Founding of Fo Guang Shan
Fo Guang Shan was founded in May, 1967. Before this, there was much opposition, but Venerable Master stood his ground, and started construction on an overgrown wasteland. Unable to afford an architect, and lacking blueprints, structures were built based on designs drawn on the ground with bamboo sticks. The Pure Land Cave, Non-duality Gate, Vulture Peak, and the Path to Buddhahood in front of the Main Shrine all contain traces of the sweat and labor of Venerable Master laboring side by side with his disciples. Five years later, he wrote the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order Constitution, formed the Fo Guang Shan Board of Directors, and established the Five Councils and Ten Committees. Over the years, in response to diverse needs, subgroups such as the International Buddhist Progress Society and the Foundation for Buddhist Culture and Education Fund were created. Emphasizing team work, systematic leadership, and compliance and reliance on the Dharma as the norm for carrying out tasks, Venerable Master has laid the foundation for propagating the Dharma for the benefit of all beings.
Purchasing Land to Build a Monastery
In 1966, Venerable Master Hsing Yun purchased more than 20 hectares of bamboo-covered mountainous land in Ta Shu Township, Kaohsiung County from a Vietnamese couple Ihal was experiencing financial hardship as a result of investment failure. On the one hand, he wanted to build a monastery; on the other hand, he could help the couple through this difficult period. Afterwards, when Venerable Master rented a bus and invited devotees to come tour the land, the bus could not go beyond the foot of the mountain, and it was necessary to walk through a narrow path overgrown with weeds before ascending. Not only were the devotees unwilling to get off the bus, but they also said, "A place
like this, not even ghosts will haunt!" Hearing this, Venerable Master was not discouraged, but asked everyone to wait on the bus. He ascended the mountain
on his own, and spent two hours waking around. He thought, "It doesn't matter if ghosts don't come here, as long as the people and the Buddha's come, it will be
fine."
In 1967, standing his ground against the opposition of many, Venerable Master led his disciples in construction of a monastery. He named the monastery "Fo Guang Shan" (Buddha's Light Mountain), which means "the Buddha's light shines universally." Over the last forty years, Fo Guang Shan has established and operated under the objectives of "propagating Buddhism through culture, fostering talent through education, benefiting society though charity, and purifying the human mind through cultivation." Advancing Buddhism past the new milestone of modernization, Fo Guang Shan has also spread Humanistic Buddhism from Taiwan to the world.
