Qingliang Chengguan (National Master) (738-840)

"National Master Qingliang of the Tang dynasty in China was a transformation body of Flower Adornment Bodhisattva. He is called a transformation body because he specialized in lecturing on the Flower Adornment Sutra and didn't explain other sutras. National Master Qingliang was named Chengguan and his style name was Daxiu. His surname (lay name) was Xiahou. As a layman he associated with scholars. Born during Emperor Xuanzong's reign, during the fifth year of the Kaiyuan period, he was nine feet four inches tall (in the ancient measurements of China), his hands hung down below his knees, and he also had forty teeth. Most of us have thirty-two teeth; the Buddha had forty-two teeth. People with forty teeth are exceptional, and there are very few of them. National Master Qingliang had forty teeth, and eyes which seemed like everyone else's in the daytime, but if you looked at them during the night, you would see that they glowed. What is more, they didn't move; his eyes were fixed, at night they glowed. That was National Master Qingliang. National Master Qingliang Chenguan,
Fourth Patriarch of the Huayan School

"During the fourth year of the Qianzhong period (783), he wrote the Flower Adornment Sutra Commentary and Sub-commentary, which is the most famous discussion of the Flower Adornment Sutra in China. Before he wrote it, he sought the aid of Flower Adornment Bodhisattva. One night he had a dream. He dreamt that all the mountain peaks turned to gold. After he awoke from this dream, he knew that the golden mountain peaks represented light which illumines everywhere, whereupon he wrote his commentary on the Flower Adornment Sutra, writing continuously without a break. When most people write articles, they think and then write, think again, and then write some more. But National Master Qingliang wrote continuously because he didn't need to stop and think. He wrote without thinking and completed his commentary in four years. Afterwards, he had another dream, although it is not certain that it was a dream, and so perhaps we should call it an experience; you may say it was a dream or call it an experience. We don't know if it was a dream, but if it wasn't a dream, what was it? It was as if real, and also like a dream. He dreamt that he became a dragon, and then the dragon transformed itself into boundless and measureless tens of millions of dragons, and finally all of them flew off to all the other worlds. He experienced the Flower Adornment Sutra in this way, a manifestation of the Six Spiritual Powers.

"National Master Qingliang lived through the reigns of nine emperors and was the teacher of seven. He personally knew nine emperors, of whom seven asked him to be their teacher.

"After he perfected the stillness, he was buried. Later, an elder monk on his way to China from India, met two darkly clad youths on the road. This elder monk was an Arhat, and so he recognized these two young Bodhisattvas and said to them, 'Where are you going?'

"The two youths replied, ' We are going to China to request the molars of Flower Adornment Bodhisattva to take back to India and make offerings to them.' When this Arhat got back to China, he told the emperor about the two darkly clad youths who had come seeking the molars of Flower Adornment Bodhisattva. Thereupon, the emperor had National Master Qingliang's grave opened and found that some of his teeth were missing. These experiences are wonderful and inexpressible. Flower Adornment Bodhisattva had come to China as National Master Qingliang and had these particular characteristics." (UW xx-xxi)

1) Chinese Mandarin: Qingliang chengguan .

See also: Hwa-yan School, Flower Adornment Sutra (Avatamsaka - Huayen Jing)

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: UW xx-xxi, xxiii; FAS-VP 15-18; FAS-PI 221-230; VBS #35, p. 1).

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings
(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

Nalanda Online University's teachings are based especially on the Dharma Flower Lotus Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Vajra Sutra, the Prajna Paramita Hridayam Sutra, the Guhyasamaja, the Kalachakra and their commentaries (shastras) by the above Arya Tripitakacharya Dharma Masters.

At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

1. Teaching School (Mahayana Sutrayana - Paramitayana - Hua Yan and Tian Tai, Yogachara, Nalanda Prasangika Madhyamika, Theravada Sutta)

See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

2. Moral Regulations School (Vinaya Pratimoksha Shila - Bodhisattva Pranidhana - Vajrayana-Samaya - Yogic Yama)

3. Esoteric School (Vajrayana - Mantrayana - Tantrayana - Dharani - Secret School of the Mahayana)

4. Meditation School (Indian Dhyana Samadhi - Shamatha - Vipassana, Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen,
        Tibetan Mahamudra of Kagyupa, and Tibetan Dzogchen of Nyingmapa)

5. Pure Land Devotional School (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
         Manjushri-Kalarupa Great Wisdom, Maitreya Great Loving-Kindness, Mahasthamaprapta Great Strength,
         Ksitigarbha - Earth Store Great Vows, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva,
         Chandraprabha Moonlight Radiance, Suryaprabha Sunlight Radiance, Medicine King Bodhisattva, Medicine Superior Bodhisattva
         and others Dharma Protecting Dharmapala Lokapala Bodhisattvas, Gods and Goddesses)

Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Arya Bhikshu Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara says:
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To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
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(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
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And the source of all happiness,
Continue to endure for a very long time,
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Updated July 17, 2008