Nenghai | |
|---|---|
能海 | |
 Nenghai | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Gong Xueguang (龚学光) (1886-01-20)20 January 1886 |
| Died | 1 January 1967(1967-01-01) (aged 80) Shancaidong Temple,Wutai Mountain,Shanxi, China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Parent | Gong Changyi (father) |
| Other names | Nenghai Master (能海上师) |
| 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:能海;pinyin:Nénghǎi; 20 January 1886 – 1 January 1967) was aVajrayanaBuddhist monk of theGelug school andreligious leader in modern China. He is considered one of the key figures of the "Movement of Tantric Rebirth" (密教復興運動) which sought to revitalizeChinese Esoteric Buddhism.[1]
Nenghai was vice-president of theBuddhist Association of China. He was a member of the National Committee of theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a delegate to the1st and2nd National People's Congress.[2][3]
Nenghai was bornGong Xueguang in Hanwang Town ofMianzhu city, inSichuan province, to Gong Changyi (龔常一), a peddler. He had an elder sister. When he was a child, both his parents died, leaving only him and his 10-year-old sister. By age 14, he became an apprentice in Hengshengtong (“恒升通”匹頭業), and studied Classic and history under the proprietor. In 1905, he enrolled at the Army Academy (now Army War College), where he studied alongsideLiu Xiang andLiu Wenhui. After graduating in 1907 he became a drillmaster atYunnan Military Academy. BothZhu De andYang Sen were his students. Then he served as regimental commander in Sichuan government, holding the position until he was transferred to the Beijing General's Office (北京將軍府).
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 (張克誠) atPeking University. In 1917, Nenghai moved toChengdu, capital of Sichuan province, founded the Shaocheng Society of Buddhist Studies (少城佛學社).[4]
In 1924, he went toTianbao Temple, the Buddhist monastery where she received the tonsure ceremony under abbot Fo Yuan (佛源), as the 44thlineage ofLinji school, and received complete ordination under abbot Shi Guanyi (釋貫一), inBaoguang Temple.
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 toLhasa between 1928–1932 and 1940–1941.[1] He became the main Chinese disciple of Khangsar Rinpoché (1890–1941) atDrepung monastery and was initiated into the tantric deities of Yellow Mañjuśrī and Yamāntaka-Vajrabhairava.[1] After his initial stay in Lhasa he moved toMount 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 tantricJinci Temple in the suburb ofChengdu.[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]
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'slamrim teachings. They discuss scriptures important in Tibetan Buddhism like theAbhisamayalamkara and those important in Chinese Buddhism like theAvatamsaka Sutra. Most of his literary production though consists of translations of Tibetan tantric works.[1]
After the establishment of theCommunist State, he lived inGuangji Temple, in Beijing. In October 1951, he attended theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference as a specially invited delegate.[4] He was a member of the Permanent Committee and vice-president of theChinese 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 theCultural Revolution, Nenghai lived inShancaidong Temple, he was labeled as a gangster and sufferedpolitical 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]
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