |
Religion | Chan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism |
Temple | Shancaidong Temple |
School | Linji school Tantrism |
Dharma names | Nenghai |
Senior posting | |
Teacher | Fo Yuan Shi Guanyi Khangser Rinpoche |
Students
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Nenghai (Chinese:
Nenghai was vice-president of the Buddhist Association of China. He was a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a delegate to the 1st and 2nd National People's Congress.[2][3]
Biography
[edit]Early years
[edit]Nenghai was born Gong Xueguang in Hanwang Town of Mianzhu city, in Sichuan province, to Gong Changyi (龔常
In 1910, Nenghai went to Japan on a political and industrial investigation. The expedition to Japan gave him exposure to Buddhism. After half year, Nenghai returned to China and studied Buddhism under Zhang Kecheng (
In 1924, he went to Tianbao Temple, the Buddhist monastery where she received the tonsure ceremony under abbot Fo Yuan (
Tibetan Vajrayana
[edit]His encounters with Tibetan Buddhist texts and lamas in China led him to visit Tibet several times, initially staying in Kham (1926–1927) and then to Lhasa between 1928–1932 and 1940–1941.[1] He became the main Chinese disciple of Khangsar Rinpoché (1890–1941) at Drepung monastery and was initiated into the tantric deities of Yellow Mañjuśrī and Yamāntaka-Vajrabhairava.[1] After his initial stay in Lhasa he moved to Mount Wutai (1934–1937), a traditional home of Chinese Vajrayana, and began teaching Buddhism to a Chinese audience. He spent his time teaching, translating and writing.[1] In 1937, he founded the tantric Jinci Temple in the suburb of Chengdu.[4]
Nenghai and a group of disciples from Jinci traveled to Tibet again in 1940–1941, where he received further transmission from Khangsar Rinpoché. During the following years he founded five more monasteries in the Gelugpa tradition and translated many Tibetan works into Chinese.[1]
Works and teachings
[edit]Nenghai's works and teachings which include Tibetan and traditional Chinese Buddhist doctrines reflect his desire to infuse Chinese Buddhism with the teachings of the Tibetan tradition. His students considered that his teachings "joined purely in one doctrine Tibetan and Chinese teachings."[1]
His works can be divided into esoteric and exoteric. His exoteric works strongly emphasized ethical discipline (sila) as the foundation for the path, following the Gelug tradition's lamrim teachings. They discuss scriptures important in Tibetan Buddhism like the Abhisamayalamkara and those important in Chinese Buddhism like the Avatamsaka Sutra. Most of his literary production though consists of translations of Tibetan tantric works.[1]
Public activities and death
[edit]After the establishment of the Communist State, he lived in Guangji Temple, in Beijing. In October 1951, he attended the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as a specially invited delegate.[4] He was a member of the Permanent Committee and vice-president of the Chinese Buddhist Association from 1953 to 1966. He also joined a Chinese delegation in Delhi for the Conference of Asian Nations.[1]
In the summer of 1966, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, Nenghai lived in Shancaidong Temple, he was labeled as a gangster and suffered political persecution, he and his disciples were mistreated and tortured. On January 1, 1967, Nenghai died in Shancaidong Temple, aged 81.[4]
His relics are preserved on Mount Wutai in a stupa that was built in 1981 in the Tibeto-Chinese style.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bianchi, Ester. The “Chinese Lama” Nenghai (1886–1967): Doctrinal Tradition and Teaching Strategies of a Gelukpa Master in Republican China
- ^
高僧 辈出的 五 十 年代 . Ifeng (in Chinese). 2010-03-26. - ^ 农历
十 二 月 廿 二 近代 著名 爱国高僧 能 海上 师诞辰 . Ifeng (in Chinese). 2016-01-31. - ^ a b c d
能 海上 师:半 世 戎 马半世 僧 (图). Sina (in Chinese). 2012-08-22.