Misty Spiritual Mountain: The Journey of Xuanzang: The Journey of Xuanzang

Author: Jin Hui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The eastward transmission of Indian Buddhism and the establishment of Chinese Buddhist studies represent the most grandiose and longest-lasting cultural reclamation project and intellectual movement in Chinese history. In the two thousand years of Chinese Buddhist history, two great figures stand side by side: Xuanzang and Huineng. Xuanzang is the perfect culmination of the absorption phase; as a model of seeking and studying the Dharma, and as a paragon of Buddhist scripture translation and scholarship, he is almost unparalleled. Huineng is the genius of the creative phase, for he was in the realm of illuminating the mind and realizing innate wisdom, and this starting point is the lofty vantage point that towers above the ages. The peak of Xuanzang and Huineng, in their pursuit of learning and the Way, their engagement with the world and detachment from it, their active and passive stances, is both magnificent and supreme, leaving one breathless and yearning to follow in their footsteps. The Way of the sage also serves to bring brilliance to Chinese culture and to shape the very bones and soul of the Chinese spirit.