In
1959, Master Chin Kung left the home life at Lintzi Temple of
Yuanshan, Taipei. He was given the name Chin Kung and received
the full ordination to become a monk. Afterwards, he began to
lecture extensively on the Buddha's teachings in Taiwan and
abroad. For more than forty years, he has continuously given
lectures on the Five Sutras of the Pure Land School, the Flower
Adornment Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Surangama Sutra, Complete Enlightenment
Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Earth Treasure Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra,
Awakening of Faith Sastra and many more. Fortunately, these
teachings have been recorded on thousands of audio and videotapes.
To this day, he is still happily and tirelessly lecturing daily.
During his extensive teaching career, Master Chin Kung has
held positions as: an instructor at the Tripitaka Institute
at Shipu Temple in 1960, a committee member of the Propagating
Teachings Committee in 1961, a member of the Planning Committee
of the Buddhist Association of Taiwan in 1965, head instructor
at the Buddhist Seminar for University Students at the Buddhist
Association of Taiwan in 1972, a Buddhist research fellow
at the Chinese Academia Institute, professor and editor on
the Association of Buddhist Sutras, Commentaries and Translations
of Taiwan in 1973, a professor in the Philosophy Department
at the Chinese Culture University, professor of the
Spiritual Living Course for East Asian Catholics at Fu Ren
Catholic University in 1975, the president of the Chinese
Buddhist College in 1977 and the president of the Chinese
Pure Land Practice Research Institute in 1979. All of the
above institutions are in Taiwan.
He also founded the Hwa Dzan Dharma Giving Association, the
Hwa Dzan Buddhist Audio-Visual Library, the Corporate Body
of the Buddha Educational Foundation, the Hwa Dzan Pure Land
Learning Centre and also various Buddhist and Pure Land Learning
Centres throughout the world.
Master Chin Kung helped pioneer the use of radio and TV broadcasting,
satellites, the Internet and other forms of modern media in
propagating Buddhism in Taiwan. He has also sponsored the
printing and free worldwide distribution of the Great Buddhist
Canon, the Four Books, the Five Classics of Confucius, as
well as books and tapes on Buddhism, morality and ethics,
and Chinese culture, in addition to over a million prints
of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
In 1977, Master Chin Kung began to accept invitations to
lecture abroad. He emphasized the principles of Mahayana Buddhism
as the way to eliminate superstition, enable people to clearly
differentiate right from wrong, proper from deviated and to
perfectly solve all problems. In the effort to make this possible,
he has helped to establish over fifty Pure Land Learning Centres
and Amitabha Buddhist Societies around the world, including
those in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, North America,
Australia, Spain and England. Over several decades, he has
advised numerous Buddhist and social organizations.
Master Chin Kung has extensively promoted the idea to people
of Chinese descent worldwide that they establish ancestral
memorial halls to educate people to be sincere and onourable.
He also to encourage the practice of filial piety and the
remembrance of the great kindness of past generations, to
advocate ethics and morality, to improve traditional values,
to help the nation to grow and prosper, and to create a peaceful
world. Each of us needs to preserve, honour and pass on to
future generations our individual traditions of excellence.
In 1985, Master Chin Kung immigrated to the United States.
During the time he lived there, his remarkable achievements
in human relations and his work towards promoting morality
and peace won him awards in 1995 from both the city of Dallas
and the state of Texas as an Honorary Citizen.
In recent years, he has lectured at numerous universities
including the National University of Singapore and Nanyang
Technological University of Singapore; University of Minnesota,
University of Texas, and University of Hawaii in the U.S.;
Melbourne University, Bond University, Curtin Technology University,
and Monash University in Australia; Fu Ren Catholic University,
Chinese Culture University, Cheng Gong University, and Chong
Shan University in Taiwan, and other institutions of higher
learning. He has also given talks to radio and TV audiences
in several countries.
Since May of 1995, Master Chin Kung has been instructing
training classes for lecturers, which are sponsored by the
Singapore Buddhist Lodge and the Amitabha Buddhist Society
of Singapore, as well as being their Director of Education.
In May of 1998, Master Chin Kung started to deliver a lecture
series on the Flower Adornment Sutra, Infinite Life Sutra
and Earth Treasure Sutra in Singapore. It began in November
of 1998 that Master Chin Kung took the initiative to visit
organizations of major faiths in Singapore, including Muslim,
Catholicism, Methodist Church, Hinduism, Taoism, Sikhism,
and Zoroastrianism. In that same year, he supported the project
of Multi-faith Centre of Griffith University.
In the year 2000, Master Chin Kung has helped to organize
a delegation of leaders from nine religions in Singapore to
visit religious organizations in China for two weeks. This
trip was very successful.
In June of 2001, Master Chin Kung established the Pure Land
Learning College Association in Australia to nurture and train
successors to continue the propagation of Buddhism. He supported
the Buddhist Educational Foundation for Buddhist courses in
Sydney University and sponsored the project of Institution
for Peace and Conflict Resolution in the University of Queensland.
In March and April of 2002, Master Chin Kung visited Buddhist
organizations in Korea and Japan, to foster mutual understanding.
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In June of 2002, Master was awarded as an Adjunct Professor
of the University of Queensland. In the same month, he was
awarded with an honorary degree of Doctor of University of
Griffith University. Currently he is residing in Australia
to continue his lecture series on the highest teachings of
Mahayana Buddhism, the Flower Adornment Sutra.
