HISTORY OF MASTER CHIN KUNG
His Holiness Master Chin Kung was born in 1927. He was a great Kalyana-Mitra and a devout Sukhavati Buddhist who spent more than 60 years studying and preaching Buddha Dharma.
He was the central figure and spiritual director of more than 100 Sukhavati Buddhist training centers around the world. In 2001, he founded Pureland Learning College Association Inc. in Toowoomba, Australia.
Master Chin Kung pioneered the use of internet and satellite television in the spreading of Buddhism. His lectures had been packaged into books, DVDs, CDs, and other media formats for free distribution to the public.
Aside from his lectures, Master Chin Kung also sponsored the printing and distribution of the Tripitaka, the Buddha Sutras, books, pictures of the Buddha as well as books related to moral and character education; all of which are also distributed free of charge to the whole world. Even toward the end of his honorable life, he still reviewed Dharma every day in front of the camera for worldwide live broadcasts via internet and other media devices.
Having grown up in Lu Jiang County, Anhui Province, the Venerable Master Chin Kung had received guidance from three great figures: Professor Fang Dong Mei, who was a great philosopher at that time; Changkya Khutukhtu, a very famous kalyanamitra at that time known to many as the living Buddha; and the great master Li Bing Nan, a lay Buddhist devotee who was a master of Buddhism and Confucianism.
In 1959, Master Chin Kung a became ordained as a monk at Yuan Lin Ji Temple in Yuan Shan Taipei, and was given the name “Chin Kung” which means “purely empty.” Afterward, he served as a lecturer at the Tripitaka Institute at Shipu Temple, a professor of philosophy at the University of Chinese Culture, and a chief member of the board of the Buddhist Association in China. Master Chin Kung founded the Hua Zang Education and Training Center which also included an
audio-visual library, a Sukhavati Buddhism study center, and the Buddhist Dharma Education Foundation in Taiwan. Thanks to Master Chin Kung's efforts to promote interfaith harmony and promote peace, he was awarded the title of Dr.H.C. (Doctor Honoris Causa) and honorary professorship by Griffith College in Queensland, Australia, the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, and Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Indonesia. In addition, he was the founder and supporter of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Queensland.
In 2005, Master Chin Kung was awarded the “Order of Australia (AM)” by Queen Elizabeth II. He was recognized for having contributed a lot to the Buddhist community in Queensland, particularly in multi-cultural, religious and ethnic activities. He was also a financial donor to local health and education institutions. In 2006, Master Chin Kung and the Pureland Learning College were invited by UNESCO to jointly host the “International 2550th Vesak Day Festival” at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
The theme of the Vesak Day Festival was “Buddhism’s Contribution to Humanity”. The event organizers hoped that through education, more people would learn from the teachings of the Buddha about how to reconcile conflicts and promote social stability and world peace. The aim was to prove that through studying moral teachings or the characters of wise people, people can learn to be good, because though there be religious differences, everyone should still be able to live side by side peacefully.
In 2009, Master Chin Kung was appointed as an Ambassador of Peace by the International Peace Organization which is active on every continent. The organization’s missions are to create good relations between religious believers, and to deal with issues such as ending wars, alleviating poverty, and reducing pollution on the Earth.Since the late 1990s, Master Chin Kung had participated
in interfaith forums and summits in many countries, calling repeatedly on the importance of education.
Master Chin Kung’s hopes that his lectures on the Maha Sukhavati Vyuha Sutra can change people's hearts and help accelerate the achievement of world peace. He emphasized that all religious teachers should practice the saying “Learn to be good teachers and act as role models for everyone.” Furthermore, he encouraged these teachers to practice the teachings of the sages in their daily life and humbly learning from other religions in addition to deepening their knowledge about their own respective religions.
The essence of Master Chin Kung's teachings is love and compassion for all beings. With sincerity, respect, humility, and togetherness, he dedicates himself to helping all sentient beings to obtain eternal happiness and peace.
Update on current Master Chin Kung activities:
The world community greatly values Master Chin Kung’s wisdom and knowledge. In September 2017, UNESCO Paris officially invited Master Chin Kung to open a permanent office there. Even though he was already 91 years old at the time, he still made time to meet the many ambassadors from various countries who came to visit him. He always served tea to the dignitaries, and then chatted about various topics with them. Whether it was personal, family, career, community or international issues, every question was always answered satisfactorily by the Venerable Master because he was very well versed in Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist philosophies.