| |
| sagely_city_of_ten_thousand_buddhas [2023/08/20 19:52] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1 | sagely_city_of_ten_thousand_buddhas [2026/11/14 21:16] (current) – Vajra Patience |
|---|
| ==Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas== | ==Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas== |
| | |
| | #redirect [[Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] |
| |
| Return to the [[The Daily Recitation Handbook - Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] | Return to the [[The Daily Recitation Handbook - Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] |
| |
| | The [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] ([[CTTB]], rendered in [[Chinese]] as [[万佛圣城]] / [[萬佛聖城]] - [[Wanfo Shengcheng]], in [[Tibetan]] as [[སངས་རྒྱས་སྟོང་ཕྲག་བཅུའི་གྲོང་ཁྱེར།]] [[sangs rgyas stong phrag bcu'i grong khyer]] [[Sangyé Tongtrak Chü Drongkyer]], and in [[Sanskrit]] as [[दशसहस्रबुद्धनगर]] - [[Daśasahasrabuddhanagara]], universally revered across the [[United States]], [[China]], [[Taiwan]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], [[Vietnam]], [[Canada]], and the global [[Buddhist]] world as the flagship monastic community, retreat center, and educational headquarters of the [[Dharma Realm Buddhist Association]] ([[DRBA]])), acclaimed throughout modern Western [[Buddhist]] history since the late [[20th century]] as one of the largest and strictest [[Mahayana]] monastic sanctuaries in the Western Hemisphere, stands as a landmark institution of American [[Buddhism]]. Grounded in deep awareness of [[anicca]], [[dukkha]], and [[anatta]], fearless [[renunciation]], and unshakeable [[refuge]] in the [[Buddha]], the [[Dharma]], and the [[Sangha]], the [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] upholds the pure [[Vinaya Pitaka]] tradition of [[ethical conduct]], [[precepts]], [[meditation]], [[mindfulness]], [[concentration]], and liberating [[wisdom]]. |
| | |
| | Historically and geographically, the [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] was founded in [[1974]] (and formally inaugurated in [[1976]]) by the celebrated Chinese [[Chan]] master [[Hsuan Hua]] ([[宣化]] - [[Xuānhuà]], [[1918]]–[[1995]], Dharma successor of [[Xu Yun]], [[1840]]–[[1959]], in the [[Weiyang]] lineage of [[Chan]] [[Buddhism]]), who acquired the historic former [[Mendocino State Hospital]] property in [[Talmage]], [[Mendocino County]], [[California]], in the [[United States]], nestled within the tranquil [[Ukiah Valley]] roughly one hundred and ten miles north of [[San Francisco]]. Encompassing nearly four hundred and eighty-eight acres of wooded hills, orchards, meadows, and over seventy buildings, the campus was transformed by [[Hsuan Hua]] and his pioneering American and Asian disciples into a self-sustaining sanctuary dedicated to authentic monastic discipline, scriptural translation, and harmonious interfaith dialogue. |
| | |
| | Structurally and institutionally, the [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] is anchored by its majestic main worship hall, the [[Jeweled Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] ([[万佛宝殿]] - [[Wanfo Baodian]]), whose walls are lined with ten thousand hand-crafted golden images of [[Shakyamuni]] [[Buddha]] surrounding a towering central statue of [[Avalokiteshvara]] [[Bodhisattva]] ([[Guanyin]]) with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, alongside dedicated men's and women's monastic quarters ([[Tathagata Monastery]] and [[Joyous Giving House]]), the [[Buddhist Text Translation Society]] ([[BTTS]]), and accredited educational institutions spanning from elementary and secondary schools ([[Instilling Goodness Elementary School]] and [[Developing Virtue Secondary School]]) to higher education at [[Dharma Realm Buddhist University]] ([[DRBU]], founded in [[1976]]). |
| | |
| | Monastically and ethically, the [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] is internationally renowned for its uncompromising adherence to the classical [[Vinaya Pitaka]] (specifically the [[Dharmaguptaka Vinaya]], [[Taisho Number 1428]] in the [[Chinese Tripitaka]]) and the [[Mahayana]] [[Bodhisattva]] [[precepts]] of the [[Brahmajala Sutra]] ([[Taisho Number 1484]], and [[Toh Number 256]] in the [[Tibetan Tripitaka]]): ordained bhikshus and bhikshunis wear the traditional kasaya robe at all times, observe strict celibacy, refrain from handling money personally, practice the ancient ascetic austerity ([[dhutanga]]) of eating only one vegetarian meal per day before noon, and maintain a completely lacto-vegetarian, intoxicant-free campus in accordance with universal [[compassion]] and [[loving-kindness]] toward all living beings. |
| | |
| | Within its daily schedule and seasonal retreat cycle, monastics and lay residents at the [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] rise at three-thirty in the morning for communal chanting, [[meditation]], and bowing—performing full-body prostrations in repentance ceremonies such as the [[Jeweled Repentance of the Emperor of Liang]] ([[Taisho Number 1909]]) and the [[Great Compassion Repentance]], reciting the [[Shurangama Mantra]] from the [[Shurangama Sutra]] ([[Taisho Number 945]]), conducting intensive seven-day [[Chan]] meditation sessions ([[Chan Qi]]) and [[Amitabha]] Buddha-name recitation retreats ([[Fo Qi]]), and celebrating major annual festivals honoring [[Shakyamuni]] [[Buddha]], [[Avalokiteshvara]], [[Manjushri]], [[Samantabhadra]], [[Kshitigarbha]], and [[Maitreya]]. |
| | |
| | Literarily and translationally, the [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] serves as the primary center of the [[Buddhist Text Translation Society]], established by [[Hsuan Hua]] in [[1970]] to translate the monumental scriptures of the [[Chinese Tripitaka]] and [[Tibetan Tripitaka]] into clear, accurate modern English and other world languages—producing landmark annotated translations of the [[Avatamsaka Sutra]] ([[Flower Adornment Sutra]], [[Taisho Number 279]], and [[Toh Number 44]]), the [[Saddharmapundarika Sutra]] ([[Lotus Sutra]], [[Taisho Number 262]], and [[Toh Number 113]]), the [[Shurangama Sutra]] ([[Taisho Number 945]]), the [[Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra]] ([[Diamond Sutra]], [[Taisho Number 235]], and [[Toh Number 16]]), the [[Prajnaparamitahrdaya Sutra]] ([[Heart Sutra]], [[Taisho Number 251]], and [[Toh Number 21]]), the [[Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva Purvapranidhana Sutra]] ([[Taisho Number 412]]), and the [[Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch]] ([[Taisho Number 2008]]) by [[Huineng]] ([[638]]–[[713]]). |
| | |
| | Philosophically and contemplatively, the [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] embodies [[Hsuan Hua]]'s non-sectarian vision uniting all five classical Chinese [[Mahayana]] traditions—[[Chan]] meditation, [[Pure Land]] mindfulness of [[Amitabha]], [[Vinaya]] discipline, [[Tiantai]] and [[Huayan]] scriptural study, and esoteric mantra practice—while harmonizing with [[Nagarjuna]]'s [[Madhyamaka]] dialectics regarding [[emptiness]] ([[शून्यता]] - [[śūnyatā]]; [[སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།]] [[stong pa nyid]] [[Tongpanyid]]) and [[dependent origination]], [[Asanga]] and [[Vasubandhu]]'s [[Yogacara]] phenomenology, and innate [[Buddha-nature]] ([[tathagatagarbha]]) aligned with [[Maitreya]]'s [[Uttaratantra Shastra]] ([[Toh Number 4024]], and [[Taisho Number 1611]]). Guiding practitioners to sever attachment to the [[five aggregates]], [[emptiness of self]], [[karma]], and [[rebirth]] across [[samsara]] and [[nirvana]], the community anchors every daily action in [[Shakyamuni]] [[Buddha]]'s [[Four Noble Truths]], the [[Noble Eightfold Path]], [[generosity]], [[merit]], [[equanimity]], [[right view]], [[non-attachment]], [[skillful means]], and universal [[bodhicitta]] to extinguish the [[three poisons]] across the [[six realms]]. |
| | |
| | Welcoming pilgrims, scholars, students, and spiritual seekers from [[United States]], [[China]], [[Taiwan]], [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], [[Vietnam]], [[Tibet]], [[India]], and across the globe into the [[21st century]], the [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] stands forever as a radiant sanctuary of [[wisdom]] and [[compassion]] illuminating the [[Middle Way]] to complete [[Buddhahood]]. |
| |
| {{wp>City of Ten Thousand Buddhas}} | [[City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]] |
