42nd Patriarch of the Hsienshou (Avatamsaka) and Ci'en Schools
Ven. Sakya Haiyun Jimeng (Sea Cloud) was born in 1950 in Taiwan. Ven. Elder Bhikshu Meng Chan ordained
Ven. Haiyun Jimeng into the Buddhist monkhood in 1990 and gave him the dharma name Chang Yi. In 1991, he received
all 250 precepts and formally became a Bhikshu.
Master Sea Cloud has a close affinity with the bodhisattva Samantabhadra and special
insights into the Avatamsaka Sutra. Actualising the Conduct and Great Vows of Samantabhadra, he has founded the
Da-Huayen Monastery in Taipei, and its branches in various regions in Taiwan. In spreading the dharma, he adheres
steadfastly to the principles of magnanimity, non-racial and non-regional differentiation, and equality. He values
both scriptural practice and Huayen Ch'an (meditation), and has founded an Huayen Ch'an Retreat Centre in Sanhsia, Taiwan,
where students may do scriptural practice as well as Huayen Ch'an.
The Chinese Buddhist community in the mainland has invited Haiyun to teach the Avatamsaka Sutra in
Beijing, Xi'an, and Datong. As well, he has co-founded the Institute for Advanced Huayen Studies with the
Shaanxi Normal University. He has lectured in monastaries and universities in many countries in South East Asia,
and has helped the North American Avatamsaka faithful found the Huayen Buddhist Community of North America, and its branches
in Detroit, Chicago, Boston, and San Jose in the United States, and Toronto and Vancouver in Canada. Here in North America,
he has lectured at the Universities of Toronto, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin and temples in Toronto and
Vancouver before founding the ABCBC in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Ven. Haiyun Jimeng - 42nd Patriarch of the
Tang Xianshou and Ci'en Schools
Historically speaking, the Huayen School is based on the Avatamsaka Sutra, and counts
as one of the eight major Mahayana schools of Chinese Buddhism. From its beginnings in the seventh century, the Huayen lineage
has continued down to the present day. Master Haiyun has revitalised the modern Huayen School. On 21 September 2008, the 41st
Patriarch of the Hsienshou (another name for Huayen) and Ci'en Schools passed down the patriarchal title
to Ven. Haiyun (Sea Cloud), who currently is the 42nd Patriarch of the Hsienshou and Ci'en Schools. The
former embodies the teachings of the Madhyamaka thoughts of Nagarjuna and the latter, the Yogacara teachings of Asanga and Vasubandu.
Between 27 and 29 December 2008, Master Haiyun
Jimeng led a pilgrimage to Lakulish International Fellowship's Enlightenment Mission (拉克魯希神國際覺明傳道會)
or in short LIFE Mission (生命傳道會) in Rajarajeshwardham, Gujarat, India. Swami Rajarshi Muni, a practicing advanced yogi and Founder of LIFE Mission, performed a Diksa granted Ven. Haiyun Jimeng the most secret Shaktipat initiation (literally, the passing down of spiritual
energy but also connotes the right initiation of someone into the order or the right conferring of Dharma name/practice
to someone.) This removed all obstacles from his
path and ensure his rapid progress on the spiritual path. Swami Rajashi Muni opened
his inner eye (bestowed on him the Kundalini spiritual, instinctive, or unconscious force/power) and blessed him with the ability to perform,
teach, and pass down the tradition of Divine Yoga.
The Madhyamaka
and the Shaktipat Maha Yogachar (Divine Yoga) schools differ fundamentally, and accordingly Ven. Haiyun Jimeng is now
responsible for, and he has urged all members of the Da-Huayen Monasteries to take upon, the mission of resurging both
heritages over the next 500 years. Ven. Haiyun Jimeng has revitalised Huayen teachings to include
five faculties: Divine Yoga (Zen), Pureland, Esoteric (Vajrayana), Vinaya and Scriptural Practice. The Huayen teachings emphasise
the integration of Buddhist practice with all aspects of life, and Ven. Haiyun Jimeng believes that they are
particularly suitable for the modern age.
In tandem with modern changing times, Ven. Haiyun Jimeng has revolutionised
traditional Buddhist thoughts by introducing "the Fourth Buddhist Period," which he envisages, will succeed the
contemporary Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana periods. As Dr Albert Einstein once put it, "I don't have any religion,
but if I had to choose one, I would choose Buddhism." In his 1970 bestseller Future Shock, Alvin
Toffler already argued that people in the modern age would suffer from information overload that would cause all sorts of
dysfunctions at the personal, family, and social levels. The more science and technology become advanced, the more scientists
begin to see that their proven axioms or facts that serve to form our cosmic view and the very bases of all branches of sciences are
limited, but nevertheless accord with what the Buddha had revealed over 25 centuries ago.
For in this age of future shock, in order to resolve all such dysfunctions,
one must each look within and without, and identify a thinking pattern that will make life worth living for oneself
and others. According to Ven. Haiyun Jimeng, the time is at hand whereupon the teachings of classic Huayen Buddhism
will merge with western sciences and technologies, which will be the dawn of "neo-classic Huayen Buddhism."
Ven. Haiyun Jimeng envisages that in the next 500 years, such teachings will grow, blossom and fruit here in the
west and that eventually, western Avatamsaka practitioners will in turn spread the perfected teachings to the orient in wholly
different forms. Are you not fortunate that you are about to witness and experience the Dawn of the New Avatamsaka Age?
