In the Bible, the book of Isaiah, it says: "The Lord thoughts are
not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways."
The story of Empress Bo of China demostrates how God chose an
empress, beyond human imagination.
In the 3rd century BC, when the first unified Chinese empire
Qing Dynasty crumbled, the country was in chaos, with Zu and
Han as the two major powers. Among the less powerful
states, there was Wei.
There was a lady in the King of Wei's court named Lady Bo, her
father came from Wu kindom with last name Bo, her mother
followed King of Wei. Lady Bo probably became a concubine of
the King of Wei.
Lady Bo was quiet and conversative, followed LaoTze's naturalistic
phylosophy.
One day Lady Bo's mother consulted a fortune teller about
Lady Bo's future, the fortune teller said Lady Bo's future son will be an
emperor.
King of Wei originally planned to join the Han side to
defeat Zu, but after learned this story about Lady Bo will
be the mother of a future emperor, he decided to stay neutral,
thinking Wei might be emerged as the ultimate victor.
Later Han defeated all adversaries, unified the country, and
established Han dynasty. King of Wei lost the battle and died,
and Lady Bo became a prisoner of war and was sent to the new
dynasty emperor's palace as a knitter.
One day Emperor Han Gaozu, the founding emperor of the new (Han)
dynasty, passing by the knitter's corridor, and discovered Lady
Bo was beautiful, and acquired her as a concubine.
Emperor Han Gaozu had many concubines, and Lady Bo was not one
of the favorite, so for more than one year as a concubine, she did
not have a chance to meet the emperor in person.
When Lady Bo was young, she had two good friends Lady Guang and
Lady Zhao, both of them later became concubine to Emperor Han Gaozu
also, and both found favor with the emperor. One day the two were
chatting in the palace garden and remembered three of them sweared
before that whoever got ahead later would help the other two, and
laughed at Lady Bo's unloved situation. Emperor Han Gaozu passing by and
asked what's funny and they told the emperor about Lady Bo. The emperor
was moved, and had pity on Lady Bo, and asked her to be his
companion that night. That night Lady Bo told the emperor she
had a dream the night before that a dragon was clinging on her belly, the
emperor said this was a lucky sign and they slept together, and Lady Bo
became preganent and had a son, whom would later become King of Dai.
Since Lady Bo was not a favorite to the emperor, the emperor seldom
saw her afterwards.
When Emperor Han Gaozu died, his successor was young, so the power
shifted to Empress Lu, the mother of the young emperor.
Empress Lu hated Emperor Han Gaozu's concubines, and
jailed them one by one. Since Lady Bo was not a favorite before,
Empress Lu did not give her hard time. At that time
Lady Bo's son was assigned as the king of Dai State, far away from the capital,
so Lady Bo asked to join her son in Dai, and was approved by Empress Lu.
This removed her far away from the palace politics, which was terrifying.
Empress Lu 's son, the official emperor, was mentally tortured by
her and became insane, and died young. So Empress Lu
created a few pseudo emperors, all of them young, to keep
herself in power.
When Empress Lu died after 15 years in power, court ministers and generals
decided not to keep any of those pseudo emperors, and elected to choose
from surviving sons of Han Gauzu to be the next emperor. The selection criteria
would be he was a good natured person, preferably older age so to avoid
being manipulated by his mother empress. King of Dai, already a grown up, and
a peaceful person, with conservative mother Lady Bo, emerged as the best
choice, and was crowned as the new emperor. Hence, Lady Bo, the mother
of the new emperor, became Empress Bo.
Empress Bo's great grandson, Emperor Han Wudi, became one of the
greatest emperor in China's history. Today, the majority of
the Chinese call themself Han race, is due mainly to Emperor Han Wudi.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
The wisdom of Huineng
As I wrote before, Huineng is a natural,
even though he is an iliterate, his sayings
coincide with the sayings of great
philosophers and religious leaders.
Here are some of his sayings:
"Man born with pure heart,
to be pure hearted is to be Buddha."
This reminded me of what Jesus said: "Blessed
are pure in heart, for they shall see God."
"Fool prays to go to heaven, wise repents.
Heaven is where the pure hearted be."
No wonder John the Baptist said: "Repent, the
kingdom of God is near."
"Be good in this life, why wish next?
Without repent, you'll search God in vain."
"You are what you think."
Conincides with a great western philosopher's
saying. (can't remember his name)
"To be Buddha is to have a free mind, a
playful attitude and a rightous life."
Reminded me of American Constitution.
even though he is an iliterate, his sayings
coincide with the sayings of great
philosophers and religious leaders.
Here are some of his sayings:
"Man born with pure heart,
to be pure hearted is to be Buddha."
This reminded me of what Jesus said: "Blessed
are pure in heart, for they shall see God."
"Fool prays to go to heaven, wise repents.
Heaven is where the pure hearted be."
No wonder John the Baptist said: "Repent, the
kingdom of God is near."
"Be good in this life, why wish next?
Without repent, you'll search God in vain."
"You are what you think."
Conincides with a great western philosopher's
saying. (can't remember his name)
"To be Buddha is to have a free mind, a
playful attitude and a rightous life."
Reminded me of American Constitution.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Jesus and Guanyin
The most populus sculpture or painting in China is not
Mao Zedong or Chiang Kaishek, it's Guanyin. If you go
to any typical chinese buddhist home, chances are
you'll find Guanyin's painting or sculpture in the house.
Guanyin temple can be found almost anywhere in China.
The famous Pudala Palace of Tibet is a Guanyin temple.
Guanyin's appearance resembles Virgin Mary, with merciful
and majestic face. She has power to turn herself into
an angel and help the needy whenever she is called
upon. She can rescue the sailor in the stormy sea, protect
the innocent from evil and make barren woman bear child.
She'll answer prayer.
Guanyin was actually a male deciple of Sakyamuni,
the founder of the Buddhism. Sakyamuni had many
deciples, but Guanyin emerged as the most popular
buddha, in some places surpassing Sakyamuni's
popularity.
Guanyin was honored in the Buddhism Sutra as a son
of the Buddha, with pure and majestic looking, and a
merciful heart. Guanyin has godly power, whomever
called upon him, he'll answer.
Because Guanyin answers prayer to man and woman
alike, he became the favorite to woman believer,
especially for woman praying to have a son. Since
Guanyin has power to change his appearance as the
situation fits, he sometimes appears as a woman
to facilitate the rescue mission. As time goes by,
his appearance was being changed gradually by the
worshippers to feminine look, and became today's female
appearance.
There are many paralell between Guanyin and Jesus.
Jesus is the son of God, full of lovingkindness, he is
the savior of the human race, bear the cross for us
sinners, answer our prayers.
Guanyin is not a redeemer like Jesus,
because Buddha is not God.
Saint Paul said, "Faith, hope, love, the greatest is
love." Christian say Jesus is love. The best description
of Guanyin is also: love.
PS, if you can read Chinese, you are welcome to visit mychinese blog site: http://hi.baidu.com/vincentyo/blog
Mao Zedong or Chiang Kaishek, it's Guanyin. If you go
to any typical chinese buddhist home, chances are
you'll find Guanyin's painting or sculpture in the house.
Guanyin temple can be found almost anywhere in China.
The famous Pudala Palace of Tibet is a Guanyin temple.
Guanyin's appearance resembles Virgin Mary, with merciful
and majestic face. She has power to turn herself into
an angel and help the needy whenever she is called
upon. She can rescue the sailor in the stormy sea, protect
the innocent from evil and make barren woman bear child.
She'll answer prayer.
Guanyin was actually a male deciple of Sakyamuni,
the founder of the Buddhism. Sakyamuni had many
deciples, but Guanyin emerged as the most popular
buddha, in some places surpassing Sakyamuni's
popularity.
Guanyin was honored in the Buddhism Sutra as a son
of the Buddha, with pure and majestic looking, and a
merciful heart. Guanyin has godly power, whomever
called upon him, he'll answer.
Because Guanyin answers prayer to man and woman
alike, he became the favorite to woman believer,
especially for woman praying to have a son. Since
Guanyin has power to change his appearance as the
situation fits, he sometimes appears as a woman
to facilitate the rescue mission. As time goes by,
his appearance was being changed gradually by the
worshippers to feminine look, and became today's female
appearance.
There are many paralell between Guanyin and Jesus.
Jesus is the son of God, full of lovingkindness, he is
the savior of the human race, bear the cross for us
sinners, answer our prayers.
Guanyin is not a redeemer like Jesus,
because Buddha is not God.
Saint Paul said, "Faith, hope, love, the greatest is
love." Christian say Jesus is love. The best description
of Guanyin is also: love.
PS, if you can read Chinese, you are welcome to visit mychinese blog site: http://hi.baidu.com/vincentyo/blog
Monday, April 16, 2007
Huineng - The Natural
According to the Gospels, Jesus never had a formal
education, but his words amazed pharasees, his teachings
triumphed in history. Of course, if you are a Christian,
there is nothing to be surprised, because Jesus was and is
the son of God, wisdom bestowed upon him.
Huineng (638-713 AD), the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese
Zen, came in the same way.
Huineng came from the low class of the society, iliterate
and poor. His father died while he was young, so he made
living by selling firewoods. One day while deliverying
firewoods, he overheard a nun reciting Diamond Sutra aloud,
so he stood by the window to listen, and understood right away.
The nun was amazed and told her relatives that this boy was
a saint, and her relatives sponsored Huineng to go to the
Fifth Patriarch Hongren's monastery to learn more and hopefully
making Huineng a great monk.
The monks at the monastery saw Huineng poor and ugly (
I guess because he came from the lower class), assigned him
to perform labor tasks, chopping woods and cooking meals.
For 9 months, Huineng never met Patriarch Hongren.
One day Patriarch Hongren told his deciples that he
intended to pass on the patriarchship to the next generation.
He asked his deciples to each write a poem to express their idea
about Zen, whoever had the best poem, he would pass on
the patriarchship to him.
Leading deciple Senhui, respected by everyone, with
humble heart, did not dare to present his poem to Patriarch
Hongren directly, so he wrote his poem on the wall without
signing his name:
My body is like the wisdom tree,
my mind is like the mirror stand,
I constantly polish,
allow no fallen dust on it.
Everyone was facinated at the beauty of this poem,
and knew this must come from Senhui, our next patriarch.
One monk, after saw Senhui's poem, reciting it loudly while
passing by the kitchen, and overheard by Huineng.
Huineng asked what's about, he explained the situation
and said how wonderful this poem was. Huineng told him
this poem did not get to the heart of Zen. Nearby monks
laughed at Huineng and called him a twit. Huineng said:
Don't look down upon the beginner, sometimes the
beginner knows what's the best.
So Huineng asked to see the poem on the wall, the monks
led him to there, after reading Senhui's poem, Huineng said
he had one, too, and asked someone to write it on the
wall, since Huineng was iliterate. Here was Huineng's poem:
Wisdom has no tree,
mind is not a mirror stand,
nothing is there,
where can the dust fall?
Everyone shout with amazement after reading Huineng's
poem. Soon Patriarch Hongren heard about it and came in
person to see Huineng's poem.
Not long after, Hongren passed on the patriarchship to Huineng,
with the objection of everybody, to become the Sixth
Patriarch of Chinese Zen.
Remember, Huineng was poor, iliterate and no-good looking.
I'll talk more about Huineng's stories in future.
PS, if you can read Chinese, you are welcome to visit my
chinese blog site:
http://hi.baidu.com/vincentyo/blog
education, but his words amazed pharasees, his teachings
triumphed in history. Of course, if you are a Christian,
there is nothing to be surprised, because Jesus was and is
the son of God, wisdom bestowed upon him.
Huineng (638-713 AD), the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese
Zen, came in the same way.
Huineng came from the low class of the society, iliterate
and poor. His father died while he was young, so he made
living by selling firewoods. One day while deliverying
firewoods, he overheard a nun reciting Diamond Sutra aloud,
so he stood by the window to listen, and understood right away.
The nun was amazed and told her relatives that this boy was
a saint, and her relatives sponsored Huineng to go to the
Fifth Patriarch Hongren's monastery to learn more and hopefully
making Huineng a great monk.
The monks at the monastery saw Huineng poor and ugly (
I guess because he came from the lower class), assigned him
to perform labor tasks, chopping woods and cooking meals.
For 9 months, Huineng never met Patriarch Hongren.
One day Patriarch Hongren told his deciples that he
intended to pass on the patriarchship to the next generation.
He asked his deciples to each write a poem to express their idea
about Zen, whoever had the best poem, he would pass on
the patriarchship to him.
Leading deciple Senhui, respected by everyone, with
humble heart, did not dare to present his poem to Patriarch
Hongren directly, so he wrote his poem on the wall without
signing his name:
My body is like the wisdom tree,
my mind is like the mirror stand,
I constantly polish,
allow no fallen dust on it.
Everyone was facinated at the beauty of this poem,
and knew this must come from Senhui, our next patriarch.
One monk, after saw Senhui's poem, reciting it loudly while
passing by the kitchen, and overheard by Huineng.
Huineng asked what's about, he explained the situation
and said how wonderful this poem was. Huineng told him
this poem did not get to the heart of Zen. Nearby monks
laughed at Huineng and called him a twit. Huineng said:
Don't look down upon the beginner, sometimes the
beginner knows what's the best.
So Huineng asked to see the poem on the wall, the monks
led him to there, after reading Senhui's poem, Huineng said
he had one, too, and asked someone to write it on the
wall, since Huineng was iliterate. Here was Huineng's poem:
Wisdom has no tree,
mind is not a mirror stand,
nothing is there,
where can the dust fall?
Everyone shout with amazement after reading Huineng's
poem. Soon Patriarch Hongren heard about it and came in
person to see Huineng's poem.
Not long after, Hongren passed on the patriarchship to Huineng,
with the objection of everybody, to become the Sixth
Patriarch of Chinese Zen.
Remember, Huineng was poor, iliterate and no-good looking.
I'll talk more about Huineng's stories in future.
PS, if you can read Chinese, you are welcome to visit my
chinese blog site:
http://hi.baidu.com/vincentyo/blog
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Confucius
Like a major religion, Confucius teaching dominated
China for more than 2 thousand years.
When Mongul ruled China, confucian was ranked between
prostitute and beggar, with beggar the lowerest rank.
But after Mongul was driven out of China, Confucius status
was restored quickly.
In late 19th century when the western powers overwhelmed
China, the chinese blamed their country's weakness
squarely on Confucius teaching, branded it the "Kung family
franchise".
During China's Culture Revolution in the 1960s, Confucius
again was the target of condemnation, source of all evil.
But look what happen now? Confucius is again being
revered in China.
Deep down, I think Cofucius teaching has things people
really longing for, that's why it stands the test of time.
From Confucius's own mouth, he said his teaching boiled
down to 2 words: Zhong Su.
Zhong means loyalty, or be your best.
Su means put your shoe in other's place, or forgiveness.
For Christian, if you add God to the equation, they sound
like: Trust God with all your heart; and forgive our debts,
as we forgive our debters.
Confucius refrained from talking about god or devil, but his
teaching is not far from the teaching of the major religions.
China for more than 2 thousand years.
When Mongul ruled China, confucian was ranked between
prostitute and beggar, with beggar the lowerest rank.
But after Mongul was driven out of China, Confucius status
was restored quickly.
In late 19th century when the western powers overwhelmed
China, the chinese blamed their country's weakness
squarely on Confucius teaching, branded it the "Kung family
franchise".
During China's Culture Revolution in the 1960s, Confucius
again was the target of condemnation, source of all evil.
But look what happen now? Confucius is again being
revered in China.
Deep down, I think Cofucius teaching has things people
really longing for, that's why it stands the test of time.
From Confucius's own mouth, he said his teaching boiled
down to 2 words: Zhong Su.
Zhong means loyalty, or be your best.
Su means put your shoe in other's place, or forgiveness.
For Christian, if you add God to the equation, they sound
like: Trust God with all your heart; and forgive our debts,
as we forgive our debters.
Confucius refrained from talking about god or devil, but his
teaching is not far from the teaching of the major religions.
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